success!

After spending saturday with the kid doing yard work, and saturday night playing with the band, I finally slipped away for some bird hunting sunday morning.
It's been 6-7 years since I really chased upland birds and a lot has changed. Other than the obvious, which is my old covers maturing, was the addition of a million (o.k., that's a slight exaggeration) NO TRESPASSING signs. One of the larger land-holding companies in the area, other than the mines, is Potlatch, a wood-products company. They own thousands of acres which are logged in a steady rotation, providing endless opportunities for us bird-doggers to chase chickens and doodles...This land has always been open to hunting, and I believe the only reason they are allowed to hold such large tracts is if the land is open to recreation. But of course there are ways around everything and Potlatch began leasing their property a few years ago to deer hunters. I could rant about how unfair this is but I promised myself to keep this blog as rant-free as possible, so let's just say I moved on to some new cover.
I found many wonderful spots that should have held birds....Vera worked enthusiastically and we covered ground, spending 1/2 to an hour in each spot, methodically gridding the aspen and alder. I found myself talking out loud, wondering where the birds were. It is still too early for great hunting, the leaves are still on and the grass and ferns reach waist high. But still, come-on, the birds should have been there!



The temperature quickly rose to over 60 degrees, my usual limit. But I pushed on, unable to drive past likely cover. Vera was tiring, and I couldn't keep her watered enough. We stopped at one point and she took a swim in the Little Fork river, fetching sticks and wading in the cool water. This break revitalized her for another hour, but by then the temp was pushing 70 and we were both feeling it's affects.


I pointed the truck home and drove with my mind in overdrive. I need to find Vera some birds. I felt like a failure. I remembered back to the years that held grouse, lots of grouse. How easy it was to turn the dog loose and expect a point within minutes, in any type of cover. I remember stopping for lunch in a young pine plantation, only to find it full of grouse. Old timber, young cuts, it didn't matter. There were birds everywhere.
Closing in on home, I find my truck exiting the highway and heading towards the Korpi road spot. With the temp in the seventies and a very tired, hot dog I don't expect my luck to change but turn onto the single-lane gravel road. I cross the railroad tracks and pull into the old gravel pit, navigating around the piles of refuse and beer cans to park next to a small pond. I like parking here for two reasons: 1. If some dandy comes out to shoot old televisions my truck is protected by the surrounding sand piles and 2. The pond is a refreshing treat for the dog when we return to the truck.
We work the first alder swath without a flush and backtrack to approach the second cover into the wind. Vera heads into the mess of raspberry bushes and alder with renewed enthusiasm as I walk a little further looking for easier access. A woodcut jumped ahead of me when I enter the cover and I instinctively shoot, dropping the bird more by accident then skill....In any event, Vera came running and I walked her a few yards downwind and told her to "fetch it up"....lacking experience, she looked at me and stood there wagging her tail, eyes asking me to throw something for her to fetch...."bird, where's the bird?", "find the bird!"....I took a few steps into the wind and she took the lead, snapping into a rigid point within steps...."dead bird, fetch it up!"....she cautiously took a step, pointed again and pounced. Man was she proud carrying that bird around! I let her parade around for a while, wishing I had an odometer on her tail as it spun in small circles. I called her over and she delivered the bird, dropping it in my hand. "This, Vera, this is what we are after" I instructed. I placed the bird in my vest and we pushed on. She bumped another bird, I flushed another one and missed, and a few more came up out of nowhere without a shot. The heat was really getting to Vera so I made the decision to call it a day, thinking her nose wasn't handling the heat that well and happy knowing I would find birds here for the rest of the season.
We were almost to the pond when Vera made a loop and circled towards me, slamming a point about 5 yards ahead......"whoa, easy girl...." I moved quickly and a woodcock jumped from behind a spruce.....I shot twice without ever really seeing the bird, desperate to complete the deal. We spent some time searching but the cover was more open there and I was confident of a miss, so with a pat on the head and a good girl we hit the pond.
Seeing that point was very reassuring to me that she will develop into a fine dog. I look forward to the temps dropping with the leaves, and the big flights of woodcock migrating to the aspen. And of course finding those darn grouse!