Olds Ferry Road – Steck Park

11/26/04

Member Details:

Shells:

Federal 12 gauge, 1oz 1/4, 7 ½ shot

Area Hunted:

End of Olds Ferry Road about 2 miles down river of Steck Park, the area is adjacent to private property. Please respect the posted private property and do not trespass.

Directions:

The area is NW of Weiser, Idaho. When arriving in Weiser (National Fiddle Championship Home) on Hwy 95. Turn onto Main Street. Follow Main through town and the road will curve to the south and go under a railroad bridge. Take the immediate right past the railroad bridge, do not cross the bridge over the Weiser River. You will come quickly to a T-intersection and there will be a sign for Steck Park 20 miles.

Hiking Rating:

The hike is strenuous. The mountainside is steep and rough.

Birds:

Starting here and moving downriver on both sides of the Brownlee Reservoir is arguably the chukar capital of the NW. Oregonians may argue, as there are some areas in Eastern Oregon that have great numbers of birds too.

Hungarian Partridge are found too. Along Olds Ferry road the hun hunting seems better in the more rolling hills (relatively) before you reach Steck Park.

Thirty…thirty six…forty five…sixty…and by the time (3 hours) I climbed down the steep mountainside I had seen somewhere between 100 and 150 chukar. Devon, his pup Ginger, and brother-in-law, hunting the same area with me called later that night to report the same numbers. It was amazing! And to think I only walked out with one chukar and a pigeon. It was one of those days where hitting a chukar the size of a plane would have been something to cheer about. We all have them, right? At least I have the excuse of, “I was more focused on keeping my dog steady on point”, but then it is just an excuse.

Devon was down from the Moscow area visiting family for the holidays and wanted to take advantage of his time here to hunt chukar. He brought his two-year-old brown German shorthair Ginger with him. Right before I left the mountainside I was talking to him on the walkie-talkie and he sounded pretty excited about how his day was going. They were nearing the top of the range and if I do say so myself that is quite a bit of an uphill climb. The funny thing about that is when he called to ask about hunting I asked how fit he and the others going with him were…I got his response confirmed in that static-filled radio conversation from the top.

As with so many days chasing the purported “King of the Game Birds”, it was a mixed bag. Although seeing as the numbers of birds are currently the highest since the 80’s or something, a person just can’t go wrong, unless they are shooting like #(U&(. Well it seemed that is exactly what Devon and I were doing. Devon described shooting at flushes from his knees, I assume because of the steep and difficult terrain, and my difficulty came from paying much more attention to my dog then zeroing in on the birds flushing. But that is a major reason why chasing chukar is so exciting; the often-hard terrain, the number of birds possible, the shooting difficulty, and even the stark beauty of the landscape.

The birds were spooky, half the birds I saw were wild flushes well out of range. Another part of the difficulty was Z ranging out to far and not holding point when she found birds. And then when she did find birds in close, giving me some really good solid points, I was not rewarding her with downed birds. The one chukar I did manage to hit was halfway up the mountainside and it locked its wings to glide all the way back down before fluttering and falling. Since the birds were generally skittish I was trying to keep my dog close, move fast, and move quietly. I firmly believe silence is one skill that many chukar hunters forget to practice, and it costs them many missed opportunities. I have no proof other than my own experience but moving silently over ridges and into other likely areas is as important as trying to approach the birds from above.

Check out the Fish and Game link concerning the high numbers of chukar this year. The report is accurate. Make a trip over and if you can stay focused, cover lots of ground, keep quite, and give your dog the right opportunities this will be the year to finish your day with that elusive limit of 8 chukar.