That alone was ALMOST enough to keep me completely out of the woods this weekend, but then realizing we only get a few weeks every year to chase the bird I think about the other 8 months of the year, I just went. I tried to get a early start to the morning, that ended up being about a 8:30 start, and it already felt like it was close to 60 degrees, but my buddy Mitch and I pushed on. I went to some of "his" covers which i have to say were much more aged than the what I would call "optimal", but right on cue a covey of three birds went up next to Mitch. He connected with a BEAUTIFUL brown phase male which was one of the largest birds i have ever seen. a true mounter if their ever was one. Dottie retrieved back to hand and we were off to another trail of his. another 100 steps yielded another wild flush, as it was starting to get windy, and I think the birds were getting a bit jumpy.
It seemed to me that dispersal had taken place this past week, because there were A LOT of single birds in places that they REALLY shouldn't have been. it was a road hunters dream, but I still prefer to drive in back deep, and walk off what is usually a large breakfast.
It really started to heat up fast, reaching the 70 degree point by 10:45. Those of you that know Dottie, she doesn't need nor crave a lot of water while out hunting, that certainly wasn't the case today. she went through 4 liters of water in a bout two hours of hunting.
We only ended up with that one bird, I missed a VERY easy one, but bird numbers seem to be getting a tad bit better. we put up 8 birds with no woodcock in that time frame. starting NEXT wed, I have the rest of October off, so many good reports (albeit delayed), and stories should be in the making.
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