Fall Bird Camp

Dani

Dani

Well-known member
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So, I left Montana the 11th after three weeks of getting to play hooky from work and do nothing but enjoy the scenery, good food, lots of birds and new places and great friends. I met Steve out in Spokane. He picked Drake and me up at the airport and off we went on Sept 22. It was tons of fun. I didn't want to go home. I especially didn't want to be back at work. But I have lots to look forward to next year. Well, I left Drake with Steve so they could work their way back to FL and let Drake get to stay at upland bird hunting camp and see what new things he learns. I do require daily updates on my boy and how he did in school and what sorts of adventures they had.

My last day in Montana:

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Drake has been having a lot of fun with the pheasants and the occasional sharptails and huns while Steve's been finding some really nice sheds and skulls. Night time is spent relaxing in a kingly fashion in Steve's new to him camper. There have been a few days off for weather and laundry, but otherwise he's had classes everyday in pheasant and hun and sharptail studies. I do have to say that sharptails have gotta be the hardest birds I've ever hunted with a flushing dog. Pointy dogs definitely excel with the sharptails, but in the right conditions, Drake has proven himself quite adept at handling sharptails.

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He is one pampered bird camp student

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But he makes up for his pamperedness and from what I've heard, he's living up to the Superchargedness

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And isn't Montana great?!?!?!

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I miss my black dog but he is learning lots, figuring things out, having lots of fun and finding lots of birds. And from what I'm hearing, Drake is finding more birds than most of the others in the campground (and the majority of those hunters have pointy dogs) so of course that makes me smile.

Dani
 
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Kris,

Three weeks was my part. Steve's part is still going on and won't be over til mid November, probably just in time to get Drake back to me for duck season. I went out early at the end of Sept (got there the 22nd) so that Drake and I could chase sage grouse. Here's a picture from the first two days that we sage grouse hunted. We hunted a total of 5 days for sage grouse and we each got 9 sage grouse. It was amazing. We ate LOTS of sage grouse just to stay legal and lordy were they delicious!!!!!!!!!! Better than any steak I ever had. And what's cool is that those antlers were ones that I found in those same two days....Montana is a great place for finding horns too. There is also a ruffed grouse in our cleaning palooza pile as well as several sharptails and huns.

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Thanks Phil.

Dave, I'm sure that Drake would say that he isn't spoiled, but that he's getting his reward for the day. I mean he's the one who has to run bare footed and nekid through the grass and briars and trees and rocks and find the birds so that we could do the easy part and shoot them so that he can run them down and put up with any spurring if they're crippled and bring them back to us and then start all over again. And at the beginning of the trip he had to put up with all that PLUS prickly pear cactus everywhere and nightly torture sessions that were 30-45 minutes long that involved me pulling spines out of his feet. I'm sure he'd be happy to say let's trade jobs. You do what I do, as I do it and I'll just wander behind you and shoot.
 
Thanks Wiz-

These are just daily report card pictures taken on a cell phone to show me how my boy is doing in school. At some point, I will do a much more complete write up on my adventure with more pictures. I don't blame him, but Steve hasn't felt inclined to want to mess with pictures at the end of a long day teaching my boy the finer points of bird hunting. So, at some point there will be more pictures and a story to go with them.

Phil, that's the Missouri River. Didn't see many ducks on it. But then we didn't see many ducks at Medicine Lake. Though it could've been just cuz it's early yet.
 
WOW!
Some great stuff Dani, you (and your dog) are living the dream, keep it up as long as you can!

Have you had time to scout around Tallahassee yet? Gadwalls and coots are showing up here already.
 
Life is short. Who knows when I'll be able to retire, so waiting to do all these neat things when I retire wouldn't be guaranteed that's for sure. PLUS my adventures are a great break in the tedium of work.

Haven't been out scouting yet. I've seen some coots on a few ponds. I have Steve's mudboat and was contemplating on my drive in to work where I will start scouting. Haven't decided yet but I am beginning to get excited about the season coming up.
 
What a great thread, Dani. I sure did enjoy the pictures and what you had to say. Loved the shots of the river and of Supercharged.
Al
 
Dani nice headdress. :)

That looks like a lot of fun. I'm a little envious of you for those Huns you got. We use to have some around here but they have all but disappeared.
I hope Drake can learn to pull out all those long tail feathers before he brings them back so he can be an official pheasant dog.

Tim
 
Hunting sharpies, patridge, and phaesants is far more exciting with a rough shooting dog. You have to continuosly pay attention to the dogwork, terrain and cover to position yourself to shoot-far more engaging than just walking along waiting for a dog to go on point.

Steve/ Dani, have you ever cold smoked sharptails? We cold smoke them for about twenty minutes over either mesquite, apple or cherry wood smoke prior cooking them. Really adds to the flavor on dark meat birds.

There is a Giada De Laurentis recipe: Whole-wheat spaghetti with Swiss Chard and Pecorino Romano cheese that is an excellent match for sharptail grouse and ducks.

Watching a dog build and polish its skills working game is probably the best experience on Earth!
 
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