Friday, January 28, 2011

Last Two Days of the Season


Jan. 27 Joel's Spring/ Moo Canyon/ CBF

We hit Joel's in the morning. The first thing I noticed was that the area is completely renovated. New fences and signs can be found everywhere. The road was fine, I thought that it might be a little hairy with ruts but it was almost perfect. Once we parked Kaiser became very birdy, and a convey of at least 30 flushed wild. We ran after them and managed to shot at singles and doubles here and there. These birds as like last year are very intelligent. Quick shots are required as the birds will dart and fly in between some sort of cover. We spent the whole morning here chasing these singles and doubles. We missed everyone. At lunch we headed back into town.

After eating we headed toward Moo Canyon. I've have sucess here in the past and thought at least we could get on some birds. I was wrong, not even one. I did notice alot of sign but we couldn't find anyone of them.

CBF was pretty much the same.











Jan.28 Moore's Place

Moore's Place has always been one of my go to spots. It has never disappointed. This day would be no different. We started down the riverbed. After about 20 minutes a covey of 20 or so flushed wild. Although I only saw 2, hitting one f them. Dad saw the other birds scatter. He also manged one with my Merkel Model 8. I managed to hit mine with my Darne R13 I hit him with a B&P Spreader No.7. I missed the double as I shot behind the second bird. We tried looking for the scattered covey but we were unable to locate them. Eventually we made it down the wash and to the water trough. I climbed up the mountain from there. I managed to go about 1/3 of the way and headed toward the car at that elevation. I made down and up the next draw. I was in the cheatgrass and a pair of chukar exploded past exposing them for an ass shot. I shot and missed the first. I thought I hit one with my second but the bird kept flying. The bird was at least 40 yards when I made the second shot. I was sure I hit it but it kept flying. I eyeballed it and noticed that one leg was dangling. After about a 1/4 of a mile the chuckar began to do cartwheels in the air annd feel from the sky like a sack of potatoes. It flew at least 20 storeys. I watched it fall and land fortuitously on the only bare area in the thickets. I followed the same elelvation,hoping to run into the other bird, until I was directly above the fallen bird. I proceeded down and had Kaiser make the retreive. His first taste of chukar. This is not the first time on chukar but his first retreive of one. After the retreive we went back up the mountain. No birds were found so we headed down. While at the creek I missed a male quail holding tight in the bushes. We made it back to car where we met Dad and I showed him the bird.
After lunch we took a short break. We hunted again around 2pm. It was still hot. I went up another mountain, this time without any luck. It was only until around 4pm when we located the birds. Kaiser managed 4 points and I only was able to connect on of them. These birds held so tight I had to stand on the bush that kaiser pointed. It mad for poor footwork and was a determining factor for the misses.
I regret not taking advantage of this wet year. I know the birds must have been abundant hopefully next year will be the same. As Arizona's season does not end until Feb.6 I am contemplating whether or not to make a field trip eastward. Afterall I've never taken a Mearns, scalie or even a Gambels (even though I have shoot at a few).

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