The Trials and Tribulations of Chukar (a Brittany)

[10Key]

October 8th:

Off we went to a large piece of public land in central Washington. The goal was to find some quail and get Chukar more exposure to wild birds. We arrived in the parking lot, I loaded up my gear and released Chukar.

We were hunting a creek bottom, which looked promising by the way, as well as some shrub/steppe land a bit higher on the trail.

We worked the creek bottom for a mile or two and did not encounter a single "game" bird. This was discouraging, but the weather was amazing and the scenery wasn't bad either. Chukar was covering a ton of ground and having a blast, not much more I could ask for.

Here is a short video of Chukar working the grass along the creek:

Chukar bouncing for birds

We continued along the creek and came to some very brushy areas that looked very birdy...I call Chukar back into range and he starts getting birdy, he's onto something. I was rejuvenated then, I quickly got in position as I knew there was something in there. Chukar pointed and held, what  beautiful sight. As I approached to try and flush whatever was in there, I heard a loud, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...As it turns out, Chukar had pointed a large red-tail hawk. Even though it wasn't a huge covey of quail, I was stoked as Chukar had held his point!

Here is a shot of Chukar working the deep grass:



We continued up the trail, which gained some elevation and turned away from the creek. In all honesty, the ground we were moving into didn't look too birdy, but it was good because it was so open. It gave Chukar and I a chance to work a large area and see how we reacted to each other...As soon as I was about to write off this spot, I see a large hen pheasant flush out in front of us. As it turns out, Chukar had winded this bird, but the bird ran until I got close enough to it that it decided to flush...cool I thought.

Here is Chukar in his most stoic pose:



We kept working the area as we headed back down the trail...Chukar was going nuts in some three-feet tall grass, he looked birdy to me. I caught up to him and all of a sudden, three hens flushed up the hillside, about 50 yards away from us. I think Chukar picked up the scent of the birds, but they were too wily for my pup and ran before flushing way out of range.

By this time, I had hiked about 6 miles, 4 in and two back and we were both getting hot and tired. I could see it Chukar's demeanor, I had underestimated our water needs which contributed to the stress. We hightailed it to the creek so Chukar could take a dip...Well, I lost track of Chukar. I called and called and he didn't respond. We were out of touch for about 10 to 15 minutes. I just happened to look back and Chukar had doubled back, I assume following my scent, back up the hill. Luckily he is so white, he stuck out like a sore thumb. He was at least a quarter mile away on high ground, I gave out a loud Chukar call and he stopped dead in his tracks, turned around and started back my way...Few, that wasn't fun...Time for an e-collar

We reunited and made a bee-line to the creek:



The hike back was fairly uneventful until I stopped to take a picture and almost stepped on a rattler! I turned and there he was, buzzing away staring at me...I was going to leave him be, but he was close to the main trail and Chukar was showing too much interest, I shot it a few times and made Chukar realize that these things aren't to be messed with.

Overall, it was a fun hunt and I learned a ton about the area and Chukar. I have said it before, but WHOA is a must and an e-collar is in our very near future...I am in the process of tracking down a barrel to assist is whoa training, as I type.

[10Key]

October 9th:

We were back at the shooting preserve (Squaw Canyon Shooters in Rosalia BTW) and we had to get out of town by noon or so. We woke after sleeping like loggers and decided to head out early to see if there were any roosters ranging the property. We took of and hunted for about 45 minutes. When we got back I decided we would wrangle up some chukar and plant them in the hunting area, one last chance for Chukar to get around birds and for me to get some shooting in.

I planted 6 chukar and headed back to the house to grab Chukar and load up my other gear. We arrived at where I wanted to start the hunt and I released Chukar, knowing that there were planted birds within 100 yards of our starting point. Off we went, working with the wind (which wasn't smart on my part) that was blowing 20+, this made it tough on us, Chukar to get wind and for me shooting

We got close to a thick brush patch that I knew held a dizzied chukar and I directed Chukar to the area, it seemed that the wind really was affecting Chukar's ability to scent birds...Anyways, he eventually located the bird, flash pointed and proceeded to try and catch the bird. The bird flushed and caught the wind...LATER! I shot at the bird twice (yeah, I know I shouldn't shoot at a bird flushed by Chukar, but I couldn't resist) and I missed both. Not a great experience, but better then sitting at home.

