Snakebite Victim Update...

It's been 15 days since Gale shot this gruesome photo; some 12 hours after Annie's run in with a rattler in the grass beside Freezeout Lake. As I posted previously up until a week ago the leg was not looking good, things were not going well. She would not drink unless forced to and was eating very little. She would not put her foot down instead continued to hop about on three legs...Trust me, for us it was damn frustrating, difficult to deal with and tough to watch. But then last weekend something of drastic turn for the good, the swelling began disappearing, the discoloration began to fade, and every now and then she started using her foot. Better still she began eating although still not drinking anywhere near normal, she did drink.

The above two photos shot a couple days ago show how fast the healing is progressing. The swelling is gone, hair is growing in and except for the two places where dead skin sloughed (also sloughed between her toes where the snake hit) if it weren't for the short hairs you would never know. Especially if you saw her running through the snow this morning...leaping Annie of old fashion from the concrete to the deck...twice mind you...Well hell, can you blame us for cheerin' like two little kids at Christmas...Anyway Dandy Annie is if not herownself at last, my take is she's damn close...Hooray!

A Castin' and A Blastin'...Not necessarily in that order...

Off track sort of is this update of an earlier post dealing with the whacky fisher folk better known as "noodlers"...shouldn't surprise to find the activity alive and well in Okie country, eh?

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/09/04/magazine/LOOKcatfish.html?ref=magazine

Gale reminded me today how remiss of late my rantings and ravings so...My excuse being free at last (sort of) from the trials and tribulations of the guide wars we taken advantage to instead kick start the bird season and of course get a little castin' in too. Admittedly the castin' has taken a backseat to the blastin' but hey, been quite a lull in the action for both us and the dogs so like what do you expect. Anyways here are a few shots should serve as proof we ain't exactly been settin' around twiddlin' our you know whats...

Kate might be blind as a proverbial bat but don't think for a moment her nose don't still work...Notice the lead Gale used to get her in the ballpark of this Hun covey...pretty damn nifty I say...

Annie I think approves of sharin' the bird findin' with sister but just to make sure no one gets the wrong idea she is quick to take credit if given the slightest opening...sort of a dog thing, eh?

Annie and your reporter cooling their heels on a really too hot afternoon for chasing Huns...actually we decided enough already upon running into a rattler whilst chasing Huns...nuff said on that nasty subject...

On yet another track there seems to be more "nice" (no this is not a trophy size muley, not by a long shot) bucks (whitetails especially) around than usual so in the interest of honest photojournalism been trying to capture a few as proof...alas most mornings while no problem to see bucks the majority are far beyond range but I'll keep trying and you never know might even get lucky...

Bird Hunting: Season Opener Just Around The Corner

Annie (6 months old) , fetching a Hun  is no longer a puppy but seasoned veteran...

...Hard to believe when the season opens September 1 she will be kick starting her fourth hunting season, like my how time does fly.  I can recall how not so long ago agonizing over how time just seemed to stall out between hunting seasons...Now it seems you blink about twice and another year has passed by. Another thing hard to get my head around is this will be my 55th bird season...Yikes, now there is a REALLY scary thought. Speaking scary now the other night as I tossed and turned trying my damnedest to fall asleep I tried naming all the bird dogs who have more or less owned me and well, sad but true, some just would not pop up...I can't for the life of me recall hardly any of my old hunting partners dogs...Oh well no big deal  I guess considering sometimes  I can't bring up their names either...And please don''t take it personal just is is all...

On another track been getting mixed reviews on the bird situation...For instance with the horrendous winter out in east Montana it was sort of a foregone conclusion the hunting would be grim, especially rooster-wise but now reports are coming in might not be quite the disaster we once thought...Idaho and Nevada chukar hunting is expected to be off the charts good...And in Arizona it looks like the Mearn's quail hunting might be pretty good...Don't know if we are up to dealing with the border issues go along with Mearn's hunting but...

As always time will tell and we will give it our best shot regardless...no real surprise there, eh?

