New to WA, Chukar or Quail or both?

[teej89]

Relocating to WA in October and I have a 4.5yr old lab that's a great pheasant dog, granted the pheasants in PA are all 100% pen raised...

I want to give chukar or quail a shot this fall as the openness and "wild bird" aspect has an appeal to me. I've never hunted either, my dog is a flusher, works fast but tight within 20yds and I can easily keep him closer using soft verbal commands.

Would you recommend going after one bird more than the other? I see quail has a greater harvest than chukar, would I have more of an opportunity at quail over chukar? I've read and heard chukar are in some nasty country, which hiking steep is not an issue but if they're far and few between is it worth it for a newbie to WA. I guess where my focus would be better spent, chasing quail or chukar?

[bracer40]

You can get into far more quail opportunities easier than you will chukar AND you’ll put fewer miles in......however, the country, views and workouts you’ll get chukar hunting can’t be beat with any other birds (except maybe blue & spruce grouse).

I’ve always hunted behind my Brittanies and quail were always fun because they tended to hold tight until I got in to flush them.

[Samloffler]

Where are you going to be living? There are tons more quail around than chuckers and they're way easier to get too. Your dog shouldn't have any issues once you stumble across a couple.

[CackleBird98]

Like everyone else asking, where at in the state?  I live in the southeast corner and do a lot of pheasant and quail hunting, wanting to give chukar a try this year tho.  But honestly, quail are gonna be everywhere you go, and you'll get pheasants too.  Anywhere there's brush near water you'll find quail.  Not as much work as chukar either

[teej89]

I’ll be up in Seattle, we were relocated there. However I figured I’ll be driving 2+ hours to get into quail/chukar country so I’ll make a weekend of it and camp out.

Sounds like chukar is a steeper learning curve than quail from what I’m gathering.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[jagermiester]

I would say both you can get into quail Chukar and Huns in many areas

[teej89]

I would say both you can get into quail Chukar and Huns in many areas

Ha! I had to google what a hun was. Oh man I have a lot to learn...

[nwwanderer]

Wild roosters run and flush or not at great distances, quarter mile might be a close one.  Your dog will come back and look at you 'what just happened'.  Keep at it

[teej89]

Wild roosters run and flush or not at great distances, quarter mile might be a close one.  Your dog will come back and look at you 'what just happened'.  Keep at it

Haha that’s great! He mostly flushed but he’ll point if they hold tight, mostly windy days. One windy day he was pointing a bird and had the rooster run on em, the clown caught up to it and grabbed it. I’m sure wild roosters are faster tho.

I don’t condone it but I thought it would flush so I didn’t call him off.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[T-Bone]

https://wdfw.wa.gov/hunting/requirements/upland-birds

[ribka]

If your
Dogs only exposure has been pen raised pheasant he would probably do ok on quail

Chukar , huns and wild pheasant completely different behavior but if dog is young and you can get him a lot of exposure and he has good genes probably do ok

Wild roosters run and flush or not at great distances, quarter mile might be a close one.  Your dog will come back and look at you 'what just happened'.  Keep at it

Haha that’s great! He mostly flushed but he’ll point if they hold tight, mostly windy days. One windy day he was pointing a bird and had the rooster run on em, the clown caught up to it and grabbed it. I’m sure wild roosters are faster tho.

I don’t condone it but I thought it would flush so I didn’t call him off.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[metlhead]

As an avid upland hunter, my advice would be to chase quail until you learn a lot of country and begin to locate areas that may hold chukar. This will prolly hurt many folks feelings, but you can easily burn out a Laborador searching for birds in the large open expanses that chukar inhabit. Easier access areas that make for short hunts are known and can get pounded. If you can drive the areas, that is yourbest bet. Chukar and quail can share the same habitats, so in time you should be able to locate coveys. BTW,  I have long running pointer, and we average 17 miles a day on our adventure hunts, Nevada even more. Two days of unbelievable drive, and he is almost dead. Can barely carry enough water. Hopefully you dont need to trapse that far. Good luck out there

[ribka]

