 |
| Bird Dog and Fly Fishing Facebook Group Decal |
 |
| Ace on Two ND Roosters It only takes a snapshot to remember the day. It was freezing cold, with bad winds and temps in the low thirties. The first blizzard of the year passed over us as we hunkered down in Mott, ND with lots of howling wind and snow that blew mostly sideways. When the sun returned two days later, the roads stayed frozen, but the birds came out to eat. We caught these boys in an area of tree rows and CRP surrounding a lake (public land). Ace knew the plan and I was right on with the gun. We worked the treeline, seen in the background, which borders a cut wheat field. It wasn't long before his Garmin pager went off and I moved up the outside of the row. Brush moved and red and white flashing color started left and emerged right in front of the gun. One down. We started up the hill to the truck, through the CRP, and Ace locked down again. I kicked up the second rooster and bagged it. I noticed his retrieve wasn't nearly up to his standards on the second one, so I grabbed his collar to check him over and noticed five porcupine quill on the side of his muzzle. Evidently, he hit Mr. Porky a glancing blow while scenting the rooster in the wood line. I've seen that before with hard charging bird dogs. I'm darn thankful that's all it was. |
 |
| The Old Ball and Chain and Cap |
 |
| Randy and Ace (Photo take by Nancy Whitehead)
So, I'm thinking a big trip may be on the horizon. I don't mean a week or two, although two week hunting trips are what keep bird hunters sane and walking upright- me, at least. No, I mean one of those around the country hunting numerous species kind of hunts. One of those hunts you read about. I'm thinking about timing and I realize three things are required for a successful foray. First, you need the inclination to proceed. You need to be the type to get up every day and, after thanking God for another day on the green side of the grass, think "I could be in Idaho, or Alaska, or North Dakota, or Maine, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Kansas, New Mexico, Arizona, California" and on an on! Second, you would need the where-with-all. You need to have the dollars to put diesel in the F-250, buy licenses in 10 states and feed those bird finding buddies of yours. Lastly, you need the time. Time, alas, it the one thing that cannot be earned. There is a guarantee that it will end, come to a halt. (The numbers are in....one out of one people die.) Usually, the ending will be without preamble. So, time is critical and not to be wasted or squandered on inconsequential things.
I have all three items in my pocket right now. This is not to say I won't lose one or all of them one day, but now looks like a good time to plan a bird hunting odyssey. So, a few big questions arise....
1.) Where to go?
2.) When to go?
3.) How to go?
4.) Who to go with? (With whom to go?...I never could get that straight!)
I'll explore this more as I work through the issues involved.
|
