My BC bird season is done so I'm packing up the truck and the pooch (english pointer) and I are heading south. First stop is the Idaho side of Snake River before moving onto Nebraska and Kansas pheasants. I only have a couple of days in Hells Canyon so have been e-scouting areas similar to where I run into local chukar but the area is huge and it's a little intimidating. Anyone been down that way? Given the temps, I assume I'll be looking at lower elevations closer to river but would love some opinions on that. From what I'm seeing on the contours, the land flattens a bit as it approaches the water which is the opposite from what I'm hunting locally.
The ground seems a little more forgiving for dog pads but I'm thinking booties are still in order.
Post pics when you're back or everyone will think you never left your bedroom.
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Have been hunting Hells Canyon since 2013. Don't need boots for your dog there, just good legs, for you too! Yes, some section are steep. Brownlee Dam not too steep...
I hunted the area in mid December and again in early January after a dump of snow. As fabarm pointed out, the ground is much more forgiving than most BC Chukar areas. I found it to be very hikable and cactus-free. I prefer to have my dog hunt without booties as I've noticed she becomes less sure-footed. I'm especially weary of this in cliffed out areas. Got into plenty of chukar and huns. Ran into a few other hunters down there who were super friendly and helpful. Lots of birds to go around.
I am not a BC chukar expert but one major difference I noticed is how much more you can hear them down there. Maybe they're more vocal because the landscape is so expansive and there are many other coveys to communicate with? Either way, I found it very reassuring as we knew the birds were in the area - just had to find them.
The dump of snow in January took a lot of land out of the equation and seemed to force the birds together. I regularly found coveys of 40-50 around and in trees. Similar to coveys of late season sharptail, they'd spot us from 100 yards and bust.
It's the best hunting I've done with my pointer and it motivated me to get after the local chukar more this year. Need to do some summer scouting to find areas with less cactus. Got into a few promising areas this fall that the prickly stuff forced us out of
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