Chukar Hunting in Alberta

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On my last trip to Alberta I had brought Barklee and the Benelli on the off chance that we might get a training session in on some Chuckar.

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I have hunted her on wild and released Pheasants and she is a machine. Barklee is a very special black lab, with incredible drive when training and attitude that is focused on how to please. She seems to find another gear when hunting although it always seems like she is not really trying that hard when flushing, she very seldom misses a bird.

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The call was made to White Wolf Ranch and we requested 10 chucker’s to be planted throughout the property. We arrived at the property at 8:00 am and proceeded out to the fields to begin the hunt. Barklee started quartering through the lite cover as we made our way across the field. She missed the first bird on the way south through the field but flushed the second bird beautifully. James raised his Mossberg pump and took the fast flying bird with his first shoot. This really acquired Barklee’s attention and she was off nose to the ground hunting for the next bird. She made two more great flushes and 2 more birds hit the ground.

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We worked our way back to the truck and Rob came out and planted the remaining 5 birds. He planted them close to the first areas on the chance they might pair up with the two birds we missed on the first trip through. As we started into the field I noticed a cheeky hen sneaking from the plant grass across the road and into the tall grass along the edge of the marsh. I worked Barklee into position and she went under the fence and into the tall grass hot on the birds scent. When she gets close to the bird her whole body seems to vibrate and her tail looks like the rotor on a helicopter. As she started to vibrate the chucker exploded up from the tall grass, flew 20 feet before the bark of the Benelli ended her flight and she dropped into the dugout. Barklee charged into the water and returned with her prize.

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We continued through the field and put up three more birds and connected with two but one did make it to the cicadas on the neighbor’s property. At the south end of the field Barklee scented a bird and went to work. The hunt was very extensive until she dove head first into a large hole and 2 chucker’s launched out on either side of her head. The right bird made it 15 feet before it Jordan’s shotgun signaled its demise. The left bird caught James by surprise and cut hard to the left flying low and fast toward the tree line. James fired once, twice and then his third and final round to no avail as the lucky rooster made his escape.

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It was the perfect end to a great day with two of my brothers

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and
Barklee of course.

Great read ! And beutiful lab you have there. Looking foreward to chasing some birds next week with my buddy.

I am going to get out on the weekend for some pheasants. Still looking for wild chucker's.