Inevitably it always does arrive, that fatal last day. The last day of any season, but in this case chukar season. It is almost a love/hate affair. That is, I love to hunt chukars. But, towards the end of the season, after grueling climbs up the extreme slopes of the Salmon River canyon, it gets very difficult to push myself for yet another uphill battle. A battle my heart and lungs take on with the landscape.
So with mixed emotions my last day with both dogs on the hill was more of the same. Good and bad. Hard, yet rewarding. Dogs not minding as well as think they should, yet making wonderful tandem points, and stupendously long retrieves when birds sail way too far down the slopes. You know, those slopes I keep complaining about. Ones that seem like 45 degrees, and at times really are. And those are the easier ones. Did I mention bony ridgelines, vertical cliffs, and a variety of ugliness that us chukar hunters often find ourselves engaged with?
No wonder people who know nothing about chukar hunting think chukar hunters are so crazy. Heck, even chukar hunters wonder that sometimes. But once fessing-up to knowing you are crazy means you don’t have to worry about it any more. Just keep pushing those birds, don’t look back, or more precisely down, in most cases. Focus. That is the name of the game.
My last day was a typical one, but favored the chukar, and they indeed seemed to get the last laugh. Like when a group came flying straight off the slopes high above, helter-skelter, and my swing, which was more of an over-the-head-and-turn gymnastics maneuver, was the perfect recipe for poor shooting success. After the boom of gun and frustrations of watching birds untouched, I’m sure I could hear some chuckles of happy-to-be-alive birds entertained by my contorted antics on the hill.
But, their entertainment is also mine. Just seeing the type of flying they can do, like some kind of animated jet plane in a dog fight, is reward enough. Although, I do sometimes luck out and manage to down one of those feathered Mig like fighters. Yet, a big part of chukar hunting is all of those ancillary shows that always accompany the chase: from large bucks, elk herds, fox trots, coyote yipping, wolf tracks, bobcat scat, otter antics, and soaring eagles, to just mention a few. And most remarkable is that all this theater takes place in a theater itself that is a good part of the outstanding entertainment.
(Whoa – Holy “chukar feathers” – how did we get so far up?)
Viewscapes afforded by one of the deepest gorges in North America are utterly breath-taking, yet considerably confounding. So expansive and rugged is the terrain, that its bigness makes one feel ever more so small. A dwarf in the cosmos. It is a vastness of unfathomable comprehension that words never adequately can explain. So, rather, I just simply enjoy it and appreciate it for what it is. Though we humans like to share our pleasures with others, often it has to suffice just to appreciate those things that are truly unexplainable. To just “know” is enough. Thank you chukars. You are safe from my gun and nuisance of dogs for another year now. But, be forewarned: we will be back.
Feb 19, 2013 @ 05:15:12
Love the photos and writing, great blog! I’m trying to figure out this chukar thing and am wondering about the dogs. The Weims seem big to be running up and down vertical country– they seem more built for flatter longer country. Obviously you’re partial to the Weims, but what are your thoughts on them ducking vertical boulders/rocks over the long term compared to a smaller dog like a GSP or Vizsla? I recognize either way they are going to be a helluva lot better at covering ground than me regardless.
Cheers
Feb 19, 2013 @ 13:02:00
Hey Hyperbananaman,
Glad you like my blog. Curiously, I used to have a britany named banana. I have had dogs all my life. Cocker spaniel, brits, vissla and weims. Not to worry about weims for covering any kind of country. Absolutely no problem, except you must go where they do when they find birds and go on point. And often it is a climb through the very trerrain you describe. The other reason I like them is that they are a smaller dog, and don’t take up as much room or weight in my driftboat. When taking two hunters and their dogs, and mine, it all adds up, so becomes a crucial factor. My two weims are mother and daughter. The older one is about 60 lbs, the younger 45 lbs. They are very close to vissla’s in character all the way around, though I think the weims are a little less hyper and even better at being family dogs. I hate to admit it, but mine even sleep with us.
I just got my wiems by chance maybe 20 some years ago, after having a vissla that had epilepsy that became so bad I had to put him down. Never without a dog, I just couldn’t make myself get another one that would remind me of him, so discovered the weim in my search for a new breed. They were so much like the vissla in every way, except color, that I chanced getting one for a trial run. Liked them so much that I haven’t changed since then, except I only go with females now. Hope this helps clear any questions about weims for you.
goodluck
Feb 20, 2013 @ 07:23:10
Excellent, thanks