Early Season Chukar (hawk catches chukar in air)

[@ronblackburn3683]

Super cool you saw and video recorded a hawk stooping on a chukar! I’ve seen that with golden eagles but did not have any way to record. Birds on open slopes with thin cover are hard for dogs to handle. I’m sure Chester and the chukars are looking at each other; that generally results in a wild flush.

[@strugglinoutdoors]

It was really cool to watch. He came out of nowhere and snatched that chukar. Chester has been getting better and better all season. He's starting to handle about 80% of the birds we come across pretty well now. It's been really fun to see him put it together. You are right though thin cover and a dozen birds staring back out you is definitely intense to handle. That's foe the support Ron

[@Pacostein1534]

That is so funny my boys used to point cattle and horses LOL!

[@h2oburke]

My girl is so visually stimulated. She’ll point on scent from 20 yards away but once she sees the bird, it’s game over. This offseason will be A LOT of positive reinforced on- leash Woah Training then transitioning to off leash at greater and greater distance. I feel your pain brotha. As far as gun problems I run an Ethos that’s been awesome and I have friends that use the Beretta A400, both great guns. Or you can always go the O/U route. Thanks for the content. 👍🏼

[@strugglinoutdoors]

Thanks. We work every day in the off season. He a pro at whoaing until there are birds around. If he had a handler that would keep it together and work with him in the field with real birds I'm sure this would go a lot better. Lol. I run a super black eagle 3 and it's my favorite gun ever. I can't say enough good things about it. I just can't bring myself to take it on the chukar hills. I picked up a new weatherby and so far so good. No more gas or long recoil systems for me. Thanks for the support

[@WyomingUpland]

regarding guns...you will not have issues with a Benelli Inertia semi-auto. I use the Montefeltro but IMHO, the best buy out there is the Benelli owned Franchi Affinity 3. My hunting partner has the 20ga "Select" model and it is one fine chukar gun! Regarding hawks...we've had a 'big' year for hawks in my neck of the woods. Mostly Northern Harriers that will follow the dogs and swoop down on their pointed birds.The Harriers will also cruise a few feet over terrain that has a bunch of birds and in the least will get the Huns and/or Chukar on edge! Regarding Garmin...bet you need to recalibrate the handheld unit. That will fix the situation 99.9% of the time

[@strugglinoutdoors]

Hey thanks for watching. I have a benelli sbe 3 and it's my favorite gun I've ever used. Perfectly reliable and fits me real well. I just can't bring myself to take it in the chukar hills. I just settled on a weatherby element... So far so good. At under $400 I don't feel so bad beating the crap out of it. For the garmin, it's bad enough now that I have to calibrate the compass every hour or so for it to even be close. This is the same thing that happend to my last one. Garmin customer service has been a little better this time around. Last time they were terrible. Thanks for the support.

[@w.tiefel348]

Another option in my humble opinion... Ditch the autloader and go with a side by side or over under. You wont have to worry about ammo cycling and way safer hiking around steep country. it's also way easier to put your spent shells in your vest so you don't let other hunters know where you were and to keep the mountains clean. I appreciate you being great about picking up your hulls, there's a few youtubers that people seem to be in love with that suck at that and a lot more. Hope you have better and better hunts ahead of you with your dog.

[@colt10mmsecurity68]

Awesome video thanks for sharing! What size shot were you using in that CZ? And was it lead or steel? I’m assuming it was lead because you live in a free state

[@strugglinoutdoors]

I had 3 inch #6s. Probably a mix between steel and lead. I have both and don't seperate them out. Thanks for watching man

[@colt10mmsecurity68]

@@strugglinoutdoors Right on, thanks man! 👍👍

[@thomasbrooks8112]

I'm in the market for a 12 gauge semi auto shotgun, and I'm seeing a lot of videos on KZbin where hunters are having jamming problems with their semi auto shotguns. Is this a common problem pretty much across the board with semi auto shotguns? I'm retired and cant afford a $2000 or even a $1500 shotgun! I'd like to keep it under $1000 if possible. My current shotgun is a CZ Redhead O/U 20 gauge. Obviously, I've never had an issue with this shotgun jamming!🤪 But i like the idea of having a third shot readily available.

[@strugglinoutdoors]

Most autos work flawlessly. Especially with high brass hunting loads. The autos that will shoot 3.5 inch shells struggle the most to shoot real light trap loads. Everything I touch breaks, so my experience is typically worse than just about everyone else's. I just settled on a weatherby element. My wifes had 1 for the last few years. She probably has 1-2 thousand rounds through it. Not a single issue. So far I have a couple hundred rounds through mine and I really like it. I picked mine up on sale for under $400. Thanks for watching

[@Luke_G-gw5cw]

@@strugglinoutdoorsI have a new SX4 from Winchester as my upland shotgun and still takes 3.5s, only advice I give is run a bore snake down it each time your done hunting and clean the action if needed and then toss some oil in it and it should be good to go, I’ve ran light target loads for dove up to 3s so far just target shooting and sighting my choke in

[@fireguy7004]

Thanks for posting, Not sure if calling your channel "struggling outdoors" is appropriate or bad karma? Other video I watched you had a bad shell, now the guns not cycling!. New gun or maybe get that one looked at????? Shouldn't be doing that obviously. Have you ever wondered why chukars hold? Why dont they fly immediately when they see us? Yes sometimes they do, but why not every time?? Has nothing to do with pointing. Ive hunted chukars for decades with Rets. If we required a chukar to be pointed to hold, I would never kill a bird with a ret. That hawk taking that chukar out of the air is why they hold. It's just survival strategy. Flying isn't a safe option. Look at the speed that hawk or Falcon hit that bird with. You know that chukar was hauling!. I used to keep pigeons for training. Have seen hawks take them out of the air multiple times. I believe pigeons are much more maneuverable than a chukar. This doesnt really change anything, pointers need to hold their point and not pressure to much, I need my ret to stop when told. Good luck, keep the videos coming.

[@strugglinoutdoors]

I sold the cz and my browning maxus, both were giving me problems, and picked up a new weatherby. No more gas or long recoil systems for me. Most of Chesters time hunting has been in SD chasing roosters through cattails. I never worked on pointing or held him to any standard. Mostly because we bagged a ton of birds with track and flush. Changing the game on him at age 9 is no easy task,but he's been getting better and better each time. Thanks for the support

[@justindurante1740]

That looks like a nightmare to walk

[@PNWOutdoorsman509]

That’s chukar hunting. 😎