Getting Ready...again

I guess one of the best parts about living in the west is the extended upland season. It seems like it was many moons ago when I itched to see Sept 1 on the calender. That has come and gone and so has the hunts that followed. The elk and deer and are now table fare. But we have yet another upland opener...pheasants and quail. I'll be chasing pheasants this weekend and a few days until the new year. I'll have a greater opportunity after the new year to really to hit the coverts but for now Saturday is another opening day.

Mia from a few years back. 1/07

til next time.....

Freezer is full

Yesterday, I returned from our annual Colorado big game hunt and it turned out to be a great success. We had the usual crew of six in camp and all had a great time. Here are a few photos to tell the story because I'm too tired to type.

A big thanks goes out to our crew for helping each other drag and pack out all the game:

Pappa Denny, Adam , Pete, Pete M & Phil.

Between the six of us in camp we took 3 bucks, 1 6x6 bull elk and 2 cow elk. So the freezer is going to be full and we'll be able to enjoy the fruits of our labor for the next year.

Back to the birds!!!

til next time..............

Let it Begin

Tomorrow starts a month long journey of big game hunting in the CO mountains then the CO pheasant opener and then a trip home to NY. It's going to be one busy month but I'm looking forward to it. I have a great assortment of tags for our big hunt so I hope to fill the freezer and maybe trophy!?! I'm sure the girls will be going nuts while I'm up at camp but they'll get a chance to shine on the pheasants.

Here are a few more photographs from a grouse hunt in early October.

til next time.....

Purgatory

From what I remember from my 12 years of Catholic schooling, purgatory is the time/place between death and heaven. By no means am I getting religious on you because the roof might fall on us...Yes, I mean us because I know about some of the readers of this blog!!! I'm just trying to explain that I am longing to chase some wild birds again. That chase won't pick back up until November 14th when we hit the prairies of Eastern Colorado for the Chinese Ringneck Pheasant. Unless we have some divine intervention in my work schedule I don't believe that I'll get after any Blue Grouse ......I mean Dusky Grouse until Sept 1, 2010. But before I start chasing those ditch chickens I'll be heading up to the high country for some deer and elk with the usual suspects, just take a look at this crew.

My lucky ass brother Phil with cousin "Peaches" in the back round!!

"yeah sure we'll waste a day of hunting to pack out your deer for you!!

The girls will be driving Nichole next week when I head up to deer camp for a few days but we'll be chasing birds before we know it!!

The girls resting and waiting.

I guess purgatory can't be that bad....I'll still get to hunt...!

til next time.....

Beautiful Day

Indeed.....I was finally able to take Mia out hunting after the injury she suffered in the first week of our upland season. We went back to a very familiar area that has been producing grouse on a regular basis. The hard part about this time of year is the Dusky Grouse winter migration. We all know they migrate up in elevation but that doesn't mean we find them!! Well, I think that we did a good job this time. We had 14 flushes with 4 in the game bag. Mia hunted great and was steady on all flushes and shots. It amazing to have her back in the fold. I was also lucky enough to bring along a long time friend and co-worker along for his first hunt. While most of us use a gun to hunt Drake Busch uses his camera. He's a professional photographer that has been talking about coming along with me for few years now. He truly captured the hunt....a hunt that I will certainly remember for a long time to come.

Here are a few of the memories......

please click on the images to get a better look.

the gun

the flush

the shot

the retrieve

the crew

the memory

The sun going down on a beautiful day.

til next time....

Back at it!!

On Friday morning I got the news that Mia was released by our Vet to continue full activity. Great news I say! While we knew to be very cautious with during her rehab I knew it was only a matter of time before she was able to hunt again this season. I had the girls out for a training session on Saturday and Mia was on fire. Her drive and intensity was overwhelming. We are heading up for a grouse hunt in two days. We'll be taking it a little bit easier on this hunt since it will be her first in a month.

Just a few pictures that I dug up from a few years back when Abby was a puppy.



til next time.

Fishing for Colors

Last week I was able to get out on the water with my father in law Jon who was in Colorado for a fishing trip. We set our sights on some Greenback Cutthroats. Wow what a fish! The colors, the way they hit the fly and how they fight. It was fun to get after them.

These pictures don't do these fish any justice. I guess you'll have to get after them to see it for real.

On a side note: Mia is feeling much better and I think we'll be chasing some birds before too long.

til next time......