Not just for the birds
Moving forward. Going backwards, uphill, and slowly descending. Last hunt of 2020 for us was yesterday, I followed Bob around the chukar hills just like the old days. Camera in hand. No shotgun. Winter is my favorite time to be out there. It's quiet. Following tracks of ghosts of deer, elk, and birds. Detective work. …
Unprecedented visit Yesterday a pheasant rooster turned up at our bird feeder and gorged himself for more than an hour. Our house is about 400 yards from the nearest cover any self-respecting pheasant would consider. Surely a sign the Upland Apocalypse is upon us. I'd hoped we'd see a turn toward some burn-off so I …
Brittanys on the DL Saturday night After our big storm, which left nearly a foot of snow, I was ready to call it. We've had a great season, and finding birds has always been hard for me once the snow flies. I read at least one blog, though (especially Tucker's Chukars), whose author does not …
Winter hunting at its finest? I don't think I've ever seen as many chukar in one day as I saw yesterday. I also have never seen so many chukar and took so few. Zero to be exact. Not for lack of trying: in 3 hours we hiked about 3-1/2 miles in the snow, climbed 2,000 …
We left the house amidst a blizzard and drove over the summit in 8 inches of unplowed highway. "What are we doing?" There's a sense of wonder, always, when traveling to a hunting spot because rarely can you know what it'll feel like when your feet hit the ground and you start hiking. Today didn't …
The day before winter. On autumn's final day, a bluebird one sandwiched between sheets of wet gray weeks, I headed to an old favorite spot from a few years ago when we lived in the city. I got there to find way too much snow even to make an attempt on the ridge. So I …
Santa brought us a new video camera but with all the snow and cold temps we had to wait for a little burn-off. We went out yesterday to try it out and see if we could find any birds. It was fun. For us. The recent cold snap and snow resurrects some ethical questions about …
Another cold day. What is it, winter or something? Sun. My first jaunt uphill in a month. Felt good. Angus pointed a big integrated covey of Huns and chukar within about ten minutes, and we had a nice walk after that.