Noses down, tails cracking in the cool morning air, the dogs worked in-between the Russian Olives. As the tails moved faster their pace became more methodical. The morning had been kind already, and with a limit in the truck I was able to focus solely on handling the dogs. My friend was one shy, Read More
To a Lab nothing else matters once the smell of a rooster fills their nostrils. These majestic birds display colors that are almost other worldly. The bird is reward enough but a little petting is always appreciated. All the attention goes to the head, but the subtle shades of turquoise and silver on the, Read More
My attention ebbs and flows. A month ago I had almost no interest in hunting, I was immersed in fishing. There were years where my focus was waterfowl, then it switched to upland birds for the last couple. While introduced early, passions for fishing and bird hunting came later to me. Big game hunting, Read More
If I’d had a pipe and an Irish setter, we could have been in a Norman Rockwell painting. Puffy white clouds floated in a bluebird sky above vibrant green sage and the rolling red-dirt prairie. A man, at ease with the world and confident in his forthcoming conquest, strides forth, a shotgun cradled across, Read More
My son was so excited for the first day of hunting season, and the morning was such a blooper reel of false starts, forgotten gear and last minute errands, that I nearly failed to calibrate expectations. We’d left the highway, the state roads, and the graded gravel behind before I thought to check in, Read More
The air is getting cooler. A few trees are starting to turn. Many folks are thinking about fall fishing. Aggressive browns, big streamers, you name it. We love to fish, we’ll probably still fish this fall. But something else is underfoot. It’s hunting season. Some folks are already going full tilt. Archery seasons have, Read More
The more I learn about hunting and fishing, the more I recognize how much I don’t know. Adding a kid to the mix has really driven that humbling realization home for me. Not only do I have the perpetual need to refine my approach in the field, but now I also need to develop, Read More
I’ve got a garage full of gear. Enough to outfit a small army for anything from mountaineering to horsepacking, canoeing to big wall climbing, not to mention hunting and fishing. Despite the raw volume of stuff, that at times is overwhelming and probably warrants a garage sale, there are a few pieces of gear, Read More
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 last day of the season and they were onto us. Only minutes prior I had managed to scratch down my first chukar, Read More
Upland birds have gained my favor the past few years. Maybe it’s the country, maybe it’s because I don’t have to get up at 3am, maybe it’s the exercise that both my dogs and I appreciate. Whatever the reason waterfowl have been on the back burner. However, time spent in the uplands has not, Read More