Allegheny Mountain Wanderings

Last Day Wanderings

2012-01-29T06:01:00.001-08:00

My mind wandered from one covert to another as I tried to decide where to spend the last day of the season. Although I was leaning toward several coverts which had produced birds for me earlier in the year I finally decided on my McKee's Gap South covert. I hadn't hunted there yet this year and although it is growing out of the thick stem density that grouse thrive in this covert holds alot of good memories for years past. Because of the solid performance she had given my this year Copper got the nod today.There's still some thick cover on the steep mountainside, mostly greenbrier tangles. As Copper worked the cover above the log road I was walking on a grouse flushed just below and behind me making me flinch and jerk around to watch it's black banded red fantail disappear down the mountainside. I had to smile to myself that after years of hunting these incredible birds I still had that involuntary reaction to their sudden thunderous flush.

Later Copper locked into a solid point along the log road. She held as I walked in with heart pounding, but it proved to be any empty point.

Copper and I taking a break, with us both remembering that we're not as young as we once were.

Not as good of a picture as I had hoped for, but here's a spring bubbling out of the mountain side.

and the stream it gave life to.

As always I kept my eye open for the unusual. I spotted this old bone lying on a stump.

A closer look revealed the animal gnawing on it as they seeked the minerals it held.

Our hunt ended without any more grouse contacts, but it was still good to know that this grand cover still held at least one grouse and no doubt a few more to hopefully breed on for next season.

Hook's Mountain Hunt

2012-01-11T09:39:00.000-08:00

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

2012-01-01T12:52:00.000-08:00

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

2011-12-26T12:48:00.001-08:00

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

2011-11-25T14:30:00.000-08:00

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

2011-11-14T09:36:00.000-08:00

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

2011-11-10T09:55:00.001-08:00

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

2011-11-09T16:27:00.000-08:00

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.

Exploring new Coverts

2011-11-05T10:15:00.000-07:00

Friday Emma and I spent the day exploring some new coverts. This cover consisted of old goldenrod fields growing back in saplings and spruce with a stream running through it.

As I walked the edge of the stream I remembered to look for muskrat holes in the thick goldenrod. A good way to break a leg. Sure enough I found several.

Finally the stream steered us into a wall of impenetrable alders and we had to turn back to the truck.

As we approached the truck Emma suddenly went on point. I moved in for the flush but no bird materialized. Emma broke point and started working scent furiously and I knew we had a running bird. Ahead of her I saw the woodcock flush and it winged its way past me for an easy shot that I passed on, figuring that Emma would learn nothing by my shooting a bird that she hadn't pointed solidly. Just one bird in this nice looking cover but on the right day I'm sure it could be full of woodcock.

We moved to another spot that featured a beautiful hollow full of aspen saplings that cried out "Woodcock". Today they weren't there.

But it did lead us to a huge strip mine growing back in nice looking cover. Emma had two empty points and later I hear a grouse flush in the vicinity that she was hunting in.

The temperature was heating up so we headed back to the truck. Along side some standing water I saw movement in the grass that turned out to be this fellow, sunning itself before winter drove it underground.

So ended today's hunt with no birds bagged but with new several coverts to hunt in the future. I'll catch up on work around the house this weekend and be back in the woods next week.

Making the most of the Opportunities

2011-11-03T16:40:00.000-07:00

Today I headed up north to my J & K covert a mountain that had been strip mined some years ago. Most of it is open fields with spruce and locust growing back but along some of the edges there are patches of aspen along side drainage ponds. It was in one of these patches of aspen that Emma went on a solid point and held while I walked up a woodcock that fell to my right barrel shot. Emma made the find and retrieve and I started to pose Colette the little hammergun and the bird for a photo when suddenly Emma's beeper went on point mode not 50 yards behind me. As I fumbled to put the camera back in it's case, reload my right
barrel and scrambled up the rocky slope to when she stood on point, Emma remained pointing staunchly. I moved in and flushed another woodcock that dropped to my right barrel shot, with Emma again making the find and retrieve. Two points, two shots and hits, and two retrieves in less that 2 minutes. Here's Emma making the retrieve on the second bird.

Emma's smile matched my own.

From the top of the mountain looking down at the little patch of aspen where it all came together.

We hunted another couple of hours through nice sapling cover that failed to produce any birds.

By lunchtime the temps were pushing 60 degrees and I called it a day. With the low grouse numbers Emma may never make a grouse dog but today she showed me that she had the woodcock figured out as she made the most of the opportunties presented to her and I drove home a happy man.

Tuesday & Wednesday Hunts

2011-11-02T16:09:00.000-07:00

Tuesday found Emma and I in some lovely cover, an old railroad bed lined with crabapple and autumn olive. Beautiful cover for grouse and woodcock neither of which were found.

Hunted through some old fields of goldenrod bordered by large Norway spruce without success.

Hunted through an area of huge boulders. Here was a crack in the rock big enough for a man or bear to crawl in.

Here's a prescribed burn area. It's purpose is to suppress the faster growing birch and maple to give the oak,which is not bothered by the fire, a chance to survive.

A colorful fungi I spotted on an old log.

I know most people shoot them on sight, but my setters pay no attention to them so I let this one go on his slow plodding way.

Two wild grouse flushes were all the action Emma and I could find on this day.

Wednesday I had several appointments to keep and didn't get into the woods until noon with Hattie. We hunted Warrior Ridge looking for woodcock. We found only one near the end of the hunt sitting tight in thick saplings. I pushed my way in to flush the bird and took a poor right barrel try at it to no avail. The weatherman is calling for bluebird weather for the next several days with temps near 60 and little chance of rain. Not the kind of weather to get the woodcock moving, but we'll be out there wandering the coverts because that's what we love to do.

A Happy Halloween Hunt

2011-10-31T17:45:00.000-07:00

Emma and I headed north to explore some new coverts. This grapevine covered ridge should have held some grouse but if they were there we couldn't find them. Note the rare October snow. Nothing like some places got but enough to make for some slippery walking.

Our next stop was an old field growing back nicely in hawthorn. Woodcock cover but nobody was home today.

Our third stop finally held some birds. Emma had a nice point on a woodcock. She had her nose almost touching the ground and I was sure she was pointing a mouse or a mole. I went in and kicked around to no avail and tried to get her to move out. She held steady and as I took one more step the woodcock went up almost at the toe of my boot. My first shot was open and I missed it clean, the second shot mortally wounded an autumn olive bush as the bird fly away unscathed. The lesson for the day "always trust your dog".

We had two grouse wild flush in this cover.

Walking back a gas well road I noticed Emma below me worrying something. I call her in and she brought me a set of pheasant wings, the only thing left from some predators meal.

As we drove to the next cover this doe simply would not move off the road. She won't be in the gene pool long it she doesn't wise up.

The day was fading as I pulled into a parking lot with a thin line of aspen running along side it. As Emma went into the cover she stopped and moved her head back and forth testing the air for scent. She moved a few yards further in and went on point with one paw raised. I quickly circled around her and came in from the front and a woodcock flushed straight up and dropped at my shot.

Our first bird of the year and we couldn't be happier.

Heading back up north in the morning for another day in paradise.

The Dolls Head Covert

2011-10-28T17:36:00.000-07:00

I went birdless in my last two hunting trips so today I headed for the Dolls Head with my nephew Jim-Bob and his setter Zeke to try to change my luck. Emma stayed at home and Hattie my 10 year old setter got to come along. It's been a wet fall and water was laying in every depression.

Jim-Bob pulling some burdock heads off of Zeke.

Today was Zeke's day to shine. He gave us several nice points on woodcock but Colette and I were out of step today and missed the two chances we had. At one point Zeke started barking out ahead of us. He had developed the habit of barking at porcupines in Michigan several years ago and we hurried ahead thinking the worst, only to have a grouse flush out of a tree that Zeke was looking up into.

Hattie checking in.

Jim-Bob working his way through cover that only a woodcock hunter could love.

Several hours later we had moved 6 woodcock and 1 grouse but had only empty game bags and two tired dogs to show for our efforts, but it was still nice moving some birds even if our shooting left something to be desired.

It's been several years since I've happened upon the reason this covert is called the Doll's Head. Today I was lucky and spotted this passing it's days away in the fallen leaves.

A Windy Opener

2011-10-15T17:56:00.000-07:00

The opening day of Pa's 2011 season started clear but with a howling wind that made for some jumpy birds.Several times Emma went on point but when I approached with hammers back she broke point, racing around for scent but the bird, I guess, had already flushed ahead of us. I did manage to see one woodcock that looked to have run from her point flush ahead of her , then as she cast around another bird took flight. That was the extent of my bird sightings.

Emma working a hawthorn thicket.

Some of the aspen cover that proved to be empty today.

I was carrying Colette, the little 16 ga. Belgium hammergun, today.

The food was there, so where were the birds?

By the end of the day Emma and I were both tired but happy to have spent the day doing what we love.

