A Chukar Remedy

A Chukar Remedy

By Jake Obrist

As Chad and I climbed the rolling hills and steep rim rock bluffs, we stopped to gather our thoughts and our breath.  I glanced out across the landscape and thought, what an awesome view.  The paint strokes that created this landscape weren’t that of Picasso, Van Gogh, or Michelangelo.  It was painted by the hand of our Creator, and he titled it, The Steen’s Mountains.

After a phone call with my friend Chad Peterson, we both agreed that we needed to make a chukar hunting trip down to the Steen’s Mountains.  I made a quick call to Fields Station and reserved the last room available, and this was a month ahead of time.  Now, the trip was set, we would hunt the last weekend of January, the end of chukar season.  Memories from past trips would flood my mind until our departure.

A week prior to our trip, I was battling one of the worst colds I have had in years.  And, to top it off, my wife and two daughters had it as well.  I was beginning to think, should I even go hunting?  It was a little late in the game to change plans, so I thought; maybe chukar hunting is just the remedy I need.  With that attitude, and feeling slightly better, we departed for the Steen’s.

As the sun rose that Friday morning, so did our anticipation for the hunt.  It was almost overwhelming for my yellow lab riding in the back.  His name is indeed, chukar.  He was long overdue for this trip.  Needless to say, we were excited to get down there and get a quick afternoon hunt under our belts.

With our shotguns loaded, and our vests packed with enough ammo to protect the Alamo, we were hunting.  Chukar dog yipped and jumped with joy as we headed to a canyon in the Pueblo Mountains.  The Pueblos are a southern extension of the Steen’s basically.  About 40 minutes into our hike, chukar dog was getting birdy.  Could it be some birds were going to flush?  Yes, it was a bird.  I yelled, “sage grouse” as the bird flew off, luckily unscathed.  It was a false alarm, but, a good job done by chukar dog.  That sage grouse was the only bird we flushed that afternoon.  It was a fun hunt though.  We actually had a pretty cool encounter of the antelope kind.  We had 60 head of antelope come within 50 yards of us, and we got it all on camera.  The first day was a success, but we still had the hunger to harvest some chukar.  Would the second day satisfy this hunger?

We awoke to a frost blanketed desert that Saturday morning.  Neither the cold weather nor the fever I battled during the night was going to keep us from our mission.  I made a decision to hunt a spot in the Pueblo’s that doesn’t usually get a lot of hunting pressure.  We devoted about three hours to that spot, and we struck out again.  I’ll admit I felt a little defeated at this point, but I didn’t let it get the best of me.  We ate a quick hot lunch, Chili Mac via Mountain House over a jet boil stove, and we were off again.

This time I picked a spot in the Steen’s that usually gets a lot of pressure, but figured we would at least get to see some birds.  It would be our last afternoon to hunt.  Could we make it happen this time?  The three warriors were marching again.

About 30 minutes into our hike, chukar dog was getting birdy (means he can smell fresh bird sign).  We actually could hear some chukars laughing at us up on the mountain top, kee kee kee.  I figured chukar dog was picking up scent of where the birds were previously.  I was wrong.  Instantly, 20-25 chukar exploded off the hillside.  I’ll admit, my first shot was not even close to the birds, I got a little excited.  But, Chad and I doubled up together, finally dropping two chukar to the sage.  Chukar dog retrieved them quickly, and upon his retrieval, he flushed another single chukar.  I quickly shoved another shell in the magazine and made a 60 yard shot.  The bird looked like a black hawk helicopter falling down, and it came to a complete halt, crashing into a boulder.  We laughed a little bit, but were mostly excited because we had birds in our vests.  Chukar dog was a seasoned professional that afternoon.  He was working the birds, they were holding tight, and he was retrieving them as they fell to the steep canyon side.  We ended up harvesting 8 birds that afternoon, four birds a piece.  I couldn’t think of a better way to end the day.

We topped off the day with a great meal and a trip to the Alvord Hot Springs.  We soaked our sore muscles and gleamed about our success from the day.  We did do a little bragging to fellow hunters, but it’s ok if it’s about your hunting dog right?  I looked up from the hot springs and saw a shimmering night, and I realized the trip was about over.

We checked out the next morning and were very happy with the hospitality of Fields Station.  They really cater well to hunters.  We decided to make a quick hunt on our way home and I ended up harvesting one more bird.  The Steen’s Mountains were behind us now, but the memories will forever be with us.  We had a great trip.  We got to see some of God’s country, harvest some very rewarding birds, soak in the hot springs, and spend quality time with friends.  I think chukar hunting was just the remedy I needed.