Not just for the birds

Category: Hunting accounts

  • Found ’em, sort of

    Church of the Holy Chukar
    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.

    _DSC8167

  • Sog

    Uisge
    Uisge: Scots Gaelic for “water”

    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 fun
    Tough luck, good fun
    Somewhere out there, chukar hunker
    Somewhere out there, chukar hunker

  • Foggy Chukar Finish

    foggy chukar hunting
    Almost vertigo

    Our last day to hunt this season got fog-shortened. But at least we got out. Walking was hard, we couldn’t find many birds despite plenty of sign, and got lost a couple of times because of the blowing pea soup and its disorienting properties. I kind of like those properties. So that’s it for this year. I’m grateful my wife could join us so many times this year and for her nice camera eye.

    Trudging around in the sloshy conditions for 3-1/2 hours today gave me some good time, with suitable environmentals, to think about the lament I was to play at Burns Night later that evening. The soundtrack to the video (below) is called “Lament” (by Paul Motian). I think it sounds like sad fog. But cathartic sad fog.

  • Found ’em

    Brittany and Hungarian partridges
    Angus’s Snow Huns

    Well, after last week’s mystery, we learned today that we must not have worked hard enough. Today we did. My ankles feel like shattered glass but my spirit and psyche are hovering well above the butte. Angus, as is his wont, is largely responsible.

    Brittany retrieving Hun
    What a partner

    Sun, rocks, and greenup. And ibuprofen, Balvenie, and Lulu’s. As good a Saturday as I can ask for. Leslie was on call so couldn’t come along, so it actually could have been better. Not that I’m complaining. Just sayin’.

    Strategically speaking, conditions last week were very similar, and we hunted the same areas that we did today, but just not as hard or thoroughly. We also focused today only on the sunny slopes, which gave us a great view of the inversion layer in the valley. Arg. Gotta take the good with the carcinogenic. But The Balvenie certainly can help. In moderation, of course.

    Boise winter inversion
    Greater Boise’s inverted winter sky
    Balvenie Doublewood
    Doctor’s orders

  • Snow chukar at all

    Man and dog looking for chukar
    Where’d they go?

    Went out last weekend after the big snow ’round these parts. Had a tough time finding birds. In fact, we only found quail. Not that I’m complaining but it’s not what we were looking for (but it didn’t stop us from availing ourselves of them on occasion).

    We did find something we were not looking for…

    zebra in the snow
    Your typical snow zebra

    Anyway, Leslie took some nice video and photos, so here’s the evidence. Enjoy. We did, despite the dearth of partridges where we looked.