We kept on towards the next plant spot that I had dropped two birds in. This spot was two large trees that were THICK...Chukar caught scent of a bird, I was on one side, he was on the other. The bird flushed and I could not see what exactly happened, all well. Off to the next spot.

On the way over, Chukar flushed a hen pheasant that was HOT! Chukar pursued for about a 150 yards before he realized that he wasn't going to catch the bird.

A couple more plants were out there and we continued on, the next planted bird we came across, Chukar actually was able to mouth the bid before it flew...Great, I had to give him a nudge with my boot to get him to release it and allow the bird to fly. I let that bird fly back to Pullman. We worked towards the spot that I knew the first bird we worked had landed. Again, I knew exactly where the bird was, but Chukar was having a tough time with the wind. We stayed at it and Chukar was able to located it and point it! He held point for a few seconds and moved in for a bite...before he could do that, the bird flushed, I shot and dropped the chukar with my follow up at 20 yards. We went over to the bird, Chukar laid down and played with the bird a bit and I picked it up...We need to work on that retriever stuff!

So the plant hunt didn't go so well, but I was able to get some shooting in and Chukar was exposed ti hunting in the stiff wind, which was good. That ended the weekend, quail is next weekend!

[Skyvalhunter]

nice looking dog, thats why I love my brittany

[10Key]

October 15, 2010:

I was able to track down a barrel to start some of the training techniques that jetjockey and others have described. Here is a shot of Chukar being introduced to his new buddy:



He wasn't too impressed initially, that might be at least partly attributable to the fact that the barrel was used for vinegar...I think I need to rinse it out...maybe.

I moved it from the middle of the yard to up against the deck and I wedged a piece of wood on the other side to make the barrel as stable as possible. I then called Chukar over, picked him up and plopped him on top of the barrel, boy was he not digging this. I tried my best to encourage him and pose him the best I could before I released him. We did this again and he did a bit better, but he was still nervous around the barrel. I got the introduction done, that was my goal. I will get some shots of us with the barrel as we progress.

[thinkingman]

Great thread, great progress.
Way to go!
Keep us updated.

[10Key]

November 1, 2010:

The stars aligned and we were able to get away on Monday for a hunt out east. We left Bothell around 6:30 to torrential downpour, oh great I thought. We were headed to the Yakima Valley for a go at quail, hopefully the weather would clear after we crested the pass...Thank goodness it did.

We made it to a spot that I had brush-kicked in the past, we had always got into quail, but we rarely, if ever dropped any. It is super thick and the birds either hold tight in the thick stuff or flush out of reach. Anyways, I let Chukar out of his kennel and he hit the ground running. Recall that it has been several weeks since we have been out and it showed. Chukar was super excited, but I could tell he wasn't in tip-top shape and he may have "forgot" exactly what he was smelling for

We worked a large area by the river and I heard commotion over a berm...darn single flushed behind both Chukar and I. I don't even think he smelled it. This was pretty much how the hunt went at this location, we encountered a few more birds, no covies. They all flushed out of range and Chukar never pointed any of them. Chukar did have fun with some tweety-birds, he ran through some bushes that left him with some gifts. Here are the remnants of the gifts:



We loaded up and headed west to the next spot. Chukar passed out on the drive, he was beat! We made it and off we went up a creek canyon in search of some chukar or any other gamebird for that matter. Here is a pick of Chukar taking a rest on our hike up:



We continued our journey, zig-zagging the creek bottom, working up draws here and there. Chukar was birdy a couple of times, flash pointed, but nothing ever flew at this location. After about an hour and a half, the rain moved in and flushed us out of the canyon. It wasn't a tremendous day, but it was nice to see some birds and get out on a week day. Hopefully we will get into some more birds this coming weekend.



