After work today, I went out to check on one more upland bird spot, to see how the cover was and if I could flush up any birds. Southwest Idaho is so very beautiful in the Fall, that it is a joy to get out regardless the excuse. But pheasant season starts this weekend, and the afternoon was too beautiful to go to the water hoping for ducks, so I went out looking at fields. Besides, I might get lucky and scare up some quail.
The Wingmaster is ready. I’m ready. The fields look good, although with no hunter traffic on them yet the cover is still pretty thick. And birds! Saw a couple hens changing fields, and heard roosters in every field I stopped at. Took a little walk along an old fencerow that had some scrubby trees along it, looking for quail, and a big old rooster hopped up squawking indignantly, straight up 15 feet, then over the brush and off into the next field. Good point and swing drill for me. And I know that rooster is ready.
I spent some talk time earlier today with the man I was dove hunting with. He’s had the pup out a few more times, gotten a few birds to hold until flushed, and he says pup is ready for the season too. Some of his buddies went to the “secret pheasant hunting spot” over the Snake River in Oregon last weekend (Oregon opens a week earlier than we do), but they saw very few birds and only got a couple shots off. Hmmm… I’d better not tell them where I’ve been.
Big old line of clouds coming in from the west right now, and the weather girl on TV says a system is coming in. I wonder if it’ll get cold enough tonight, or if it’ll rain a little, and stir up the ducks? What’s on my schedule for tomorrow?… oh look, I don’t have an appointment until noon. Think I’ll go put the waders and the dekes in the truck, and head out to the water tomorrow morning. A guy’s gotta grab the opportunities when they present themselves, right? Right.
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