# Oct 20th



## alleyyooper (Sep 2, 2020)

Oct. 20th a beautiful Saturday morning with the promise of being a great day to take the dogs hunting with my brother.





Standing at the kitchen counter slicing some home made bread fresh out of the oven last evening.


Then slathering on some home made butter as Rob starts carving slices of roast beef from the roast we had put in the oven yesterday for supper and todays sandwiches.


Rob. Finished the roast beef slicing and starts slicing a sweet yellow onion to complete the sandwiches.


A couple of fugi apples each finish up our lunch bag.





Go out and whistle up skunk Robs dog and my Britt point to the rear gate of the jeep and in they go to curl up and lay down. They know as they have traveled like this before for the same reason.





A quick drive 3 miles down th eroad a a 2 mile crawl down a old dead end logging road.


Arrive at the turn off parking area and climb out, uncase the shot guns as the dogs race about stretching their legs and show their joy over a day of hunting.


I am carrying my Breatta silver snipe 20 ga OU shells are hand loaded 7 1/2 shot , Rob has his Ithaca SxS 12 ga with hand loaded7 1/2 shot shells.





We shoulder our game bags with the sandwiches for us dog food for our pups and some bottles of water. Then head out for the thick over grown mess left from the logging off 3 years ago.





The mess is 2.5 year old saplings of Oak, maple and poppies with a little cherry and birch mixed in. Lots of black berry bushes once loaded with Berrys the birds loved now mostly all gone but the buds on the saplings still supply food for the deer.





We had not gone in far when Skunks tail tells us to be ready she has smelled some birds a bit ahead of us. Her tail swings side by side slowly but increases in volume as we get closer to the partridges.


Just as the tail picked up hyper speed a group of partridges flush from the berry clump. I pick a bird and swing firing as the barrel passes the bird. The bird folds u and drops as I swing on another bird only to miss.





Britt fetches me the bird I managed to hit some how. Rob near by has a pair of birds Skunk has brought to him. This is a nice start to the day turning off on the warm side.





After admiring the first birds and getting the needle over missing and a sip of water we move on. This 4 years ago was all Oak trees towering tall along a very old logging rail road grade where you can still today find a spike every so often. Just a bit farther along I see Britt duck into a clump of pope saplings then a brown blur come streaking out the other side with a yelling dog close behind.





The yelling dog was soon joined by the skunk dog. They have did this before and make a good team on rabbits.


The rabbit a bigger snow show hare went streaking by Rob its down fall and made it’s way into the game bag after the dogs had looked it over and approved it was indeed dead.





We are entering a low spot with old red addleter brush. Not far in and Britt stops dead cold in her tracks and that beautiful feathered tail stops moving. I raise the breatta snicking rhe safety off as I step forward the way Britt is looking and have a woodie come whistling up nearly in my face. I finish risen the shot gun and fire one woodie falls and the second one goes twisting thru the brush pass Rob who lets it pass.





Normally I do not shoot the wood cocks as I do not care for the taste of them any way they are cooked. But Rob likes that chicken liver taste in fact he even eats chicken livers mom cooks for him.


I believe the taste comes from the diet the wood cocks have mainly earth worms.





We arrive to the far edge of the cut over and decided it is time to set down and have some food. Set out the small bowls, calling rhe dogs we open the food packs for them to gobble down then pour some water in the bowls for them. When finished they lay down in a sunny spot and appear togo to sleep. 


Rob and I get out our sandwiches to eat golly they sure taste great.





Once the apples come out they dogs ar no longer asleep but lay close toms with their heads in our lap waiting for a slice of apple. They are not dummies and know a good apple from a bad one.


After a short nap in the sunshine with the pups laying beside us we wake deciding to make a quick walk to a near by logging road walk it to the far side of the clear cut and hunt back to the jeep.





After a exciting 3 hour plus walk thru the brush and brambles we arrive back at the jeep. We have 4 wood cock in the game bag 7 pats and 5 rabbits 3 of which are snow shoes.





Put them in the cooler and case up the guns whistle top the dogs and make the drive back to the house.


At hime we clean our game and get it ready for Sunday dinner,





This is the first year in several that we have been just the two of us.


A normal year our friends from work Jim and JD would have been hunting the week end with us. It had became a weekend for the 4 of us to hunt all week end at my folks place.





But Jims silly sister had chose that date for her wedding the audacity of her spoiling his hunting week end.


Even my dad missed them, they make such a fuss over him every time they see him.

Al


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## esshup (Sep 3, 2020)

Al, what year was this?


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## alleyyooper (Sep 3, 2020)

I believe was 1976 but could have been any of a number of years. We for several years make it a vacation and hunted with our two friends from work. Was sort of a trade he got to stay with us and hunt with us and his friend and I could keepo a boat at his place in the summer and take it across the street to fish the lake over there.


Al


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## esshup (Sep 3, 2020)

Thanks. That's the best sort of trade.


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