The Best Method For Field Dressing A Chukar

How The 30 Year Method Came To Be

Richy Harrod

Chukars were the first wild game I hunted when I turned 12 years old and had passed my hunters safety test. My guess is that not many hunters can say the same. My dad grew up in Vale, Oregon, and chased chukars as a young man in the 1950s and 60s. I tagged along with my dad in the early 70s when old enough to keep up and it was then that I became addicted to chukar hunting. Being addicted to something generally congers up thoughts of something bad because it means that you have a physical or mental dependency with adverse effects when you stop. I'm not sure it's a dependency so maybe I became obsessed, at least that's usually what my wife says about most my outdoor activities. Either way, if you have hunted chukars before, you'll understand what I mean!

My dad, brother, and close friends hunted chukars regularly throughout our teenage years. My dad, Howard, and close friend, Ron, would gather all the gear needed for a weekend hunting trip, load us boys after our football game, and head south to the Owyhee country in the dark of night. We would stay at my grandparents' house in Vale, Oregon, which was the perfect base for bird hunting.

Chukars and pheasants were abundant throughout eastern Oregon in the late 70s and early 80s. My grandfather and uncle owned farms with row crops, such as corn and sugar beets; the perfect habitat for pheasants. We'd get up early in the morning to grandma's breakfast and gather up our vests, shells, and guns.

We liked pheasant hunting but our true passion was chasing chukars. I'll never forget the excitement as we drove out the rough two-track road to our favorite spots. It was not unusual for us to see birds driving out causing a mass exodus from the vehicle.

As we got older, we got our driver's licenses and our own vehicles which allowed for spur of the moment trips. My brother Ron, and our close friends (Riley, Kent, Troy) would explore new chukar hunting areas all over eastern Oregon. We became good shooters and with young legs, there was no place the birds would go that we wouldn't go too. By this time, several of us had bird dogs and so our success was increased even more. Those were the days!

My dad, brother, our friends, and I hunted together all through high school and into the first years of college. Eventually, we all drifted apart and lived our own lives. My dad, brother, and I continue to hunt birds together a couple times every year but I haven't bird hunted with my high school friends in nearly 30 years. So, it was with great anticipation that Kent and I planned a chukar hunting trip together this past October.

It's ironic that I have only produced one upland bird hunting show for The Northwest Outdoorsmen in the past 10 years. But, Ron and I have reconnected with the rest of our high school friends in the past couple years and experienced some amazing waterfowl hunts in southern Idaho near Kent's house. While sitting in the duck blind, Kent and I talked many times about chukar hunting near the Nevada border and attempting to shoot an episode for our show. We finally picked a date and met in Mountain Home, Idaho, and headed south near Nevada.

The gravel road was well traveled but my excitement grew the further Kent's dust cloud snaked over the rolling hills through the dry creek bottoms. Finally, he turned onto a small two-track road that lead to a beautiful grassy flat surrounded by willows growing along a creek. This would be our camp for the next couple of days. We set about put up our tent, cooking area, and organizing our hunting gear. I couldn't wait for the next day!

The next morning was brisk with white frost covering our camp and gear. We made breakfast, loaded the dogs and supplies for the day into the UTV, and put on as many layers of clothing as possible for the long, cold ride into sagebrush country. Kent had several spots mapped on his phone where he had great success the previous year.

Kent has two well trained English pointers and we brought both along for the hunt. He decided he would hunt them one at a time, so started out with his youngest dog, Hank. As we headed towards the canyon rim, Hank put her nose down continually and systematically covered 300-400 yards right, left, and out in front of us.

I normally film 80-90% of the time when we make our hunting and fishing shows. Three people are ideal because there is better interaction among hunters and one of us (usually me) can focus on capturing the action. Kent and I decided we would have to take turns filming and being the shooter because there were only two of us on this trip. Kent was the shooter to start and he approached Hank slowly with his gun at the ready; my camera had the scene framed just right.

Chukars never do what you expect. Hank had these birds pinned on a sagebrush flat near a rocky rim, below which loomed a huge canyon. Kent quickly knocked the first bird down and took a shot at another that escaped his aim. Hank made several passes, round and round where the birds had just flushed and soon returned with our prize. Thirty minutes into our hunt and we had a point, flush, and our first harvested bird on film!

We traded roles and Kent pointed me to the next likely location to see if he could capture me shooting a bird or two. We hiked over rims and flats for the next couple of hours and jumped two small groups of birds. One group was located in a huge boulder field with head-high sagebrush interspersed.

The day was slipping by quickly and we realized that it was already after 2 pm by the time we had refreshed at the UTV. The next spot we wanted to hunt was going to take longer than the hours left in the day so we decided to scout a couple of other places in the bottom of a big canyon.

I love a hunting camp. We don't often camp in sagebrush country but our spot on this trip was particularly enjoyable. We were located at the base of 100-foot-tall basalt rock rim and in the opposite direction, we had beautiful views of the chukar canyons and hills. The sunset painted the clouds with pinks and orange. We made a hearty meal in the fading light and then retired to the tent with a warm fire in Kent's small Titanium stove.

The next morning, we repeated our motions from the previous day and drove the UTV to another promising spot. Today was Pat's turn to hunt with us; she is the older of his two dogs. We hiked across a big flat for nearly two miles but Pat couldn't locate any birds.

Two days of hunting, over 12 miles of hiking, and only 4 birds might seem like a disappointing trip but Kent and I measured our success differently. Hunting chukars is difficult and often not productive. As with many situations in life, physical and mental challenges have a way of bringing people closer together. We hadn't hunted chukars together in many years but the challenge of the hunt renewed and strengthened our friendship. Kent once said that hunts may come and go, but friendship still remains. Amazing how a small bird can foster a lifetime bond.

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