Chuks are still out there

This has been one of the roughest January’s for me as far as getting out and chasing chukars. The weather put a stop to my hunting several times and my son came home from Hawaii for the past ten days and there’s nothing that could stop me from having a great visit with him. I know it’s hard to believe, but he takes precedence over my dogs. Sadly for Barb and I, he will be heading back Saturday. But I’m fortunate enough to have a second love to my family and I’ll be following them on some chukar hunt Saturday.

But I’ve been keeping up on the chukar chat and it looks like I’ve been missing some pretty fun days. For this late in January, I’m having some great reports and seeing some great success pictures. A few of our contributors would just as soon not have their success photos shown due to the disrespect readers sometimes give on tailgate pictures. I don’t blame them. I’ve seen some real bashing on other blogs. You’ll never see that here. I believe most serious chukar hunters know what it takes to be successful at chukar hunting and when you are it’s a testament to hard hunting and good dog work. I don’t care if it’s one bird or 8, we should be proud of the accomplishment.

Especially this late in the season. There is no such thing as uneducated birds. Getting the dogs to hold birds until you get within gun range is a great feat in itself. Getting a decent shot on the muddy and icy slopes is just as tough. Watching the chukars sprint uphill 200 yards away and then taking flight makes it hard to keep that “you gotta believe” attitude. I promise you that the pictures I have seen aren’t from birds taken while driving some back road. They were birds earned.

One of the reasons for this blog is to promote the great state of Idaho when it comes to chukar hunting. Those same people that bash tailgate pictures are usually the same ones that talk about how poor our fish and game department is. Once again, you’ll never hear that from me. The opportunities to hunt chukars, as well as most other species, are second to none. It just takes some of that “you gotta believe” stuff and you can usually make it happen. There is never a sure thing because hunting is just that, but the opportunities are there.

I had five good success pictures sent to me this week and four of them were in Idaho. The fifth was Oregon. There is still some great stuff out there and seeing these photos has me excited to get back on the hill Saturday.

Here’s a picture of a good friend of mine. He was a great friend of my daughter and son and spent a lot of time hunting with me in his younger years. Obviously, Erik Bullock and his PP, Breezy, have learned the art of chukar chasing pretty well.

It doesn’t look too warm.

Erik and the other pictures I’ve seen show how good the chukar hunting can be this time of the year. Hopefully I’ll be out there soon and can give you a first hand report. No matter what, I know two dogs that will have a good time trying.