Tune-Up for the Big Dance

2011-10-10T08:32:00.001-07:00

Fall has come on much too fast for me this year. Work and my elderly parents have kept me busy with little time to plan for the up-coming hunting season. I had an hour or so free this morning so I took Emma and headed for the Warrior Ridge covert. Not very big, only about an hour hunt, it's as reliable as a woodcock covert can be.

Soon after entering the cover Emma's beeper went to point mode. I desperately waded through multi-flora rose, goldenrod, and saplings to get to the point but it flushed before I could catch sight of Emma, so don't know if she bumped it or my thrashing around scared it into flight.
Later I saw two different woodcock rise from the area that Emma was hunting and I walked into one for a flush.

White wash on damp leaf pack, that's what gets a woodcock hunters blood pumping.

Emma tearing up the woods. So much for the plodding Ryman setter stereotype.

Something smells good.

One happy dog doing what she loves to do, hunt.

My season starts Saturday so it was nice to see some birds. I'll be hunting with a new set of hearing aids this year. My old "behind the ear" hearing aids were turned up to the max and still I was having trouble hearing so now have moved on to the "in the canal" hearing aids. Much more powerful I heard the woodcock twittering flight when they flushed this morning ,that's a sound I haven't hear for several years. It brought a smile to my face.

A Walk Through the Doll's Head

2011-09-18T03:40:00.001-07:00

Emma and I went for a walk through the Doll's Head cover yesterday. The crown of this maple showed me fall was coming.There's always a good crop of hawthorn here and this year is no exception.

Some of the crabapple trees were loaded too.

Emma taking a short break in her questing.

The Doll's Head is now cut in half. Owned by a coal company,

I'm always wondering how many years this cover has left. This new road runs down to the powerline that parallels the cover on the backside. The thin strip of cover across the road is now a deep pit. If there's coal under the Doll's Head it's fate is sealed and it will be a sad day for me.

The resident woodcock were no where to be found. I had two grouse flushes, one I only heard and one that I saw. The sound of the flush on the bird I saw brought Emma in and she flash pointed the scent of the departed bird.

Being a damp place, I always see some mushrooms that need photographed.

So ended our first preseason run. Emma hunted nicely staying within hearing range of my old ears most of the time. Hopefully I'll be able to find her some woodcock before the season starts to get her some much needed bird contacts.

Catchin' Up

2011-09-04T17:10:00.000-07:00

I've been out on 3 fishing trips without a blog entry so I guess its time to catch up.
Headed to a stream southeast of home for a morning fish. This was a new to me stretch of stream so I was anxious to explore the nice looking water.

Caught several bass in the 8-10 inch class but nothing bigger.

After a couple of hours I had to think about turning back toward the truck. I came to a long slow stretch of water and I wanted to see what was around the far bend of the stream, so I put on a jointed Rapala that I could fish the water faster with than a plastic worm. I soon had a hard strike with alot of thrashing on the surface. When I reeling it in this is what was on it, two Fallfish on one lure.

Paw Paw thickets lined the bank along this stream. Here are a couple of bruiser Paw Paws.

Spotted a box turtle on the walk back and noticed something wrong.

It's shell was cracked in several places. I was far from the road or any farm fields. Perhaps a bear had tried for a turtle meal and gave up just in time for the turtles sake. Don't know if it would make it or not but that's the way of Mother Nature.

My next trip was to the river for a Saturday late morning fish. The sun was shining brightly and the temps were getting hot, but the fish were pretty cooperative.

The Sunnies were hungry for anything that they could fit in their mouths.

A purple grub proved to be irresistible to several nice bass.

Caught a good number of Rock Bass also. This one fell to a green Carrot, one of the new baits I've been trying out.

The purple grub, also a new bait, fooled this Rocky.

As I waded through some riffles I noticed this Stone Cat that must have just died wedged between two rocks. It's the first time that I've had a close look at one. their an odd little fish.

Looks like a place where someone spends some time relaxing along the river.

Sunday morning I headed downriver to a point only a mile or so from Lake Raystown. Couldn't catch a thing for the first hour or so until I tried the backside of a small island. That's were they were. Caught several this size.

After being unhooked this one returns to its lair.

The best one of the day, a 14 incher with an oddly misshaped top jaw. It must not have been a handicap because it was a nice solid fish that put up a great fight.

Here's a nice bright red Dragonfly that posed for me.

My best pic to date of the elusive Great Blue Heron.

The cardinal flower is easy to spot along the riverbank.

A Green Heron that wouldn't let me get any closer.

Have one more day to fish before returning to work but the forecast doesn't look to promising.

The Deer Field

2011-08-28T13:08:00.000-07:00

Fished the Deer Field alone on Saturday. A brisk 10 minute walk brings you to the river that meanders along the distant ridge. Before Pa. liberal deer season this field would hold herds of deer mornings and evenings. They still come but in fewer numbers now.

A couple pics of the river. Far enough away from the dirt road that I park on and walk into from, in 3 hours of fishing I heard one distant farm tractor.

The smallies were cooperative this day. One of several I landed in the 12-13 inch class.

A Rock Bass coming in. Also called a goggleye or redeye they gave me some action between smallies.

A 5 inch sunfish trying to eat a 4 inch plastic bait. They have to have some piranha genes in them.

Leaves on the water reminding me that fall is approaching quickly. Sad to see the fishing trips end yet eagerly looking forward to hunting treks through the grouse and woodcock coverts.

A butterfly that caught my attention.

On the walk back through the Deer Field the grasshoppers filled the air. This one decided to hitch a ride on my hat.

So ended another enjoyable day filled with quiet surroundings and hungry fish.

The Yellow Barn

2011-08-21T13:48:00.000-07:00

Caleb and I fished the Yellow Barn stretch of the river this morning. I started off fast with a nice chunky 13 incher.

Caleb had some action too.

Here he is working in another one.

I got lucky and pulled in the fish of the day a heavy 15 incher.

Here's one throwing Caleb's hook. If you look at about 10:00 you might see a brown worm flying through the air.

Here's one that "didn't get away".

Here's a long eared sunfish that slammed my 3 inch worm rigged on a 2/0 hook. How he got that big hook it his mouth I'll never know. Inch for inch their as scrappy a fish as any that swims and brilliantly colored.

With a skidder tire as a background some sort of bitten poses for me.

A butterfly that found this riverside flower appetizing.

This damselfly had romantic ideas about my rodtip.

We also spied a mink that didn't wait for me to take a pic, some deer in the distance, and several great blue herons that didn't cooperate either. All in all a nice morning on the river as summer winds down.

Ashamed to admit it but..........

2011-08-18T17:36:00.001-07:00

I broke my first rule of never going anywhere, whether fishing, hunting or just for a walk, without my camera tonite. The day after my last blog I awoke with a pulled muscle in my back. After two weeks off work I went back to work last week. Tonite I had some free time and just had to get out on the river before the summer slipped away. I had some new plastic baits that I wanted to try out on the smallies, was in a hurry, and forgot my camera. I went to the same spot that I had seen the eagle and the big bucks several weeks ago but this time I fished upstream. The smallies seemed to like the new baits and I caught several in the 10-12 inch class in the first several minutes. As I worked my way upriver I spotted movement out of the corner of my eye. Turning my head I saw an osprey winging its way upriver toward me. It set its wings and landed in a dead snag about 75 yards away, within range of the little Canon if I had remembered it. I watched it for several minutes as it paid no attention to me, posing handsomely. Cursing my forgetfulness I continued fishing catching several more, one a chunky 13 incher. After about an hour my back began to tell me it was time to turn back when on the next cast I had another strike. The fish came toward me as I reeled in quickly to keep a tight line. Suddenly it veered off to the side making the little Daiwa's drag scream. After several more hard runs she played herself out and slowly came into view. I eased her up to me and slipped my thumb into her mouth. A very nice heavy set 16 incher the best for me so far this season, and without a camera :(. After admiring the old girl I slipped her back into the river and headed toward the truck. As I waded back down river who should appear but the osprey making another fishing run no doubt. As he flew by me on the opposite side of the river he suddenly banked his wings and landed in another dead snag, now only about 40 yards away and proceeded to stare me down. I just had to laugh at myself on this hard learned lesson. Hope to get out this weekend for some more fishing and you can be sure I won't be "cameraless" again.

A Fishing Trip and a Rant

2011-07-24T14:19:00.000-07:00

First lets get the rant out of the way. As I walked around the Back 40 the other day I came to this apple tree. The signs show that a small bear climbed up into the tree and broke off a branch. Why I don't know as there were no apples on this tree.

As I walked out to the pear orchard things got worse. This is an 8 year old pear tree. Just starting to produce fruit this year it was broken off at the base. This was a 12-15 foot tree.

The last of the damage. One of three tree protectors that the bear had bent over. Two of the apple trees were undamaged but the third was broken off about half way up its trunk. Being a young tree it will probably sprout up next spring from whats left if its trunk. I've had bears climb some of my bigger apple trees after the fruit but this is the first time they have done any random damage.

