JUST HAVING FUN ON THE PRAIRIE

Unlike Kathy’s thoughtful and insightful blog contributions mine are just about my little adventures. Bird season opened in Idaho (except for pheasant) Saturday the 18^th. Ken and I made the opening day hunt on a local doctor’s land that borders the Snake River a little south of Lewiston. Ken is still recovering from an injury sustained in one of our firewood cutting adventures so he pretty much stuck to the top of the hills bordering the fields whereas I ventured further down the mountain. We had gotten an early start hoping to catch the birds (chukars and huns) up high as they often feed in the stubble early. We weren’t very successful with that strategy although we did get up a covey or two just below the rim. The star thistle was the worse I’ve ever seen it – in many areas chest high and very thick and wide spread. It was very hot before mid morning and my new setup this season consisting of a hydration pack on my back and a belt with a game bag and shell bags worked well. The heat is really tough on our hairy hided hunting partners and the water is mostly for them. Nellie went through 2 liters in about 3 hours. In spite of the heat, slippery rocks from the previous evening’s rain and star thistle we had a pretty good hunt. Ken bagged 3 chukars and I got 5 chukars and 2 huns. However, we found the chukars in this area were mostly juvenile birds.

Tuesday, the 22^nd , Kathy and I headed for the farm. After completing a few chores Thursday morning I had a Tootsie Pop and discovered on the wrapper an Indian shooting a star with his bow and arrow. Grandson, Jackson, says that’s good luck. Combined with the date being the 23^rd and I’ve always liked that number and I remarked to Nellie that maybe we should venture out for a little hunt. Now I’m not superstitious at all, but what the heck, let’s go hunting.

Game birds on the farm are mostly restricted to huns (Hungarian or gray partridge) which are the fastest flushing and most challenging birds to bag in this country. This morning I was carrying my favorite partridge gun which is a 12 gauge Remington 870 pump. We entered the stubble down by the east edge of the pond and we had no sooner entered the field when Nellie hit a hard point. Huns usually flush so fast and coordinated that I very seldom get more that one on a covey flush. This time, however, I got two birds with the first shot, a third one with my second shot and yet a fourth with my third shot. Wow – my first ever home run on huns! Nellie quickly brought back the first three birds but had not seen the fourth one which had flown west toward the pond and had fallen in chest high grass and weeds rather than in the field. I directed her over to the general area and within a couple of minutes she had the bird. I like to hunt the huns all season so I usually restrict each hunt to 2 birds or one covey rise so I figured that less than 5 minute hunt would be it for the huns.

I had seen a covey of quail down at the corner of where our lane leaves the road toward the house so we thought we would see if we could find those. So I take Nellie down there and sure enough she goes on point. When the covey flushes I drop two in the dense thicket on the hillside and hit a third one that flutters over the field above. We spend 10 or 15 minutes hunting for the two quail in the thicket and eventually give up on finding one of them. Nellie had not seen it fall and I wasn’t sure just where it had hit either. I suspected the third bird had flown quite a ways out in the field above or maybe didn’t fall at all. Nevertheless, you have to look. No sooner had we entered the field than Nellie went on point again and I figured it must be the wounded quail. To my surprise another covey of huns flushed out a ways and I dropped one with the only shot I had time to make. Not wanting too much of a good thing we headed for the house after a quick but very successful farm hunt. M/W