Despite slightly lower bird numbers the North Dakota fall of 2008 was another season we would remember. Further proof that it was a good place to visit time and again not just for the birds but for the people and the simple way of life we enjoyed. But not to be fooled there aren't many poor people there. I'd laugh at the out of state hunter's in all their fancy hunting clothes in the bars and restaurants trying to show off like peacock's in their finery. Little did they know that many of the local farmers and ranchers they'd meet along the way although appearing to be simple and humble in appearance could buy and sell them many times over! I think most of them probably still had the first dollar they ever made as well!
It was November and time to head to Montana and the Big Sky country. Hunting the same species of birds but in a breathtaking landscape in the foothills of the Big Horn mountains. This was by far the most beautiful place I had ever hunted. Not knowing if we'd continue to have access to this property in the future we decided to come again this year regardless of the uncertainty the economy was causing in both our lives. Once again we loaded up the vehicle and headed down the road with all 5 dog's now veteran's of the road many times over. But I sensed the change ahead. These day's of traveling and spending weeks at a time together had played their role in the future. The purpose had been to broaden my horizon in many ways showing me how much life had to offer if I took the time to seek it out. New people,places and experiences were there just waiting over the horizon. My days of being a part timer were coming to an end. And a very good thing that was!
We arrived on Sunday again and checked in at the ranch with our friends Stan and Sharon. There was a new farm manager and we were introduced to him as well. Nothing had changed here and we said our hello's to the rest of the staff remembering them from our last visit. The dog's needed to stretch their legs so we went down the road to let them run a little. We decided to run some of the alfalfa fields to see if we might locate some Sharptail to start with.
This was an area we called the Kennebec Bunks named after some feeder bunks in the surrounding pasture. The alfalfa held no birds so we headed into the ravine we had started out hunting last year. Same deal me below and Tom walking the field edge above. I had Beau and Molly out as I was still being careful with Mick having had surgery on his ACL 7 weeks ago. The pup's worked to the bottom getting birdy a couple times but no points. We then hunted the opposite bank of the ditch up to the pasture fence. Beau crossed over and tracked scent out into the short cover with a couple of hens busting out wild. The birds were moving today. I came back down to the bottom and we worked the wet swampy cover. The pup's were into scent moving slowly and tracking but nothing was holding. After almost falling a couple times keeping up in the boggy cover we were at the end where it dried up and was short grass with some bushes ahead along the ditch. The pup's continued on trailing these moving birds when I saw a larger group of bushes ahead with some taller grass around the area. I thought this should be it and I was right as both dog's locked up pointing into the brush. I had a little distance to make up to get there. My boots and pants were wet from coming through the bottom as we tracked these birds so I couldn't give up now as I hurried across the open. I had to also cross a fence to reach the dog's but it was an old section I could step over. The pup's were in the open holding steady as I walked past them. We were in a narrow valley with a steep side to the east and a good rise to the west towards Tom as well. I got close enough for these birds and a group of about 10 birds took flight. Half going up the valley and the other half arcing back the way we had come. I took the first Rooster as it came up then swung on the next bird as it went back south dropping it in the open short grass. It was a great stalk. The Setter's had done their job not pushing the birds. When I have Beau running with Molly she will follow his lead as he cautiously follows the wind easing into a point. This was a good start but we weren't done. Since there were birds that had gone ahead we moved forward after collecting our birds and taking a short break. We had moved ahead a couple hundred yards into an even narrower section of this valley when I looked up and saw two Sharptail that had flushed off the hilltop to the east and floated down behind where we had just come from.I had just happened to have looked up in that direction seeing them as they came down along the dry waterway. I turned the pup's around and we worked back in that direction. Molly picked up the scent first being a better tracker since she's closer to the ground physically. Both dog's started working about as I expected these birds were moving. I lost sight of the dog's and came upon them a few seconds later pointing along the slope of the ditch. This bird was somewhere in the bottom. I began walking down and a Sharptail flushed going high. I took the shot and the bird fell in the brush to the east. Molly recovered the prize as I thought how good it was to be back here. The terrain just makes the hunt so different. In a good way. This is Big Sky country! We got back to looking for the second bird I knew was here. Going back along the ditch the pup's got birdy again working about. They knew there was another bird here I could tell. Sure enough after a few minutes Beau was on point right at the base of a big cottonwood tree. The roots were exposed along the ditch and I thought well that bird must be right under that tree. I was right but I didn't get any closer as it rocketed out past Beau and flew south. It was an easy shot as I fired with my Gold Label and the bird fell in the open cover. What a run!