On to better things. Here's a pretty stretch of creek that is fairly isolated and usually produces a couple of fish.

As I was fishing the sounds of wings overhead made me look up. I thought I would see a Blue Heron but it was a very large dark colored raptor. Too large for a Redtail Hawk, and not the right coloring it may have been an immature Eagle. Sadly it was out of sight before I could get my camera out.

Fish on. The first fish of the morning.

A nice smallie about a foot long that put up a good battle.

The shallows of this section of creek were polluted with young crayfish. The smallies won't go hungry this summer.

Another smallie to match the first one.

After about an hour of fishing this section of stream I moved downstream to try a piece that was new to me.

I fished for about 2 hours on some nice looking water but could only catch a couple of small smallies. I hope to return to this stretch before summers over and try again.

As always I look for nature shots along the stream. Here's a Joe Pye weed blossom telling me summers moving right along.

Another woods turtle meandering along.

This Fox squirrel decided it was too hot to run from me and chose instead to pose for some pics.

So ends another wonderful day afield with some fish caught and some interesting animal sightings.

Selfish

2011-07-20T09:37:00.001-07:00

Monday morning I slipped out to a little stretch of creek that I've never taken anyone else to. It doesn't hold alot of fish but it's isolated and beautiful, two things that I seek when I'm fishing or hunting.

Just like a movie script, on the first cast I caught this beautiful 13 inch Smallie.

Soon after releasing this fish I happened to glance behind me.

They couldn't figure out what I was, but they knew I shouldn't be there so they quietly slipped away.

Here are some random pics of the creek showing you why I love this stretch so much. I fished for 3 hours and never hear any noise from the civilized world.

I caught this feisty 12 incher on the far side of the little island in the background.

As always I keep my eye open for what ever wildlife presents itself. This time a raccoon appeared feeding probably on crayfish.

A few minutes later I realized she wasn't alone.

This area is a haven for turtles. Here's one I saw cooling off along the creek.

This one was really getting ready for the heat wave.

On the long walk back to the truck I spotted this woods turtle feeding on grass. By the mud on his shell he too had been cooling off in the creek.

So ended my trip to my isolated little spot. With limited time and so many places to fish, I only fish here once a year, but I'll be looking forward to my trip next year.

A Morning with Russell

2011-07-19T04:53:00.001-07:00

My friend Russell came up Sunday for a morning of fishing. Last year we had enjoyed a nice evening along this stretch of creek so I thought we would try it again. We weren't to be disappointed.

1st cast and a fish on.

A feisty smallie in the 10 inch range. A whole lot of fun on light tackle.

We found some nice Rock Bass living there too.

The old guy mugging for the camera.

Russell read a story about a guy who had caught a bass which had just ate a water moccasin. When the guy lipped the fish the snake bit him. No water moccasins along this creek but Russell isn't taking any chances :).

The rocks along the creek make for some challenging walking.

We fished further downstream than I had ever went and came to this potential hole. It looked like it just had to hold a nice fish.

Fish on. By the bend in Russell's rod it had to be a nice one.

It's nice to be right once in a while

The catch of the day. 14 1/2 inches of battling smallmouth photographed and slipped back into it's home water to grow bigger for next years fishing trip.

So ended another enjoyable trip with Russell. We caught enough fish to make us both happy, had some great conversations, and planned to do it all again before summer gives way to hunting season.

Elin's New Look

2011-07-16T16:17:00.001-07:00

I just got Elin, my 1914 Model 51 Husqvarna hammergun, back from Mark Larson. Mark turned the prince of wales grip, which proved to be too small for my hand to comfortably carry and shoot, in to a straight grip. He also inletted a longer trigger tang in to it and recheckered it. So here's a before of Elin and......

here's the final results.

I'm very pleased with the results. Mark also fixed a crack in the head of the stock that he found when he took the stock off the action. Took it for a walk around the Back 40 and loved the way it carried and handled. I hope to spend alot of time with Elin wandering through my Allegheny Mountain grouse coverts this fall.

Independence Day on the River

2011-07-04T12:03:00.000-07:00

I got to the river shortly after 6:00 this morning. As I walked down a small foot trail something across the river caught my eye.I only got one shot and was pushing the zoom all the way on the little point and shoot camera, but you can see what it was. This river is the main water source for Lake Raystown, the largest lake to Pa. Recently eagles have begun to nest there and they sometimes travel up the river in search of food.

The action started soon after I entered the river.

A nice smallie about a foot long.

This stretch of river was home to 3 nice smallies, 2 of which I was able to land.

One of the hardest birds for me to get a pic of, this Great Blue Heron stayed just at the far reaches of my zoom.

Caught some nice Rock Bass also. Here's a nicely colored one that fell to a plastic worm.

A couple more stretches that gave me several nice fish.

After landing a fish I happened to glance downriver and this is what I saw.

At least 4 bucks and a couple of does feeding on a small island. They kept an eye on me but weren't too concerned.

A couple of these boys are going to be wall hangers by fall.

After 4 1/2 hours my back and stomach told me it was time to head back to the truck. During the long wade back I looked for something to take pics of and found these.

So ended a wonderful morning on the river. I caught at least a dozen smallies between 10-13 inches, all nice chucky, healthy looking bass of the same year class. Some nice Rock Bass too, but am a little concerned because I didn't catch any small bass. Possibly meaning that the spawn from the last couple of years didn't survive, at least in this section of the river. Those 5-6 inch smallies can be a nuisance, but they in turn become the nice bass that you catch on future trips.

A Morning with Caleb

2011-06-28T07:26:00.001-07:00

Caleb, my great-nephew found some spare time in his busy schedule to spend a morning fishing a special section of a local stream with me. There was a time when I baited his hook, unhooked his fish, and even carried him across the deeper parts of the river on my back. Now at 16 he can look me in the eye without looking up and wear my old wading shoes :).

Even a lowly Rockbass can put a smile on a true fisherman's face.

Here's Caleb fishing the "Enchanted Pool". This section of water has produced some nice fish in past years but this time we came up empty.

A couple of pics of the water we fished. It's a popular trout stream farther upstream but few fishermen bother with it's lower stretches and that's just fine with me.

We did find a few smallies that were too hungry to refuse our offerings.

All in all another enjoyable morning on the water making memories to relive in years to come.

An Afternoon on the River

2011-06-26T11:54:00.000-07:00

Got away for a couple of hours for some smallmouth fishing. After making my way down a steep ridge along a faint trail this stretch of river was all mine.

Caught some Rock Bass and Smallies including a fat 13 incher, but neglected to take any pics. When I pulled in this feisty sunfish I snapped a quick pic.

The sycamores bear the wounds of past ice flows as they cling precariously to the river bank.

Some finally give in to gravity.

A cluster of yellow butterflies that caught my attention.

As I approached a small island I remembered nearly stepping on a fawn hidden in the sycamore saplings several years ago. The saplings are taller now but as I waded nearer a brown spot looked out of place.

I focused the little point and shoot camera on the spot and cranked up the zoom lens and this appeared.

As I inched my way closer the fawn stood up and came out of the saplings, unsure of just what this strange thing wading up the river was.

As is often the case I soon spotted another fawn hidden in the cover. This one had learned its lessons well and remained motionless.
After a couple of pics I decided to reversed my path and let the fawns settle back into their hiding place to wait for mothers return. So ended an enjoyable afternoon on the river with some fish caught and some pics of my encounters to share with you.

A Fruitful Walk

2011-06-19T10:47:00.000-07:00

A walk around the Back 40 revealed a nice crop of soft mast for fall. These are wild plums on some trees I planted 6 or 7 years ago. A Seckel pear tree fruiting for the 1st time. Hopefully the bear won't break it down if they spy it's fruit.

A close-up of the Seckel pears.

The wild blackberrys are looking good. Maybe they will keep the bears busy.

An apple on a grafted "Sherry" apple tree. This variety is noted for its fruit hanging on the tree all winter.

The Paw Paw trees are heavy with clusters of fruit.

I get a great feeling of satisfaction when I see a tree that I planted years earlier setting fruit and knowing that it will still be producing long after I'm gone.

Pics from Heaven & Random News

2011-05-22T07:16:00.000-07:00

Work and cataract surgery on both my eyes have keep me from blogging for awhile. Also spring planting various trees on my 40 acre "piece of heaven" has kept me busy. Thought I'd throw up some pics for anyone who cares to look. This is part of the "back 40" that I brushhog to keep it in grasses. If not the birch and oak would soon take over.

We've had a really wet spring as you can see in the tire tracks. That doesn't bode well for the grouse chicks.

The vernal pond is brimming full with water and wildlife.

A poor pic but some of the tadpoles that hatched out from the spring rains.

Another section of the "back 40". The blackberry thorns would love to take over. There are Norway spruce planted in the center of the feed strip.

The crabapples are already starting to form.

