2012 In With a Bang

In with the bang of a 12 gauge that is....

Got an early start and did what every chukar hunter does in the morning.  Hike up hill until the hill stops or you have a heart attack.  It was a little bit of work punching holes through the crusted over snow.

It was even more work for Cholla as the snow was about belly deep on her.  Good thing she is just a youngster.

We knew we might get into some birds when we saw fresh tracks in the snow.  Sure enough birds flushed unfortunately not in front of me.  Jay got some shots off but chukars shots are seldom gimmes so we had to watch them soar.  We hunted farther up the ridge with no luck but figured we'd try and come down the ridge the birds we had flushed earlier headed to.  Well, we got it done.  Couple more flushes, couple more shots and we managed to scratch out a bird.

I really like the pics Jay got of Cholla.  Thanks buddy.

First chukar of 2012.  A sign of good things to come!