As an avid upland hunter, my advice would be to chase quail until you learn a lot of country and begin to locate areas that may hold chukar. This will prolly hurt many folks feelings, but you can easily burn out a Laborador searching for birds in the large open expanses that chukar inhabit. Easier access areas that make for short hunts are known and can get pounded. If you can drive the areas, that is yourbest bet. Chukar and quail can share the same habitats, so in time you should be able to locate coveys. BTW,  I have long running pointer, and we average 17 miles a day on our adventure hunts, Nevada even more. Two days of unbelievable drive, and he is almost dead. Can barely carry enough water. Hopefully you dont need to trapse that far. Good luck out there

Yep

Typically Need an athletic big running dog for chukar like a pointer or gsp
 
I have a griff and huntn pockets known to hold chukar and huns. My dog typically does 12 plus miles a day per gps

If pace myself hunting and not too hot can get 3 days out of her but she gets a lot work year round

[teej89]

I’m trying to slow him down, he comes out like a bat outta hell and I understand  it’s going to be a higher mileage game, fortunately he has a fantastic blood line, great training and we run every day and train at least 4 days a week.  We’re temporarily in a new location but we used to hike 4 miles every day after work so his cardio is pretty solid.

As long as heat isn’t involved the dog can runs miles and miles without stopping. But my end goal is to get him more involved in ducks and back on his hunt tests. I’m looking at buying a pointer once the fiancée and I get a house within the next year.

I appreciate all the input tho! I think we'll keep our focus on quails as to not burn him out just yet on chasing chukar. I'll definitely try it a couple times this fall for fun, my plan would be to leash the pup till we get to where we're hunting.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[ribka]

The chukar slopes can be very steep and rocky. The basalt can be really tough on your dogs feet too

I’m trying to slow him down, he comes out like a bat outta hell and I understand  it’s going to be a higher mileage game, fortunately he has a fantastic blood line, great training and we run every day and train at least 4 days a week.  We’re temporarily in a new location but we used to hike 4 miles every day after work so his cardio is pretty solid.

As long as heat isn’t involved the dog can runs miles and miles without stopping. But my end goal is to get him more involved in ducks and back on his hunt tests. I’m looking at buying a pointer once the fiancée and I get a house within the next year.

I appreciate all the input tho! I think we'll keep our focus on quails as to not burn him out just yet on chasing chukar. I'll definitely try it a couple times this fall for fun, my plan would be to leash the pup till we get to where we're hunting.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[brocka]

As an avid upland hunter, my advice would be to chase quail until you learn a lot of country and begin to locate areas that may hold chukar. This will prolly hurt many folks feelings, but you can easily burn out a Laborador searching for birds in the large open expanses that chukar inhabit. Easier access areas that make for short hunts are known and can get pounded. If you can drive the areas, that is yourbest bet. Chukar and quail can share the same habitats, so in time you should be able to locate coveys. BTW,  I have long running pointer, and we average 17 miles a day on our adventure hunts, Nevada even more. Two days of unbelievable drive, and he is almost dead. Can barely carry enough water. Hopefully you dont need to trapse that far. Good luck out there

This is great advice. My situation is very similar. My GSPs collar will say about 20 - 24 miles after a LONG day of quail/rooster hunting. If we hit the chukar hills, he has about 6 - 8 miles in him before he is done for the day.

[AspenBud]

Make sure your dog, and you, are both in top shape if you intend to hunt chukar.

[John B]

In WA we have pheasant, quail, chukar, hungarian partridge and grouse. On the westside we have grouse (ruffed, blue and spruce) and quail (california, mountain and bobwhite). I have never seen mountain quail or bobwhite, and rarely find quail while hunting westside. If you really want to hunt chukar, it can be done with a lab. Once you find them (I won't tell you where) you can hunt them without covering too many miles. They hold better late season with the colder weather. They also hold in little to no cover, trust your dog's nose and be ready for a steep learning curve. Quail are all over E WA, usually close to water. They fly much faster and more erratic than pen raised pheasant. We do have rattlesnakes in E WA, they're not terribly common, but be aware during early season.

Yakima indian reservation has good quail hunting, but requires a separate license. If you decide to hunt there, be aware car break ins/theft is a concern. Pheasant hunting on the rez hasn't been great the last few years, but they are around