This doesn't look like much but it's one of 10 persimmon trees that hopefully someday will make a small grove of wildlife food.

Now that the planting all done, its just mowing and keeping an eye on tent caterpillars and other insects that want to make a meal out of my labor.

One other thing to mention is that I sent Elin one of my Husky doublebarrels out to visit with Mark Larson. Mark is removing the prince of wales grip that is too small for me and giving her a straight grip. A new longer tang and recheckering is also part of the job. I'll have pics of her new look by the end of June or first of July. Should also be hitting the streams for smallmouths by then.

This Weeks Wanderings

2011-03-20T17:02:00.000-07:00

Got out Wednesday with Copper. She found woodcock in the Warrior Ridge cover. Sadly at 7 1/2 years old her hips won't let her hunt more than an hour or so and the next day she was stiff and in pain.

On Thursday Hattie got the call and we hunted the Milligan's Cove cover. In an hour she had 3 solid points and proved again that she will be the dog that all future dogs are compared to.

Not a good pic but this is a woodcock that walked back and forth in front of Hattie while she held a rock solid point.

Sunday was Emma's turn. We tried the Prince's cover first with her bumping a grouse and no woodcock found. Next we tried the Wopsy cover and I saw her bump a woodcock. Finally we went to the Rifle Range cover. After bumping a woodcock she went on point along the logging trail. She held while I took a pic and walked beside her and took another. Then I walked off the trail and flushed a woodcock that flew over my shoulder. Finally a solid point and some thing to smile about.

Disappointing Weekend

2011-03-14T09:38:00.001-07:00

Got out this weekend for some woodcock chasing, sadly that's what it amounted to. We hunted some classic cover on Saturday with Emma bumping one and me flushing one.

On Sunday we found them.

Ugly cover to a tree hugger beautiful to a woodcock hunter.

Emma tore up the cover looking for birds.

You comin' Dad?

Not your typical plodding Ryman.

The disappointing part of the weekend was she bumped 5 or 6 birds that I saw
and only held her couple points for a few seconds and then rushed in and flushed the bird. As she approaches her fourth birthday it's becoming painfully clear that she may never make it as a birddog. I've given her as many opportunities as I could in the last four years but the "light" just hasn't come on. I'll hunt her hard this fall but will begin to plan on a new pup perhaps for the spring of 2012. Not to worry, Emma will have a good home for the rest of her life cause she's part of the family, but as I watch my number of hunting seasons start to lessen I yearn for a solid pointing dog to walk up to and experience the thrill of the flush before my hunting days are over.

As always I look for anything unusual to take a pic of. Here's a nice fungi of a color I've never seen before.

At first I thought spike buck, but the "horns" seem to be attached to the skull more like a true horn than an antler that is shed every year. Any ideas ???

Hope to get the old dogs out next weekend for some solid points before the woodcock begin to nest.

One Last Chance

2011-01-22T17:52:00.001-08:00

Today was the last day of the grouse season here in the Alleghenys. The weathermen were calling for wind and temps in the single digits all day, but as it sometimes happens they missed and by 1:00 the temp had climbed to 20 degrees with a bluebird sky and no wind. I took Emma and hunted the land bordering the Back 40 that had been cut over several years ago. Jim-Bob my nephew had heard grouse drumming in this area this spring and had seen some grouse while putting up a trail cam this fall.

After hunting one side of the cover with no results we circled around along the back side and Emma went on point at this tangle. As I made my way up the slope a grouse rocketed out straight away and into the sun. Elin leapt to my shoulder and I dropped one hammer and then the other..........I wish I could say that the grouse folded but it wasn't to be and I watched it fly away unscathed. I could blame the sun in my eyes or the cataract on my shooting eye that I will have removed next month for the miss but it was no doubt my lack of coordination that gave the grouse the edge it needed to survive another day.

Back at the truck a tired , bloody, but happy Emma poses with Elin.

So ends the 2010-2011 grouse season here in my Alleghenys. No grouse fell to my shots this year, the first time this has happened since I started grouse hunting back in the mid-80's. I should, I guess, be disappointed but as I look back at the past season I smile at the time spent carrying a gun and following a questing setter through these Allegheny Mountains that I love and know that I'll send the next 8 or 9 months dreaming about next season and the days I'll spend wandering through my coverts with my dog and my gun.

A winter walk with Jim-Bob

2011-01-15T16:18:00.000-08:00

My nephew Jim-Bob had some rare free time today so we headed into the nearby mountains with the dogs in hopes of finding a grouse. Our destination was a large clearcut that had recently had its deerproof fence removed. With a couple of inches of snow on the ground we could get a clear picture of what wildlife was out and about. We found several sets of grouse tracks with one ending with a set of wing prints in the snow.The cover looked promising, a tangle of briers, saplings and mountain laurel.

Jim-Bob's boy Zeke questing the cover.

Emma on her usual fly-by.

Sadly like my other late season hunts this year we moved no birds. One more Saturday and the season ends for another year.

The Squatter's Cover

2010-12-30T17:40:00.000-08:00

A pulled muscle in my back kept me out of my coverts for several days, but feeling a little better I headed for the hugh, briery, steep Squatter's cover.

This cover has years ahead of it before it matures out of being good grouse cover.The basic for the name. The local forester told me a man had to be removed by the state police from this "house" on recently acquired state game lands.

Emma working along a small spring seep. We moved 2 grouse with no points today in about 2 hours before a cold drizzle drove us to the truck.

Looking tired, wet and torn from the briers, Emma will be raring to go tomorrow and so will I..

2010-12-21T05:41:00.000-08:00

My last two trips afield have been as quiet as my first. Last Friday Emma and I hunted the Oregon Rd covers. Nice looking cover void of birds.

Perhaps the work of a bored logger making a nice chair for deer season???
Their teasing us :(.

Monday we headed due south close to the Mason-Dixon line to hunt some clearcuts that had the deer fences recently removed.

Not even any tracks here.

Swung by an old cemetery that I hadn't visited for a few years. Most of the stones are fading fast with many just small markers perhaps of infants.

Nancy Collins lived a remarkably long life in these unforgiving ridges.

At first I thought fox tracks but the way they traveled over quite a number of fallen logs made me think that they may have been made by a fisher, whose numbers are growing quickly in my area. Just what the grouse need another predator.

Why a bear would be out roaming around now I don't know , but they were just hours old. That's Emma's track on the right.

Emma and I are heading out again today, hoping that Diana the hunting goddess will eventually smile upon us.

A Cold Quiet Day

2010-12-17T04:17:00.000-08:00

Emma and I entered one of my southeastern covers around 10:00 with the temp hovering at 21 degrees. Many of the clearcuts on state forest land are surrounded by an 8 foot tall fence to keep the deer out while the young saplings have a chance to grow. The fence had recently been taken down around this cut and we hunted the edge following a trail that encircled the cut with Emma hunting in the thick saplings with occasional circles through laurel thickets and downed logs scattered in the open woods. One log begged to be a backdrop for an Elin photo. About an hour later we were back at the truck without seeing or hearing any sign of a grouse.We traveled down the forest road to another more mature cut where several springs ago my nephew and I had moved 6 grouse on a training run. An old stone wall along the lower edge of the cut made a nice trail to follow.

Emma stopping in to offer encouragement before continuing her quest.

Suddenly there they were. Sign that we were not alone on this mountainside.

The tracks led up into this tangle of rock and saplings and although we hunted with renewed vigor the bird had vanished.

A snow squall swept in as we struggled back up the mountain toward the truck. Soon Elin's barrels were covered with a coating of snow and I wondered how many times in the last 97 years in her native Swedish covers she had been carried through weather just like this and I had to smile at myself for having such thoughts as my mind wandered just as my feet wandered slowly back to the warmth of the truck.

Introducing..........Elin

2010-12-15T07:54:00.001-08:00

Like a thirst that couldn't be quenched I just "had to have" a top-lever Husqvarna shotgun. One day a tip from an internet "friend" steered me to Gunbroker and "Elin". She's a Model 51 Husky built in 1913 with steel barrels. The top-lever, back action hammer design makes her a joy to carry and shoot. Her barrels have already been to Mike Orlen's and been opened to .003 & .010 making her my late-season grouse gun, at least that's the reason I used to talk myself into getting her :).

The 1/2 inch hard rubber pad that brings her lop to my liking.

The Greener cross-bolt locking system.

Hattie says "you did good Dad".

The snows of the last week will keep me out of my grouse filled northern coverts so I'll be carrying her tomorrow into my southeastern coverts that I haven't hunted yet this year but hopefully will hold a grouse or two for me and Emma and Elin.

