Sunday Sunrise

My Sundays are always mixed with a little bit of hunting, training and working.  For some reason it's one of my most inconsistent and busiest days of the week.  One we week I'll be working and the next week I'll be driving up to a group training session.  No matter what the day calls,  I'm always listening to one of the best collaborations of music on KBCO with the Sunday Sunrise morning music program.  It's the right music for the day. 

til next time...

Living Vicariously

With my self-imposed conclusion of the current upland season, I've been extremely jealous of those who are still chasing birds until the season closes next week.  But that envy quickly turned to pride as I learned my 11 year old nephew, Ben, took his first wild rooster last weekend.  Ben has been steadfast in the pursuit of his first rooster.  The current conditions and bird populations have not made this quest any easier.  In the end, Ben was not only able to take his first bird, he quickly followed his feet with the second bird of the day.

A day's brace

So here's to living vicariously through an eleven year old.  His passion for the sport has made his family proud.

Congratulations Ben on your first of many birds to come!

til next time.....

Throwing in the Towel

It's hard to believe that I'm calling the official end to my upland season.  Yes, there are three full weeks of our Pheasant season but sometimes you know when to call it.  Why you ask?  With out getting into details the girls are going to have a baby brother here in just a few weeks. 

This past season has been a good one.  Bird numbers were slightly down and Mia was on the shelf so it's really hard to say this was the best ever.  The shinning light on this season was the consistent and good dog work put on by little girl, Abby.  

In the meantime, we'll be hitting the training fields as much as we can in preperation for the spring trial season.  But for now, the towel is tossed and the waiting game begins.

Here are a few photos from my last hunt.

Ben and Pete getting ready

"Children of the CRP"

Mia

 

Abby

Pete and Ben

til next time...

Vintage

 These are a few hunting photos of my Dad circa 1964.  My Mom found some old slides and and them converted to photos.  Until very recently I didn't know these images even existed.


 This is my Dad and his family's dog Missy, she was a lab/spring mix.  I'm guessing that his quarry was a few pheasants and a rabbit.  Rough shooting at it's best. 

 This a photo of my Dad and his famed "6 Pointer" that he jumped next to the old railroad tracks behind our cabin.  Legend has it that this buck tipped the scales well over 200 lbs.  I grew up mesmerized by this deer's rack and hoped that I could one day repeat the feet of a deer like this. 

til next time....

Ivory

One of the birds that Abby and I scratched down today had white spurs.  The bird also had some great plumage to go along with the "Ivory" spurs.  

It was a fun day chasing birds on the prairie.  We were able to scratch down a few birds while hunting in a new area.


til next time.

Tracking

Tracking....that's the word that I'll take away from CO 2012 Pheasant Opener.  To be exact, Abby's ability to track a running pheasant.  I first saw Abby's talent on last year's pheasant opener.  While hunting Abby runs a quality wind pattern and when she hits a scent cone she'll usually flush whatever enticed her nose.  But when that bird is on the run, her gate and pattern changes as she puts her heads down in pursuit of those wily birds.  It's a distinct gate that puts a stamp that she's on a runner.  It truly is a sight to be seen.  This past weekend was different from last year.  The change?  When she went off on a track, she stayed honest and produced a bird 100% of the time.  Trust your gundog?  You bet!

til next time....

Trial Time

Where did the month of September go? The last thing I remember it was Labor Day and I was camping with some friends and family.  Wait that was my last post!

Since my last post it's been all about getting ready for our club's first field trial and hunt test.  Planning, planning and more planning followed by the event and that meant putting all of the plans to work.  For the most part all the planning came together but it was from the hard work of a bunch of club members.  It was great to be around such great dog people for 5 plus days.  We had participants from CO, MT, NE, KS, AR, CA and NH.  All of them were great to be around and great to learn from.

After months of planning the trial came and went but the memories stayed.


Here's a few photos from the training sessions prior to the trial.

Here's some photos from the trial and hunt test

Lot's of hanging out!

Judges: Tim Lindsey and Chad Betts

Dave walking to the second series.

Party Time!

The grounds

Hunt Test

Cheyenne handling her dog to her SR title!

til next time....

Family, Friends and Fun

In the past September 1st couldn't come fast enough.  But this year the summer flew by and the next thing I knew I was on my way up to grouse camp.  The usual excitement of opening day soon settled back in as we climbed the aspen and sage groves in search of Dusky Grouse.

The days forecast called for high heat by mid morning so Pete and I knew the morning's hunt was going to be quick.  We made most of our time but we didn't find grouse in their usual spots but we jumped form covert to covert.  By the end of the second covert we finally bagged our fist grouse of the 2011 season.  The third covert of the morning finally brought in multiple flushes as we found a small brood.  The quick action brought 2 birds to hand as Abby made a great blind retrieve on the second bird. 

As the morning's hunt ended I quickly found my back to Denver.  The next day brought a full day of work and then Nichole and I headed back up to camp for our annual Labor Day camping trip.  A few friends joined us this year for our camping trip. 

Wet Abby

3 Duskies from Opening Day

Chateau de Pete

Once we were back at camp the grouse hunting was limited but the laughs and good times were stronger than ever.   It was great to camp with our family and friends.  Since this was our only camping trip of the summer it was a great time to spend it with them.

Happy Campers

Matt and Johnny

Day Hike

Toro and Abby waiting for a few crumbs.

Johnny Meatball...enough said.

 til next time....

When in Rome

I was lucky enough to spend the last 10 days in Italy on a family vacation.  In between the sights, the wine and the food we were able to bump into a gentlemen in the streets of Rome walking his English Springer Spaniel.  Although there was a major breakdown in communication, since neither of us knew each others native language, we were able to exchange some pleasantries through massive amounts of hand gestures.  We also showed each other photos of our dogs on our cell phones.  From this exchange, I learned that this man hunted his springer and he was also thrilled to see that we had two springers of our own.

Even though this was a chance meeting on a street in Rome it was a great feeling to share the love of the bred.

til next time....

Big Fish with the Big Easy

This past weekend brought me back to my hometown of Buffalo, NY.  The trip was based around a few family get togethers but I figured I could squeeze in some sort of fishing.  Within a few phone calls we were booked for a Lake Ontario salmon excursion.  After a few twists and turns we were on the water on a hot and humid day.

Only those in Western New York know what a great fishery the area around Buffalo can be.  You can catch trophy trout year round. Whether you are chasing Steelhead through the winter months on the famed tributaries or trolling for King Salmon in July, this area has it.

The charter was with Big Easy Sport Fishing with Captain Steve Renyolds.  We couldn't have found a better Captain for this day.  I've only done one other charter like this before but for the conditions we faced it was nothing short of a blast. 

Here are a few photos from a day out on Lake Ontario with Captain Steve.

Ben waiting those magic words: Fish On!

Ben's Fight

Ben's 25lb King Salmon

I was lucky enough to pick the right rod: 30lb King

 Big Fish with the Big Easy

til next time....