Chukar 2020

[merkelman]

Little hot for my liking, but plenty of birds...

[Lady Grouse hunter]

Show us the DOG?

[merkelman]

Luke!

[Alex4200]

 

[metlhead]

Awesome. Went looking for chukar myself. Ended up finding huns. Went through 2 gallons water before we hit the creek to reload. Good rock solid points, and 1 running point.

[Threewolves]

Nice, any snakes?

[metlhead]

His first covey of the morning

[metlhead]

That selfie with your dog looks familiar. We always have our nap under a sage bouts noon.

[metlhead]

anyone wanting to know the hotspot, here's my frone pic

[Birdguy]

Great job guys and dogs! Getting after them for sure.

[RobinHoodlum]

Congrats on early season success! Glad to see some upland pics and to hear that the numbers seem good. Now that my deer season is over, I'm plannning to give the dog some work this weekend!

[10Key]

Love it! Thanks for sharing, makes me yurn to get out...the ole pup thinks otherwise

[Lady Grouse hunter]

DAMN HE'S GOT HIS WORK CUT OUT FOR HIM,,, LOTS-O-WATER!!!!

[merkelman]

Nice, any snakes?

no

[metlhead]

didn't see any either, and that covered a lot of different  terrain

[Bill W]

Little hot for my liking, but plenty of birds...

Looks like you shoot a "merkel" browning.

[merkelman]

Little hot for my liking, but plenty of birds...

Looks like you shoot a "merkel" browning.

Actually it was a new Beretta 28Ga, 686.  The Merkels do come out once in while though. 

[Bill W]

I like it.

[salt n sage90]

Not sure if its kosher or not to tack onto other folks thread, but there isn't really an upland report tab at the top so here goes.

Anyway, been exploring new ground looking for chukar and finally got into them. Had my limit in two hours, but I still have some work to do with this dog. I dont know if it was the heat and dry ground, or just him being 1.5 yrs old. He was bumrushing in on every bird without pointing or giving me much time to get there. Luckily I can keep him close. Dont get me started on retrieving. Amazingly I never lost a bird (first time on chukar), he found everyone of them, picked it up , killed it, and dropped it. Some long cripples that he tracked down too. Anyways, more training in the books but it will have to wait till after deer season.

[merkelman]

Not sure if its kosher or not to tack onto other folks thread, but there isn't really an upland report tab at the top so here goes.

Anyway, been exploring new ground looking for chukar and finally got into them. Had my limit in two hours, but I still have some work to do with this dog. I dont know if it was the heat and dry ground, or just him being 1.5 yrs old. He was bumrushing in on every bird without pointing or giving me much time to get there. Luckily I can keep him close. Dont get me started on retrieving. Amazingly I never lost a bird (first time on chukar), he found everyone of them, picked it up , killed it, and dropped it. Some long cripples that he tracked down too. Anyways, more training in the books but it will have to wait till after deer season.

Sounds like he needs some good training and a good collar!  Limit in two hours is great!  4 or 6 birds?

[salt n sage90]

I have the collar, time to go get more pigeons.

6 birds, I hit another covey after the photo-op/water break.

[WildW00d]

Looks like you and the dog found a decent spot for hunting! Congrats

[pianoman9701]

Never hunted them or Huns. Bucket list. Hopefully won't kick it first!

[merkelman]

Any other positive reports to share?  Have you been seeing many birds!  If so, how has it compared to last year.

[merkelman]

Great Friday. Another limit with the mighty 28ga.

[nwalpineguide]

Good opener and subsequent weekends producing as well.

Enjoy!

[DIron]

Little hot for my liking, but plenty of birds...

Looks like a great day in the field.

[DIron]

Awesome. Went looking for chukar myself. Ended up finding huns. Went through 2 gallons water before we hit the creek to reload. Good rock solid points, and 1 running point.

AWESOME. Beautiful dog.

[DIron]

That selfie with your dog looks familiar. We always have our nap under a sage bouts noon.

No better spot, next to your hunting guide. 

[DIron]

Great Friday. Another limit with the mighty 28ga.

Fantastic Merkelman

[DIron]

Good opener and subsequent weekends producing as well.

Enjoy!

nwalppineguide... looks like a great day.

[merkelman]

Another great day...

[jstone]

Very cool pictures
I always see chukars while late archery hunting. Looks like a tough hunt.!

[merkelman]

Four down...

[duckmen1]

Anybody do it without dogs for chucker? Been thinking about taking an adventure sometime to try it out. Never shot them before. To make it even more of a challenge with a 410 over under. 

[BUCKHUNT]

Anybody do it without dogs for chucker? Been thinking about taking an adventure sometime to try it out. Never shot them before. To make it even more of a challenge with a 410 over under. 

Before I got my shorthair, I hunted dogless all the time. More than a few times, I've bumped a covey while quail hunting at higher elevations. There have also been a few times chukar hunting that the wind is wrong, so the dog didn't necessarily help in that case.

The bigger problem is finding the downed bird, especially if you hit one while they're bombing down a cliff. But I've found that if an area looks like it would hold chukar, it probably does. Good luck!

[duckmen1]

Anybody do it without dogs for chucker? Been thinking about taking an adventure sometime to try it out. Never shot them before. To make it even more of a challenge with a 410 over under. 

Before I got my shorthair, I hunted dogless all the time. More than a few times, I've bumped a covey while quail hunting at higher elevations. There have also been a few times chukar hunting that the wind is wrong, so the dog didn't necessarily help in that case.

The bigger problem is finding the downed bird, especially if you hit one while they're bombing down a cliff. But I've found that if an area looks like it would hold chukar, it probably does. Good luck!

Very cool thanks. Yeah I do pheasant and quail with the 410 and have been very successful in recovery. Almost all birds recovered. There are a few circumstances that I will pass on shots if quail get to far over deep cattails. I'll look into chuker for the future. At this point I know nothing about them or areas so will hopefully gather details on them and make a hunt in the future. Birds or no birds have fun doing it.

[KP-Skagit]

Chukar with no dog will also be a game of pick your shots, probably shooting and marking one bird at a time. They blend in very well on the ground and commonly you are hunting around large sage. Chukar country general is very repetitious and after 10 steps a landmark you thought you had can get lost.

Quite often its windy when you are hunting chukar. Try to approach rock structures in canyons that allow you to approach out of view. The birds hold in the lees but if they see you coming will tend to run.

[Naches Sportsman]

Anybody do it without dogs for chucker? Been thinking about taking an adventure sometime to try it out. Never shot them before. To make it even more of a challenge with a 410 over under. 

Did it all the time when not having a Lab. Easy peasy when you understand chukar very well.

[KP-Skagit]

Here is a summary of Ruby's first season. My first dog, my first time training a dog. Could not be more proud of her, she retrieved every bird to my hand including doubles, running birds, and sailed birds. First few hunts were in 80 degree weather. Not bad for less than a year old.

[2MANY]

Cool stuff.
My first dog was a golden too.
You made a great choice.

[Timberstalker]

That's awesome.  Looks like a great season, with many to come for that girl!

[merkelman]

Another great day...new spot