Last Day

2010-11-27T18:29:00.001-08:00

Today was the last day of our early grouse season and Emma and I headed north to hunt the strip mines. A slight wind, cold with a skiff of snow it seemed like a perfect day to grouse hunt. A few minutes after we left the truck Emma proved me right and went into a beautiful high headed point. As I moved in I heard but didn't see a grouse flush from grape tangles lower on the ridge. At the sound of the flush Emma moved several yards down the ridge and another grouse took off from the same area. Suddenly Emma goes on point again and I assume that she's pointing the scent of the second bird. I make my way down the ridge toward her and a third bird rises from the tangles and I throw a right barrel shot after it with no effect. A downed bird would have made a perfect scene but I was still very happy with Emma's bird work. We hunted the slippery, tangled ridge slope for several hours but were rewarded with only two wild flushes.

Emma checking in.

What every Allegheny Mountain grouse hunter seeks, a cluster of wild grapes. Grouse just have to be nearby.
A couple pics of the cover we hunted.

We then traveled several miles to the "old orange gate" cover. A place which we've hunted twice with birds moved both times. It didn't disappoint us this time either. After a slow start I heard Emma's beeper go on point mode near the end of the cover. As I worked my way toward her I saw a grouse flying straight at me. Since I didn't know if she had bumped it or if it had flushed on its own I stood and watched it glide by. A little while later as we worked our way toward the truck I saw Emma go on point in open birch woods. She slowly turned her head as she searched for stronger scent, then slowly started trailing down through the woods. Suddenly I saw the grouse take off silently 25 or 30 yards below her giving me no chance for a shot. By now the wind had increased, daylight was fading and the truck appeared around a bend in the road. So I end my early grouse season with no grouse kills for Emma, but with her making good progress today with her grouse contacts. I'm still hopeful that with more exposure to birds she'll mature into a grouse dog.

My late grouse season starts Dec 13. If deep snow doesn't keep us from our covers we'll continue Emma's education............stay tuned :) .

A Hunt with Matt & Abby

2010-11-26T18:04:00.000-08:00

I got an email from fellow blogger Matt Ortiz of An Upland Odyssey fame that he and his wife would be in my area over the Thanksgiving Day holidays. We set a date and watched the dismal weather forecast hoping for a break and we got it. Today turned in to a sunny mild day with only slight winds, not the quickly dropping temps and high winds that the forecasters were calling for. Sadly I don't have any "hotspots" here in southcentral Pa. but took Matt and Abby to a handy game lands with plenty of clearcuts to hunt. As we were hunting through the second clearcut I heard Matt's 16 ga Ithaca Long Range bark twice and then saw a grouse boring down at me from Matt's side of the clearcut. I left the bird glide by me and then gave it the "two shot" salute as it continued on its way. At the end of the cut Matt related how Abby had done a good job flushing the grouse from the greenbrier and had stayed steady to flush and shot. A couple of clearcuts later I again heard Matt shoot. Once again Abby had done her job but Matt missed on a grouse that flushed low and stayed low on its escape route. We hunted through a half dozen more clearcuts but the birds eluded us. Here's Matt and Abby taking a short break in some open timber between the clearcuts.We ended our hunt with only the two birds flushed but with a new friendship started. Matt proved to be a enjoyable fellow to hunt with and hopefully we'll be able to share some woods time again some day.

Never Lost....Sometimes Confused

2010-11-19T03:53:00.000-08:00

After several days with Emma still bumping grouse I decided to take Hattie and hunt my northern most covers, mostly ageing strip mines. The first cover produced 5 grouse with Hattie pointing 2. The first point was in a small tangle of grapevine. Although I approached "ready for the bird" he had his escape route well planned and stayed low to the ground and was over a small rise before I could shoot. The other grouse she found was in some mature pines. I saw her slowly creeping forward, a sign to me that the grouse was running. I was walking along a gaswell road and Hattie was working parallel to the road so I hasten my step in the hopes that the bird may just flush across the road. Seconds later I saw but never heard the bird crossing the road. The little Leige double leapt to my shoulder and I fired two shots as the bird disappeared into the pines on the other side of the road. We searched thoroughly but my shots had missed their mark and that bird was safe for another day.
We then moved to another cover consisting of several stripmine benches and gaswell roads running parallel with each other. Nice looking cover of aspen and pine but we found nothing. At the end of the cover I swung around and started back to the truck keeping a gaswell road to my right with (I thought) another one still above me on my left. By now a fog had moved in and it was misting a light rain. The cover turned nasty with lots of fallen pines and open patches of thick blackberry briers. In this cover I heard 3 grouse flush in front of us with no points. At this point in the story I should mention that I had bought a Bushnell BackTrack before season and had used it several times to find my was back to the truck. It's a simple device to use and it had proved to be reliable. The problem on this hunt was that I had neglected to set it at the truck so it wasn't going to lead me back to the truck, which was no big deal (I thought) because of the gaswell roads all leading back to the road that I was parked on. As I waded through the briers and downed trees I kept angling to my left to hit the gaswell road that I thought should be just above me. I struggled on now knowing that I had "misplaced" that gaswell road. I still felt I was moving in the right direction to come out on the road that I had parked on so I kept moving in that direction. Finally I came out on a paved road with orange pylons sitting down the middle of it. Then I realized that I had missed the dirt road that I was parked on and had come out on the road that I had turned off of to get to the cover. So Hattie and I had about a 1/2 mile walk back to the truck. When I had crossed the gaswell road it had been the last one and I had wander basically in the right direction but not directly back to the truck. The lesson here is of course to always set the BackTrack before leaving the truck no matter how simple the cover is. Now this cover has a name "The Lost Benches" cover.

The Woodcock Season Flown Away

2010-11-14T09:17:00.000-08:00

With 3 days left in the woodcock season I headed north to hunt along a small river that I've been eyeing all fall. The cover just screamed WOODCOCK !!!I love finding old apple trees in mid-fall with apples still hanging on. Old survivor trees handing out their bounty sparingly.

Emma says there's birds in here for sure, but after hours of brushing pounding without a sniff of a woodcock we went home empty-handed.

The next day Hattie and Caleb were my huntmates. We hit a local cover that often holds a few birds.

Caleb and his 16 ga. Uggie sxs surveying the cover.

Hattie found the birds, but they proved hard to approach. Here's Caleb going in to a point.

Caleb going in on another point. Hattie found 6 woodcock that day but they were runners, flushing out ahead of her points. Caleb only got one chance at a bird and didn't connect.

The last day drawed my to Lake Raystown, the largest lake in Pa. It has some excellent looking covers, but I've never been able to "hit the flights" and only move an occasional bird.

This beautiful cover proved to be empty.

It's a shame the woodcock can't read.

So this years woodcock season ended quietly. With only a few birds bagged some may say it was a disappointing season, but I hunt as much for the experiences as for the full game bags and I have many memories to remind me of this wonderful time of year.

Now the dogs and I will put our "grouse faces" on. :)

Thin Shooting

2010-11-08T16:54:00.000-08:00

Hattie and I hunted a new covert that looked like a woodcock hotspot. We found only 2 woodcock with one presenting me with a shot. Collett the little Liege side by side's right barrel did it's job well. Pa's woodcock season ends this week. With warm weather forcasted for all week it looks like I will be missing the woocock flights again this year.

Introducing........ Collett

2010-11-05T13:10:00.000-07:00

Once in a great while a gun deal will come along that you just can't refuse. "Collett" was such a deal. Owned by Mark Larson whose moniker is UncleDanFan on the 16ga.com board he had found this little Belgium guild gun a year or more ago and had "cleaned her up" and posted pics on the board. I was immediately in awe of the gun and had joked with Mark about letting me have first chance when he decided to "move it along" but never thought I would ever have that chance. Suddenly last week I got an email from Mark. He had lost his camera while hunting and had decided to part with the little Belgium as a way of getting a new camera. The price he quoted was more than fair and a money order was send straight away. Two days ago she appeared at my door and today was her first hunt. The grouse didn't cooperate as usual but Hattie did have several woodcock points. I was able to get a shot at this bird and the cylinder bored right barrel brought her down.As I mentioned earlier she's a Belgium guild gun. A guild gun is a gun built by a number of different gunsmiths each having their own special skill. For example the stock was built by one person, the barrels by another, and the action by another. Built in the 1880's with 30 inch damascus barrels choked cylinder & cylinder and weighing 6 lbs. 3 ozs. She's a wand to carry and today ,at least, a deadly wand.

At the end of the hunt, a tired Hattie with her bird.

Just shut the door and let me sleep :).

Success

2010-11-02T17:40:00.000-07:00

Today started with an hour hunt along a small river looking for woodcock that weren't there. Next was an hour hunt through nice looking aspen in a stripmine that was barren of birds. Then we spent 2 hours hunting another stripmine with a mixture of pine & autumn olive. The birds, grouse, were there but Emma couldn't handle them bumping 4 with a couple of wild flushes thrown in. As the day was fading we tried one last spot, a wet patch of aspen,alders and misc. trees that I had never hunted before. Just out of the truck Emma goes on point and I walk up a woodcock that falls at my shot.
Emma's smile matched mine.

The little 16 ga. Belgium Bayard. The right cylinder bored barrel loaded with # 8 1/2 shot in a 2 1/2 inch roll crimped shell did the trick.