...to be continued

[WABONEHNTR]

Hey good write-up.  Looks like I might get some time off coming up.  My dog is ready for a good day of bird hunting.  Finally got all of the cactus out of her feet. 

[10Key]

November 6th, 2010:

We headed out early Saturday morning in hopes of tracking down some birds, quail and Chukar to be exact. Ideally, I wanted Chukar to gain more exposure to birds of any kind. The area we went holds upland game of all varieties as well as grouse. Right before we parked, we ran into a small covey of quail, things looked promising.

We hit the trail about 8:30 and started our assent up the trail along a creek. We walked and walked, with Chukar blazing the trail ahead of me. About a mile into it, I just wasn't getting a great feeling of the area. It was heavily wooded and thick with brush, not exactly upland terrain. Up the west side of the canyon was steep and I mean STEEP! it looked very birdy, the kind of place chukar would love to hang out...Up we went. Within the first 50 yards I was struggling and Chukar kept looking back as if to say, "Are we really going to the top?!". We pushed on, after 30 minutes of trudging up and over screed and boulders, following a deer trail we made it to the top, without jumping any birds of course. Here is Chukar catching a breather:



We pushed on, hunting the top of the canyon which was a large plateau with scattered rock and isolated brush piles. We followed the canyon up-creek, but stayed on top. We did this for about 2 miles, without seeing any sign of birds. The weather was perfect and the area looked great, but it just wasn't happening. I decided to drop back down to the canyon and head back. After taking it easy down the steep canyon wall, we were back to the trail along the creek. I was getting discouraged and my mind was wondering...of course, that is when a pair of grouse flushed from a tree in front of me and behind Chukar. The first bird made it out of sight before my gun was to my shoulder, the second one was about to turn a corner when I fired of a shot...No dice. it was good to see birds, but I wish I wasn't asleep at the wheel. We made it back to the car, ate and loaded up.

We headed west to the other end of this property and drove up a major canyon, which looked good. We were winding up the switch-backed road as I "scouted" from the driver's seat...We made it to a spot that gave me a great vantage point of this canyon and I thought to myself, if there are any quail within 10 miles of here, they will be in this canyon. I woke up Chukar and we headed downhill.

We were hugging the brushy creek bottom, in hopes of Chukar picking up the scent of a bird, the wind was in our face, perfect set up I thought. We kept working downhill and I saw movement to my right, two muley does busted out ahead of us, we were being pretty noisy. Luckily, Chuakr did not pay any attention.

Eventually we crossed the creek, continuing to work downhill. We came to a spot that the brush butted up against the canyon...Chukar got birdy! he was sniffing like a madman, running around through this really thick stuff, he couldn't quite figure out what was going on. I approached and as I did, about 20 quail flushed! About half went uphill and the other half went downhill. I concentrated on the downhill group, popped off two shots and missed, of course.

We were both excited as we chased the downhill group, in hopes of jumping them again. We crossed back over the creek and within minutes, flushed a couple of the quail. I concentrated on a bird that was crossing the creek downhill and fired. I dropped in with my second shot of 20 gauge 2 3/4" 6 shot. The bird fell into some really thick stuff and I thought, oh crap. Chukar doesn't quite have the whole fetch thing down on real birds and I didn't feel like bushwhacking...We made our way over there and I tried to get Chukar excited and make him aware that there was a downed bird in the area, within a couple of minutes, he was freaking out and flash-pointing, repositioning and going ape-nuts. I knew the downed bird was near. I made my way though the thick stuff and was able to see the downed bird as Chukar grabbed it in an attempt to claim it as his own. I commanded "Drop-it" and he did. So it was, our first wild bird together! What a great moment, one i will not soon forget. Here is Chukar in all his glory:



After that, I didn't care if we saw another bird, I was getting tired anyways and I knew he was too. We made our way back up the canyon towards the car. We ended up jumping a bird or two more, but they all held tight to the thick stuff and I didn't get off another shot.

