All good things, must come to an end

It is true. As this absolutely gorgeous sunset reminds us all. we only have a limited amount of Fall. I can HONESTLY say I got my moneys worth this year. "Camp Aspen" was an absolute delight. While bird numbers weren't exactly what we were hoping for, their was plenty to go around. We had some great shots, and a lot of how did that pattern go right through a bird without knocking it down?
Bob has realized that if its a difficult shot to simply NOT PULL THE TRIGGER, and then his shot versus kill ratio remains high. Ryan has figured out how to shoot both barrels in exactly 1.1 second , even if the gun is fully mounted on his shoulder. I figured out that switching guns every weekend is a certain disaster for consistency. Bill, well,  lets just say he's straying away from the 28 gauge , and that "more pellets" are your friend!
We had the absolute pleasure of adding "Executive Chef Ron" to the cast of characters this season. I usually lose anywhere from 5 to 9 pounds during the two month season. Thanks to the culinary delights of everything from bacon grease pancakes, to lobster and porterhouse's, my waistline remained "unchanged."
While a few more escapades into the bitter cold and snow covered ground are a certainty, the trailer has been packed, the cabin has been cleaned, and the memories of another season have been locked into that special part of our minds that slowly starts to creep back early every August. While our memories and updates will continue on this blog, the "main event' has set, and what a great year it was. Thanks for following along!

The LITTLE birds

I was beginning to wonder if I would stumble across any timberdoodles en MASS this year!
Friday was that day. When the torrential winds of late October finally ceased, the long beaked wonders were Everywhere. We had gotten into huntable numbers earlier this season, including one on opening day, but never got a really good concentration like I was expecting.
I knew they were in  heavy when the newest member of our hunting group screamed out from 100 yards away, Ah, WHAT's a bird that smaller than a grouse, but looks like a grouse?". Feeling pretty smart I yelled, "A YOUNG GROUSE, shoot it!" hahaha
Dottie had so many intense little points that I thought the nerve endings in her tail were going to come right out of her body! It's so much fun to see pointing dogs get into a mess of woodcock, it's great entertainment. We let some pass, harvested a few, and laughed awful hard about the young guy and his rising confidence and prey drive.  All in all a GREAT weekend, he even managed to scrape down a perfectly pointed , shot , and retrieved grouse from miss Dot.
It all ends this weekend, the last hurrah from camp. I'll be sure to put an in depth analysis of this weekends happenings!