RIP Pinecoble Emma

 Emma passed away several days ago.  She left behind many wonderful memories of past hunts.

Unexpected Ending to My Season

I had hoped to find some flight woodcock during the last week of the season, but instead I'm quarantined at home with the possible covid 19 virus.  Waiting for test results that should have been available several days ago I guess the system is swamped. Janet was exposed to another caregiver who tested positive. We both are suffering body aches, coughs, and chills but no fever yet. Grouse and woodcock come back in after deer season for 2 weeks. Hopefully I'll have the stamina for a few short hunts.  If not I'll be looking forward to the spring flights to give Bliss and Thicket some bird work.

This Weeks Hunts

 Bliss and I hunted the Church Hill covert earlier this week.  Started off good with a solid point on a hen pheasant who held for the flush.

But the day went downhill from there.  The covert has full of recently stocked pheasants who kept running from Bliss's points and soon she was chasing and flushing them.  We finally found one woodcock in a stand of hawthorn. It held nicely for Bliss but at the flush it dodged behind a hawthorn tree and escaped without a shot fired.

  

Today I traveled north with Bliss to the Blandsburg covert only to find it covered with an inch or more of snow and stocked pheasants everywhere.  After several bump and chases I decided to try the Black Snake Ridge covert that I had found last spring. Covered nicely with aspen, maple and locust it looks like good cover but no birds were found.

Tomorrow if my knee permits me I'll take Thicket and try the Shawnee Creek Covert.

Time is running out with  next week being the last week of the season.

Finally Success

 Bliss and I finally had some success today in the Harrier Ridge covert.  Her first point was in some open pines that proved to be a hen pheasant. Growing up in Pa hen pheasants were protected but now their legal game and I broke a wing with the left barrel with Bliss making a nice find and retrieve. 

The 16 gauge Model 51  Husqvarna  built in 1912 did it's job.

We worked our way to a series of small ponds with some scattered aspen cover.  And found some woodcock.  The first bird held nicely for Bliss but had it's escape route planned ahead and I missed with both barrels.  Soon she was on point again and I hurried in and flushed the bird.  Lady luck was with me and I dropped it with the left barrel.

We found one more woodcock but it ran out from her point and flushed without a shot.  

Here's hoping that the flights have begun and we'll find a few more birds before the season ends.

A Quiet Season

 Not much to write about this season so far.  The woodcock have not started to move through, at least in my coverts and native birds are very scarce.  Bliss had two points yesterday in the Blandsburg covert.  The first bird flushed before I could get in position for a shot and the second bird used several larch trees to avoid my pellets.  Warm weather is called for all next week so am not expecting much movement in the migration.  Bliss had an encounter with a porcupine last week with a visit to the vet to remove the quills. Her two encounters last year obviously did not teach her the danger of messing with a quill pig.  Some scenery pictures are all I have to show.

1st week of Woodcock season results

 Well Bliss and I have the first week of woodcock season under our belts, sadly with little to show for it.Hunted 3 days in three different coverts and managed to find one bird. Bliss handled the bird nicely after it ran out from her point and relocated it, but it flushed before I could get in position for a shot.

Here are some pictures of the coverts we hunted.

It felt good to have a little 16 gauge hammer gun in the crook of my arm.

With rain in the forecast for my more northern coverts I may have to hunt closer to home tomorrow. Hopefully the 2nd week of the season will be more productive than the first.

Apples, Apples, Apples

 Due to several requests I've "revived" my blog. :)   Hopefully this fall the dogs and I'll have some experiences from my coverts to share with you.  Until then here's some of the apples I've been harvesting this fall. 

My Orchards are starting to bear fruit for me 6 years after my first plantings.  One of the things that I tell people who buy trees from me is besides weed control and sunlight you  need to have patience when growing apple trees. The  nursery catalogs like to tell you that you will be picking apples a year or two after planting but in reality it's closer to 5 or 6 years for an apple tree to bear fruit.  If a tree does set fruit in only a year or two you must pull off the fruit or you will stunt the tree.  A tree needs to grow wood before it bears fruit.  Enough of the apple growing lessons now on to the fruit. :)

Winecrisp, a "modern" apple developed by Purdue, Rutgers, and the University of Illinois it has a rich, spicy flavor great for eating off the tree or for cooking.

Myers Royal Limbertwig, an heirloom apple grown from a seed by the Myers family of Cades Cove Tennessee in the early 1800's.  A very juicy apple with a blend of sweet-tart flavors. My favorite fresh eating apple.

Black Amish.  Believed to be an old Pennsylvania apple but it's origin is lost to history.  A tart apple just off the tree it mellows in storage to a sweeter flavor.

Arkansas Black.  My young tree has not bore fruit yet but I did get this apple off a limb graft I made on a wild seedling tree growing in the old horse pasture. A very hard apple when first picked it's a supreme storage apple developing into a fine eating apple after several months in storage.

Must end todays blog, I have some Mammoth Black Twig apples that need picking. :)

First Blossom

The Chestnut Crab is the first apple tree to open blossoms this spring.

Some Pictures of my Wanderings this Week

With Bliss injured Thicket got to wander with me this week.  We found a few woodcock in the Muth Covert.

This little fellow posed for the camera.

This bed of daffodils seem to thrive at the head of a spring seep. 

An old spring that provided water for a homestead many years ago.

And of course the old apple trees that always draw me to them. Old survivors that out live the people who took the time to plant them.  Each one a witness to years of sever weather and neglect, yet they live on.

Injured

Bliss came up lame after our last woodcock run.  I couldn't find any thorns in her pad and thought perhaps she had pulled or strained a muscle. The next day she was worst so a trip to the vet was in order. He found a thorn in her hock from an earlier run had formed an abscess.

It's been two days and I've taken the bandage off and am soaking her leg in Epsom Salts.  She's on antibiotics, is starting to put a little weight on her leg and seems to be on the mend.  When you consider the terrain our dogs run through it's a miracle they aren't injured more often.

Finding Some Birds

The woodcock have finally started to move through some of my coverts and Bliss and I have had several enjoyable days afield.  First is the Fish Hatchery Covert.

The Buffalo Covert also held a few birds.