Emma did her Part........but I Didn't

2010-10-28T17:28:00.000-07:00

After a couple of hours of searching for woodcock with no luck, I decided to head for higher ground and look for grouse.
We finally found the grouse. The first 4 were wild flushes but the 5th one held for Emma and I moved in for the flush.

The grouse sailed down the ridge through this cover evading my two shots.

A Hercules Club after taking a load of #8 shot.

Back at the truck Emma asked for her share of the sandwich, which she had rightfully earned.

A Day with Copper

2010-10-27T17:28:00.000-07:00

The birds continue to elude me. Today Copper and I hunted the Doll Head cover. We moved 3 woodcock with 2 productive points and had 2 grouse wild flush out ahead of us. I had a shot at the second woodcock but Olga and I were "out of step" and it lived to flush another day. I seem to be shooting behind the birds, I think its a combination of those 29 1/2 inch barrels that I'm not getting moving fast enough and being to quick with the trigger or maybe it's just a regular shooting slump that every hunter encounters every now and again :). Spent an hour in a new cover that looked wonderful for both grouse and woodcock but came up empty there. By then it was mid afternoon and the temps were in the upper 60's so we called it a day. Here's a pic of Copper after the hunt.

Just Like Old Times

2010-10-26T16:26:00.000-07:00

The problem with owning more than one dog is getting them equal time in the woods. I've spend the last several hunting seasons giving Emma most of the hunting time trying to get her experience at the expense of my other two setters Copper and Hattie. I could take a couple out at a time but with my hearing loss and the fact that I enjoy hunting with one dog at a time somebody is always sitting at home while I hunt someone else. Today I had a couple of hours to hunt so I took Hattie to a local woodcock covert in the hopes that a couple would be home. Hattie was my first setter and my yardstick to measure my other dogs, so far no one has measured up to her. At 9 years old age she has a hearing loss that makes it some what difficult to keep track of her in some covers. Today she handled like a champ and it felt like old times with her.
I've hunted this covert for 15 years or more and it still produces birds.

A wet but happy Hattie taking a little break.

The first woodcock she pointed left me with two empty shells to show for the effort, but I was better on her second point and Olga and I were "in step" on this bird. I bumped a third bird on the way out of the cover and so ended a nice morning hunt.
Later in the afternoon I took Emma for a run in a nice looking cover. An old field lying in a steep hollow with patches of aspen.

She hunted her heart out but all she found was a small pond to cool off it.

The weather forecast is warm and windy tomorrow, but hope to get out with Copper. First I have to get a check in the mail for another gun. Yes another hammergun, a 16 ga, of course, with 30 inch damascus barrels, 6 lbs. 3 ozs. , made in the 1880's in Liege Belgium one of the oldest centers of gunsmithing in the world. You'll get to meet her as soon as she arrives :).

First Hunting Trip of the Season

2010-10-20T16:37:00.000-07:00

First hunting trip of the season began with a trip to a reclaimed stripmine. Emma bumped a grouse 100 yards from the truck and a little later I almost stepped on a grouse that flushed from some old logs that I was climbing over. Last season I decided not to shoot wild flushes and I continued it this year as I watched the grouse sail away. We made the long climb to the top of the mountain where the stripmine was overgrown with locust, aspen, & alders growing in fields of goldenrod and briers. Emma went on point in some chest high goldenrod and locust trees. As I made my way to her a woodcock flushed off to the right. I threw two shots at it more to honor Emma's point than to hit it and it flew on to live another day. but Emma had held the point nicely and I was pleased with her. We hunted the area thoroughly but didn't find anymore woodcock so started back down the mountain. I had another wild flush while Emma was hunting below me and that was it for the day. Didn't get any nice shots of the cover we hunted so here's one of Olga my first Husky with her new sling.

Some kind of Lichen that I've noticed growing in several of my covers.
Some kind of weird puffball. It had a pretty neat pattern on it.

Back at the truck for a tick comb out. Have most of the next 4 weeks off and hope to get Emma into some birds. Stay tuned.

Disappointment

2010-09-26T17:27:00.000-07:00

Headed up north today to look for some grouse with Emma.It's been a dry fall so far but Emma still found a little mud.

A Monarch resting on its way south.

The autumn olive bushes were loaded with berries.

Come on Dad let's keep lookin'.

A devil's club. You only have to grab onto one of these suckers once to learn never to do it again.

Their berries. Don't know if grouse like them, but do know that bears relish them.

Aspen. Conjecturing up images of grouse and woodcock nearby.

The cover we hunted through.

One wild flush was all we could find today in these beautiful coverts. Hope my luck turns before the season starts.

Getting the blood pumpin'

2010-09-04T17:49:00.000-07:00

The leaf littered lane leading in the Doll's Head cover.

A view of the cover. Still thick with summer's vegetation. It will be thinning soon with the shorter days and cooler nights.
Lots of food in the Doll's Head this year.

Hawthornes.

Teaberry.

Crabapples.

I couldn't pass up this shot of a toadstool to add to my toadstool collection.

This volunteer appletree always seems to produce a bounty of fruit every year.

Last April Emma and I ended the spring training season with a woodcock point. Four months later she points the first one she finds and puts a smile on my face.

A little later on she makes me smile again.

Waiting on the tailgate for the brier pulling that follows an early season training session.

Although this cover had plenty of food we couldn't find the grouse that are often found there, but Emma's two woodcock points after 4 months of tweety bird watching definitely got my "blood pumpin'" Come on October.

1st Scouting trip

2010-08-18T18:09:00.000-07:00

On a tip from my vet I headed north in search of new coverts. A large hunting lease where he said his flush rate was as good as on his Michigan trips. As with any grouse hunter I'm always looking for new coverts, so leaving the setters at home because of the hot weather I journeyed into this unfamiliar cover. With the cover too thick for bushwacking I walked this old gas well road and was rewarded with 3 grouse flushes.

The remains of a large turkey. Perhaps a coyote kill ?
At another piece of cover I found aspen and marked my map accordingly.

Another area had an enormous amount of grapevines covering the smaller trees.

A sight to get any grousehunter's blood pumping. Another note on the map.

A sweet gum tree telling me that fall is fast approaching.

My dues have been sent in and I hope to have pics of some successful hunts with my setters and hammerguns this fall from my new hunting grounds.

A Secret Shared Part II

2010-08-10T09:20:00.000-07:00

After I had shared my smallmouth stream with Russell he insisted that I come fish a small trout stream where he had permission to fish that was carefully managed for lunker Rainbows. Catch and release, barbless hooks, and supplemental feeding had produced some enormous trout. Down a farm lane passed an old house and barn we arrived at a small stream lined with huge willow trees.

After a pleasant talk with the stream owners, a handful of fish pellets revealed the monsters that lived there.

The really huge "Bows" were content to wait for more pellets, but I was lucky enough to tempt this nice one with my offering and was rewarded with an exciting battle. In our haste to get pics and return the fish safely to the stream I forgot to get a measurement but it's safe to say it was the biggest trout I've ever caught. Just to let you known what type of person Russell is he refused to cast a line and was happy being the guide on this most memorable trip.

A Secret Shared

2010-07-30T15:41:00.001-07:00

There are only a few people that I share my smallmouth streams with. My wife, Caleb, my great-nephew, and now Russell. I met Russell several years ago when he was hired as summer help in the distribution center that I work at. A college student working towards his teaching degree, he impressed me with his love of fishing and hunting. He is one of the rare people who I've hunted and fished with who enjoys the experience of being on a stream or in the woods and if fish or game are found so much the better, but these ventures afield are not gauged by the weight of his creel or gamebag but rather by the sharing of a meandering stream or brushy grouse covert. Russell's teaching now near the Chesapeake Bay but still finds time to occasionally come back to these Allegheny Mountains that are home to him. The following pictures were taken on one of my secret smallmouth streams that I've trust it's location to Russell with.

The water. Low with lots of rocks, walking is required to reach the deeper holes that the smallies thrive in.
Fish on!!! The start of an enjoyable evening.

The first fish, a nice chunky smallie that brings a smile to Russell's face.

Some nice Rockbass were also found and returned to the stream.

As the sun started to set the action increased.

The fish of the night. All the fish were caught on my hand-poured plastic worms that Russell like to brag up :).

A long walk through a hayfield and along the back country road to the truck ended an enjoyable evening that hopefully will be repeated soon.

Just another day in Paradise

2010-07-13T17:06:00.000-07:00

Caleb, my nephew Jim-Bob's boy, was able to fit a fishing trip into his busy schedule so we headed to an enchanted creek that I treasure. I know someday other people will realize the size of the smallmouth bass that live there and fish it out but until then I treat it gently and enjoy the magic it possesses.

On the walk in we pass by one of the creekside residents looking no doubt for breakfast.

After several fruitless casts near the parking lot we press upstream until we find we we're looking for.