Travel: West Central Arizona Desert

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Obviously this dawn has not greeted us with yet another deluge but...like we say in MT you don't like our weather just hold on a moment...This morning did indeed dawn cloudly with rain and snow forecasted...imagine. Oh well, onward and upward...actually if the bird finding would just pick up notch or two I'd be grinnin instead of wishin...So far birds have been really scarce, a couple quail every now and then a few doves here and there about says it. We are currently hangin out in the Alamo Lake area sort of northwest of Wickenburg. Our plan was to haul ass today for Congress or maybe even Roosevelt Lake to the east but with all the snow and rain in the forecast we decided instead to restock the cupboards, do the wash, catch up on business and oh lest I forget resupply the whiskey and wine...most urgent a course. Dogs are pretty beat up anyways so the short hiatus from the cacti will no doubt do them good even though neither is big on the idea...So anyways that's about it for now stay tuned will keep you posted as our adventures unfold...assuming internet access a course none to reliable down in this neck o desert...over and out...Chuck

Montana Upland Bird Hunting: Naughty Girl

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Annie baby...Obviously still hasn't quite got the point! not chase thing down pat yet...shown here running a sage hen out of the country...How's come our bird dogs are oh so wonderful one moment and oh such naughty girls the next? I know, I know one of life with bird dogs many imponderables that we hope might someday go away but often don't...

Upland Bird Hunting: Huns Are Where You Find Them

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I can't say if Montana is best Hungarian partridge hunting in the country but one thing sure there's a helluva lot of it. Huns live just about everywhere, north to south, east to west, and, except for the very highest peaks all elevations. If I had to guess the biggest continuous chunk of Hun country is in that vast grass and wheat country roughly north of Great Falls, east to Havre and north to the Canadian line. Ideal Hun habitat consists of rolling grasslands, bordered by extensive grain fields, handy to water...and since those pretty much define this part of Montana...well I rest my case.

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Huns arrived in the U.S. sometime around 1900, most biologists agree the birds simply drifted down from Alberta and Saskatchewan, found things to their liking and spread out from there. For reasons known only to MTFWP, as well as other state agencies, other than resetting the same bag limits year after year Huns are not managed, rather mostly left alone to fend for themselves. Obviously this works sort of like if it ain't broke why fix it. Though I suspect the real reason is Huns really are tough, resilient, get along quite well just about anywhere so long as overhead cover is on the low side and more or less treeless and barring really bad weather extremes numbers remain just about the same year after year. Unlike other upland birds with Hun coveys so long as there are no drastic changes to the habitat use the same spots year after year. And of all the upland birds none are more structure oriented...a certain fence corner, abandoned homestead, ranch junkyard, one covey we've hunted for years hangs out on one side of a narrow rocky ridge, never the other. 

Another constant seems to water, not necessarily right beside it but at least within reasonable flying distance. And while grain is obviously welcome there are many coveys out there whose members live and die having never tasted it.

I suppose you could hunt Huns without a dog, and certainly there are flushing dogs get the job done but...I'll take a pointing dog anyday and the bigger the dog runs the better. Hun country (see the above photo) is big country and the way I see it the more ground the dog covers the less wear and tear on my old, rickety knees so...Of course it is imperative the big running dog is seasoned and steady since points often come way, way out there. Huns usually flush as a covey and stay together. Some days they hold like Mearn's quail others as wild as the late season sharptail grouse often share living space. It is often possible to follow up and flush a covey multiple times--my record is 4 but I've read of more. Be aware most coveys do not stay in the landing zone long and some run quite a ways. If Huns land on a side hill you can almost bet the farm they will run over the top before stopping. It seems me with each flush the birds hold tighter but I can't prove it so...

Hun guns and loads are a matter of personal taste but I've found a 20 ga. loaded with an ounce of 7 1/2s shoved through Improved Cylinder choke tubes to work pretty good. Montana Hun season runs September 1 thru January 1. The daily bag limit is 8 per and has been for as long as I can recall.

One of the best things about hunting Huns is, unlike Montana's national bird, you Will Never find a crowd...guarandamnteed. Also you will almost Never be denied access to private, that is so long as its not leased to outfitters And do put considerable distance between you and our bigger towns and cities

Guide Wars Over At Last...

