Optimism has arrived with spring, in more ways than one. Chukar sounds have returned to the reservoirs in Hells Canyon, after last year’s spring silence along most of the shorelines we surveyed. The mild winter and easy spring conditions make finger-crossing less necessary than last year at this time.
My mom follows a bird photographer’s blog and sends me links to some of his posts, and I recently decided to follow it because his photos are outstanding, and – surprise – he occasionally gets some great images of chukar. If you’re interested, check out his latest (click the photo)…
http://www.featheredphotography.com/blog/2018/05/06/flower-eating-chukar/
Good morning Bob,
Just curious what you are using for to keep your pups tick free this spring?
Hi Marc, I wish I could say our dogs are tick free. Far from it. We agonize over what to use every spring. Some friends of ours give their dogs a pill, which they say works great but our vet advised against it because he said it only worked on some dogs and that he didn’t like the systemic impact compared to topical treatments. So we went with his advice and purchased the expensive Frontline stuff. This doesn’t seem to work as well as Advantix on our dogs, which I’ve used in the past. I think it’s working to reduce the number of ticks they’re picking up, and maybe to minimize the time they stay on the dog; we’re finding dead or dying ticks on our bedsheets, for example, so they’re leaving the dogs before really digging in. But we also carefully palpate the dogs after every outing (daily) and pull a bunch off of them. It seems there’s no perfect solution. The good news is that tick season here usually is over by mid-July. Hope that helps.
Thanks Bob,
I live in the foothills north of Eagle and the ticks are horrible this year. I debated about using the topical tick solution or the treat version, Bravecto. Our vet recommended the Bravecto. I’ll see how it works. I pulled 30 ticks off my little Brittany last weekend. So at this point I’m willing to try anything, but still worried about side affects.
Love reading your blog, and the pictures of your beautiful dogs.
Marc
I’m curious to know how the Bravecto works on your Brittany, Marc. I hope it’s the solution. 30 is a big number of ticks! Our record is 75 off of Angus a few years ago. I hope I never see that again.
Bravecto:
So far so good, I took my Britt on a 7 mile hike in the foothills today, and haven’t found a tick on him.
Good endorsement! We’ll probably try it next year. We opted for Frontline, and it seems to be doing okay; finding ticks on the dogs, but not a lot, and they usually don’t stay on the mutts (we end up finding them dead on the bed, or crawling on us).
Bob,
Are the spring conditions looking good for a successful hatch this year? I did not make the trip to Hell’s Canyon last year, due to the low bird numbers, so I am really looking for ward to this season. It is truly my favorite place to hunt. I am thinking of a mid October trip this year.
So far, so good, Kelly. I expect better numbers this year, but probably not as high as two years ago. It’ll take a while to bounce back from that heavy winter. Some areas might take years.
Man do I miss that country! You are a lucky man to live there!
Hi Bob. Wonderful pics, especially the red beak. And those wonderful handsome dog legs running past the flora.
Hope we score a Bob siting if we make it to the cabin this summer. Not sure we can get up, but fingers are crossed.
L/Susan
thanks Bob. Fantastic pics!!
Thanks for sharing that blog site, Bob. Good chukar pics are always a treat. Have you been to Antelope Island? It is a cool spot to check out if you are down Salt Lake City way. I umped chukars there, and spotted buffalo on the same hike. A rare combo!
Bob…longtime reader and always look forward to your reports and pics. I have had no problems with Bravecto and have used on a Boykin and Setter for a year plus. It is a convenient and effective tick solution.
Thanks, Scott. We might give it a try next year. Please let me know if you have any other comments about Bravecto in the meantime.
Bravecto has been my go to on our pointer and shorthair for the past three years.
Saw the first clutch of Blue
Grouse this past weekend. Mama and babies doing well. Papa chukars were decoying me away from the chukar homestead keeping me hopeful that the rains and snow this past weekend weren’t too hard on the young ones.
Thanks for the report, Monte. I think it’ll be a decent season!