- Details
- Category: Hunting
- Published: Monday, 26 September 2016 19:16
- Written by Greg
Back to School
Back to school for our family means a series of looming weekend trips penciled in on our wall calendar, always an exciting time of the year! And this year the youngsters were especially anxious to get out on our first trip with the dogs, hoping to see the dogs retrieve Carson’s first dove.
On opening weekend we headed out to the west desert. Driving along one of the first dirt roads we happened upon, we jumped a few doves that were feeding on sunflowers. As you can imagine, our hunt started right then and there. We hopped out and began our push. Within a couple minutes Carson jumped a dove, swung his 20 gauge toward the flying bird and dropped his first dove ever!
Nova pointing on a sage grouse Interesting wildlife along the way
A little later we found a field that contained a small water seep which seemed like a great spot to ambush thirsty birds. As we approached a few doves flew up, confirmation that birds frequent the area. We placed a few dove decoys on a nearby fence, tucked the boys into the weeds and then proceeded forward in hopes of jump shooting some of the dispersed birds. Minutes later Dallas tripled, three shots, three birds. It wasn’t long and the doves were headed back to water, unaware that a couple of hunters lay in wait. More shots rang out, more birds hit the ground. The dogs did a great job finding the downed birds, we had a blast!
After taking a week off to hunt elk we were back to hunting birds, this time pursuing upland game in Wyoming. However, the miles put on our boots over the next two weekends were racked up by trudging across the high plains of Wyoming in search of sage grouse. We saw and bagged our share of sage grouse and were constantly intrigued by the diversity of wildlife. There is no doubt that we will be out here again next fall!
