Chukar Hunting
Hells Canyon guided Chukar hunting trips take place in the Hells Canyon section of the Snake River between Oregon and Idaho. The Snake River is a border river, and we primarily hunt the Idaho side where there is one hundred miles of wild and scenic river. The Salmon River is another huge section where we hunt Chukar, about twenty-five miles on both sides, entirely in Idaho. We hunt up and down both sides of this river canyon territory and travel by welded aluminum jet boats. These are big, custom boats built specifically to navigate these types of water ways.
Chukar Partridge
The Chukar Partridge is an amazingly beautiful upland game bird with brilliant splashes of black, red, and blue painted on its stone-grey body and bright red legs and beak. Chukar spend most of their lives on the ground feeding and foraging for food, only occasionally flying when threatened or to glide far across the river of Hells Canyon in search of new territory.
Chukar Partridge live in the dry steep rocky terrain and the golden grass covered ridges high above the deep green water of the Snake River in Hells Canyon. Roosting in the safety of the isolated cliffs of the high ground overnight and then feeding on seeds, cheatgrass, and berries downward toward water each morning through bolder fields and hackberry trees to drink from the river along its rocky banks and white sand beaches.
Chukar Partridge Habitat
Chukar Partridge were introduced to Idaho in 1933. The original transplanted brood stock coming from Afghanistan took a stronghold in this new habitat known as Hells Canyon. The Snake River of Hells Canyon is widely known as the powerful waters that cut the deepest gorge in North America. Being two thousand feet deeper than the Grand Canyon, Hells Canyon stands alone as this country's deepest river canyon and divides the two states of Idaho and Oregon.
Over one hundred miles of wild and scenic river flow downstream with its class 3 and 4 whitewater rapids from the Hells Canyon dam to the gateway of Hells Canyon near Lewiston, Idaho. Here in this isolated steep rocky terrain is where Chukar Partridge thrive in a habitat far from the masses. Scorching hot summers and freezing cold winters are part of life and death of this much sought after game bird.
Those who pursue the hunt for Chukar Partridge often become lifelong die-hard enthusiasts. The challenge of the pursuit can get in your blood and never a sport more rewarding. Chukar Partridge populations fluctuate year to year and when the bird numbers are up it is not unusual for a six-person hunting party to fill their limit with forty-eight birds each day of your hunt.
Hells Canyon Chukar Hunting
What would a normal day of Hells Canyon Chukar Hunting be like, during a Cast and Blast trip, with Hells Canyon Sport Fishing?
We usually start the day out by going upriver in daylight and traveling twenty miles upstream to the mouth of the Salmon River to do a little fishing from around 7:00 AM till about 9:00 AM or so in the morning. The fishing will typically entail salmon and steelhead fishing until 9:00 and by then the sun is up and warming up the Chukar. The Chukar come down from the palisades and feed on their way down to the river to drink. The heat of the sun usually warms the Chukar up to the point they get thirsty. So, about the time you get warm enough to start taking off jackets, it is warming up enough that the birds are coming down to drink.
We use the boats just to idle up and down the river and watch for the coveys of Chukar as they move down. Once we locate a covey, we will navigate the boat over and around a bend from them, maybe one hundred yards away or so, where they cannot see us. We then allow the hunters to get out and make a stalk on the covey of Chukar.
We use Brittany and Springer Spaniels for recovery and typically we do not let the dogs out of the boat until the shooting begins. Once the birds start dropping, we release the dogs who will start rounding up birds. Hunters may get an extra jump on the birds after they have shot by using the dogs to flush any Chukars that may have landed while retrieving the already harvested Chukars.
We then round up all the harvested Chukar and head back down to the boat and on to the next covey. We make sure not to waste time or energy just wandering around Hells Canyon looking for Chukars, we will spend our time in the boat locating them. That way typically right around lunchtime we will pull over and have a shore lunch on the river and discuss options with you and decide what to do from that point. If you are a little tired from hunting maybe we will relax and go fishing for another hour or so back up to the mouth of Salmon River and then usually around 3-4 o'clock the birds start coming back down for another watering and we will spend usually the last 2-3 hours of the day looking for more birds.
Then most often we will try to cap off the day by catching a big sturgeon on the way back to the hunting lodge. Our Hells Canyon Chukar hunts can be anywhere as simple as a day trip where you show up at the boat launch at Heller Bar in the morning and fish and hunt all day then we bring you back to your vehicle around four or five in the evening. However, it can be a four-day, four-night hunting trip where we provide all the meals and onsite lodging. By far our most popular Chukar hunting trip is a three-day, three-night cast and blast style chukar hunt.
Hunting Lodge
The Hells Canyon Chukar Hunting Lodge can accommodate up to twelve guests. We do not mix groups, so if we have a solitary group of say six hunters that are at the hunting lodge you will have one boat and the hunting lodge for yourselves. Our boats are booked out as a six-person minimum group. A group of twelve hunters will have two boats and the hunting lodge to themselves.
Our Chukar hunting lodge is located at Heller Bar, which is conveniently just a short two-minute walk from it to the boats. We keep our boats right on the dock on the river. When you get up in the morning you are served breakfast, we pack your lunch, load your coolers into the boat, and you walk right out of the hunting lodge and right down to the dock and right onto the boat. The hunting lodge has an amazing view overlooking the river and is extremely convenient for your stay at Hells Canyon.
Lewiston airport is the closest to our location and offers three different direct flights for Hells Canyon Chukar Hunting Trips. The first is out of Seattle which is only about an hour flight time. The second is out of Salt Lake which is about an hour and a half flight and the third we have coming out of Denver which is a two-hour flight. Our Chukar Hunting lodge is forty-five minutes from Lewiston airport.
Chukar Hunting Season
The Chukar Hunting Season in Idaho starts the third Saturday of September then goes all the way through until the 31st of January. We can hunt Chukar half of September, all of October, November, December, and January so it is a good long hunting season.
The preferred time to focus on Chukar hunting is the last two weeks of September and the first two weeks of October because it is usually the driest part of the entire Chukar hunting season. This is when the birds will be coming to the river to drink regularly, and the coveys are at their thickest. For the more dedicated Chukar hunters who like to put their boots to the ground, then the later October and November hunting can be exceptional. During this time of year, the Chukar are typically a little further up on the hillsides and away from the river so this will require a little more work for a successful hunt.
Chukar Hunting Gear
Hunter orange is our primary recommended safety item regarding Chukar hunting gear, but it is not a requirement by law, but we recommend the use because groups will get scattered out on the hills. Hunter orange helps not only hunters see where everyone is at, but it also helps us, the Chukar hunting guides, because we usually stay with the boat and are ready to release the dogs. This is important for us to see what is going on and to keep track of the action as it unfolds. We recommend wearing an orange vest or at least at a minimum a blaze orange hat.
We recommend bringing your 12 or 20 gauge shotgun. There is no plug rule for these hunts so you can load as many shells in you gun as it will hold. Heavy game loads with #6 lead shot is recommended. Please do not bring steel shot! Wear all leather boots and thorn proof pants to provide protection from prickly pear cactus. Dress in layers so you can strip down as the day hearts up. Bring shorts if you think you might want to take a swim during the heat of the day.
Well behaved and trained hunting dogs are welcome both on the boats and at the lodge. Please bring your leash for on the boat and crate for overnight stays at the lodge.
The daily limit on chukar in Idaho is 8 birds per person. Two 25 round boxes of ammo per hunter per day is typically more than enough.