He got a little excited!
Dan & Blackie with a nice grouse!Photo By: KarenThomason
I loaded up our three oldest Gordons this afternoon and headed out for a hunt. I went across the river and walked some gated roads on Fatman Mt. I started out with Blackie. We made a loop through the woods and came back to the road when Blackie did a quick stop. Two beeps, and a bird flushed into the forest. I found the bird in a pine tree but couldn't get it to fly. About 50 yds. up the road the same thing happened. The wind was at our back and Blackie was right on top of the grouse before he smelled them. The wind was in our favor on the way out and and he locked up tight. I walked in and the grouse flew low across the road with Blackie right under it. No shot. Gracie was running down a road as fast as she could go and hit scent. She tried to turn and stop at the same time. The grouse flushed as she was going into her second roll. Happy got birdy a few times but I didn't find a bird. On the way out a grouse ducked off the road right next to the van. I drove 50 yds. and put Blackie out again. He locked up on the spot, then dove downhill behind the bird. The Grouse flushed my way and I got lucky. We found another on the road but it went way down the hill before it flushed. Six flushed and one in the bag. A wonderful afternoon! DWT
Sounds like a great day up on Fatman!
ReplyDeleteFrom the looks of it, the weather has turned a bit nippy! Good pictures Karen.
I can't tell you how much I enjoy all the nice photos of grouse and dogs and sunny fall days while I'm stuck here at work! Its nice to know someone is out there playing with the dogs and enjoying the sunshine.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the kind words, Art. It's nice to know that our effort on the blog is appreciated. Feels good to know you are enjoying it and that maybe it makes your work day a little bit better! Please share a link with anyone you think might enjoy it. And come on out to Montana if you ever get a chance!
ReplyDeleteThanks Tim! Yes, it has gotten much cooler. Have had several hard freezes and even snow! All the brush is dying off. Pouring rain today. Bring rain gear when you come back!
ReplyDeleteAre there chiggers in Montana?
ReplyDeleteNo chiggers in Montana. At least not in our area. I am familiar with chiggers, having grown up in Tennessee. We also do not have any natural poisonous snakes and only 1 poisonous spider. All you have to worry about around here is Moose, Mountain Lions and Bears ( including Grizzly's)! (ha ha)
ReplyDeleteMontana is on my list of places to see. I can handle snakes and moose and bears but the chiggers on my lease on Maryland's Eastern Shore have been tearing me up. I was checking some thick cover for woodcock (they were there) and I'm paying for it now! I can't wait for the weather to cool off a bit more.
ReplyDeleteI would think a good freeze would kill those chiggers, have you not had a bit of cold yet? We've already see 28 degrees here and that was last week! When you come west, come to the western part of Montana. East part is dry and windy. Yellowstone and Glacier are amazing. If you make it this far, Dan will take you hunting! I've never seen the Eastern states, but would sure like to.
ReplyDeleteYou probably have the same delemma. Too many responsibilities like your home and all the dogs. Maryland is the northern southern city and the southern northern city. All the seasons are about 3 months long. First frost is about October 14th (in my area) but can be as late as December. Winters are probably a joke by your standards. We had about 4 inches of snow the last two years. Today its 40 degrees and raining and that will contine all weekend ( I'm looking at the woodstove as we speak). It was in the 80s last week and the mosquitos on the shore were terrible. So much for bow hunting the rut this weekend! Or pursuing grouse or woodcock. The East is lush by most standards but in many areas there are too many people. If you ever want to see Washington where all your money goes, let us know. We have a lot of extra room. I could also get you into some BIG Rock Fish. They all come here to spawn and the winter at the Bay Bridge Tunnel can be a religious experience. I'd rave about the crabs but I'm alergic to them so I can't eat them. I'm sort of an outcast as far as that goes. Darlene and I have been west a few times and would probably never come back if we could swing it but, this is where the money is right now so we're stuck. Keep pambering those dogs and chasing those grouse. Someone has to do it!
ReplyDeleteThanks Art for the kind invitation! I would love to visit your area, someday. We love to fish for just about anything, but mostly bass. Could live without those chiggers though! Sounds like a pretty nice place you have there. The pics I've seen of the falls there are gorgous. We have mostly pines, with Aspen, Larch and Cottonwood. Nice, but not as plentiful as I imagine your place to be. Snow is way less at your house. We still had 5 feet in the back yard in April 09'! Last few years we've had more snow than we deserve! And winter seems to be creeping in already this year!
ReplyDeleteYikes! That's a lot of snow and a long winter. We get a big snow (12-20 inchs) every few years but it only lasts a few weeks. Four inches of snow will shut the entire region down with a unexplained shortage of milk and toilet paper. Ice is the danger here, esp. in the mornings. The ice is a danger for the dogs as they can take a bad fall and really hurt themselves. I told you how Gin went down the hill and probably struggled for hours to get back to the house. Anyway, I'm going to stay in next to the woodstove, plan my grouse hunting trip to Western MD and play with my new Astro. The dogs are all out cold lying in their dog beds hard at work.
ReplyDeleteIce is treacherous for sure. Luckily, we don't have many ice storms. Just foot after foot of snow! Even the dogs get to the point where they don't want to go outside when it's deep. We just hang by the fire and try to stay sane until that first glimmer of spring. Usually works.
ReplyDelete