Hang on hang on, another trip report with excess pictures. Ah but I couldn't do it any other way. Almost all were taken with an iPhone so none are technically good, hopefully the scenery makes up.
Back to what is now my favorite area, we had 6 great nights. Orley made some fabulous retrieves for his first time hunting chukar, the Devil Bird, the smartest and fastest bird you can hunt in my opinion. Also the best tasting. We saw two mule deer bucks rutting it out, a running coyote, had a whole pack of them around the camper one night, I know they could smell Thanksgiving garbage in the truck cab. It was incredible listening to them try to figure out how to get in. Also saw a good sized herd of pronghorn antelope, it took a while for them all to "lope"by, we found 2 full sized snake skins, usually they're in pieces, also found a nice little "shed", an antler "shed" by a deer. And some great scenery as always. We ended up at the furthest about 37 miles from the highway, about 4-5 hours of slow driving over lava rocks, mud and snow.
We drove in at night, something I don't like doing anymore. Before the sun went down we were lucky to see two mule deer bucks rutting. I couldn't get my camera up and going fast enough for action but a few decent pictures happened.
A decent section of road. I had to get out 20 miles further and walk with a flashlight to find and follow a two track that shot off this road. Shot, that might have been a gun metaphor I'm not sure.
Morning glow to see us off hunting chukar
Temps were in the high teens so we outfitted Orley with his red jacket. Can chukar see red? I know those birds make me see red most of the time.
Orley is 8 months old and has fit right in with us, taking up Duke's old place in our lives and hearts.
One of two full length snake skins we found the first day. Usually the skins are torn into small sections.
Lynn and Orley next to a seep spring, frozen over at the moment.
A small "shed", called that because deer shed them each and every year, typically in late fall thru winter after rutting and mating. It's amazing how fast they grow back every year into a new set of antlers.
A 4 point shed, I'll call it a 3.25 hah
Walking on the north side of the hills where there was snow from the last storm, I bent over to take some picturess of the most amazing ice formations we've ever seen. These are taken with an iPhone, not a microscope.
Slopes like this are were the snow crystals manifest themselves.
The happy hunter, "Hey Dad, where's all the chukar?"
My Pollyanna with her dog Orley
Lunch at a favorite spot. There's a camper far left along the cliff.
Hey Dad, are the chukar down there?
Someone always blinks, or was he dreaming of chukar in the warm sun?
Orley's first retrieve. He was right on it as it came down and I heard my wife yell "He's got it!" Of course to her it meant she didn't have to look for it, being my previous birddog and all.
Nice job Or! I can only hope our affection for each other comes through this picture, he is a loving dog.
Orley's second retrieve as he was graduating into a bonafide birddog. He was 7 months old on this trip.
Back to the camper for dinner, it was too cold and windy to cook the birds over the grill. We ended up bringing them home to put on the Traeger.
Orley seemed proud, but what do I know.
And he got a chest rub for doing so well.
That night it was so cold I threw my heavy sweater/jacket over Orley. We found out on a backpacking trip that he likes to be covered at night when camping in the cold.
Morning came around and with it a few pictures in the below freezing temps.
Hey Dad, did you just hear a chukar over there?
There's gold in those hills, and a river canyon between here and there.
Playing with fire...wood you do the same?
There's the canyon and river. While I like to camp close to the edge we elect not to these days, our blind little dog Bailey could wander off and go over.
Cozy in the camper before loading up to leave.
Coming up from the canyon rim.
Here there be chukar, and why they're physically so hard to hunt. They run up the hills after your first shot at the bottom then fly down after your second shot at the top, making you chase them up and down...all day, earning the nickname “Devil Bird.”
In the distance my wife saw antelope running, she usually spots them first. I zoomed the camera lens in for a few pictures as the herd ran across the road. There were so many it took a while.
"I think I see a chukar Dad!"
After two nights elsewhere, we made it back to our first camp spot before dark.
Bailey seemed to be comfortable with her face in the cup holder, now a face holder.
Dog wrangler
That night was Thanksgiving, I haven't had to eat anything since.
But I still had an appetite for some pictures of a beautiful evening, they're lo calorie pictures of course.
When we went to bed it was looking like this.
And again the snow globe dropped in on us at dawn.
Another storm was coming up fast, it was amazing to watch it swallow us up in darkness and snow.
Just about to pavement I stopped to air up the tires from my tank of CO2. The CO2 is always a lot faster and definitely more convenient than the air compressor when it's freezing out.
Well that’s it for the trip report. Orley says goodbye and thanks for checking us out.
