Chucker and Pheasant

[Johnch]

OK these were NOT Wild birds
These were REALLY LOW IQ released birds

I am a member of a club that has land set up for upland hunting ( OHCC.US )
We have "Hunts" where we put out birds and then go back out in groups to hunt them
March 13 we had a Veteran Hunt and March 20 we had a Youth hunt
The Youth hunt was done for another Group , but we got a lot of clubs youth in also

The Veterans hunted Hen Pheasants
The Youth hunted Chucker , Hen and Cock Pheasants

I helped at both hunts
So after the hunts were over I had a chance to harvest a few of the birds that the "Hunters" had missed

Well the Veterans got most of the pheasants released for them
But my lab and I did find 2
I was using a SKB 685 12 gau over under shotgun
I had loaded 1 1/8 oz of homemade #6 lead shot at 1300 FPS
I also loaded 1 1/4 oz of homemade #6 lead shot at 1300 FPS
The 1 1/4 oz load was incase I missed on the first shot

I shot 2 times with the 1 1/8 oz load and took home 2 pheasants

This last Saturday the youth had fun and got at least 1 bird each
But the pheasants didn't really want to fly
So either the pheasants just ran making them really hard to hunt
Or the dogs would catch them
So then we had the youth get ready and we threw the bird into the air and stepped behind the youth for safety
After the birds were far enough out the youth harvested them

Saturday after the youth hunt I only had about 2 hours to hunt
My lab caught 2 hen pheasants in the first 1/2 hour
The only other pheasant I saw flushed at about 100 yards
I think that one was a bird from last year
My lab also flushed a single Chucker that I harvested
Sunday morning a friend and I picked a thick nasty area to hunt ( There was 2 other hunters hunting another area )

As we drove into the parking area we saw 6 Chucker just into the hunting area on a mowed path
So we sent my lab to flush them when we were 20 yards away
Yes they just let us walk up to them , LOW IQ Birds
4 chucker for 4 shots for us
As we worked of thick cover between mowed paths , my lab would go sort of on point ( he only holds for a short time )
The Chucker s would fly just before my lab got to them
All but 1 of the pheasants just started to run , so we harvested a number of pheasants without any shot in them after my lab caught them within 20 feet LOL

All total I only used the 1 1/8 oz of #6 shells as all the birds flushed close
I know I didn't need to use #6 shot for the Chucker , but I was planning on shooting Pheasants also

I know this isn't a hard way to hunt
But I was able to put some birds in the freezer and have fun

John

[reloader28]

Sounds like fun. I love bird hunting. My go to load is 5 shot at about 1400fps. Really nails the far flushing pheasants
For chuckers my favorite is 1 ounce of 6 shot at around 1200. It works really good and is nice to shoot

[Electrod47]

Nothing more enjoyable than a pheasant hunt. Week before Christmas 2008 I wa in S. Dakota on a young vets property that had not been hunted in years. About a foot of snow on the ground and getting colder. Wide open grey sky above. Flat corn stubble fields. My partner and the vet were moving the truck to the other end of a field to serve as blockers when I watched a hawk dive into a large patch of scrub and watched in amazement as hundreds of pheasant lifted off. I never fired a shot. I stood there with my mouth hanging open.

[RU shooter]

I miss bird hunting . My area of SW pa was really good for pheasant at one time like 40 years ago and it just dried up ,Then the game commission started releasing the tame stupid birds which was a complete failure as they normally just stood on the road side and got run over or became predator food in short order . Used to be lots of grouse as of 15 or so years ago but they have vanished too. About the only birds we have to hunt now are dove . Boat loads of rabbit and squirrel though . Just not the same as the old days .

[memtb]

Sounds like fun. I love bird hunting. My go to load is 5 shot at about 1400fps. Really nails the far flushing pheasants
For chuckers my favorite is 1 ounce of 6 shot at around 1200. It works really good and is nice to shoot

If you enjoy Chukar hunting....you must be in pretty darn good shape! memtb

[smoked turkey]

Johnch I always enjoy the stories of your hunts. Nice job on the birds and nice job with the vets and kids too! They will be good eating.

