Chukar

[lucky guy]

Last few, dang, hadn't seen some of these in a while.

My buddy's late Bodie, most stylish dog I ever hunted with.

Camp at Juntura

Deep in Owyhee country, you can see the rig left center by the frozen creek. Along with the pics of Brownlee, this pic has most of the types of terrain for chukar hunting. Cheatgrass, the flat on top, 3-10' of rimrock down to a long steep sidehill rock garden. I'd guess in this pic we're about 1500' above the rig. You can see a large sage flat in the distance, also will hold birds. Hunt to the very edge, not 50' short, to the edge, they will hold at the rim like a pheasant at the end of a patch of cover.


OP, you're gonna have a lot of fun! Is it October yet?

 

[DeanMk]

This is a good point and matters a lot if you're hunting over dogs. With the low flight patterns down and around you, on bad footing, it's easy to swing onto a dog - your flusher out front or your pointer that you just walked past to flush the covey. More of a problem with unbroke dogs in the excitement of a covey flushing.
Just me, but I would not take a first time bird hunter chukar hunting - not the place to start someone out imo. They need to get used to the dogs, flushes, and some wing shooting first.

Looking back over this thread and noticed that I was going to comment on the highlighted part of Lucky's post, but must've forgotten.
I would agree with that comment.
Chukar aren't the easiest birds to hunt and/or shoot.
When I started hunting, I was too young to carry a gun (legally), so I would just help him spot the deer.
If your beginning hunter is young, this can be a good way to start them off, because it gets them acclimated to the process of getting up earlier than normal, packing the truck, getting the dogs ready and kenneled up (if you're bird hunting).
When I was a kid, you could hunt with a shotgun starting around 9 years old (Washington State).
No hunter safety course required.
Couldn't hunt deer until you were at least 12 and you had to take the hunter safety course before you get be issued a license (or wait until you were 14, at which point one could get a hunting license without having to issue their "green card").
Anyway, one thing I would caution against is to limit the time you don't let the young hunter carry a gun.
They realize what the point of the game is and they wanna carry their own gun!
I think that was a problem in my case. I started hunting with my dad when I was 8, but because of local laws, I couldn't carry until I was 12.
4 years.
Half of one's life, at 8 years old.
….might as well be an eternity! ( )
I was about to bag the whole hunting thing because it had become rather boring, until dad mentioned that the hunter safety course was coming up that year and asked if I wanted to sign up for it because I had finally reached the legal age.
That brought all the joy back, for me (until I learned the reality of lugging an 8-9 lb. gun all morning, when you weren't used to doing it) and kept me hunting.
So I guess my point here is, it might behoove one to introduce them beginning hunter in "stages". If they decide its not for them, then you find out early enough to where there's not that much invested yet.
If they do like it, you can walk them through the finer points of hunting, slowly but in real time, before they actually do any hunting themselves.
If the beginning hunter is older, then I would say try to do the type of hunting that interests them.
If they're into deer/elk/moose do that.
You could suggest a bird hunting trip at some point, but if shotguns don't interest them, no need for the hard sell.
Anyway, my viewpoint. FWIW.


Dean