It ended up being a fun trip, to an area we had never been. I can't wait to get out again.

[10Key]

November 17th, 2010:

No pics from today's hunt, save for the memories ingrained into Chukar's and my mind. On a tip from wabonehntr, we headed out to a spot that is large from an acreage perspective and holds quail and pheasant. We had this trip planned for today since last week. I made sure to clear my work schedule well in advance Last night I was up in the air due to the storm that was supposed to move though today. We played it by ear, woke up, checked the pass and went for it, I am glad we did.

Going into this trip, as with every hunt Chukar and I go on, I really was hoping for him to get into some quail, to improve on his pointing skills as well as his steadiness. Well, it all worked out!

We exited the car and I made a plan to use the wind on the way into this spot and try to zig-zag on the way back. The wind picked up over the day, which ended up making it tough in the afternoon, on Chukar and me

Within 20 minutes of exiting the car, we found a promising looking stand of trees, that was surrounded by large sage. Chukar was circling into the wind and I whistled him over, as he came towards me, I closed the distance as well. Right in between us, 6 or 7 quail flushed! As per my usual M.O., I was caught sleeping/watching Chukar's reaction, bam-bam, no dead birds! Well that sucked, right? Not so fast, while I was blowing the opportunity at dropping a bird or two, Chukar was absolutely frozen! He didn't even break until my second shot, dude is seriously figuring this out! A major improvement over previous experiences. There wasn't a point in this case, but he didn't flush the birds, so it was all good for me.

On we went, me now awake and Chukar now in hyper-drive. We made our way to the next good looking spot. As we did, Chukar came back to check-in and got super-birdy, held a point for 3 or 4 seconds, into the wind. I approached and he repositioned, circling several large sage bushes, I thought for sure there was going to be a big rooster in one of those shrubs, not so much. He kept slinking around, trying to pin-point the scent, but he never did...The darn wind that I mentioned earlier was seriously playing tricks, that and I know there were at least a couple of wiley roosters in the area that were probably running all over the place, just out of his reach.

I ended up flushing another covey of quail that Chukar seemed to have overscented (I didn't think overlooked applied here) and I missed again, all well. We kept at it, on a hunt that ended up being 4.5 hours long and covered 7-8 miles (judging by feet). We didn't have any other close encounters with birds, but we did push a doe early in the day and a small buck later in the day.

I can really see the difference between Chukar two months ago and today and I attribute the change to exposing him to birds and wild birds here lately. It amazes me the skill and instinct that this dog has and I truly look forward to each and every day that we can get into the field. Oh yeah, one more thing, the place we went was a huge, relatively flat area, prior to today we had only hunted "mountainous" type places. It was nice to see this dog range and cover ground, especially with the wind playing tricks on him.

[ribka]

I enjoy your stories. Yep, your dog will mature and you will have to keep up with him.
That is why I love hunting with a good dog

[10Key]

November 21, 2010:

Wow, what a day! I coaxed my wife to come out today to see Chukar huntin' 'em up, boy, did that work out! Not only did Chukar have his best day ever and she witnessed it, a ton of the action was captured on film. This will be a heavy pic post, so bear with me.

A quick overview, there wasn't a ton of dropped birds (I suck), but it seems that the switch has flipped for Chukar. From the 17th to today, he made strides that I cannot believe, read on.

We made it to the spot at about 10am, we locked, loaded, bundled up and off we went. It didn't take long for Chukar to get in the groove. Here we are on our way to the promise land!



The first 30 to 45 minutes were super slow and cold by the way, we didn't see anything moving save for a couple of other hunters and some waterfowl. We kept at it...when out of nowhere a quail flushed right at the feet of my wife, I think she left a treat on the trail after that experience. That got the fire burning again...No sooner did I turn back from that quail flushing, to see Chukar out front locked up! I made sure my wife saw what was happening and I scurried up to Chukar, here he is, pointing what turned out to be a covey of ~10 quail:



I got there and flushed them, most of the group flushed out of sight, but there was a single I blasted off two late rounds at...nada. But back to Chukar! The dude performed exactly as planned...He located the birds with his sniffer, locked up and waited for me to come over and flush. He doesn't even go ape nuts when they fly, he tends to release when I shoot. We were so proud of him, that we were at the point that it didn't matter what happened next. We could have packed up and left right then and it would have been a success...But it gets better.

