Chucker Chasen

[Russ Jackson]

Well my Buddy Rich and I have spent the last couple of days chasing Woodcock ,and I still had the Dogs excercise birds in the Fly Pen , I said to Rich ,why don't you come up Sat. morning and I will put the Chuckers around the property and we will spend the Morning hunting them ! Well the morning was crisp with a nice layer of Frost glistening in the Sunshine ,I got out the Quad and headed for the pen around 7:15 AM ,spent the next hour driving the fields and gulleys putting out the Birds . We didn't want to just go back over the land and shoot them so Rich came up a little after 10 :00 AM and we visited a bit and headed out about 11:00 ,we hunted for nearly three hours but came up with 14 of the 17 Chuckers that we put out ! Not like hunting Idaho ,but Great work for the Dogs and good practice with our 410's ! Russ

[Russ Jackson]

More Pics.

[Dean Romig]

Now that looks like fun!

It was a gorgeous day here too. 29 degrees here just befor sunrise.

[Russ Jackson]

Hey Dean ,Yeah ,about the same here ,just a gorgeous day !!!!!!!!! I shot my last limit of Woodcock for the season yesterday , and Rich scratched down one ,just enough for another batch of my Famous ,Woodcock Pate'. I increased my self imposed limit of 12 Timberdoodles to 15 Birds this year ,the state gave us an extra couple of weeks of season and I figured ,the little fellars must be up a bit in number ,hopefully " Three more won't hurt " and I am really enjoying excercising that new 410 , just the perfect Woodcock gun !!!

[Dave Suponski]

Russ, Looks like a great day! And it must have been extra special with that wonderful .410...:) Thanks for the pictures !

[Russ Jackson]

Hi Dave ,Great day just to be out ! We shot the little guns at the birds and had a good time afield , Rich shoots an early Fox Model B 410 that he inherited from an Uncle ,when we got back to the house ,I ask if he would like to give the Parker a go and we shot another two Boxes off the patio at clay birds out of the foot release trap I have mounted in the shrubs ! I still can't beleive my Wife thought it was a good idea when I mentioned it to her to mount one there ,now she keeps saying ,I should have mounted an electric trap that I could load a bunch of birds in instead of one at a time ,:whistle: Maybe next spring :rotf:

[Dave Suponski]

Your wife is awesome! Does she have any sisters....?....:rotf:

[Dean Romig]

Careful Dave... sisters are rarely cast from the same mold.

[charlie cleveland]

russ how is 410 choked.... i know most of them were full and full but was guessing it might be choked somethink else since it made a nice bird gun.... charlie

[Russ Jackson]

Hi Charlie ,on the Galazan gauge which is not the most accurate way to measure Parker choke but .... the only way I have ,it reads Right / IC and Left / M . The little gun really dusts the clay birds and out of four limits of Woodcock ," 12 Birds " here in Pa. only had one Bird the Dog had to jump after ,and I am sure that was just pure bad shooting on my part ! I have shot one other limit with my 28 Ga. , and that will wrap up my Woodcock shooting for 2011 !

[Rich Anderson]

It takes birds to make a bird dog and Chuckars can be very sporty indeed. Glad to see your hunting with the 410 and not just keeping her a s a showpiece...which she is.

[Russ Jackson]

Thank you Rich ,I really like that little gun ,but I had every intention on using it when I bought it ! I learned that lesson years ago ,I purchased a 1960 MGA ,in very good condition ,it sat in the garage and sat and sat until I got tired of dealing with it ,all I really ever did was worry about it when I had it out ! I finally sold it and then regretted not enjoying my Sports Car , well I decided to pick up a very rough condition Austin Healey 3000 ,tore it 100 percent apart and rebuilt every nut and bolt and as soon as it was finished ,started driving it ,that was 21 years ago and I am still trying to wear it out ,as for the gun ,I will always be careful with it ,but I will let the next owner sit back and do the worrying over it !! Russ

[William Maynard]

Hey Russ looks like a great hunt. Also looks like a beautiful area with great cover. Are you using Spreader loads hunting with the .410? Looks like I see a Pheasant Rooster there among the Chuckers? Great photos! Beautiful car.

[Russ Jackson]

Hi William , We really did have a good time , as I have said ,I normally raise around a hundred Chucker a year but this year I bought 20 Birds just to exercise my Dogs a bit . We ended up with so much rain ,I just kept them until the weather got nice and used a few and then put the rest out this pat weekend ! On the Spreaders ,no I am not using them in the 410 ,I have been shooting Remington 2 1/2 ,# 7 1/2 shot mostly and while Pheasant hunting I use # 6 Shot ! My Buddy Rich passes one of the fields we hunt on the way to my place and took an hour on his way in and picked up the Pheasant with his GSP Sam . Thank you for the compliment on the area ,I own the land we are hunting on ,makes it very easy to put Birds out and fool around for me ," NO TRAVELING " Great Deer hunting here but wild Birds are few ! I don't own the Barn in the back ground .just the land as you look down over the fields toward the Ridge ! The old Healey ,I have owned it so long and worked on it so long it seems to be a part of me ,it is holding up well ,the pics. are this past Summer and it has been on the road about 17 years since I finished it up and as I said ,I have owned it for about 21 years total ! Russ

[David Lien]

Russ; here in southern Idaho some of the locals are raising Chukars with the aid of a surragator. The locals are claiming 35 to 55 percent carry over through the winter. By the looks of your area this may be an opportunity for you. As you seem to know these birds are a real joy when they are not in Hells Canyon or on the side of a 10,000 + ft Elev. mountian. It is a real pleasure to see someone with an enjoyable chukar hunt. I mostly return home angry and beat up after a chukar hunt, but I always have a couple for the pot. These people are trying to establish these birds in a more user friendly area. I enjoyed the photo's of the dogs and your area. Thanks David

[Russ Jackson]

David ,I would enjoy hunting them in their native areas and wild Birds ,Man even the store bought Birds can fly !