Late September

Fall colors are happening.

      We wait all year for October. Time slows almost to a standstill as the end of September grows closer. On cool days we run the dogs, hoping to get them and ourselves into shape. The woods is still a jungle of leaves. Birds are bumped, some are pointed, and most disappear before anyone could ever shoot them.

      This week was a good one. Grouse were found on a couple of morning walks and the leaves are starting to put on quite a colorful display. As the week ended the weather turned a bit warm, but we managed to get out while it was still cool. 

      The dog's bells and orange collars were dug out a couple of weeks ago. The waxed cotton clothes may get a re-wax, depending on their wear. Hunting knives are located and touched up on a stone. Boots will be treated with waterproofing. Clean shotguns are cleaned again and lovingly oiled. Preparation can be half the fun.

      Hunting journals jog memories of long forgotten coverts. Topographical maps and aerial images are studied. Friends call who haven’t called in a year. Nobody is more popular in October than someone who owns a home in grouse country.

      It is only eight days until the season opens.

Young of the year sitting in a tree.

They Keep Chipping Away…

      Do not think they will ever stop. The animal rights activists do not want you to hunt or even eat meat.

https://www.rfdtv.com/story/41035920/lawsuit-in-california-aims-to-ban-gps-on-hunting-dogs

Mentoring

     The state of New Hampshire started a mentoring program this year for people who want to learn to bird hunt. I love the sport and worry about the shrinking number of hunters all over the country. With diminishing political clout we will lose our open lands and hunting as we know it.

Choke cherries are everywhere.

     Yesterday I met my mentee for the first time. We chatted a bit and then headed into the woods. He’s about a decade younger than me and has hunted most of his life, but never over bird dogs or for ruffed grouse in New Hampshire. Trying to explain to somebody what makes good grouse or woodcock cover sounds easy, but often it is just a feeling or hunch as you drive by a certain piece of cover. Travelling on a logging road, I pointed out things grouse love to eat and tried to explain the need for shelter in the softwood trees.

     I let my dogs out in a place I had found grouse before, but we didn’t have a lot of time and this time of the year grouse are widely scattered. Berries and seeds are abundant and everywhere in the woods this year, so finding concentrated birds seemed unlikely. I tried to be optimistic.

Maggie on a woodcock.

     The weeds were impenetrable in a small clearcut I had hoped to work around. Instead, we trekked to the north and found moist young forest. I mentioned something about good cover to find woodcock and almost immediately my younger dog went on point. That certainly made me feel good.

     Stepping past the dog, the bird launched straight up over the trees and then flew away. A couple of minutes later my older girl went on point with Maggie backing her. Maggie lost control of her manners and bumped the bird, but it still was nice to find a second bird in the little bit of time we were in the woods.

     I’m looking forward to spending a day in October with my mentee. Let’s hope it’s a day filled with birds.

Do you see him?

What’s For Dinner?

Our wild apple tree is loaded.

     Imagine a different restaurant every hundred feet down the road. One is serving Mexican, the next typical American fare, the next Italian food. Every stop has something different and all the food is good.

     That is what is happening out in the woods this year. It seems every type of plant that produces fruit is having a bumper year. Wild apples are already piling up on the ground. Blueberries linger on the bushes. Mountain ash are turning bright reds. Bright red choke cherries are already attracting the bears.

Wild hawthorn

     And if the fruits don’t create enough choices, some of the birches are loaded with catkins and the mountain maples are draped with strings of seeds.

     If there were an overabundance of restaurants the clientele would be scattered. This fall the game birds and animals will be the same. Hunters baiting bear are going to have a hard time getting the bruin's attention.

     The good news is the wildlife will go into winter well fed and healthy.

Blackberries

Catkins on a birch tree.

Mountain ash berries not quite red yet.

Mountain maple seeds