Church of the Holy Chukar (you can barely see me in the middle of the photo)
After five outings this season, I finally found some of the elusive alectoris chukar. I went to yet another new (to me) spot, and was delighted to see plenty of birds. I was not delighted, though, that they saw me well before I saw them and showed themselves to me by launching over 100 yards away from me and Angus.
Angus and I worked hard, but the birds spotted us too soon each time, and I missed the few long shots I got. Still, they’re there, doing their best with what they’ve got.
And it was the first gorgeous day I’ve hunted this year. I’m hoping for a few more of those. So is Angus.
Excellent quality: really good, durable materials, seams and stitching are solid, and the fabrics used are top notch.
It’s really cool looking, with very bright hunter orange all over the thing.
Super nice shell pockets with simple Velcro closure, easy to access shells quickly and keep them in the pockets.
Decent cargo space (but not ideal; see below).
Good hip belt and other straps.
My main beef with this vest is that for some reason they designed it so the hydration bladder pouch rides below the bite valve! To get water, you have to lean over so the bladder is above the bite valve. This wouldn’t be so bad but I water my dog with the bladder, and this design makes it pretty much impossible. The other real bummer about the hydration accommodation in this vest is that it’s too small to hold a decent-sized bladder for even a half-day hunt in any weather.
L.L. Bean Technical Upland Vest ridin’ low
The cargo pockets, which are actually too small to store any bulky clothes (chukar hunting is one of the most layering-centric activities I know of), ride a bit too low, right on my butt (I’m 6′ tall and I got the regular size vest). It comes with a couple of clip-on pouches, too, but when installed on the shoulder straps they’re in the way so I didn’t even put them on.
So I’m returning it, darn it. Why can’t someone make a chukar vest that’s hydration bladder compatible and has enough storage space for an all-day hunt? For now, I’m sticking with the best vest I’ve found (for my money), Cabela’s Lite’N-Load Strap Vest.
What can you say about the weather? I haven’t seen this much rain in September in these parts for a long, long time. We got one nice day this weekend, tried a couple new spots (nothing happening), and then took some friends – one of whom was making his debut to hunting – to our can’t-miss spot. Howling wind and rain made it tough for the dogs to locate birds, and we had a rare few partridges revealed. Still, beautiful terrain, good exercise, good friends, and a couple more Hungarian partridges made it better than the best day of work. Chukar Hunting: not for the greedy.
Tough luck, good funSomewhere out there, chukar hunker
I must admit that after yesterday’s opening day take of two Lilliputian-sized Hungarian partridges I wasn’t all that excited. When we got home I put them in the fridge without even really looking them over, much less cleaning them. I usually hang my birds for a while, but it’s not really cool enough to do that yet. So this afternoon I thought I’d better do them now or I’d risk doing the unforgivable: tossing them several weeks from now… Never again.
They were a little shot up, with some intestine goo on the thighs, but I cleaned them up okay. They were about the size of a decent cock quail. I let them air dry and put them in a Ziplock and into the fridge again, thinking maybe in a few days I’d do something with them. I checked my thawing tamales around dinner time, and they were still frozen. So I grabbed the bag o’Wee Huns and entered the pantry in search of something. I didn’t know what. Then I saw the soy sauce. And the rice wine vinegar. And the brown sugar. Within twenty minutes I was tasting the best bird – of any kind – that I have ever eaten. Here’s what I did, and I name the recipe after dear ol’ Angus (I realize, for those of you with a penchant for bathroom humor, that this could be mis-read in interesting ways; get your minds out of the gutter):
The best bird I’ve eaten. Period.
Hungarian Partridge Angus
Ingredients:
Fresh Hungarian partridges (or chukar or quail), cleaned and separated by breast and legs
2 Tablespoons soy sauce
2 Tablespoons rice wine vinegar
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 Tablespoon brown sugar
1 Teaspoon sea salt
Olive oil
1 clove garlic per bird, sliced; 2 per bird if decent sized
Fresh ground pepper
Put the bird parts in a ziplock or covered container. Add soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, olive oil, brown sugar, and salt, and mix everything together like your life depended on it. Do it the Zen way. Feel the molecules greeting one another with gusto. No, seriously. Do it. It will make a difference. I only had these birds in this marinade for a few minutes, and it was plenty. You can experiment with more time if you like (let me know how it goes)…
In a large skillet, heat adequate olive oil (enough to cover the bottom of the skillet) on high and add the garlic and ground pepper once it’s hot. Brown the garlic a little, and then add the birds with all the marinade. Reduce heat to medium and tend the birds, turning as needed. Do this Zen, too, and you won’t regret it. Test the breasts when you think they might be done. My birds took about 7 minutes to cook through, and the sauce was reduced to a nice syrupy consistency. Serve with sauce from the pan, or pour over rice, couscous, taters, or whatever you like (dipping sauce for bread?). Enjoy.
Finally: opening day chukar & Hun. Sick all week but went out anyway. Took it easy. Went up to a place I wanted to try last year but never did. Hiked along a fence past cows, then got into Huns (only) all along the east-facing slope. Cool, not too dry; bird sign once the bunch grass got thicker and longer with lots of new shoots. The birds were all about 30 feet in elevation below the ridge, almost like clockwork (so about 4650′ above sea level). Saw three different coveys in two hours, one with at least 25 birds. I shot six times and got two of this year’s birds (quite small). Angus was marvelous as usual. He even tried to tell me there was a huge blue (“dusky”) grouse in a lone pine tree but I was not on the ball when it launched. I’m lucky to have a tall wife who likes to go on these hikes with Angus and me and has no trouble with barbed wire fences.
