My lungs were about to explode, which masked the burning in my quads. The terrain was unforgiving. So were the birds. We had been in birds all day, but it was the end of the season and they were onto us. Only minutes prior I had managed to scratch down my first chukar of the, Read More
“She’ s been sprayed”, were the first words out of my wife’s mouth when she walked in the door. A couple friends were over and I was about to throw burgers on the grill. A quick double check confirmed the reality. The dog had been blasted at point blank range. The acrid smell, Read More
The daydream has her in the backcountry, nose to the wind, quartering through the brush. The day’s work has her in the backyard, butt to the snow, holding through a sit stay. We’re laying a foundation and “making haste slowly”. I keep reminding myself of that as we build basic obedience inch-by-inch. The long days, Read More
Only an hour from home we get a cheap hotel room. My mistress insists on leaving the toilet seat up. She farts and snores all night long. Subtle twitches and whimpers indicate good dreams. I toss and turn as the the wall mounted heater turns on and off, on and off. As blackness turns to grey, Read More
Parents often tell me that having and raising kids really cemented their place in a community. They’d been disconnected from whole populations of neighbors, ignorant of critical institutions and uninvolved in many cultural rituals until the demands of parenthood thrust them into the fray. I think that might be overstating it a bit, and, Read More
Coffee coursed through my veins. My trap was running well above the speed limit. “SHEEP” yelled my buddy from the passenger seat, just in time for me to step on the breaks and avoid a ewe and lamb big horn crossing the highway. It was an unusual sighting, but that hardly registered at the, Read More
My heart sank. Three shots, three hit birds, none in the bag. It’s called hunting for a reason. Do it long enough and things don’t always go right. Good dogs, responsible shooting, and practice mitigate lost or crippled birds. Normally, in a given season I might lose a couple, but this was entirely new, Read More
Conventional wisdom holds that there are two types of content that reliably succeed in a digital medium – kittens and naked people. As Steven and I are always trying to refine STS to give readers more of what they want, we’ve exhaustively considered both options. Since neither of us have a kitten, our path, Read More
Rays of golden sun and smoke gray clouds fight for dominance. Ultimately the sun wins. The Wyoming wind also has skin in the game and seeks to make a shot at the title. The dogs and I are merely props in the scene. Pulling up a hood and zipping my collar I seek to keep warm. The, Read More
Dogs fly out of their kennels. An energetic ball of dust builds with each concentric circle. Coolers, duffels, and water jugs litter the ground. Chaos is distilled into organization. Camp is established.