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Boise, Idaho Hun, Chukar, Quail & Pheasant Hunt - 12-19 November 2005
California Quail We headed out for Boise, ID early on the 12th and made the trip in 16 hours. There were 4 of us and 16 dogs. Above is a picture of a some neighborhood California Quail that are as fat as they come. You can see why. They get fed I'm sure by more then just the people at the house we were staying at. There must have been over 100 of them that hung around the house.
Joey & Pitch Hunting Huns Our first hunting day was Monday the 14th. We took out after Huns in some Access Yes areas. Just beyond where this picture was taken we jumped our first covey of about 10-15 Huns. They were gone fast. We jumped 2 of them a little farther over the hill and in true single style they held while we debated where to go and took off with a wild flush as soon as we started walking...3 shooters at least 6 shots...0 birds.
Little Bit of Snow It was extremely cold all day and the sun only showed itself toward the end of the day. Fortunately there was no rain while we were hunting. We were up pretty high and at one point turned around by a small amount of snow. The wind was blowing quite a bit and made for some bitter cold if you were on the wrong side of the hill. We stayed on the less windy side!
Stuck Thanks to some pretty skilled driving we got stuck trying to turn down into 2 track road. Fortunately we brought a wench and we were able to get the trailer moved over and the truck backed up. It was a fun way to spend an hour. We got into some birds at this stop so it was worth the wait. We split up and about 30 minutes into it I saw a covey of Huns flush out about 50 yards up a hill from me. We went in the general direction they took off and when we topped a hill we stood wondering where to go when Mattie went on point by some large rocks. Slick came in and pointed...crouched down...and jumped right in the center of the covey. They went flying and Eric shot one that flew down near the bottom of the canyon. Mattie went down and made a great retrieve.
Huns at the end of the day After driving around for a while we final stopped on for one last stop of the day. Preston was crashed in the car so we left him there and took off after some birds. We got into 2 Huns right off the bat and chased them around. We Hunted up a hill and TW went on point, I walked in and out came 4-5 Huns. I shot at them and hit one but we never did find it. Later as we rounded a corner of a hill Pistol pointed a pretty nice sized covey that we all missed and never found those birds again. Finally we walked up to the road and were heading back to the truck. Pistol went on point...all of us guns unloaded and boom...out busts a covey of about 10-15 Huns from the side of the road. We watched where they went and headed straight for them. They spooked early and we didn't get any good shots. Over one more mountain we walked up and down and finally found them. I nailed one and Pistol made an okay retrieve.
Pheasant Hunting Near Snake River We headed out for a Pheasant hunt the next morning (Tuesday) but were unable to locate any. So after spending only a little time looking we moved on to find some new places to hunt. We stopped at a farm and asked if we could hunt their property and the woman of the house told us to go to her dads farm that was up the road and much bigger. She said he would let us hunt his land. Sure enough he did.
Slick Pointing (center) Quail - Red backing (left) We found a spot on his property that looked good and decided to split up. Preston and I went right and Eric and Joey went left. Almost immediately Preston and I jumped a covey of about 50 California Quail. We went in the direction we thought they flew and after a bit of walking started to get into some singles along a ditch bank. Preston and I each shot one bird and then didn't get into any more! We heard some shooting from Eric and Joey and it turns out they heard a Pheasant running up a hedgerow and flushed him out. He must have flushed on Joey's side as Joey shot it. When it hit the ground, according to Eric, Joey began to do some sort of a victory dance and the bird jumped up and took off. Unfortunately the victory dance was a little pre-mature! After we all met back at the truck and after humping around that area looking for more Pheasant we went back to where Preston and I had found the quail and got into a ton of them. There was shooting going on all over the place. I was very happy when Ice pointed her first quail and Preston was able to shoot the bird. She also made a nice retrieve to me (she has never been asked to retrive and she is a natural).
Moon Rising on Idaho Farm After California Quail Hunt After chasing the quail around for awhile the it started to get late and so we headed back to the truck. When we got back to the main road we jumped another covey getting ready to roost. They were in some pretty thick cover and it was getting cold fast so all of us but Preston headed back to the truck. Preston ended up getting a few more birds.
Piston & Sam getting ready to hit the mountain looking for Chukar The next day (Wednesday) we headed for Chukar Country. We went to another new place that we had never been and unfortunately didn't know the best way to play the Chukar hunting game. We started at the bottom of the mountain and ended up making close to a 2000 foot climb that took all day!
Eric & Lacy a Little over half way up the Mountain As you may or may not be able to tell the rocks up in the right of the picture are VERY far away. My GPS marked them at about 700 feet from where I took the picture. Eric and Lacy are about 100 feet up from me. It was hard, steep climbing and really didn't seem worth it as we hadn't seen a thing for quite some time. Joey and Preston had been working the bottom, but while we waited they started to climb up so Eric and I could go up to the top.
Shot from about 1200 feet from the top...the rocks in the middle are the ones right above Eric in the above picture...lots of hard climbing!!!
Pistol Posing on a rock On the way up to the rocky ledge Eric jumped a covey but we were unable to see where they went and never really had any good shooting opportunities. By this time Preston had made his way up to about 200 feet below me and Eric had moved up to the Rocky ledge and jumped another covey of birds hiding out in the shade of the rock. I motored up to the top and while waiting for Preston topped over a ridge and found Pistol pointing a covey of Chukar. I missed both shots...easy text book type shots, but I was very glad to have seen Pistol pointing and been able to shoot. Once Preston made it up to the top (Joey, being afraid of heights had turned around and SLID back down to the bottom and gone back to the truck) we met up with Eric and spent the next 30 minutes shooting at birds from all over the place. The covey I jumped met up with a covey Eric jumped and who knows how many other birds...but they were flying and we were shooting and NOT hitting a thing! Eric was the only one who ended up getting a bird but it was still an exciting time...and a treat after climbing for so long. The trip took us from 9am-3pm round trip.
Preston Eric & Lacy a little over half way down the mountain
Joey with his Pheasant The next day (Thursday) we took a stab at Pheasant hunting again and this time we were able to have some action. Preston shot one, but it flew so far Joey and I saw it flying before it went down and we were a good 200 yards from Preston. Eric was able to shoot 4 but only found 1. Joey and I did a lot of walking and finally had some luck. Ice got really birdy at one point and up came the above Pheasant. Joey and I both shot at it and when the bird was falling Joey took a second shot to "make sure it stayed down this time."
Joey & Pitch From the Pheasant hunting we moved on to try to get into some more Chukar or Huns. We humped around the hills in the pictures above but found nothing except 2 Grouse (which I shot at because I couldn't see them only heard Eric shouting...looked up...saw birds and shot...turns out he was shouting "don't shoot"). On our way back down the mountain we bumbed a covey of Chukar along side the road and got out and gave them a chase. Eric and I both were able to get a bird.
Pheasant & Chukar from our Thursday Hunt
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