Pointers and Setters in Eastern Colorado Scaled Quail Country

Sorta-double at Grouse Rock: A Continuation of Day Four in the Idaho Uplands & a Scaled Quail Pictorial Saga

A wise man once stated that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over expecting different results. After hunting the Windy Mills covert on Wednesday, we decided to drive over to Grouse Rock in search of Ron and Andy’s favorite game bird—the ruffed grouse. (I know…they’re both nuts…what more can I…

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…

Ghosts & Ranchers

A windsept shortgrass prairie full of cholla, prickly pear, soapweed yucca, blue grama and buffalo grasses, prairie sage wort and junipers were the settings for a great day of chasing scaled quail in the canyon lands of eastern Colorado. Our first solo trip for the season. A time to run my 6 month old coverdog…

Final Days on the Prairies with Gundogs

Matt Lucia (Mark Kastler joined us on one of those special days) and I spent three glorious final days on the prairies in pursuit of birds. Havilah Babcock’s prose of not wanting to travel to the Dark Continent to kill elephants has rang true to me this season…Colorado has a good population of my favorite…

Samples

Bird dogs are in my blood. The Colorado prairie, though, has gotten under my skin. The loneliness and endless sea of sand-sage, yucca, saltbush, prickly-pear, and cholla…called home to very few…mangy coyotes, desert tortoises, and horned-larks but also my beloved quail. The incessant wind calms in the eve as the shadows grow longer and the…

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…

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…

Scaled Quail in a Gale

Today was the opening of Colorado’s quail and pheasant season. It was a beautiful day on the eastern prairies…minus the 50 mph wind. The dogs performed near flawless…Gary’s Lilly had a great find which was her first point on wild birds. The prairies are dry and it was very evident today…the southeast is parched. …

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…

>A Tale of Two Temperatures

>My brother Andy (the poet) and I spent the last weekend of the bird season on the Kansas prairie in the company of bobwhite quail. The weather was great…great…great, if you want to hit 18 holes. It was too warm for bird dogs in pursuit of our favorite game bird (or at least mine). We…