Chukar

[bbbass]

Interesting about shooting games.
Most of the shots I took, when I hunted with my dad, was right about 50 feet. Especially true for Pheasant.
50 feet = 16.67 yards....and what's the distance for trap? Yep. =)

Dean

Yeppers!!! That's what I was always told, that trap's purpose was to simulate the flush and rise of a pheasant... and it does... almost perfectly! However, trap originated in England and the targets were live pigeons released from under a hat. I don't know how they got them to fly straight away, but I'd hate to be the guy standing 16yd from a shooter with a pigeon under my hat!!!
Trapshooting was originally developed, in part, to augment bird hunting and to provide a method of practice for bird hunters. Use of targets was introduced as a replacement for live pigeons. Indeed, one of the names for the targets used in shooting games is clay pigeons.

Did you know that we shoot "American trap"... I knew about International Trap/Olympic Trap but did not know they called ours "American Trap" to me it's just "Trap"

I was reading some wiki article this morning on trap, how it came about, different kinds of trap shooting... wow, some writers are vociferous!!! This thing has got to be 100,000 words on the subject, and it has References listed: Trap shooting - Wikipedia

 

[bbbass]

A lot of people put Mossberg 500 and Remington 870 in the same class... IMO they are sorta alike, but the Mossy is much more utilitarian and the 870, while not sleek, is more classic finish. Nothin beat the forearm on my old Remington 31TC, it was perfect... finger grooves and fine cut checkering, oh my...

 

[lucky guy]

This is the best book I've read on chukar hunting. It's by a retired odfw bio. Good sense of humor, knows the birds and where to look, and gives very practical on advice on gear, dogs, guns, etc. He hunts the Oregon areas so you can get his perspective on all that. Paperback so not too spendy.

 

[lucky guy]

The light comes on!!! Those guys I hunted with... oh my... instead of hunting across we should have been hiking to the top and hunting down. Maybe glassing the top for a sentry bird before hiking up. Okay, it all makes sense to me now!

I hunt across most of the time too. If I can I start high and work down to try to find what elevation they're hanging, even if it means a long climb to start out. But I'm not in shape to go down and up all day long and never saw anyone do it. You asked about how many I hunted with at Brownlee, I usually hunt alone or with one other guy, and one or two dogs. I wasn't there the last couple years but I don't remember an RV park by the water. Last time I was there it snowed overnight and my buddy and I followed fresh cougar tracks up road out of camp, never saw it though.
We used to do 8-10 day chukar camps in SE Oregon in the winter but guys aged out and moved on. BTW, glassing ahead for the sentry bird can work, once in a while you can spot one! If they're spooky it might let you approach from a different direction to get closer.

 

[bbbass]

This is the best book I've read on chukar hunting. It's by a retired odfw bio. Good sense of humor, knows the birds and where to look, and gives very practical on advice on gear, dogs, guns, etc. He hunts the Oregon areas so you can get his perspective on all that. Paperback so not too spendy.

View attachment 580387

I don't hunt anymore but I think I'll buy a copy anyway. Thanx for sharing!

 

[bbbass]

I hunt across most of the time too. If I can I start high and work down to try to find what elevation they're hanging, even if it means a long climb to start out. But I'm not in shape to go down and up all day long and never saw anyone do it. You asked about how many I hunted with at Brownlee, I usually hunt alone or with one other guy, and one or two dogs. I wasn't there the last couple years but I don't remember an RV park by the water. Last time I was there it snowed overnight and my buddy and I followed fresh cougar tracks up road out of camp, never saw it though.
We used to do 8-10 day chukar camps in SE Oregon in the winter but guys aged out and moved on. BTW, glassing ahead for the sentry bird can work, once in a while you can spot one! If they're spooky it might let you approach from a different direction to get closer.

Ah. Yes, we were pack hunters... never went with less than 5 guys. I was kinda glad to be the guy at the bottom because I wasn't the strongest hiker. But because of the way we hunted, I did get my share of shots... just not as many as the guy at the top. I think we ran into a lot more coveys because we had so many people strung up and down the hill. Did you feel you were getting into them when alone or with one partner or that they ran away a lot?

Not sure how long ago I was at Brownlee, but there is definitely an RV Park on the Oregon side. Not sure if the one I saw was at Swede's but I remember reading about it.

Damn cougars are everywhere! For me, it was usually snakes... <shiver>... lots of rattlers.

Where did you go in SE OR for chukar? I'm not very familiar with anything outside of the 95 corridor and McDermott. I've been to Owyhee a few times, but I don't think that's really SE.

 

[lucky guy]

I enjoy the Juntura/Riverside area over to this side of Vale, 205 south of the Malheur Field Station and over to the Steens, east of Foster Flats cut off of 205 and south to the towers. I hunt from 197 towards the Deschutes once in a while, I live closest to the Deschutes but hunt it least, too many people.