...hopefully that is. At least it is my plan to not do anymore trips this season. Enough is enough...right?

Anyway, when I started this blog I really didn't think I'd be able, willing, whatever to post every day but did think no more than a couple days between was more than doable but...What I didn't consider was after guiding, especially during multi-day runs, how downright worn out (brain-dead?) some leave me...like no way. So this summer there have been lots of holes. Well, summer is now all but officially dead, my trip book is blank thus my plan for the immediate future is to post on a daily basis excepting those days when we are on the road and have no internet connection.

Since my last post we have been trying to get out bird hunting every chance. Most days we have but the hunting so far has not been up to par. This morning we decided since it was going to get into the 70s this afternoon for the sisters' sake we'd best get out early, make a short hunt for sage hens and, regardless, call 'er good. While it wasn't quite crack of dawn we did get out early enough the temperature was still in low 40s although the sun was well up and the Big Sky cloudless...Not at all hot but for our dark heavy-coated girls way too sunny.

No surprise but after just an hour or so both were fagged. Kate seemed especially hot, so we called it good even though nary a sage hen had been sighted. Oh well, said Gale, look on the bright side, no birds to clean either. 

Hard to argue, eh?

On the way out of town we saw several buck antelope herding harems. While not much has come off on schedule this year obviously the antelope rut is right on...

Hunting Season Officially Arrives Tomorrow and...

...as usual I can hardly get my head around the idea of big game hunting in mid-August. But yes, it's true with a 900 antelope archery tag in hand come dawn Sunday morning you are good to go. Most years the season opener dawns way more summer-like than fall-like but if yesterday is any indication this year could be different...like 180 different as the temperature struggled to climb even into the 60s and as mentioned previously snow in the high country was the prediction...don't know if that really materialized but mid-60s in mid-August...well as I said felt pretty much like mid-October is supposed to feel.

Alas this time around I won't be participating, having somehow totally forgot to apply for any big game tags...that's right none, nada...thank goodness Montana law allows me to buy a deer/elk tag over the counter or for the first time since I turned 12 many, many moons ago, no big game hunting for this lad. Scary as hell, you got it but hopefully not terminal.

Taking advantage of the chilly day we took the sisters to the woods hoping they might get into a blue grouse or two...did not happen but they did uncover a roost site in a bunch of pines...several days (weeks) old but still...we declared the mission a success of sorts and after all we did get a little workout and the heady smells in the damp pines did get our juices flowing for what surely will turn out a fine fall bird season...don't they all?who needs a moldy ol' elk or deer anyways...right? Right.

Pointer Sisters, Annie & Katie

Not to brag but we're talking here two pretty good bird dogs (OK, most of the time anyway). Year and a half old Annie is the rookie, very much still a puppy, she can be a bit erratic at times but when she's on she's really on. Meanwhile ten year old Katie is the steady veteran of the crew. She doesn't go at it anymore quite like she did awhile back but then neither do we. Slowing down aside Katie has pointed everything there is to point in Montana, chukar and valley quail in Idaho, all three Arizona desert quail--Gambel's, Mearn's and Scaled--and even retrieved a few ducks. Annie, despite her tender age, is off to a good start having now pointed most of the upland stuff in Montana and two of the three AZ desert quail--no scalies, mostly because we didn't hunt them last time down there.

Talent aside both are about the best dogs one could hope for around the house and as companions; as road warriors they have few equals. Annie mostly sleeps as long as the truck is moving while Katie perched atop the truck consul alternates between cat naps and intensely watching the road ahead. On the road, from the beginning the sisters have never been a hassle, taken to living in our small camp trailer almost as if they were born to it. Last winter we four spent 35 nights in the trailer and not once can I recall even a slight chaos. Actually Gale and me were surprised as hell how smooth the operation unfolded. Our only complaint is we didn't get to do it again this winter...damn!

Katie is a German Wirehaired Pointer while technically speaking Annie is a Deutzche Drahthaar, in other words a hoidy-toidy GWP is all. But hey, you gotta admit DD does have a certain ring to it...Right? Right.