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April 18, 2020Brad Trumbo

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Instagram - tailfeathers_upland

Zeta has made it clear time and again that birds are not a priority for her. I need to just accept this little girl for who she is and move on.

Had a fine Veteran’s Day hunt with Miss Yuba. Watching this dog work a sneaking bird as I trailed close behind her made me proud. The way she tested the wind, doubled back to relocate scent when she had lost it, and how she analyzed her distance from the bird, deciding she was close enough to throw her tail up and pinpoint it when it finally held, was simply masterful.

It’s been a slow start to the pheasant season for us, which seems to be on par for the year. We did manage a single rooster opening morning, but the conditions were abysmal with high wind, freezing temps, and heavy wet snow and rain. But mornings like this, running a momma-daughter pair as the early sun caresses the grasslands is worth slogging through the muck in between!

Took a friend out to one of my favorite quail covers for his first valley quail hunt. We put up three big coveys in the first hour, one of which had somewhere around 60 birds. Yuba worked beautifully and we both shot well, given the interestingly few opportunities on so many birds. Large areas of extremely heavy cover of hawthorn, chokecherry, Russian olive, and blackberries provide a veritable food fortress and the birds stick tight to it.

A good day chasing ruffs is about as good as it gets, and I am still riding a high from this hunt. Even though I am a science nerd, I was amused with how excited I was about contributing the wing and tail for the WDFW biologists to age and sex the bird, even though it meant giving up that hard-earned gray tail fan.

Seems the past few years, September has been notoriously difficult for the pups and I to locate birds. But once October arrives, we strike it rich. This past weekend, we found that my favorite grouse cover held more birds than we have ever seen anywhere in the Blue Mountains. Heavy cover and wary birds left only two shot opportunities and a single bird, which came strictly from good dog work cutting off the runner’s escape route. It was a thrilling experience to say the least.

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Product Review: Ranger and Worker Vests by Hurtta
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Flurries and Tail Feathers Inspire Future Upland Hunters

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Instagram - tailfeathers_upland

Zeta has made it clear time and again that birds are not a priority for her. I need to just accept this little girl for who she is and move on.

Had a fine Veteran’s Day hunt with Miss Yuba. Watching this dog work a sneaking bird as I trailed close behind her made me proud. The way she tested the wind, doubled back to relocate scent when she had lost it, and how she analyzed her distance from the bird, deciding she was close enough to throw her tail up and pinpoint it when it finally held, was simply masterful.

It’s been a slow start to the pheasant season for us, which seems to be on par for the year. We did manage a single rooster opening morning, but the conditions were abysmal with high wind, freezing temps, and heavy wet snow and rain. But mornings like this, running a momma-daughter pair as the early sun caresses the grasslands is worth slogging through the muck in between!

Took a friend out to one of my favorite quail covers for his first valley quail hunt. We put up three big coveys in the first hour, one of which had somewhere around 60 birds. Yuba worked beautifully and we both shot well, given the interestingly few opportunities on so many birds. Large areas of extremely heavy cover of hawthorn, chokecherry, Russian olive, and blackberries provide a veritable food fortress and the birds stick tight to it.

A good day chasing ruffs is about as good as it gets, and I am still riding a high from this hunt. Even though I am a science nerd, I was amused with how excited I was about contributing the wing and tail for the WDFW biologists to age and sex the bird, even though it meant giving up that hard-earned gray tail fan.

Seems the past few years, September has been notoriously difficult for the pups and I to locate birds. But once October arrives, we strike it rich. This past weekend, we found that my favorite grouse cover held more birds than we have ever seen anywhere in the Blue Mountains. Heavy cover and wary birds left only two shot opportunities and a single bird, which came strictly from good dog work cutting off the runner’s escape route. It was a thrilling experience to say the least.

Search

Search for:

Top Posts & Pages

Books
Product Review: Ranger and Worker Vests by Hurtta
Gear Reviews
Features
Grassland Management for Upland Birds
About
Contact
Sage Grouse Translocation Reverses Population Decline
An Ounce of Prevention
Flurries and Tail Feathers Inspire Future Upland Hunters

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