After missing the opener of the SG hunt, I anxiously awaited our turn to hit the mountain. We left the house around 6:00 and the temp was 22 degrees. I was thrilled with the major cool down, knowing the dogs would be able to run much longer!
Living so close to the Mountain (about 45 minutes), I had already decided to harvest our birds over two trips. Taking one bird each trip would give me the chance for some real quality time on the mountain with the pups. It didn't take long for the action to begin! About 100 yards from the truck I stopped to tie a lace. When I looked up, this is what I saw..
Rusty had the first bunch pinned but, Buck handled the retrieve..
Hmmm..less than 10 minutes in to the hunt! There were about twenty birds that came up off that first point. It would have been so easy to be done right there but, we let the others fly.
It was a beautiful day on the mountain. The kind of day that makes you feel alive!
We continued to find birds as we went along the ridge. Group after group, of what seemed to be mostly birds of the year. It was good to see such a successful hatch and a high brood survival!
Here Rusty had a group of 7-8 young birds pinned. We watched 'em fly!
Buck taking it all in..
Forcing the dogs to take a much needed yet brief rest.
I'm afraid I may have deprived the "Trial community" of a great prospect. After over four hours on the ground, Rusty's still ranging out about 300 yards! That's him on the skyline.
Here's Buck on point. When the bird came up..I saw it was a mature male which I promptly whiffed! It was a celebrated miss though..we want to go back!
We ran into a few other critters on the mountain as well! These Pronghorn were out roughly 500 yards. More curious than afraid.
It was a great day to be out! The temps were just about perfect. I believe the high while we were hunting was around 30 degrees. Oh yeah, forgot to mention, when we started hunting, it was 18 degrees!
With sadness, the boy's and I said goodbye to the Mountain this day.
Good huntin',
Rick
