My grandfather (pictured) was an inspiration for me. He was an outdoorsman out of necessity, his success in the field ultimately determined at times whether or not the family had protein.  He came to love the outdoors and was drawn to explore.  His love of dog work and chasing upland birds was appealing to me as a young man.  He raised and trained English Pointers, so naturally when it came time for me to commit to an upland dog, I followed his lead.  Melvin (named after my grandfather), Phoebe and I strive every season to explore new regions in search of chukar.  

Chukar hunting is tough.  It involves hiking in remote unforgiving areas.  Each footstep offers a new opportunity for injury.  Chukar tend to live in very steep, loose rocky terrain.  It is taxing on both dog and hunter.  But for me there is nothing quite like the feeling of watching a good dog do what his bred and trained to do so well, seek, find and point a covey of these elusive birds.  And when shot connects with bird and the dog happily retrieves to hand, well, that is magical.