Hunt Ducks Hook Fish
Upland Bird Hunting
Aren’t My Own
Obsession is kin to true love. If you let your mind wander where does it go? A prairie pothole in North Dakota. A north wind in my face at sunset. A river in Montana. Dry flies bobbing in the riffle over browns and cutties. A humid August night in northern Michigan. Bass exploding through the … Continue reading
Every Shot Has a Story
It was about the easiest shot I’ve seen. I knew he was close. Zeus’s tail was swinging in a circle and he was snorting like a pig. I walked up to the only pine tree in the tangled aspen thicket. The grouse elevated toward the canopy. The flush hardly even surprised me. First shot. Underneath … Continue reading
The Good Hurt
I’ve spent the past two weekends in the thickest, nastiest, aspens I could find. Pushing through pines so dense that I couldn’t see an inch in front of my face. My elbows are scratched and stuck with tiny bits of thorns. My knee is swollen with a bruise the size of a baseball. It’s late … Continue reading
Happy Birthday Zeus
When I can’t find the words, my brother finds them for me. This Facebook post captures the essence of the past ten years spent with one of the best hunting buddies I could ever ask for. Zeus might appear as nothing more than an average black lab with a reckless tail which destroys wine glasses … Continue reading
BT Joe’s
October afternoons in the sun-drenched aspens chasing grouse are gone. November morning snow squalls and decoying mallards have passed. December left with just enough ice on the lakes to block the boat launch but not enough to start ice fishing. Slow transitions between my seasons suck. Makes me feel like I’m stuck in a rut. … Continue reading
Thunderbirds of the Northwoods
There he was. Strutting in the middle of the road like a pint sized turkey. Tail feathers fanned out. Wingtips dragging in the dust. Iridescent blueish black feathers jutting from his neck. His spinning and twirling pissed me off. His dancing was like a feathered middle finger. We just spent the last five hours pushing … Continue reading
Bacon and Grouse Hunting
There’s nothing better than bacon. Unless you wrap it around a roll of Italian sausage. Which is filled with more bacon. Yeah, I’d have to say this is one way to make bacon better. This legendary concoction is known as the Bacon Log. It’s the combination of 2 lbs of bacon, 2 lbs of sausage, … Continue reading
Duck Camp to Deer Camp
It’s getting dark at 5:15. All the leaves are down. Hell, Thanksgiving is already a week away. The 2010 duck season is getting down to the wire. Pretty soon we’ll be breaking ice to set the decoys and thawing out the retriever in front of a propane heater in our blinds. Zeus and I headed … Continue reading
Team-Up for Grouse and Woodcock
Bust-out the blaze orange vests. Dust-off the field jeans and grab a few boxes of #8 game loads. Upland bird season is officially back. And Northern Michigan is a hot spot for Grouse and Woodcock. Zeus and I hunted near Alpena, MI, last weekend and enjoyed a respectable flush-rate of 1.375 per hour. We couldn’t do it alone. We needed some reinforcements who helped … Continue reading
OBN
Hunt Ducks Hook Fish 