Pilgrims & a Great Adventure 

(In)Famous Gary Thompson from snowbound Wyoming and myself (& our 6 canine-cohorts) just returned from an adventurous pilgrimage on the Kansas and Colorado prairies.   We met up in Colorado last week and headed over to the Kansas grasslands to hunt wild birds before the predicted ice storms wreaked havoc on us.  We found some…

Borrowed Dogs

I’ve been known to borrow some dogs. The first offense was in October 2011. Gary Thompson was steelhead’n on the Grande Ronde River in eastern Washington and the plan was to meet up with Andy and I in western Idaho for a few glorious days of bird hunting on his way back to Colorado. I…

The Start of the Crazies

Perfect Colorado weather for a last jaunt across the short grass prairie in search of scaled quail. Bitter-sweetness…the company was grand and the dogs grander! Plans are drawn and dog purchases are being made for the coming fall! I can hardly wait! Idaho for 2 weeks for certain! Pray for the perfect weather conditions and…

Season’s End

The season is winding down…tomorrow is the last day for me and the bird dogs to go out and chase birds. Birds of course being quail. We have had a great season and have piles of memories to hold us over the next seven months til it’s time to be back in the grouse woods….

Rookie Mistakes

Glenn and I went to Kansas last weekend to see first hand the hype of how bad the quail season really is in central Kansas…the heart of  gentleman country.  While loading my dog box into the bed of Glenn’s nice Ford pickup, I left my tattered ol’ Sharp-tail boots at the side of the Tacoma…rookie…

Scaled Quail Country—Happy Holidays

Here’s some of my favorite photos from scaled quail country that I’ve collected over the years.  Merry Christmas to all my family and friends out there in blogger land. See ya on the prairie! Setter Feathers…

Colorado Bliss

Choked-bored dogs on cholla-choked grasslands. Gentle breeze from the northeast across the prairie. Day spent alone with bird dogs…point’n coveys of prairie nomads.  Birds go’n helter-skelter! Pure Colorado Bliss Setter Feathers…

Coccygeal Muscle Injury: (AKA)Limber Tail Syndrome

I arrived the first afternoon in southeastern Idaho to chase sharp-tailed grouse and gray partridge after an 11 hour white-knuckled drive…I left Colorado at O’dark-30 so that Andy and I could get in a half day’s hunt before heading to our folks home.  We were told of a place where our brother Scott and his…

BLM Nomads

I have an extreme dislike for politicians. Unfortunately…One of my favorite grouse species is the most political bird in North America. The Greater Sage Grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) or the spiny-tailed pheasant as Lewis and Clark described them in 1806 once inhabited 16 Western states and 3 Canadian providences.   Their historic distribution has decreased significantly over the…

Grouse Camp

Glorious September has commenced…days of anticipation are over and the gunning season is upon us.  The aspen hues of green will soon change to gold…but as the poet penned nothing gold can stay.  Nothing gold can stay, so get your bird dogs and take them into the grouse woods of Colorado or wherever for that matter. September…