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Walter and his very darling wife Joanne made the long trek to Colorado to pick up their newest member (and bird dog) of the family! Windtuck Colorado Pride…and did she make us proud out there in a purple sea of sage! Pride is the perfect canine companion for the Bruning family! Karen and I really enjoyed meeting Joanne for the first time…and we instantly felt like she was a part of our family! I can’t thank her enough for traveling out here with Walter…and waiting patiently for our return from GROUSE COUNTRY!
Walter and I had the time of our lives! We saw lots of sage grouse and enough blue grouse to keep us walking and walking and walking! The dog work was excellent! It was glorious September weather! I’ll leave the tall tales for Walter to tell when he returns to Southern California next week! I hope that I didn’t scare Walter too terribly with my white-knuckled driving to reach the nearest Starbucks!!! Thanks for such a grand time my friend!
Upland Ways 
>Shawn, I enjoyed the pics. It looks like you both had an awesome time. I’m jealous! Wish I could have been there with you. I can’t wait to October in Idaho. Andy
>Shawn: Looks like you found Walter a good one! That’s a heck of a point, especially in a young dog. As ever, you make me jealous with your beautiful countryside pictures.A.
>Andrew…Load up the Vizslamobile and head West!!!! I’ll take you anytime to grouse country! We had such a great time! Walter was tons of fun! The invite to come out West always stands!
>Dear Shawn:Joanne, Pride and I are wending our way slowly back home to California. What a trip! I will blog a good deal over at the sister sitehttp://theuplandequation.blogspot.com/but no pictures until I get home. I have a little to add today while we rest up in a motel in New Mexico.Your pictures are great. I hope mine turn out as well.Thanks again to you and Karen for being such grand friends and thanks for letting me walk downhill at the 9000 ft + altitudes. Going up would have killed me!WalterYou and all yo
>Shawn, excuse my ignorance. The country is so wide open and without natural objectives for a dog to reach to. Its far different than any I’ve ever hunted. Please tell us how you hunt that territory and how you determine likely spots.Dale
>Dale…The sage prairie does look monocultural at first, but we look for water and ridges and sometimes (if we’re very lucky) we get a road-side revelation 8-)!!!You should join us sometime!Shawn
>Dale and Shawn:Dale–when Shawn gets out there next year you’re going to have to put a beeper on him so he doesn’t get lost in the woods!Shawn–Ellie will be your gal in the deep woods. I think Gretchen may be too big for there. She may adjust her range. Gep, being older, will probably shorten up to hunt to you.Dale–don’t let him get lost or my sage chicken ticket won’t get punched next year!Walter
>Dale–Shawn is right. After a day of it I could sort of figure it out. It’s not unlike my first year grouse/woodcock shooting in Minnesota. Pretty soon you figure out what to look for. This is actually a bit easier, I think.The best way though is to observe one of Andy’s “Roadside Revelations.” Birds by the road often end up being birds on the grill!Walter