As Tic and I started our descent I could
see there was a crust of snow in the shadows of the pines on the
southeast side of My Hell Hole this morning. I had not been up there
for several weeks so I was excited to see mother natures frosty
October breath starting to take its toll. The aspen leaves were
yellow and falling, and the under-brush was almost bare. One of the
most valuable assets of this wonderful place is that dusky grouse
seem to gather here as the season goes on. It just gets better and
better with the declining weather. The only way in to this place is
down and the only way out is up. It is like hunting chukar in thick
brush. It is brutal, and I love this place.
Tic was running below me searching a
group of pines just below the top when birds flushed all around him
they rocketed down the canyon gaining speed with gravity's help. I
was just out of range and chose not to take the chance of crippling
one. Tic stopped to flush and as I walked in another dusky flushed
and quickly put a pine tree between he and I to aid his escape. I
chuckled a
little as I thought about my old dog and I having been
made fools by this first group of birds. Tic didn’t look as amused
as I was and I think he was blaming me. Never the less when I
released him he went right back to work. I wasn’t sure why he
didn’t get them pointed but as I walked I began to realize the
crusty snow was making our movements very loud. It might be a tough
day. These late season birds are not the “fool hens” that my
grandfather would talk about. They get up and get gone! We walked on
and the crusty snow would make it tough to get close to anything
telegraphing our location and path constantly. I heard several birds
flushed far away from me and Tic we didn’t get within 60 yards of
them. I was getting a little bit frustrated when my Sportdog Tek 2.0
tracker went off telling me that Tic was on point. I quickly started
in his direction, but again birds started flushing before I
could get
into sight of him. My luck would change this time however. Two birds
flushed late as I got to Tic. I missed the first one but connected
with the second and it tumbled down the steep hill with Tic in
Pursuit. Tic was on the retrieve, and I was able to admire my old dog
for just a moment as he struggled up the hill with the huge bird.
That was just the medicine we needed. Both of us felt better with the
little bit of success. The rest of our morning would be more of the
same. We had points with birds flushing early and behind trees. We
had wild flushing birds and even a nice point on a ruffed grouse that
played his game rather than mine putting the only tree around between
us. Sometimes things go perfectly and other times it seems impossible
to get a shot. This was the latter. We would come home with only two
birds, but I think it was the most fun we have had so far this
season. There were lots and lots of smart grouse and it is fun to
get worked by them every now and then. I learned through the years to
respect the Duskys that live in My Hell Hole. Though they seem like
fools at times if the cards are stacked in their favor it can be a
very long day. What great birds!
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