I don't think I find any fewer because I'm hunting alone, but it's the dog. You need a tough, smart dog that can handle the weather and conditions, ranges out but but stays in contact. Everyone brags about their dog, me too. He's been hunting mostly chukar since 9 mos. old and gets it! He's fading now but in the day could hunt that country 3-4 days with no foot problems, etc. He has located them them from over 200 yds out and farther. He knows to go to the edge or base of ever bit of rimrock, etc. A good pointer can hold the birds long enough to get there and he does. That's kind of a description of a good chukar dog. What mine does not do is retrieve. When a bird goes down he will find it, kill it if not dead, look to make sure I see him, and move on looking for the next one! I guess dead birds are no fun! He is the deft of a meat dog. My shorthair is fine, but not as good a nose, not as tough and not as efficient on chukar. He does retrieve though, and keeps my feet warm in the tent so we keep taking him along!

So long answer to a short question - you need a good dog and good legs, you don't need a bunch of people.

 

[lucky guy]

This by Pat Wray sums up chukar hunting for a lot of us and the book too.

 

[DeanMk]

"The Desert", that sums up Black Canyon, where Dad and I used to hunt Chukar.
D-E-S-O-L-A-T-E.
It's like you're a million miles from civilization.....so imagine my surprise when we finally made to the other end of that ridge we'd usually hunt, only to find......an RV park.
...and not some little wide spot in the middle of the road.
Showers, dump stations, lots of places to park, a park for the kids to play in.
I called my dad over and showed him, then said, "Think we oughta park there next time?"

...Dad's reaction....



...

 

[DeanMk]

...oh yeah, and I noticed some posts on tactics.
We always walked just down a little from the top of the hill, with one of us about 30-50 feet below the other one.
The idea was that the dogs would flush the birds and they would fly down the hill.
As we worked our way across the ridge, the birds would eventually run back up, because that's their nature.
They fly down the hill, run back up it.
They won't flush (well, they shouldn't) until they reconverge near the top of the hill.
I don't know how many times I've had an errant Chukar scoot past me on the ground, running back up the hill.
We eventually learned that was a good indication that may be hunting too fast and were not giving the birds enough time to covey back up.
...anyway...
Once we get to the end of the ridge, or decide we've gone far enough and its time to work our way back to the truck, we hold our position and simply march back to the point where we started.
When we did it right, we'd flush all those covey's a second time on the way back.

Dean

 

[bbbass]

I live closest to the Deschutes but hunt it least, too many people.

The wife and I lived in Bend from 2004 - 2006... the housing market was insane, we bought then got out just before the 2006 slowdown. But yes, one thing that made us miserable is that we are used to NE OR where the people recreating are spread out enough that we can have an area to ourselves, but in Bend every place we went was sooooo crowded. All the lakes, and mountain bikers speeding along the trails of the Deschutes. Arrrg!

This by Pat Wray sums up chukar hunting for a lot of us and the book too.

View attachment 580483

I hate chukar. I hated chukar hunting. I don't know why I kept doing it. The challenge I guess... real men hunt chukar!

As far as loving the High Desert... uh, it's ok. The desert I really loved was the Sonora Desert where we wintered (Quartzsite), and second place would be around Salton Sea, where we hunting ducks on the Preserve in the morning, and quail all afternoon. I was stationed at USCG Air Station San Diego and one of the guys had a Brittany that was fab on quail, which are the best eating bird even tho it takes several to make a meal. Most people prefer the taste of chukar, but I like quail. We also hunted doves near Calexico and they tasted pretty good marinated with a heavy red wine. I do like chukar on the barbie, much better than pheasant.

Once we get to the end of the ridge, or decide we've gone far enough and its time to work our way back to the truck, we hold our position and simply march back to the point where we started.
When we did it right, we'd flush all those covey's a second time on the way back.

I can't remember a loner chukar running by (that's a cool story!), but I do remember turning around and hunting back. I thought the purpose was to make the other leg equally miserable, but we did flush a few coveys again.

 

[bbbass]

I don't think I find any fewer because I'm hunting alone, but it's the dog. You need a tough, smart dog that can handle the weather and conditions, ranges out but but stays in contact. Everyone brags about their dog, me too. He's been hunting mostly chukar since 9 mos. old and gets it! He's fading now but in the day could hunt that country 3-4 days with no foot problems, etc. He has located them them from over 200 yds out and farther. He knows to go to the edge or base of ever bit of rimrock, etc. A good pointer can hold the birds long enough to get there and he does. That's kind of a description of a good chukar dog. What mine does not do is retrieve. When a bird goes down he will find it, kill it if not dead, look to make sure I see him, and move on looking for the next one! I guess dead birds are no fun! He is the deft of a meat dog. My shorthair is fine, but not as good a nose, not as tough and not as efficient on chukar. He does retrieve though, and keeps my feet warm in the tent so we keep taking him along!

I love reading about upland dogs! ..... Thx!!

I was thinking that English Setters don't retrieve. I can't really remember. One of the top contenders at our club's field trials bred English Setters and Gordon Setters... He almost always won with those fabulous dogs of his. They were so energetic and had great noses, just like my liver shorthair, and I was glad to be in competing in the lower dog age bracket.

