Trading Fins for Feathers
By: Andrew Hasbrook
Liberty and Hemingway hit the hills
Taking a break from the bottom of the canyon to explore the tops, Libby and I met up with our good friends Seth and Hemingway. It was good to trade the cork for the cold steel of a shotgun and get the dogs out for a good run. We were setting ourselves up for a beautiful day in search of chukar in the steep and rugged hills of the Snake River corridor.
I should start by introducing the dogs. Liberty, “Libby” for short, is my young dog of 8 months. She is a solid liver and white chested Cesky Fousek, which is really just a czech breed of a wirehaired pointer, and a German Shorthair cross. Hemingway, “Hem” for short, is Seth’s dog. He is a beautiful specimen of a French Brittany, and with years of experience, is a pleasure to watch in the field.
On this day we set out on a hunt that neither me or Seth had done before. A beauty of a day, it was mostly sunny with a slight breeze coming up the canyon from the North. The top of the canyon and the NE facing slopes were snow covered, leaving only the Southern facing slopes exposed. Not knowing what we would find we were filled with excitement and curiosity of what the day would hold.
With a recent heavy rain the roads were slick and wet with the deep reddish mud that this area is known for. For this reason we decided to ditch the truck low on the road for risk of getting stuck or even worse sliding off the road. We started our jaunt up the canyon following the road up to a spine in the distance that we planned to use to ascend to the top of the canyon. While walking we talked about recent hunts we had been on, various things going on in our lives and catching up as friends do.
Our conversation was quickly cut short as we found Hem veering off the road and locking up into a hard point. We were both surprised that he had caught scent so quickly, and approached him from behind a bit questionably. He was locked up hard however, and if there is anything I've learned from the years of hunting behind Hem, it's that he is rarely false pointing. Sure enough as we got closer, and at the moment that we became too close, a covey of roughly a dozen chukar rocketed into the air!
With two shots thundering into the air, and two birds falling hard to the ground, our day had already become a success. We watched with pleasure as the dogs retrieved our birds from the hillside below. Both of them beaming with a smile matching the one on my own face.
Later in the day we continued to find a scattering of birds here and there. The dogs were working hard and at times doing great. Hem, being the older and by far better trained of the two, continued to have a wonderful day. Libby was doing her fair share by finding and pointing a few coveys of her own. That was however, between the bouts of frustration at her for running a bit too big and at one point me finding her to be nearly a half a mile away on the other side of a rather large draw. All in all though, the dogs did well together both pointing, honoring and retrieving beautifully at times. It was great for Libby to run behind an experienced dog like Hem. If you have a young dog I highly recommend giving them the opportunity to run behind and learn from an older more experienced dog.
At the end of the day we were all getting pretty tired and decided to head down to the road and head south towards where we had left the truck. On the way we had decided to circle back around one last knob where we had seen a few singles land when flushing a covey earlier in the day. This is where both Seth and I got the opportunity to witness Hem really show off his skills.
Once we had hiked behind the knob far enough south to circle back into the wind coming from the north we let the dogs loose. Libby, like she had done a few times before on this day, decided to go on and hunt for herself leaving the three of us behind in a cloud of her dust. Hem gave us a look back in what I perceived as an expression of disgust and annoyance by her actions.
Knowing that there were birds in the area, and with Libby out of sight, the three of us continued around the knob into a patch of rimrock. As Seth and I watched Hem start to get birdy, we also were getting excited ourselves because this area was prime cover for the birds we saw put down earlier. Hem then made his way up and over a patch of the rock straying just out of sight. Seth and I followed around and below the same patch. Once we circled the rock we got sight of Hem locked up hard on point into a small patch of scree surrounded by rimrock above us. We knew the bird was close now.
It was just at this time that young Libby, seeing us with our predatory body language, decided to strut down from the top to investigate. Not having a good wind she walked directly through the area that Hem was pointing. Even with all the comotion, still no birds! At this point Seth and I began to wonder if trusty Hem was false pointing or if the bird had run off. But there stood Hem, as still as a statue, still locked in hard and holding his point.
About ten more seconds went by and then we saw and felt the vibrations from the flush of a single bird. Seth being the one in position skillfully swung his 16 gauge side by side and at the last second dropped the bird before it could clear the rimrock and fly safely away.
Down the canyon went Hem to retrieve his prize for holding such a beautiful point. With another smile on his face he retrieved the bird and dropped it at Seth’s feet. Looking up as if to say to Seth, that was pretty damn beautiful huh! Seth rewarded his work with a happy pat on the head letting Hem know what a good dog he is.
The day ended with a bonus flush of some Hungarian Partridge and then we found ourselves back at the truck. All four of us were happy, tired and content with a wonderful day in the hills. It pays to seek out new areas and to not get content on hunting the same spots.
