Hook's Mountain Hunt

Took Copper for a hunt on Hook's Mountain. I haven't hunted this cover for 3 or 4 years. This pics may not look it but it's a steep climb up the skidder road to the top. As I started up the grade two grouse flushed wild off to my left and headed up the hollow. I took it as a good sign and made the walk up a little easier.

Half way up with the top in sight.

Copper was just happy to be out and about.

On top the cover is a mix of black birch and treetops. Not my thickest cover but it always seems to hold some birds.

Copper hunted her heart out but we couldn't find the two birds that had flown up the hollow at the start of the hunt.

Elin the back-action hammergun. Her small rounded action makes her a joy to carry in the coverts.

Hercules club or the Devils walking stick are but two of many names for this small thorny tree. It's common in many of my coverts and a very good reason to wear gloves. It's black berrys that ripen in the fall are favorites of the bear that roam these mountains.

As I wander I'm always looking for the little things that go unnoticed by many hunters.

So ended the hunt. Although we didn't to pull any hammers back today it was still nice to walk an old covert, like seeing an old friend again.

Catchin' Up

Went on a couple of hunts last week. On Thurs. Emma and I hunted some cover near Lake Raystown. With a skiff of snow on the ground Emma was ready to roll. Sadly this cover proved to be barren of grouse.We then headed north to hunt some new coverts. Thick in laurel and saplings. The cover looked nice but we again drew a blank.

A quick snow squall put a coating of snow on Elins tubes.

A distant porky was all we spotted this day.

After spending Fri. resting my back and knee, Copper and I headed southeast to my coverts close the Mason-Dixon line. A huge clearcut that the game commission had enclosed in deer-proof fence was now taken down and I planned to hunt the edge of this thick cover.

Copper continued to shine this season with two points but in cover like this all I could do was listen and hear the grouse flush as I fought my way through cover like this to get to her.

This cover consisted of some lung-bursting ridges. Here's Copper racing up to the cover on top.

In this predominately dry cover, a drink of water sure hit the spot.

A Grouse for Copper and Elin

My second season has been a quiet one with only several wild flushes to show for my wanderings. Today I headed to a southern covert close to the Maryland border with Copper to try our luck. Multiflora rose, blackberry briers and autumn olive cover much of the mountain side.

With the wet weather we've had this fall the springs and seeps were running full.

This covert has some stone fence rows that would rival New England covers.

Coppers beeper suddenly switches to point mode and I see her "cat walking" after a running grouse. I move to circle around her as fast as I can manage in the steep and rocky terrain and she locks up on point with a multiflora rose bush between us. As I take a step toward the bush a grouse flushes straight for my head. I duck, turn and fire the right barrel and then the left as the grouse sails down the mountainside and see the bird cartwheel down with a broken wing. Copper sees the grouse fall and catches it as it flutters down the steep slope.

Elin, my 16 ga. Husqvarna hammergun with the first bird I've taken with her.







Copper poses happily with her bird.

We had several wild flushes and one more point that I couldn't reach in time for a shot, but the day goes down as a success with a burning memory of Coppers point and my killing shot.

SHHHH............Dont' Tell the Wife

After the wife left for work I grabbed Emma and headed for Warrior Ridge, an hour long hunt over easy terrain to test out my healing back muscles. Just a couple of minutes out of the truck Emma points under this leaning tree. I took the wrong approach and a woodcock flew out staying low and not offering me a shot, but it was a good start.Pa. has extended the woodcock season this year and the coverts are a little more open without the leaves to interfere and the birds were there.

The next woodcock flushed in front of me and got a free pass. Minutes later Emma started to make game, pointing several times but not able to pin point the woodcock. She suddenly did a 180 and bumped the bird.

She hunted beautifully for me today. Diving under some cover............

and bursting out of other cover.

As we neared the truck she went on point at a large downed oak tree with briers growing up through a maze of branches. I circled around the treetop, stomped on some of the limbs and even threw a small limb into the center to try to flush whatever held Emma's interest. Finally I climbed into the center of the tangle. Suddenly out of the leaves just a couple of feet from me flushed a woodcock just missing my right shoulder. I turned, left the bird get a little distance on me and promptly missed with both barrels. This was were the bird was squatted down.

Although disappointed with my shooting I still had a smile on my face as I made my way back to the truck. I had found some birds, Emma had worked the cover to my satisfaction, and my back didn't feel too bad. I might just have to go for a little hunt tomorrow.

Afraid my Season's Over

No the dogs are fine, it's me who has "went down". Woke up Sat. with a sore knee and a backache. Didn't surprise me as I've been out hunting for 10 of the last 14 days so decided to just take it easy on Sat. as I still have a weeks vacation to use. Sat. evening I went to lift a bag of horse feed and felt a stabbing pain in my back. I instantly knew what it was "back spasms". I was crippled this summer for two weeks with back spasms and know what they are. Pain pills and rest are the only solutions that the Doc's have so now I'm hobbling around the house feeling sorry for the dogs and myself. The best I can hope for is to get better by Thanksgiving Day so I can hunt that Thurs, Fri, and Sat, before Deer Season. I had coverts lined up to hunt this week that now will go unhunted till next year. But the worst thing is the experiences that Emma will miss due to my body breaking down. ERRRR........ and I'm not even old (well not that old)yet.

Copper's Day Afield

Emma was looking pretty worn this morning so I took Copper for a short woodcock hunt. Her hips won't take too long a hunt any more, but we had a nice time afield with several points on woodcock and one grouse point. I only got a chance at one of the woodcock and had to drop both hammers but I was able to down the bird for her.

As usual she found and mouthed the bird and made me crawl into the thicket to retrieve it myself, but am glad I was able to shot a bird over her point to add to the memories we've made over the years.

Long Time Coming

I started the week up north in a new to me stripmine that yielded only one wild flush. Tuesday I tried a new covert near home that held several woodcock, but Emma was enable to handle them, bumping 2 birds and I flushed a third one. Not a good start to a new covert but it's one that I'll visit again. Wednesday proved to be a big day for us. It didn't start out that way. The first cover we hit was full of woodcock, too many for Emma to handle that early in the morning and she merrily bumped several birds in her excited state. We then moved to another cover that sometimes holds a woodcock or two. It consists of old wet fields growing back in crabapples and hawthorns.

Plenty of fruit for the wildlife.

Emma pointed one woodcock that ran out and flushed and I missed a long shot on it. Soon she pointed again and as I walked in a grouse flushed across in front of me. I focused on the bird, mounted Colette and dropped the right hammer, and the bird dropped to the ground stone dead. It was Emma's first grouse and I was ecstatic. She finished off her performance with a nice retrieve.

Posing is serious business.








Back at the truck, let me hold it one more time Dad.

Arriving home I had one tired puppy.