Boykin update

in case you don't check in to Cold Duck regularly---this, er, "just" in---

http://colduck.blogspot.com/2009/12/boy-can-this-boykin-hunt.html

Why we don't hunt certain bird species . . .

Josh's Field Dressing Tips #1

I had the distinct pleasure to share a Thanksgiving table with the Tidball and Winchell clans yesterday, and inevitably the conversation turned to hunting.

Joshua shared with us some of his considerable connaissance de la chasse he has picked up over the years, including this nugget:

"When field dressing an animal, you should breathe through your mouth"

which apparently aids in the avoidance of any unpleasant smells that may emanate from the body cavity of recently deceased game animals(s).

Thanks for the tip, Josh!! as you might imagine, when shared over Thanksgiving turkey, this hint from Heloise provided the Thanksgiving revelers who were assembled for the occasion an opportunity for much mirth and merriment.

Breathe through your mouth
and oh yes, don't forget your blaze orange bump cap

Music Men--sure beats politics

Grouse Camp Snippets

First, thanks to all the spouses and kids for your understanding/tolerance/encouragement about the grousers going off to camp in the Maine North Woods for a week. It was great to spend time with these characters and to recreate ourselves. I think it's safe to say that we all really needed this. Thanks a bunch.









Stella showed great intestinal fortitude by getting aggressive on bird scent and putting up a couple grouse before her camp experience was cut short by a trip to the operating room for sockectomy. I think that bird scent will be locked in her noggin for good, and Josh will be enjoying the autumn woods and bringing home many more birds with the help of Stella.





Pete's pup Lilly is full of hunt -- she didn't want to stop to pose for a photo atop this old log. She was fun to watch in the woods, stalking anything and everything, but especially grouse. I'm really looking forward to hunting over her a year from now.






Lilly was so birdy that you'd be on pins and needles, ready at all times for a bird encounter -- we had to remind ourselves that this was training. The hunting will come next year.






Camp was loaded with pups and 11-year-old dogs -- 4 of each, with Artemis in the middle. Baxter, one of the elders, didn't hunt but helped to entertain the ever energetic Conley (aka Meatloaf, white buffalo, and twenty other names). The pup appears larger than life in this photo due to the fact that he is larger than life.






Conley executing a stylish retrieve.... or a quick getaway.







Cody, one of the elders, put this grouse right over Path Walker. Bang Bang.....................Bang.
And that was that.







You could spend all day in the coverts above Drowned Road. Great views and hunting.





It was good to have a gunner like Richie Fella along to honor the dog's points. (it's not every Grouse Camp that one can say that about Richie Fella, so enjoy it Rico!)






A nice bird taken by a good shot over a pretty point.







Spy had this woodcock (bottom center) pinned. On this trip I recall seeing 4 of Spy's pointed birds (1 woodcock and 3 grouse) on the ground, which usually makes the bird bullet-proof. But we were 4 for 4 on these birds. Spy and Katie are littermates, 11 years old, spawn of Butch.





This, plus one more grouse (pictured above in Conley's grip), was the take for Rich, Pete, and Andy the last day of the hunt. When I got home and showed the kids this picture they wanted to see the birds... which of course by then were cleaned, wrapped, and frozen.

..... So I had to go out and get a fresh one....




Nearly had a woodcock tug-o-war a couple times, so I'd better bring home two (or multiples thereof) next time.

Tire Repair in the Bush-101

Thought fellow grousers might like to know that the "it'll never work" tire plug and Fix-a-Flat combo held from Spider Lake, BFE Maine (Macannamac Grouse Camp 2008) to Seneca Falls,NY and was still holding when I left the "Bling" mobile at the Hertz rental shop (they were impressed). If you weren't paying attention, you can get a refresher on the technique here.