Dear All, Might I take this opportunity to wish all readers of Upland Equations a very happy New Year, and great sport in 2010. My New Year certainly started with a bang, (quite literally) as I have just spent the morning of January 1st, chasing woodcock in the gorse patches, and Alder thickets down on…
>Shirt Sleeves & Setters
>Happy holidays to all…I hope 2010 is all you can hope and imagine for! I’ve enjoyed all the friendships I’ve made through Birddogdoc’s Chronicles! Enjoy the gunning season & I hope you all get out in the uplands with your bird dogs in tote! Be safe and always put your four legged partners first! New…
Bustin’ D. Dusty Devlins
After reading Andy’s tribute posts to Dusty (below), I was reminded of a photo I have of Dusty on point. Andy and I were hunting valley quail on this day in Idaho. This photo is of Dusty on point on an enormous covey of quail! Dusty did have some days where he shined brightly! I’m…
DUSTY BOY: PERFECT MEMORIES OF AN IMPERFECT BIRDDOG, Part 2
Continued from Part 1 Below . . . In addition to Dusty’s sporadic but memorable points, Dusty had some good retrieves that ought to be mentioned. On Thanksgiving Day, 2004, I thumped a rooster that dropped over a ridiculously high and tight barbed-wire fence–a real crotch ripper–that I wasn’t too excited to cross. Before, I…
DUSTY BOY: PERFECT MEMORIES OF AN IMPERFECT BIRDDOG, Part 1
It’s now been a year since we lost Dusty Boy—the day after Christmas, 2008. For a dog I lovingly called, among many other things, “Knucklehead,” I figure it is time to record some of his shining moments—good and bad. I owe him that much. Dusty Boy, one lovable Buckethead. Dusty was an Elhew Pointer born…
>Charles F. Waterman
>Painting by the great Eldridge Hardie: November Covey Bobwhites One of the greatest outdoor writers of all times was the late Charley Waterman whom passed on to the great-upland-covert-in-the-sky on January 12, 2005. I’m certain that Charley had a pack of bird dogs awaiting his arrival at the Rainbow Bridge! Charley authored 20 or more…
THE END OF THE ROAD
Yesterday, as Sunny and I approached the Royal MacNab–my favorite hunting covert in the world–we found a big snow bank, left by the county snowplow, which blocked our progress. This was the end of the road for Red Ed, my Ford Explorer, but not for Sunny and I. We would hoof it through the deep…
>Tis the Season to be Gunning…
>Sterling and I met up with JD this morn’ and with bird dogs in tote, we headed to quail country…cholla-cactus-choked-scaled-quail-stick-stab-&-jab ya country. JD brought his beloved setter Folsom with us…Folsom has a tragic story with a miracle happy ending! JD and his father were hunting birds in Montana about 8 weeks ago. They were rear…
>Blue Bird Kansas Skies & Bird Dogs
>Gun dog trainer extraordinaire, Gary Ruppel, and I loaded up his dog trailer and headed east to chase birds on the Kansas prairie. We had a combination of bird dogs ranging from Grand River Labradors, Elhew Pointers, English Cockers, and of course my Grouse River setter … QUAIL DOG FANATIC Gretchen! We started out in…
>We’re Off to See the Wizard!
>I’m headed to Kansas with bird dogs in tote…16 to be exact! I leave you with some of my favorite photos from the past! I will report on the haps and mishaps from the uplands of Kansas when I return! Hope the weather warms up just a bit! Until then…
GHOSTS OF DECEMBERS PAST AND FUTURE
Farley’s last blue grouse hunt. Bird hunting in December is vastly different from the summer-like days of September, the colorful autumn days of October, or even the crisp, shorter days of November. There is a confidence and ease that one feels in the uplands while following a dog and toting a shotgun during these kindlier…
ARTHRITIS AND OLD LACE or An Old Folks Outing at the Game Club
The wild, wild west! Joanne and Pride at the start of the adventure. The family took a little outing last week to the wonderful game club I belong to in Southern California. 1400 acres of wild high desert country of varied brush, grasses, shrubs and lots of rocks. We arrived at noon on the first…
Upland Ways 