Review: The Sporting Road

With another Tropical storm falling this week, and more predicted, Trout fishing (or fishing of any kind ) has pretty much been halted. You know it's bad when Al Roker is referring to your storm as a "Midwest hurricane." So what's an outdoors man to do in this "slack time?" Why its time read about and live vicariously through someone else's outdoor experiences. I just finished the little known about second installment of the Jim Fergus's "ROAD" series. Most all know of his first installment "THE HUNTERS ROAD", sharing his 4 month trip across the country with his yellow lab in a airstream trailer. This book is literary gold, and if you haven't read it, you owe it to yourself to pick up a copy. His follow up is just as good, sharing more stories of him and the loyal "Sweetzer" chasing everything from desert quail, to more grouse in Wisconsin and upper Michigan. With only a few months left to go before opening day, reading this book will get you amped up and ready to go.  Jim does a fantastic job of capturing the smells, sights, and moods of every upland hunter. He's an award winning writer, and doesn't disappoint with this follow up. It's a bit tough to find, but after a few days of searching the amazons, and Barnes and Nobles online, I found a great used copy. Good reading and enjoy!

SEARCH, SCOUT, SCORE

Sorry,
Its been WAY to long since my last update on here, but after the MONSOON of July, trout fishing has been blown out on almost every weekend, grouse broods have been hiding under anything they can find to stay dry, and my golf game is still crappy. SO, its time to do my SECOND favorite thing when it comes to grouse, ASPEN SEARCH 2010.
I become a google earth aficionado this time of year. When its 95 degrees with a a dew point in the 60's, the only place to be is in an air conditioned suv, following up on what my head tells me are suitable grouse covers. I'm happy to say over the past three years, my diligence in computer work and mapping has really paid off. I now feel I have almost every aspen cover on any form of public property in the areas that i hunt . It's really led to a much more relaxed experience, as now I ALWAYS have somewhere else to go if someone is already there. I went to a new cover only about an hour from my house I last night in hopes of connecting the dots between one of my google earth photos. Its didn't disappoint. It's a small cover, but found one nice young mother and 6 of her offspring. the itch is coming, only two months to go! Aspen, and grouse always raise my blood pressure, no matter what season it is.