Exploring a wide-open tradition of wild birds and wild places.
Hell’s Welcome
Between Oregon and Idaho lies a canyon so deep and wide that it seemed unassailable to early explorers heading West. The sheer walls that rise from the Snake River to form the deepest river canyon in North America, have a habit of chewing up and spitting out all those that attempt to conquer it. From the Lewis & Clark expedition in 1806, to Wilson Price Hunt and then the massacre of 1886, the rugged canyon brings the strongest of men to their knees. This desolate river gorge has thwarted miners, homesteaders, and ranchers alike with perhaps the only group of people able to live harmoniously within its walls being the Nez-Perce tribe. Today, prospectors come in the form of chukar hunters in search of game not gold and they are given the same inhospitable welcome.
My annual pilgrimage to the place they call Hells Canyon coincided with my birthday this year and similarly to my previous visit, I arrived with a new upland hunter in tow in the hope of converting them to my cult-like passion – chukar hunting. A place that humbles even the most experienced of upland hunters, this challenging terrain is hardly an ideal location for an introduction to the sport. The logic behind it is that regardless of the suffering involved, Hells Canyon is among the most unique and beautiful landscapes in the country and surely an adventure one wouldn’t soon forget.
We eased into the trip and began by chasing California Quail on the first day. These little but fast-flying birds can live in huge coveys and are primarily found on flatter terrain and in
