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.