The potential for mixed bag shooting and the beauty of the landscape just makes this hunt so spectacular. I had kept pace with these moving birds and my Setter's had done their job. Even though I was wet and muddy we had all been rewarded. Not bad shooting either!
Later in the week Stan had offered to take us up into the canyon on the Wyoming side of the road a couple miles north of the ranch headquarters. Out of this canyon comes the Little Horn river as it descends 16 miles from the meadows in the high country above. Immediately upon ascending into the canyon you're in another world with the sharp steep walls of rock on either side of the river rushing on it's way downward. While it's federal land there are a handful of private cabins up here grandfathered in over the year's. This place was just incredible. I vowed to return someday and make the whole 16 mile trail ride. Maybe with a 4 wheeler! And a fly rod! The cattle are driven up this canyon to the meadows above to graze through the summer with Cowboys staying with them for weeks at a time protecting them as they roam the high country meadows. Black bears and mountain lions being the predators as well as rustlers.
We hunted the high country again and I just couldn't get enough of seeing the Setter's working the open pastures that flattened out up high. This was Beau's world. Let him have big open spaces and a little wind and he just floated about. Head high. Testing the wind as he covered ground. Always moving then carefully striking a pose telling me he had found the birds once again. Sometimes they held for a shot sometimes they didn't. It didn't matter. It was all good. All beautiful.
I was hunting the backside of a ridge up high one afternoon with Molly. The sky was clear and the temperature quite mild in the upper 40's We had been working along the backside of this ridge when I saw some taller grass ahead surrounding some bushes. As we approached there was also some water running through here in small rivulets. There was evidence of the cattle having used this area with trails cutting through it.Molly was birdy as we came into this grassy area. She was obviously tracking a moving bird casting about within the same area. I stood still. Ready but just letting her work. She pointed a couple times and I moved in but nothing flushed so she'd re-position. Finally she was locked up again and I moved in kicking the grass around the area. The tough thing about this is you never know where the heck this bird is and which way it'll come up but come up it did. Surprised of course I rushed my shot. Missed. Shot again slightly off center but the bird came down. Molly rushed ahead but I cold see the grass moving ahead. We had a runner. Damn it. We went back and forth. In circles. Then Molly got out of my sight. I went ahead in the direction I had just seen her and over a slight rise I finally caught a glimpse of her 30 yards ahead. Sitting down. Looking at me. I didn't know what to think as I came closer. As I walked up I noticed a small rivulet of water flowing ahead towards her. When I got to her I looked at her again just sitting there thinking what the hell's going on? I didn't see any bird. Then I came around behind her. Looking down I saw the Rooster fully submerged in this little ditch of water except for it's head! It was a Mexican standoff! She must have not wanted to grab it out of the water but instead was just standing guard waiting for me! I grabbed the wet bird and dispatched it giving Molly all the credit for this one. What a chase! Great job! We worked around the rest of this area to the east. At the far edge Molly went on point again along the brush. I walked in and two Sharptail flushed one going north east and one going straight south. I took my shot at the bird going straight away south and it came down just over a rise out of my sight. Molly had seen it go down and headed over the rise immediately. However I didn't know how hard the bird was hit. She was gone from my sight for a couple minutes when I saw her coming over the rise about 40 yards away with the Sharptail in her mouth. A beautiful sight. No words had been spoken. No command given. Just the partnership between a hunter and his dog. That bond and natural instinct more powerful than anything you could train a dog to do. It was an unforgettable moment we stopped and relished for a while. I was so lucky to have this dog I thought.
