Himalayan Snowcock anyone?

N

Navaluk

Guest
I last went in 2010 and by shear luck shot a double on these cliff demons. I was planning to go back this year but a Mountain Goat Hunt got in the way. The best I can do this season is to live vicariously through anyone who went this year. So did anyone go? How was it? Damn I miss it. No question this is the greatest bird hunt I have ever done.
 
Ok navaluk I googled Himalayan snowcock fully expecting u were sending me on a snipe hunt and I was gonna find some interesting website! But they're real! Never heard of em know nothing about em! Tell us what u know, u got me curious!
 
They are from Pakistan/ Afghanistan area Himalayas. They are occasionally referred to as Emperor Chukar but they are a distinct species. They are big like the size of a medium sage grouse or quite a bit bigger than a big Blue grouse. They are vocal, and run up hill in a chukar like fashion. Their silhouette in flight is similar to a Chukar just many, many sizes bigger. They are more aware and elusive than Chukars, which alone makes them dang difficult to hunt. They were planted in the Rubys and Humbolts in NE Nevada decades ago and flourish at extreme elevation, like 10,000 feet and up. I hunted them in 2010 as kind of a training exercise for the Nonresident Mountain Goat tag I drew that year. They are significantly more difficult to hunt than mountain goats, so they are only going to be an attractive option for the most crazy devoted hunters. I have hunted Mountain goats in Montana and this year in Idaho, so I do have the experience to at least make that claim. In my experience they are the second most physically demanding hunt in North America. I would like to go back one of these years, maybe this one when they have no snow through October so that I can shoot at least one more and have it mounted. Pin feathers are problematic in September when I went. Their meat is white like a Ruffed Grouse and it is fantastic.

When you going?
 
Lol! Sounds like alotta work! But interesting! Don't think we got em here in colorado. They must live and die without seein many people, did u say they were flighty? I grew up on ruffed grouse and when I saw my first blue I couldn't understand why they weren't extinct! Bet u don't have a ton of competition!
 

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