After a good 30-45 minute walk we reach the enchanted pool. A place where I've made some wonderful memories of past battles with the resident smallmouths.

After several smaller smallmouths and a couple of rockbass SUCCESS!!!

One last jump.

Now there will be two people with wonderful memories of this special place.

The Hunt for Summertime Smallmouths

2010-07-04T12:11:00.000-07:00

The Fourth of July is my unofficial start of Smallmouth Bass fishing. The rivers and streams are flowing lower now with the fish more congregated in deeper water. But fishing is much more than catching fish to me at least. It's seeing what Mother Nature has to show me along my rivers and streams that flow through my Allegheny Mountains. It's the anticipation of what flora or fauna you will find around the next bend in the stream.

The Rock Bass can provide you with some action until you find the Smallies.

Even a small Smallmouth can bring a smile to your face.

A nice fat 14 inch Smallmouth. The "fish of the day" on this trip.

The Gun Safe Gets a Little Fuller

2010-04-28T08:08:00.000-07:00

Here's my latest attempt to quench my thirst for hammerguns. She's a little Belgian Bayard in 16 ga. of course. Built in 1930 if I have figured out her watertable markings right. 29 inch barrels, sideclips, and a nicely figured stock she looks good sitting beside my two Swedish Huskys. Haven't had a chance to shot her at the pattern board yet but she really dusts the claybirds when I do my part so she'll probably go to Mike Orlen to have her chokes opened up for my grouse and woodcock coverts.

Blame it on my Grandmother

2010-04-25T10:37:00.001-07:00

The urge I get each spring to plant something. Inherited from my mother's mother who was always digging in the dirt, planting all types of flowers, keeping a large garden, and especially the strawberry patch I remember fondly. My planting taste runs to trees usually apple, crabapple, hawthorne, or pear.
Here's a site ready to plant. A tubex tree protector to keep the deer from feasting on the tender tree, a bucket of dirt to compensate for all the rocks that I had to remove from the planting hole, a bucket of water, and a bale of old hay for mulch.Dance, my mountain cur, thinks the hole needs to be just a little deeper :).

The finished site. With some rain and a little luck this seedling pear tree will someday bear fruit for whatever wildlife wanders under it.

A 5 year old grafted pear tree coming along nicely.

A 5 year old apple tree in full blossom.

I usually plant a few grafted trees each year but lately I've taken to planting "Malus Antonovka" a Russian seedling apple tree that is used for grafting standard sized trees. A vigorous grower, drought,cold weather, and disease hardy it may or may not produce tasty apples for me but should be a productive tree for wildlife to feast upon.

Hammergun Fever

2010-04-03T19:02:00.000-07:00

After several weeks of enjoyment with my Husqvarna Model 20 hammergun I couldn't resist the temptation for another one. Here's my new Model 17 Husky in 16 ga. of course. Built in 1940 with a checkered Prince of Wales grip she's choked full and fuller. I'll be having her barrels opened to .000 (cylinder) and .030 (full) to use as a late season grouse gun.

My Swedish pair.

A Little Sprucing Up

2010-04-01T17:45:00.000-07:00

I've refinished the stock on "Olsa" my 16 ga. Husqvarna. While the barrels were away at Mike Orlen's getting opened up to .000 and .010 and haveing the forcing cones lengthened I went to work on the stock. This was my first attempt at refinishing a stock and I think it came out pretty good. I used a paint & varnish stripper to remove the old finish, then used Birchwood Casey walnut gun stain diluted 1 part stain to 1 1/2 parts water. Finally I rubbed in with my fingertips some Tried and True Oil Varnish. I've only put on one coat so far but plan to add several more this summer. Here she is before........

and after. Just picked up Olsa's sister Inga tonite. Will have pics in a day or two. Yes I've got "Hammergun Fever".

This Springs Wanderings

2010-03-29T03:13:00.001-07:00

Work and caring for my elderly parents have left me little time to wander through my coverts this spring. Here are some pictures of the few times I've slipped away for some "woods time".

A new to me logging road lined with aspen looked very inviting.

At the top of the ridge I looked down into this nice looking cover. Emma and I moved 4 grouse in this new covert.

The following pictures are of some of my coverts.

These next three pictures are of Emma hunting. She is a joy to watch float through the woods. She hunts a nice pattern staying within bell range most of the time.

At one covert Emma brought me this woodcock barely alive. I don't know how she came upon it. When she first appeared with it I thought she had caught a hen on her nest, but it turned out to be a small male bird. Perhaps sick or injured I could only praise her for the retrieve she made.

Emma on a nonproductive point in open woods. I didn't see or hear anything but she definitely thought a bird as close by.

I had a bird flush ahead of me on this old road. As I called Emma in she struck scent and went on a nice by empty point.

Finally the real thing. A nice point on a woodcock.

My New Swedish Girl

2010-03-10T19:14:00.000-08:00

I've lusted over hammerguns for years and finally took the plunge and bought one. She's just an entry level gun, a Husqvarna Model 20 in 16 ga. of course. Known as a farmers gun in her home country, the Model 20 was an inexpensive but sturdy gun built from 1877 to 1956. Mine was built in 1942 and balances the scales at 6 lbs 8 ozs. She's built on the strange looking lefaucheux under lever action, having no top lever to open the barrels. A steady diet of todays high-pressure shells would surely loosen her action so I'll be feeding her low-pressure 2 1/2 inch roll crimped reloads. I've only shot a couple of boxes of shells through her at clays but am very pleased with the results. She's choked full and fuller like many of her kind, I guess the Swedes like to be able to reach out for their game, so I'll be having the chokes opened for my grouse and woodcock hunting. The finish on her birch stock is rough so I;ll be refinishing it this summer. I'm guessing my Grulla will be seeing less brush this year as i carry this little "plain jane" Husky through my Allegheny coverts.

The Lefaucheux under lever action in the open position.

Storm of 2010

2010-02-08T02:06:00.000-08:00

Friday Feb. 5. The snow started falling lightly about noon. Coming from the south with lots of moisture the weathermen were calling for a big one. By Saturday morning we know just how big.

Janet's not built for this kind of a snowfall :).

I had managed to plow around midnight on Fri. but by Sat. morning I know the old Ford couldn't cope with this snow. Janet and my tracks as we waded out Sat. morning to take care of my elderly mother.

Sat. evening the cavalry arrived. Jim-B0b with his Kabota and bucket slowly cleared the lane.

Emma enjoying the snow.

After Jim-Bob cleared part of the lane Janet helped out with the old Ford "Chalmer".

The guineas were happy to have a path to run on.

By Sunday evening the lane was cleared nicely and all was well. We ended the storm with 23 inches. Luckily no wind, the power stayed on and we survived another winter storm here in our Allegheny mountains.

Hattie's afternoon

2010-01-23T15:24:00.000-08:00

Left work early on Thursday to give Hattie one last chance to find a grouse this hunting season. We went to my Thomas trail cover where last year she gave me a nice point that resulted in a shot bird. The snow lay on portions of the trail as we started in.

Along the side of this ridge I hear Hattie's beeper collar go on point. The deer trail I was following went above her and I stayed on it as the path of least resistance. As she came into view I saw that she was pointing down the slope and as I began to work my way down the grouse lifted below her and was gone without a shot.

Later we worked an area of heavy barberry cover with no success.

So ended Hattie's 2009-10 hunting season. She had done her part but as so often happens luck was not on my side today and the grouse lived to perhaps give me sport next year.

New Years Day Hunt

2010-01-01T15:04:00.001-08:00

My nephew Jim-Bob and I decided to hunt our Mckee's Gap cover on this the first day of 2010. The weather has been less than ideal since before Christmas and it was our first hunt together in Pa.'s second season. 4 to 5 inches of snow made for slow going up the old logging road.

Emma was just happy to be out and about.
After about an hour Jim-Bob's setter Zeke went on point below us on the mountain. Emma backed him nicely and Jim slid down the slope toward them, but the grouse flushed before he could get in position for a shot. Here's Jim-Bob struggling back up the mountain.

We had several wild flushes but couldn't find any more birds to hold for the dogs, so we worked out way down off the mountain with the knowledge that the birds would be there for us next time we felt up to a Mckee's Gap hunt.

The Forgotten Past

2009-12-29T07:48:00.000-08:00

Recently I've been spending the cold winter evenings looking at several hundred old photographs and postcards given to me by my Dad. As my Mom slips further away with Alzheimer's Dad has been going through the house cleaning out cupboards and closets that were at one time my Mom's domain. From the maternal side of my family a few of the photo's are written on the back as to who the person or persons are in them but most are blank. Lost in the past are people, relatives or their friends, a part of me that I'll never know. Here are some of the hunting photo's that sadly have no information on them. They show that I came from a rabbit hunting family. That comes as no surprise as I dreamed of hunting rabbits with beagles from my early childhood, getting my first beagle when in my early teens and hunting them exclusively up until my mid-thirty's when grouse and woodcock lured my away from my roots. On the rare occasion that I happen upon a beagle hot on a track in my wanderings I always stop and reminisce about my youth, of my wanderings through fields and woodlots following a hard hunting beagle of two, of standing and listening to the chase wondering if I had chosen a good spot to intercept the rabbit as it ran it circle, of trudging home with a rabbit or two pulling my hunting coat down my back with a beagle or two pulling on the leash wanting desperately to start just one more chase. Enjoy the looks of satisfaction on the faces of these hunters after a good days hunt and the looks of pride as they posed with their dogs.

