I needed to get out there today. Hadn't been in over a week. I headed for a place I'd been only once before. With all the rain we've had in CA, I was wondering if the roads were passible. Turns out they were and Jas and I found chukar twice. I only took one. But I had a good day.
First covey we busted coming round a corner on the road to the high ground. I didn't think any chukar would be that low, but there they were. I got a long shot and missed.
The second covey was up on the high country after we'd been driving a while. We were nearing a known guzzler and I saw just two chukar coming over the ridge in front of us. I watched them cross about 80 yrds in front of us and then they went over the ridge and down a canyon (nothing surprising there). We took out after them, skirting the north side of the canyon and going about 1/4 mile down this canyon. Probably dropped about 400 feet in that distance. Jas was really getting busy and I was thinking those two birds were about to flush. She was about 35 yrds below me and about 20 yrds from the bottom. I was ready when they flushed. But it was a covey of about 20 birds! I dropped one immediately. Missed the second shot.
That's my Parker Repro 28g.
Nice job and it looks so good on the plate.
Never had chukkar.
Great stuff Chuck and thanks for the pics!!!
Are you still going to get those 410 barrels for the 28 gauge Parker?
And......Sweet gun!!
Chuck good story and hunting! Is your friend Pointing Lab?
Geno,
No, she's a flushing dog. But at just over 5 yrs, she is getting very good. Her use of her nose has really developed over the yrs but this year her use of her nose is very dramatic.
Treblig,
Tony and Lou said to my friend deliveries have started, . 410 barrels will be the second gauge to be delivered per them, not the last as they had initially planned.
Neat! Havnt hunted Chukars, except preserve birds, for a good while.Last time was up around Susanville, and I needed to call in airstrikes on em..tough hunting, but fun...Great day for you, great gun and dog as well...Thanks
Chuck,
Looks like a great time the dinner looks top notch. I know this isn't the food forum but want to share your recipe?
Kirk
Kirk,
It was a simple olive oil, poultry seasoning, salt, pepper and bake for 40 min at 400F. If I had more time, I would brine 24-48 hrs with some citrus in the mix too. The legs were tough. The little 'muffins' are a package stuffing mix with fresh celery, onion, garlic, cranberry and seasoning, that my wife whipped up in a hurry...really tasty, especially the cranberrys that gave it a tart/sweetness.
Chuck,
Mikey thinks hunting chukar grows big legs and shrinks your head. I think he may be right.
some pics of the area. The hills in the last two pics are the scarpline from the San Andreas Fault that runs thru there.
How do you pluck the birds? I can pluck chickens but not gamebirds - the skin always comes off.
Frankly, this was the first bird I have ever plucked. I recall someone telling how to do it yrs ago. I don't know if I did it the best way.
I took the bird whole, as shot, boiled a large pot of water, dipped the bird whole in the water for a 5 count and proceded to pluck. Leg and neck feathers come out easy. Side breast and wing feathers are much tougher. You need to pluck while it's hot. When it cools, the skin pores tighten back up around the feathers. The tougher feathers will need you to dip again. On the wings, I was able to just dip them alone, working each side separately. It seemed like a lot of work, but I can see it getting easier and it was nice to have the skin. But these wild birds have so little fat that the skin doesn't self baste and get crisp like a store bought farm fowl. I think a rotiserie and a lot of basting with butter would result in some nice skin crispness. The skin is very thin and care needs to be taken when you pull the feathers or you'll tear the skin like I did on one side.
Did you gut it first?
The boiling water is how I did chickens I was hoping there was a better way - my wife doesn't like it when I do that in the kitchen and I don't have a boiling water source elsewhere.
Boiling water to pluck works good, also dipping the bird in hot parafine will remove the feathers. The feathers come off with the hardened parafine.
When I cook pheasants I use a trick I learned from Martha Stewart for turkeys. I wrap the bird in cheese cloth soaked in melted butter and bake the bird breast down, only turning it over at the very end to brown it. This gives you a much moister bird.
Steve
Well done Chuck, and nice looking dog and area as well!
For my money, chukar are about the best eating upland bird out there.
Hello Chuck,
Great post! Great photos!
And I think it is very pertinent we share recipes. We hunt to eat our prey don't we?
JC
Sorry I missed you, Chuck! Was in San Diego doing some family biz, but would rather have been in the Temblors: great post.
Give me a holler next time and I'll drop what I'm doing (especially if it's a visit to the dentist....). Best way to get me is my email g.armstrong@hvcc.edu or call. (I put my home # on a PM on this board).
Mike Armstrong
Hey Mike,
How are those Callipepla Californica coming along?
JC
That's pretty funny about chukar hunting growing big legs & shrinking yer head!!!
Its likely quite true.
IMHO, no other game bird out there requires more effort to bag. I've been on several misadventures where even seeing one was a major accomplishment. The skeptics on those same hunts thot it was perhaps a type of daytime 'snipe hunt' involving torture. Hahaha
Great pics! Lemme know if you want a chukar recipe 'en papillote' w/Wenberg type sauce.
Great pics Chuck,
never get enough of Chocolate Labs especially in the field.
Hope you saved a little of that bird for Jas,she did help find it.
Dave
Mike,
I'm feeling some need for vacation in the Temblors before the end of the month/season.
TW,
Let's here that recipe. I plan on going "mountain snipe" hunting again, soon.
The "Big legs and shrinking yer head" comment reminds me of when I was in high school hunting elk with a couple of friends, one friend's dad and his uncle.
After returning to the vehicle, it slipped out, that the uncle took a most inopportune time to relief himself. He had his rifle resting a few feet from him, when a cow walked by. I guess he made an ackward move for the rifle and spooked the cow. The friend's dad in a deadpan way said "typical logger, a 46 inch chest and a size 2 head!"
Chuck, just give me a ring or email as soon ahead as you know. I'll get the stuff together and put it in the garage ready to go. Overnight is OK; I know a great Mexican restaurant in Taft.
(I'm too old to be a "Minute Man," more like Minute Rice"!).
Mike Armstrong
From what I can gather, there's no decent motel in Taft. But we could eat there and stay at the Ramada in Lebec/Grapevine since they take "pets".
Yeah, I've stayed in motels in Taft. Decent, no. Cheap, yes. Lebec would work fine. And there is food up on the Grapevine at Frasier Park, in case there's nothing around the Ramada. I bet your pups are more finicky about food than I am, tho.
Dumb question but I'll ask anyway: is lead shot OK in the Temblors? Or are we in danger of endangering any endangered species there? I got a mixed answer to this question from Forest Service when I asked about hunting up in Santa Barbara Canyon last season, so I took the answer I liked (yes). I have guns that are OK with steel, in any case.