Best Moments from the 2018 Season

The final day of the year seems like a good opportunity to sift through some of the memories made afield.

Upland season isn’t over yet. Wishing everyone the best for the coming year.

(Sunrise camping next to the Yellowstone with friends.)

Treed Sharptail — The Sharp-tailed Grouse is an under appreciated upland bird. Not often that I see them in trees and get an opportunity at a halfway decent pict. Most times they are flushing from hundreds of yards, chuckling as they escape.

Lab with Sharptail — Early in the season, Ida had some wires crossed and was battling bringing birds to hand. I was working with her and wracking my brain to figure the malfunction. Then one walk in Montana we flushed a covey of grouse that flew toward standing corn. I managed a shot and was trying to get a good mark when Ida emerged, no coaxing required. From that point on retrieves were no problem.

Wild + Whole with first Chukar — The exact moment when someone battles through all the doubt and obstacles and becomes a believer.

Eat Wild — Had a lot of great camp meals this year, but these Sharptail Two-Track Tacos ranked near the top. Someday I’ll post the recipe.

Old chevy and a couple dogs — The old cars, tractors and farm equipment decaying on the prairies seem a sign of progress or decline….. depends how far we’ve walked that day for the prevailing perspective.

Radioactive Dog — Funny where the dogs sometimes take you. This was a first….. public lands in Colorado.

First Sharp-tailed Grouse — When you take your flatlander friend to 8,000′ and he shoots a Columbian Sharptail…. did I forget to tell him there are prairie grouse at much lower elevation…..?

BLM bluff — Sometimes we hunt places because they are too beautiful to not. There were other areas that looked more ‘birdy’, but we turned around and came back here for final walk of the day and the sunset.

Long way to the top — We gained 2,000′ of elevation, much of it through dead-fall pine forest. Watching my buddy climb these last few steps to ptarmigan country…. he never thought he was gonna make it. Proud of his effort and glad I didn’t have to carry him back down.

Old Lab and Rooster — The old man isn’t able to hunt much anymore. But when the conditions turn cold, he still has the heart and can pull it together. Was great to watch him get those dull teeth back on birds.

Setter in the Wind — Appeared to be a Bluebird day until we hike to this saddle where the straight line winds were 30 MPH making for extremely challenging hunting conditions. Couldn’t tell whether Rio was pointing or just looking into the wind.

Colorado Big Horn Sheep — Rounded a corner in Colorado and came upon this group of sheep. Wrong lens, wrong light, wrong spot….. still just breath taking to see them in the wild, not behind a fence or in a National Park.

Porcupine encounter — Ida had her first run-in with porky. She determined this one quill stuck in her bottom lip was quite enough.

Ida Retrieving — Saw this rooster land in extremely thick cover about 100 yards from us. Directed the dogs toward it. The setter went on point and Ida went to flush but the bird couldn’t get through the grass. She came out with this proud prance and that look on her face….”Hah, didn’t need you after all.”

Ida with Bobwhite — Dropped this bird from a fence row bordering this bean field. Ida went for an easy pickup. Surprise. When we recovered the bird and later cleaned it, it had a single pellet at its brainstem. (Suspected this because it towered before it dropped.)

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