We kept working the same area that the covey flushed towards, we knew they didn't go far. Not 50 yards down the trail, Chukar was on point again! My wife exclaimed, get over there and take care of business! I put some pep into my step and made it over to Chukar. He was frozen solid on point, I kicked the sage and out popped a single, I dropped it with one shot. We have yet to work too much on the "retrieve", so I located the bird and invited Chukar over to join me. Here are a few shots of us in our glory:





Chukar ended up pointing two more of the original covey and I blew the shots. I will say that they were tough shots, into the sun and stiff breeze Here are a couple more cool shots from today:



Chukar sniffing a buck skull that I found. It had "shed" it's antlers already



So, by this time, we are about 90 minutes into the hunt, Chukar has transformed into a legit pointer. He had 4 legit points under his belt, mom was proud and dad was elated! We kept working the ground and we didn't see much after that original covey. Chukar got birdy a couple of times, but no birds. There were several other hunters working the area, so we decided to give them a wide berth and start the ~2 mile hike back to the rig.

On the way back, we were getting tired from the early start, we began to reminisce over the moments of the day...Low and behold, we were crossing a nondescript gully between two sand dunes and Chukar locks up! We were literally 500 yards from the rig, I re-awake and head over to him. He is frozen solid on a piece of sage brush. I kick around and look, nothing. Chukar moves a couple yards and starts going in circles, from behind us, an explosion! A beautiful hen pheasant flushes from the underbrush, I yell "Hen" and my wife yells "why didn't you shoot?!"  :)What a great way to end the day, a perfect point on a tough, wild hen pheasant.

Not too long ago, I inquired about a bird launcher as Chukar was not pointing, let alone holding on birds...Two trips to quail country and Chukar has shifted gears! Not only is he pointing, but he is holding steady! It truly was a great site and I am so glad my wife was there to experience it. It still amazes me that so much of what he did today was innate.

Also, thanks to all for the great tips along the way, this has been a great ride and I can't wait to continue it.

[10Key]

December 10th:

We headed to central Washington for a Friday afternoon/Saturday morning hunt, things started off great...save for the snow! We hit the sandy road that we drive to enter some public ground and it had 6-8" of snow on it, dang I thought. We downshifted my car into first, switched off the traction control and went for it. We made it to the "parking lot" and I proceeded to swap boots and prep my other paraphernalia for the day's hunt. I was ready to release Chukar and I caught a covey of about 40 quail flush 250 yards from the car. Sweet I thought, we headed into the direction I saw them head. Within 15 minutes a single flushed behind me. 5 minutes later, Chukar got birdy and another single flushed about 50 yards from us. Getting into action right out of the rig is great, even if the terrain you are working is covered with 3-5" of crusted snow. This made it difficult for me to walk, but even more difficult for my Brit. It took him quite a while to get the hang of navigating the crusty snow that he would break through most of the time.

We kept working the area that I knew held dozens of birds, then it happened, the first point of the day! I approached, kicked the piece of sage that the bird was in and it flushed...I mean, they flushed, there was a pair of birds in there. I swung the 20 gauge in their direction and fired off two quick shots. As you know if you have followed this narrative from the beginning, I suck at shooting, especially the first opportunity of the day, so you know what happened. Both Chukar and I were excited now, despite the tough conditions and out sense of awareness was at its peak. We kept on working.

The next point came a few minutes later with Chukar locked up on a small sage bush. I walked up, kicked the bush and out flew a single female quail. I was a bit more patient this time, taking time to shoulder, get a decent sight picture and squeeze off two rounds. The first shot missed, the second shot winger the bird...as it fluttered int he air and took a nose dive into the crusty snow. I thought for sure that the bird would be down, right where I saw it land, not so much.

