Winter Chukar Hunting

Ah Chukars, not for the faint of heart. Many refer to them as the “devil birds”. Find the steepest mountains, with the most rocks, and there you will find Chukars.

This trip home I was able to hook up with my best friend Scott and high school friend AJ to chase Chukars. It snowed like crazy for the first part of the trip but the last full day there we had some relief from the snow and out we went.

We parked the truck and turned the dogs loose. Immediately the dogs headed up hill. We took a big breath and started to climb.

Several hundred vertical feet later my lungs were burning but then, AJ’s dog Kenzie took off down hill and locked up.

Three birds came up and Scott and AJ made quick work of all of them.

What else to do in Chukar hunting after finding a few, but climb higher. We found a few more birds and ended up taking two more before the cold and low light pushed us back down to the truck.

It was a great trip back home, the dogs did great, I was later able to take a nice Valley Quail to add to the Chukar dinner.

A big thanks to AJ for showing me a few spots and Scott for joining us. Miss those guys. Hope everyone had a great Christmas break. I know I sure did.