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.