[xdmalder]

If you want a challenge and the best tasting meat ever come to Nebraska for some prairie chicken

[memtb]

If you want a challenge and the best tasting meat ever come to Nebraska for some prairie chicken

The young ones are good, the “blue bombers”...... are pretty gamey and require a pressure cooker to tenderize a little! memtb

[Randy Bohannon]

I have been training a young French Brittany, and enjoyed a most beautiful point from him this morning on a pair of grouse , I hope I remember to shoot during the season .

[GregLaROCHE]

This is the first time I’ve heard of a Chucker so I Googled it. Interesting. At first I thought you were hunting woodchuck.

[sharps4590]

Glad the Vet's and the kids had fun and you enjoyed yourself.

Around here, if a fella is gonna hunt birds, it's gonna be on a bird place. There isn't enough quail to shake a stick at and grouse didn't take and the closest wild pheasant is at least 5-6 hours away.

Hunting cage raised birds is kinda like fishing for hatchery trout at a trout park. The birds don't act like wild birds and the trout don't act like wild trout. At least the cage raised birds taste good. Can't say the same for the hatchery trout that have been eating floating dog food all their lives.

[dale2242]

ODFW releases a lot of farm raised pheasant on their wildlife areas for for free youth hunts.
Kids 17 and under can hunt theses birds.
Our dentist takes our great grandkids with his dog.
The kids love it.

[memtb]

This is the first time I’ve heard of a Chucker so I Googled it. Interesting. At first I thought you were hunting woodchuck.

Greg, a friend if mine, an avid bird hunter, told me.....”The first time you hunt Chukars, it’s for sport, every time after, is for revenge”!

Generally, they live in “VERY” steep country. They will run ahead of you or the dog staying out of range. When they get to the top of the ridge.....they will “sail-off” into the bottom of the next ravine. You can then start the process over once again!

This is a subject near and dear to my heart.The road I live on is called Chuckar Dr. Across the river from my home, it is near vertical cliffs....home for our Chuckars! memtb

[atr]

the chuckers around my hunting grounds take flight when you get within 100 yds of them.
I am glad you had a good hunt.

[Bwana John]

the chuckers around my hunting grounds take flight when you get within 100 yds of them.
I am glad you had a good hunt.

The local guys around here use pen raised chukar to train their dogs with.
They use rubber bands around the birds feet to make them fly instead of just running on the ground (chukar hobbles)

I think chukar hunting was the leading cause of death one year in Stanley, Idaho due to old retired guys running after the birds and having heart attacks.

I named my dog Chukar, so that the birds call her name when we hunt them (chuc, chuc, chuc-ker).

[Hogtamer]

A group of Appling old codgers get together and eat occasionally. So happens I smoked pheasant, huns and sharptail grouse today that my son brought back from N.D. Those grouse are outstanding!

[GregLaROCHE]

So the name Chucker comes from the sounds they make?

[Johnch]

For me Hunting Chucker
Early in the fall the chucker either flush well out of range
So I send my lab out to work back at us in 50 yard chunks
That allows us to get some good shots as the chucker's get pushed back at us and flush close

Or the Chucker RUN and I MEAN REALLY RUN !!
I mean they will run 100 yards from us , we will sometimes see a group 20 yards out as my lab tries to point them
Them they run and we next see them flush well out of range

So we hunt to the spot where they landed
So when we sort of know were they MIGHT BE I then send my lab to push them back at us

But Late Winter to now they loose most of their IQ and tend to be easy to hunt
I went out to the marsh this evening to do some bass fishing and I took my Lab
As I know there are still some Pheasants and Chucker that have not been harvested by hunters or the hawks

He "Harvested" 4 pheasants and 2 Chucker for me
He would just bring me a live mostly unhurt bird and then go back out to "Hunt" some more
So I had to dispatch the birds LOL

John

[Bwana John]

So the name Chucker comes from the sounds they make?

Yep. But somehow it gets spelled Chukar. Quail are similar but make a softer sound. Chucker have a raspyer, harder, louder call. You can relocate them after busting up a convey with a quail call. After that you better work on your 1/4 mile sprint speed.

I thought having the game call the dog's name was pretty slick. I drew the line at "quack" or "honk" though.