Up until this year Lira and I spent all our time hunting pheasants but this year that changed. Yes, we still hunt a lot of pheasant but we also started hunting frequently in Eastern Washington for other upland birds as well as spending some time in the woods hunting grouse. Trust me hunting is the appropriate word for grouse, we didn’t spend much time killing grouse. So far this season we’ve added four new species of birds to our list.
Chukar
Chukar have sort of always intrigued me as a game bird ever since reading East of the Mountains by David Guterson. Tough terrain to say the least and they are hard to hit. Early in the year we hunted some planted chukar at Cooke Canyon just to get Lira onto a new bird. While deer hunting in Ellensburg we saw so many chukar that I decided it was time to hunt them for real and have spent several days now along the rimrock and high flats searching for them. We have managed one wild chukar and that is one Lira literally grabbed out of a bush.
California (Valley) Quail
The most common bird I found deer hunting was quail, they were everywhere. Lira chased around a lot of them scouting and has been able to find a few coveys of them now. I’ve bagged one quail only though, they are really hard to hit. Lisa got one also on our deer hunting trip. Not a high percentage game but Lira is starting to figure these birds out so I’m hoping to bag a few more before the season ends.
Hungarian Partridge
On our last trip over to Ellensburg Lira busted a few quail out of range and a big covey of chukar. After that she got her act together and on the next covey of birds held shy of them so I had a good shot when they flushed. We got our first Hungarian or Gray Partridge on that trip, bagging us most of the major species now in the Ellensburg area. She had found a few lone birds on an earlier trip but they both flushed out of range way in front of her even.
Ruffed Grouse
After all our grouse hunting and seeing only one grouse we were heading out hiking one day in the Middle Fork valley. There was a grouse on the side of the road and as I slowed down and went by it flew into the side of the car. The bird ran into the brush but it only took Lira a few seconds to find it and retrieve it. Yes, our one and only Ruffie so far came from an Outback and not a Benelli. Oh well, good eating either way and Lira had a grouse in her mouth finally. There will be more grouse hunting to come I’m sure.
All these birds inspired some new tenkara flies (kebari) which I’ve tied from feathers I saved from the birds. From upper L clockwise – Ruffed Grouse, Hungarian Partridge, Valley Quail and Chukar. Hopefully these birds will help me catch some trout next season. 
I’ve still got a few weeks left of local pheasant season and a few months left in Eastern Washington with about 8-10 days planned to hunt over there between now and the end of January. I also still have a few hunts at Cooke Canyon paid for so we will go there after the season ends to get Lira out on a few planted pheasant or chukar. We’ve had a pretty good bird season so far and I’m looking forward to the rest of it.