The run Tom did last year where he forgot to take water and left me wondering what happened to him we split this year. I took the upper half and Tom went south to the valley floor and then came back up the other side. I had all three dog's on the ground as we crisscrossed the ravine that ran north and south. On the top end we were into both Sharptail and Pheasant right away. It began with a point on the side of a hill overlooking the ravine. A covey of Sharptail flushed right in front of me 20 yards with all three dog's holding steady. I took one bird here. We then worked the upper edge of the ridge before heading down the run and picked up another Sharptail on a single flush. Before I could go ahead any further the pup's began working back the way we had come. Down and then back up a ditch of which there many reaching out like fingers down the sloping terrain. I was getting a workout right off the bat. Mick had a point. He was facing up the hill as I walked to him 40 yards away. It was a convergence of brushy cover and some grass. I walked right ahead of him when a Rooster rose up and headed to the east. An easy shot. We collected our bird and paused again before continuing south. We had hit this run at the right time as we made our way down along the narrow ravine. I was able to stay up on the high side as the Setter's all worked together pinning birds either in the brush or in the grass on the edge. It wasn't easy as I had to keep up as the Setter's crossed back and forth across these fingers of ditches and brush then going up and down as they tracked the birds. But then when I had a point I'd just walk up and flush. Most of the birds came up high being in the brush making easy shooting before they turned into the light breeze. We had birds that flushed out of range but the Setter's just found more. It was as close to the best shooting I'd ever had. When we got to the truck a mile below we had our limit of both Roosters and Sharptail. A full game bag! Tom had done well also picking up a couple Roosters but no Sharptail as they'd all been up high today.
We had been invited to have supper with Stan and Sharon which Tom and I looked forward to being bachelors it was always great to be invited to dinner for real home cooking. So after cleaning birds and removing the days debris from ourselves we headed off to supper. I loved Stan and Sharons house. An arts and crafts style bungalow. Sharon had done a great job decorating and they both had put a lot of work into the yard as well. It was just a really nice little house with the river running 75 yards behind it to the east. Sharon had asked us what we might like for supper and I laughed saying anything was just fine but a home cooked supper of meatloaf and mashed potatoes and gravy would for sure put a smile on our faces! Well we sat down to a beautifully set table in Sharon's kitchen and it didn't take me long to figure out why Stan had married this wonderful woman. She could cook! We had everything from salads to yes the meatloaf and mashed potatoes and gravy, homemade pickles,bread and vegatables and desert. The desert was just delicious. I made sure I had gotten the recipe before we left. It was a raspberry cream cheese and jello affair with whipped cream topping! Excellent! Well we had a great visit over dinner and Sharon asked if I would like any more meat loaf. Being polite I thought and not wanting to be glutinous I declined. Tom's reply was then the same but with a pause. We said our good byes eventually and as we were heading out the driveway Tom say's Thanks a lot. I said for what? Well I really would have eaten every last bit of that meat loaf that was left but after you weren't going to have any more I didn't want to be the only one eating so I passed to! Well this sparked a whole discussion about how it's really a compliment to the host to eat a lot! They really want you to so you shouldn't decline but instead indulge! So we made a pact to always say yes when asked about seconds in the future!
That was Montana 2008. Tough hunting. Beautiful scenery. Great friends. And bird dog's! I enjoyed my solo runs with Mick happy he had recovered fully as we had a lot of memories to make. Those moments with Molly would be precious forever. Beau was in his element here. The pictures of him pointing Sharptail in the open pastures forever in my mind. Tom and I had also finally come to an agreement. Never say no to meatloaf!
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