Chukar hunting

I suppose this posting could alternatively be named "Game Birds 1, Humans 0", or "Flushes, follies, and freezing on the high plains", or "You know you're a redneck when...."

At any rate, on Saturday we braved the elements with our friends Jack and Kelly, and Kelly's dad Tom, to hunt for chukar and "Hungarian" (gray) partridge out at their family ranch in north-central OR (see previous post on deer hunting). We all prepared for strong winds and freezing temperatures, but were surprised by the snow, which wasn't predicted to arrive until the following day.
In the very first field we hunted, spread out 5 across in a line, we flushed two rooster pheasants, who took off in what looked like a classic upland gamebird shot, flying directly across both Jack and Nate's range of motion. But pheasants aren't in season right now (they must have known it, too), so we all watched them and hoped it would be a sign of things to come. The third rooster of the morning flushed so close to Kelly, she could have jumped on it but for the huge startle it gave her as it erupted out of the frozen grasses.
After lunch, as instructed by Kelly's dad, Nate, Jack, Kelly and I made our way down a rim-rock lined canyon, perfect chukar country. Nate stayed higher on the slope, above the rimrock. Jack, Kelly and I walked at the base of the canyon, as the rimrock itself was way too slippery and dangerous. Chukar are known to run uphill and flush downhill, so we hoped that either way, we might scare some birds into movement.

Shortly after we began our walk down the canyon floor, Kelly spotted what appeared to be a fresh deer kill (bones still bright red) - cougar? We stopped long enough to notice some snapped bones and take a photo, but decided it would probably be smart to keep moving along and stick together.
We also came across an old wagon wheel.


Below is a view of us looking up the hillside to where Nate was walking.
As we made our way back across the last field of the afternoon hunt, Kelly spotted a couple of birds flush way out ahead of us, over a slight rise. So we walked on in hopes that this would be a shooting opportunity for Nate and Jack. Three gray (Hungarian) partridges flushed a short time later, but from a very long ways out. Nate and Jack both took shots, but the birds escaped unscathed.

We ended the afternoon doing some trap shooting in the rockpit. Once we each had some practice shooting on our own, we started paired competition to keep things lively! Here are shots of Nate and Jack (you can see the clay pigeon in the air), and Kelly and her dad.

Mary's Peak

We took a hike on Saturday up Mary's Peak, the highest mountain the coastal range, with our friend Erik and his buddy Dan. Just 20 minutes west of Corvallis, we parked at a trailhead at around 2500 feet in elevation, and hiked up to about 4000 feet, just below the summit, over the next few hours.

We'd been hearing all week about a "temperature inversion", where the temperatures in the valley have been much cooler than those at elevation, due to a high pressure system directly overhead. The foggy, cool morning made us layer up a bit in preparation for the hike. But not a half-mile into our hike, we had to stop and take off layers, as waves of warmer air started greeting us up the mountain.
Here is a native woman we encountered on our hike, sporting a traditional lichen hat.

A view east, across the foggy valley, to the Cascades.

We encountered some patches of snow in the cooler, north-facing slopes, and in the fields just below the summit. Glorious panoramic views greeted us at the top. It was a clear day, so we could see across the fog-filled valley over to the Cascades and as far north as Mt. Rainier, more than 150 miles away in Washington. And with binoculars, we could watch the surf crashing on the coast, about 40 miles to our west. Erik's dog, Olive, enjoyed the views, too.

Snoeshoeing

It's been a while since our last blog post. Since mid December, we have survived Arctic Blast '08 (a week or two of frigid temperatures and significant snowfall in the greater-Portland area), a nice Christmas with our friends Kelly and Jack, and a wonderful trip back to NC over New Years, where we visited old friends and a good portion of Nate's family, who were vacationing in Nags Head. As we bed-hopped from house to house, we were treated to wonderful food, great company, and lots of dog-friends we have missed. Our thanks to everyone for a fantastic visit.

On Saturday, our friends Cory and Todd invited us along for a day trip up into the Cascades to do some snowshoeing- a first for me and Nate. After a 2.5 hour drive out over the Santiam Pass, we arrived at Ray Benson Snow Park, right next to the Hoodoo ski resort. It was a beautiful day to be out in the snow, with bright blue skies, sunshine, and fairly warm temperatures!


We ate our lunch at a shelter about 1/3 of the way along the 4 mile loop we were 'shoeing.
Here's a view of Three-fingered Jack, one of the big Cascade peaks in the area. From points on the trail we could also see the Three Sisters and Mount Washington.