Not just for the birds

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  • Words

    Words

    Chukar Culture

    Words matter. I’ve been writing this blog for a while now, and one of the things that keeps me interested in it is the comments I get from readers. I have learned a lot from them, and appreciate the culture of the blog because of readers’ comments. Many comments have taken issue with things I’ve said, which I also appreciate even if I don’t always agree; civil discourse seems increasingly rare these days but is an important feature of any democratic society, and — until a few days ago — all 1,143 comments on this blog had been civil.

    We changed the name of the blog, and I explained why we did that so I won’t go into that again. A comment came in recently criticizing the name change as “politically correct” and telling me it “has to go.” I have to say I was surprised by both ideas. First, culture is culture. Everyone has it, participates in it, and uses it. To call our use of the word “politically correct” misunderstands the phrase, this blog, and culture itself, and says more about the person who wrote it than what he believes it means. Second, to tell us our new name “has to go” is just plain rude. If you don’t like it, go elsewhere for your chukar fix. If you think it should be called something else, write your own blog.

    I’m happy to say that it appears a few readers don’t mind the name Chukar Culture; our new hats sold out in the first week or so (more are on the way soon, with some additional styles).

    I will say, though, that we’re considering changing the name again. The current leaders are: “Chukar Cult”; “Nirvana: The Socio-cultural Pursuit and Sustainable Destruction of the Red-Legged Devil” (this won’t fit too well on a hat, though); “The Ups and Downs of Chukar Hunting”; and (my favorite) “Blowing Away Red-beaked Birds and then Posting Chest-Thumping Photos of What We Killed.” Sadly, Mouthful of Feathers, Red-Legg’ed Devils, Tucker’s Chukars, and Upland Jitsu are already taken; I like those names (and the blogs that belong to them).

    Stay tuned for a review of a new chukar hunting pack…

  • Good Things

    Good Things

    Just a quick post to mention a few good things in recent days…

    How many chukar made it?

    I received a report a couple of days ago from a friend who was at Brownlee and heard chukar calling. That made me happy because a month ago I spent the day on Oxbow Reservoir and heard not a peep from a chukar; normally I’d hear chukar calling most of the day down there at that time of year. So some birds survived the heavy winter in Hells Canyon. I’d guess that the steeper draws filled with brush and springs might have offered a haven for chukar in the area. I’m hoping the breeding pairs that survived are prolific.

    Angus 10 years ago

    Angus just turned 10, and — knock on wood — is healthy and spry, if appearing occasionally beleaguered by Peat’s youthful enthusiasm. Together, both dogs collaborate on our walks and runs, mildly harassing the quail and pheasant along the Weiser River Trail. They’re staying fit and trim. Unlike last summer, though, we have yet to budge any Huns or chukar. Keep hope alive.

    Chillin’ in the library

    Peat, believe it or not, is actually calming down a wee bit. We’ve still not cured him of his love of counter-surfing, but because he’s rather small for an American Brittany, we’ve learned his grab-ability range and are able to keep desirables safe. He also spends more time now just chillin’ inside, but ignites the second we appear to be heading outside. We get momentary glimmers of a future home without a crate, something unimaginable even a month or two ago.

    Despite tick season exploding massively in the past week, we’ve been fortunate to minimize the impact on both dogs. For the second year in a row we’ve gone with monthly Advantix treatments, which don’t seem quite as effective as Frontline did at killing ticks that attached themselves to the dogs, but we’re also not seeing as many on the dogs (yet anyway); maybe the Advantix is deterring some ticks from hanging on once they successfully “quest” a dog.

    Image result for tick questing
    Tick in “questing” position, waiting for a host to pass so it can grab on.

    The frequent storms have dramatized the early part of summer vacation around here, reminding us of Scotland’s wet, windy springs instead of our normal parched Junes. There’s new snow on mountaintops today. We think this is good, and are grateful not just for the beauty, as if that’s not enough.

    Back porch after the rain, looking toward Brownlee

    Inspired by my wife (although the jury’s still out, for me), I’ve been using some of my extra summer-vacation time to look more into Instagram. My resistance comes from believing our culture is far too involved in tiny virtual worlds. The upside, though, for me initially anyway, is seeing how many people are actually involved in the big wide world (and choose to share images from their involvement on tiny screens). There’s definitely a “game” to Instagram (involving followers/following ratios, and other expansion strategies, which I don’t like), but I have enjoyed making some connections to other like-minded (but different) bird chasers. As E.M. Forster’s epigraph to Howard’s End commands: “Only Connect.”

