I had some really good bird hunting this last weekend. Thursday I got into some more Valley Quail, and Friday I shot my quickest chukar limit of the year. Sunday I went out to a spot 15 minutes from home that I thought was holding some chukar and was able to bag a few in less than an hour. I have attached some pictures, but unfortunately for reason of discretion, I am not able to show the best ones as they are very telling of their location. I am certainly happy to share information, but maybe not quite this publicly.

Happy Hunting.

Jay

I had two long days of hard bird hunting last weekend. Along with Chukar I did manage to bag some valley quail, and some mountain quail. That was kind of a treat as generally we don’t get a lot of opportunities for quail on public land here in Northern Nevada. A high light of the weekend was having Cash hold point for almost 30 minutes, then shooting two birds out of that covey. I was very happy with him. He went on point almost five houndred yards above me, and it took that long to get to him through the snow and slick rocks.
It looks like we are going to get a little bit of snow this week, and that has me looking forward to seeing fresh tracks this weekend. I forgot my camera both days so I did not get any new photos. I will remember it for sure this weekend though and will have some new photos for you next week.

For now, here is a picture of Porter and Cash retrieving a double on chukar last year.

Jay

The best thing about Reno is how close we are to the outdoors. All kinds of outdoor recreation including fishing and hunting are really only minutes away. My parents came to town to visit this weekend so for me that meant spending time with them, and not spending time on a hill somewhere in the desert hunting birds. It was great to have them visit, as always. One of these days when there isn’t snow on the ground, and we have a better population of birds I am going to get my Mom up on the hill for a hike and a hunt. I did have about an hour of spare time Friday morning before they showed up, so I quickly headed out to a very local hunting spot of mine. I was able to get one point, one dog backing, one flush, one shot, and one bird. I would take that over nothing any day.

Jay

We finally got the snow out east that us Chukar hunters were hoping for. Saturday I drove out North of Winnemucca to an area that I have shot a bunch of Huns in the past, with the hope of finding them again. After 2 hours, and no Huns, I changed up my game plan, headed toward the mountain and was able to find some Chukar. Typical to hunting Chukar in fresh snow the birds held really tight and I was able to shoot a limit.
Saturday night it snowed really hard here in Reno. I slept in Sunday morning, intentionally got a late start, and headed to a local area that always produces in the snow. After getting stuck twice I found an alternative way into my hunting spot and began the hike in knee deep snow. I am sure that if I was really committed to hunting for a limit I could have got a one, but I had some nice points, shot four birds, and was happy and content to take my tired legs home.
I had one really memorable moment yesterday. Both dogs where on point in a little canyon down the hill and downwind from me. I walked down, still upwind from them and there where tracks in the snow everywhere going under the shelter of sage brush, all of which looked like little igloos. (This is typical in deep snow as these little igloos under the sage brush provide the easiest access to the ground, for food and shelter.) So, as I am standing there, both dogs on point, birds start to flush from all the little bumps in the snow all around me. I was able to shoot three, but more importantly that vision of a slow flush in the snow was one of the moments in Chukar hunting that you dream about as a Chukar hunter.

Jay

We have had snow on the ground and very cold temperatures here in Western Nevada for the last week. Us chukar hunters were a little disappointed to see that the storm did not make it very far east, leaving many of the favorite mountain ranges in the State dry. We have a new storm system upon us now though, so hopefully that will help bring some moisture to the rest of the state.
I took yesterday off work to hunt a more local area. Since the storm we had two days of good sun. My thinking was that even though it is still well below freezing the rock piles on the south faces would be starting to melt off, and that is where I would find the birds. It is crazy how it can be 10 degrees out and you put your hand down and feel a rock that has been in direct sun light all day and it almost feels hot. Well, the birds know this too, and for certain they know where they have the best chance of finding accessible food. Given the opportunity and some sun shine, that is where you will find them after snow storms and really cold weather. They may get pushed down the mountain, sometimes all the way to the valley floor, but for certain when they have the opportunity they will make their way back up to a rocky south facing slope.
So, I had a great day hunting yesterday. I did not see a lot of birds, but I didn’t need to, as they held really well and shooting a limit was no problem. Despite it being really cold it was a beautiful day to hunt. The dogs had a great time and I can’t think of anything else that I would have rather been doing.

Jay