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.