    Finally, we sold a bunch of hats – almost all of them, actually – on the new shop’s first day, and are thankful for the support. We’ll have more soon, with some different models, too, including an all-blaze/non-mesh hat for the field. Stay tuned.

    Recovering from the latest bout of vertigo (not a good thing)
  • Hats Are Us

    Hats Are Us

    They’re here. We like them. Here’s the longer story, if you care to know: last fall I loaned someone the blaze orange cap I’d used for many seasons and they inadvertently kept it. I thought it was gone forever, so wanted to get a new blaze cap. I looked at the Treasure Valley Community College hats (their mascot is the “Chukars”), but the logo is a total cartoon. The Idaho Falls Chukars, a Pioneer League affiliate of the Kansas City Royals, has a similarly cartoony logo, and a hat that looks like this (which I couldn’t see wearing in the field unless I traded my Benelli for a Pina Colada or was hunting with Jimmy Buffett).Chukars Tropical Hat

    So because I couldn’t find one I liked, I thought I’d try to design one myself. My design skills suck, so I found a guy from Ireland on Etsy whose logos were cool, and he put our logo together, doing two versions: a simpler one for hats and a more intricate one for t-shirts (coming soon). My brother’s fish research firm (Mainstemfish.com) had some sweet lids made, and he referred me to the folks who made his (Atomicshirtfactory.net). So I’ve gotten carried way far afield with this. It’s only money, right? The ironic thing is that I didn’t end up getting an all-blaze model. That might come if we sell out of these.

    Anyway, the online shop — also a new thing for me — seems to be working. I’ve tested it, and checkout is through Paypal (but you can pay with a credit card if you don’t have a Paypal account); if you have any issues, please let me know.

    Finally, I never intended to sell stuff on this site; I’m thinking of the Shop not so much as a change to the blog, but more as an addition. I’m not doing it to make money (although that would be nice), but rather to offer stuff I want for myself to anyone out there who might like it. If it works, great. If not, no biggie. I will say that a project in the back of my mind, though, is to develop what — for me — is the perfect chukar hunting pack (which I’ve yet to find). Stay tuned.

    Chukar_culture_hunting_hats
    Chukar Culture trucker hunting hats
    Chukar_culture_hunting_hats
    Chukar Culture trucker hats
    Chukar_culture_hunting_hats
    Chukar Culture Flexfit caps
    Chukar_culture_hunting_hats
    Chukar Culture Flexfit caps, back

  • New Things

    New Things

     

    The blog has a new look, and a new name. The old URL, chukarhunting.net, will still work but will resolve to chukarculture.com. Also, as you can see, we now have a logo and a prototype hat. Soon we’ll have them for sale in two styles. It might take a while for me to figure out how to set it all up, but I’ll post when it’s ready.

    Why the change? It could be a long story, but the short version is that we’ve always been more interested in the culture around our favorite outdoor activity than the hunting part, and I wanted a visual representation of that that we might put on a hat or a shirt. So Leslie came up with the phrase and – surprise – the domain was not already taken (can you imagine that?). So stay tuned. And to those of you (like myself) who aren’t crazy about changes in familiar places, I apologize for shaking things up. I hope the transition isn’t too traumatic for you or me! I’m always open to comments, too, and as always would welcome yours.

  • Chukar Poacher Alert

    A student of mine recently told me he heard a guy in town bragging about his amazing chukar-hunting son-in-law who killed 200 chukar from his pickup, on one snowy January day this past winter, along the road (Highway 71) near Brownlee Reservoir. The limit’s 8. Where’s F&G when you need ’em? (In 17 years of chukar hunting in Idaho, I’ve never once run into a F&G officer; not that I want to, but it makes you wonder.)

    And now this:

    If you know these folks, who were caught by what must be a Fish & Game game camera poaching chukar on March 18th (2017) in the Boise River WMA, call Idaho Fish & Game poaching hotline at (208) 334-3700.

    Here’s another photo with what must be a new kind of chukar dog:

    Times must be tough.