We searched the area that I thought the bird went down and we couldn't find it. I could tell Chukar was smelling something, but he just couldn't nail down its location. We circled and circled and finally Chukar located the bird, he pointed. I trudged my way over and took a peak, there was the bird I hit, sitting there. I gaave it a kick and off she flew! I peeled off another shot and she went down solid across a small depression back towards where we started. Again, this damn bird hit the ground, ran and hunkered down int he base a a sage bush. We finally found it and sealed the deal.

We never got into anymore of that covey, which was disappointing, but it was great to start the day off with that action. We headed into another direction where we've had luck in the past...We hunted for another 3 hours and didn't see another bird.

The weekend trip was cut short by Chukar's episode with myoglobinuria (see here: http://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php/topic,63888.0.html )

 

[Ellensburg]

Good right up. How old is your dog? I will start a thread like this next year when I have a full season with my springer pupster

[10Key]

Chukar is now 13.5 months, this is his first season. All of the training we have done has been on our own...With the great assistance of the members of this site, other sites, a buddy or two, books and trial and error. It truly has been a great experience from start to present.

[10Key]

December 25th/26th/27th, 2010:

We headed east for Christmas, just after doing our thing on the westside Christmas morning. I despise dogs in any type of clothing or props, but I had to relax a bit as my mom had a Santa outfit ready for Chukar when we arrived the afternoon of Christmas:



We went to bed looking forward to the morning as we planned to hit the field to see if we could find any quail or pheasant in some spots that has held birds int he past. The wife decided to head out with us and I am glad she did, it was a great time.

We parked the car about a quarter mile from the end of a dirt road that ended right where the river swept abruptly to the south. Right at the corner, I have spooked up so many pheasant back in my brush kicking days, I knew we were going to at least see something. We headed down and as soon as we went to drop down the small bank, about a dozen quail flushed and a pheasant or two (hens). We were excited and so was Chukar. We kept working our side of the river in hopes of finding the remnants of the covey. Not 50 yards heading the direction of the covey, two singles blasted out of the thick Russian olive and blackberry bushes. Chukar did not point these birds, but they weren't holding very well this day. I blasted off two shots and winged a bird on my second shot. We walked up to where the bird dropped...we couldn't find it. I knew the bird was still alive and was scurrying along the underbrush, burying itself ever-deeper and out of reach. We looked around and decided to continue to look for the rest of the covey and come back to this spot on our way back.

We kept hunting and we kicked out another pheasant, I didn't get a good look at it, not sure if it was a hen or a rooster. Those damn things love to play around with Chukar. Each and every time we have found a pheasant, they run and run and run...The only rooster he's pinned was a pen raised bird on one of his first hunts. The weather was turning for the worse, we decided to turn back towards the car, hunt a small patch of standing weeds and give one more look for that quail.

Well, we started off, with Chukar out ahead a bit. He disappeared off into the brush, opposite of the direction of the patch I wanted to hunt. We stopped and I gave him a holler...After a minute or so, he came barreling out of the bushes, with that bird in tow! It was quite a sight, he has never really retrieved on his own. It was so cool to see, especially for my wife! Here is a proud hunter and even more proud pup!:



We rejoiced and headed over to the last patch I wanted to hunt, this patch has held birds in the past, but I have never been able to seal that deal as they usually bust way out. Right away, Chukar was getting birdy, he was on something. Judging by his demeanor, I suspected it was another hen...Then he locked up and I headed over to the pile of brush. I kicked around a bit and a bird flushed about 15 yards from us. It was a hen...DARN!

Back to the car we headed, with Chukar pretty far out front. Next thing we know, we hear the tell-tail sound of a flushing rooster. Dang it I thought, I wish Chukar was in tighter. In all honesty, I don't think it would have mattered if Chukar was in tighter, those darn things have been so spooky right now, flushing way out. We packed up and headed to the next spot.

...To be continued