Here's an interesting article on the diff between British raised English Setters, and Italian raised (it also has a like to caring for retiring setters): The retrieving instinct in pointers and setters - The Field

 

[bbbass]

I enjoy the Juntura/Riverside area over to this side of Vale, 205 south of the Malheur Field Station and over to the Steens, east of Foster Flats cut off of 205 and south to the towers.

That's interesting. I've been to Juntura on our way from Ontario to Bend but not Riverside. I remember those rocky canyons along the highway. In fact, we had a tire fire on our trailer along the road and there is no room to pull over. It wasn't fun.

As far as I've gone into the Malheur was when I was on the fire at French Glen with a comms trailer. It was all brushy hills in that area. Miserable damn skeeters but no chukar around French Glen.

 

[lucky guy]

I love reading about upland dogs! ..... Thx!!

I was thinking that English Setters don't retrieve. I can't really remember. One of the top contenders at our club's field trials bred English Setters and Gordon Setters... He almost always won with those fabulous dogs of his. They were so energetic and had great noses, just like my liver shorthair, and I was glad to be in competing in the lower dog age bracket.

Here's an interesting article on the diff between British raised English Setters, and Italian raised (it also has a like to caring for retiring setters): The retrieving instinct in pointers and setters - The Field

Thanks for the link. Some do, this setter won back to back national championships a few years ago. I bought a straw of his semen with a guy to try to get a litter from him, didn't take he said. That little female would mark and retrieve like a lab. It could have been a great litter. My setter did grudgingly retrieve in his final training test and let the breeder off the hook, but I never force fetched him to make it solid.


That was good timing on exiting Bend. Anymore I only go if forced to for something, otherwise not. Even with the growth in Bend I seldom run into anybody in those areas in SE Oregon. I don't think it's chukar hunters flocking to Bend these days, if so they're wearing some funny hunting spandex that I've never seen in the field. lol So there aren't that many people that really get out and hunt chukar in those areas, you have to really want to. I can hunt mid-week too so that helps. NE Oregon is a little farther away, I don't hunt with anyone that knows it very well. I do hunt around the John Day a bit, I run into more people there - closer to pdx?

 

[lucky guy]

I can't remember a loner chukar running by (that's a cool story!), but I do remember turning around and hunting back. I thought the purpose was to make the other leg equally miserable, but we did flush a few coveys again.

Twice I've been sitting and resting the dog after busting a covey, and had part of the coveys try to walk past us 15-20 yds away on their way back up the hill. Once on Riddle Mt. and once above the ODFW Riverside property by the towers. Dog heard them both times. On Riddle Ben alerted and stood up, covey popped, I had a handful of ham and cheese instead of my shotgun. Damned birds.

 

[bbbass]

wearing some funny hunting spandex

Bend is the biking capitol of Central Oregon. They drove me nuts! Bikers everywhere on the trails, and so impatient on the street (flipping me off for turning in front when he was 100yds away). Bend is second only to Portland for bikers.

I've been back to Bend a few times when I was still going to wildfires with the comms trailer. Oh man, it's gotten even bigger since 2006. I was working fire from the Prineville airport and went into Redmond and Bend for shopping at times. Good food. But I found a sign that said Redmond Black Rifles and I had to go check it out... wound up buying a Cerakoted AR lower from them.

 

[lucky guy]

That's interesting bbbass.

It sounds like you may have been standing on the lower part of the hill, so the birds were flushed down towards you.

I bet you could see vapor trails coming off their wings when they got down to him!

Don't get me started on the bikes.

 

[bbbass]

Twice I've been sitting and resting the dog after busting a covey, and had part of the coveys try to walk past us 15-20 yds away on their way back up the hill. Once on Riddle Mt. and once above the ODFW Riverside property by the towers. Dog heard them both times. On Riddle Ben alerted and stood up, covey popped, I had a handful of ham and cheese instead of my shotgun. Damned birds.

Damned birds!!! Got that right!!!

One time when I was hunting pheasants in a weed field (this field was one that I had seen a blackpowder hunter come out with a brace of pheasants few seasons back), I had hunted thru the neck high weeds with no dog. It was before I got my first shorthair. Anyway, I got to the very back corner where two fences met up and I had to pizz really badly. I safed the Ithaca 37 and leaned it against the corner fence post (I know, not safe!). I was in the middle of doing my business when a pheasant flushed just a few feet away and flew just above the neck high weeds. Those wings and the typical squawk on takeoff so close really startled me. "Dang" I thought. "Oh well". Then a few seconds later, another. Same response. Then 3 more, all before I could get back to picking up the 12ga and getting a shot off. Every bird had to be the last one, and besides I wasn't finished with my business! Damn birds!!!

Not to mention the chukar that flew straight over my head, and was going so fast that I broke the shot nearly straight up, and then proceeding to somersault over and down the hill aways. Ouch... damn birds!!

 

[lucky guy]

Ouch! That country can hurt you! Time for some pics!

Bad news for a chukar! He's always had that little snarl when he's on a bird.

Duke learning the ropes

camp

It can be tiring for a young pup

Duke and a mouthful of chukar

My buddy's pic but about my favorite of the Steens area

 

[lucky guy]

A few more.

Brownlee again.

Ben's first day home

Malheur basin and Steens in the distance

Ben on one.