And please date and label your photographs of your hunts so that years from now someone can say " This is my great-grandfather with one of his favorite hunting dogs" instead of having to wonder like I am as to who these hunters were and what part of my past do they fit into.

Foggy Big Savage Mountain hunt

2009-11-21T16:07:00.000-08:00

I headed down to Big Savage Mountain just above the Maryland line for a hunt with Copper. In the nearly 30 years that I have known this cover it has changed little. Much of this cover was at one time a high mountain farm. Old stone fence rows and scattered orchards are the only reminders of the hard work done by long gone farmers eking out a living in this wild land. Grape vines, bittersweet, multi-flora rose, autumn olive, green briers and treetops broken off by ice storms and high winds make up much of the cover.
As I worked my way up the old logging road toward the top the fog became thicker.

Copper appearing out of the fog.

The old bones of a farm house. Once alive with a man and a woman and probably a litter of children, now slowly pasting time alone and empty with only its memories to fill its decaying rooms.

A bear marking its territory. These claw marks were 6 feet high.

No birds were carried off the mountain on this trip although I missed a wild flush and Copper found several, she just could not get them to hold for a point, but it was enough to know that the birds and the cover are still there waiting for the next time I decide to tackle Big Savage Mountain.

This weeks wanderings

2009-11-13T03:40:00.000-08:00

Here are some pictures from this weeks wanderings. I had high hopes in getting Emma into the woodcock flights on this the last week of Pa.'s woodcock season, but my woodcock covers have been bare. The native birds seem to have flown south even though the weather remains warm. The flight birds from up north are nowhere to be found. Have they already slipped through? Are they still holding up north waiting for colder weather to push them southward? Such is the mystery of the woodcock.

On Monday while hunting a woodcock cover Emma pushed out a pheasant with a broken-wing. After a chase through some thick pines she made a nice retrieve.

On Tuesday while hunting a cover in Centre co. I took a shot at a wild flushed grouse (the only bird of the day) and broke a wing. Emma did her part and make another nice retrieve.
The Grulla and the grouse. Emma was a little hard on the grouse's tail so no fan picture.

After the hunt Emma waits to have the ticks combed out.

On Wednesday while Emma was nursing a sore paw, I took Copper to northern Cambria co. to hunt some nice aspen cover I had discovered in the spring. Midway through the hunt she locked up on a nice high-headed point. As I walked in a grouse flushed some 30 feet above and behind her. She remained rock-solid on point so I circled around in front of her and moved in. I could see her eyes searching the ground for the bird she was so sure was there. Suddenly a woodcock flushed between us spirling up in the textbook corkscrew flight. I pulled the front trigger then the back and made a textbook miss with both barrels :( .

Copper after the hunt waiting to be combed out. The ticks this year have been horrible.

On Thursday I hunted Emma in a series of nice thick clearcuts in Blair co. I walked into a large woodcock at the start of the hunt and later Emma flash-pointed a grouse in a spruce tree that flushed without a shot and that was the only action we had there. We then drove to the top of Snake Spring mountain to a cover that I have memories of a wonderful hunt some years ago with Hattie that resulted in a nice point, shot, and retrieve on a grouse. I walked out a well used logging road for 1/2 hour and then took this faint logging trail up toward the top.

The cover is steep, rocky and littered with grape tangles and blown down tree tops.

Emma hunting the steep cover. We moved 3 grouse for no shots in the rocky terrain.

Emma drinking in scent from below.

A view from near the top of the mountain.

Today I'll spend my time in my local woodcock covers in a last minute attempt to find the elusive woodcock.

The Roaring Plains

2009-11-05T04:04:00.000-08:00

I made the long drive back into the Roaring Plains of West Virginia for the first time in several years. Other covers closer home had kept me satisfied for awhile, but the call for a wilder type of hunt led me back to these high mountain haunts. The birds were there, but as usual they used the thick spruce-rhododendron cover to make good on their escape route and although Hattie has several productive points I was never able to get off a shot. Hope you enjoy the following pictures of my adventure. The pipeline is the path to the top of the plateau. Pushed through in the early 70's, it prevented this area from becoming a wilderness area. So while the Dolly Sods wilderness area gets overrun by backpackers looking for the wilderness experience this 20 some squaremile area, which is just as wild except for the long pipeline scar running through it, gets few visitors.

A view of the pipeline on top stretching eastward.

The mountain holly were a bright red against the green spruce background.

A windswept hawthorn, a living testament of the harsh weather that rules this land.

Springs abound in this high mountain plateau.

Hattie working through some open cover.

The walk back to the truck.

Hattie at the end of the hunt.

A Change of Diet

2009-10-15T15:20:00.000-07:00

Although I'm starting the hunting season 10 lbs lighter than last year this isn't about my diet. It's my 16 gauge Grulla that will be fed a diet of 2 1/2 inch roll crimped shells this year. You may be wondering why I would be going to so much trouble when a trip to a local sporting goods store could result in shells that would kill grouse and woodcock. I attribute it to my quest to be different. Just as I'm a grouse and woodcock hunter in a land of deer and turkey hunters. Just as I'm a 16 gauge shooter in a land of 12 gauge shooters. The reasoning is plain to me.........because I know of no one else who does this.

I've reloaded my own shells for some years now and the move to roll crimping was just a natural progression for me. Maybe its the need to be even more of an oddball that drove me to purchase the tools and spend hours in the basement working up loads and then spending time at the patterning board looking for the prefect recipe.

What ever the reason I'm committed to using these little beauties this season loaded in 3/4, 7/8, and 1 oz. loads.

Below are the tools of the art of roll crimping.

A home-made hull cutting tool. Using a dowel rod approx. the size of the inside ID of a 16 gauge shell, I drilled a hole big enough to drive a blade from a exacto knife up through it and added a large headed screw to the end to adjust the length of the hull cut. It's an excellent, speedy way to cut plastic hulls.

A hull cutter from http://www.leadtradingpost.com/. I find this cutter works better on paper hulls than my home-made one.

A hull vise from Ballistic Products Inc.

A modern roll crimping head mounted in a drill press.

This is an old hand roll crimper made in the late 1800's that still does an excellent job.

The Results.

October Time

2009-10-04T16:21:00.000-07:00

Time to experience the thrill of a pointing dog with nerves strung to the breaking point.

Time to travel abandon logging roads. Letting them lead me where they want to.

Time to visit old homesteads. Silent reminders of days long past.

Time to visit old friends that I have found over the years and contemplate their lives and deaths in this rugged mountain land that I love to roam.

Time to enjoy life in the uplands.

Allegheny Mountain Smallmouth Bass

2009-08-12T13:59:00.000-07:00

Fishing in the Alleghenys to me means Smallmouth Bass. On my eastern slopes there are small secluded streams that flow against steep ridges and along isolated meadows where you cannot find a footprint of another angler. Often you have to walk through unproductive shallow waters to find the stretches that hold fish, but when you do its well worth the exercise.

My great-nephew Caleb is my usual fishing partner (when he can find time in his busy schedule :) ).

A few evenings a summer my wife goes with me fishing. Large or small she enjoys the tug on the end of her line.

My wife's best ever Smallie, an 18 incher, taken on a mole worm.

Fishing alone it's impossible to get pictures that honor this KING of all fish but here are some nice fish that I've taken while fishing without a companion.

I use light spinning tackle for my Smallie fishing. My favorite lures are plastic lures that I hand-pour myself. You will usually find this worm called a "mole worm" tied to my line 90% of the time.

Crawdads can also tempt a Smallie into a strike.

When all else fails a Rebel Teeny Wee Craw will catch you a fish. It may be a Smallie, a Rock Bass, a Fallfish, or a Sunfish but it is a deadly fishcatcher. Caleb jokingly refers to it as the small child and woman lure.

It's more than just the fish that draw me to these lovely little secluded streams. It's the wondering of what's just around that next bend that pulls me on.

A late June walk

2009-07-02T09:16:00.000-07:00

At this time of year it's hard to sit in front of the computer and work on my blog, but here are some pictures from a late June walk through the Allegheny Mountains.

The elderberry are in full bloom promising a bountiful crop of berries for the birds and maybe a few for me too.

The flower of the Persimmon tree. While barely noticeable it will soon be followed by the orange fruit that the deer so eagerly seek out in the fall.

The Rhododendron's are brightening up the steep mountain hollows with their showy blooms against the dark green foliage.