the wagon has been back a couple days now, I didn't get to stay as long as I planned, but it was a good time. I really dropped the ball for taking pictures... I was a little preoccupied most of the time...
the drive there was uneventful, I got a late start so I ended up stopping in St Regis for the night.
I camped along the Clark Fork and found some Blue grouse right away... too bad I had a fly rod instead of a gun with me..
in the morning these guys came stomping through camp... but I had not purchased a turkey tag yet!
I left camp and drove through Missoula all the way to XXXX without incidence. I found a decent place to camp and studied my maps while asparagus and a big Ribeye sizzled on my BBQ
in the morning I loaded up and checked out my nearest Block Management Unit. the locals tried hassling me some, but I managed to push through.
I got the ecollar and Astro around my dog's neck and let him go while I got my gear on. didn't even have shells in the gun before the Astro vibrated. I looked up and he was on point already! it was a group of 15 or so huns. they all flushed past the cattle that were hanging about, so I didn't even try to shoot.
we walked up a likely looking coulee, up above on the edge of a harvested field I spotted a "look out" sharptail that was sitting on a rock fence. soon the dog went on point and we were into the birds again. the first group flushed and I missed with both barrels, I was almost awe struck until a voice in my head said " reload the flush in waves" I quicly reloaded while my dog was still on point and the next group flushed from practically under my feet. I dropped one and let another group flush with out a shot. I had my first sharp tail and thats all that mattered at the moment.
luckily I brought along a wagon wheel for photo opportunities
we pressed on and flushed another ( maybe the same) group of Huns, and got into some single shaptails. I managed to put another in the bag even though my setter wanted to clean it on the spot ( the hard mouthed SOB)
next time I intend to shave my dog nearly bald and coat him in crisco before we go, the stick tights were horrible beyond belief. he would build up big mats of them without even trying.
it started to get pretty warm, and we headed back only coming across one more covey of very skittish Huns. we made it back to the truck and hydrated. then I set my dog up on the back of the truck so I could go about cleaning the burrs off him. and that is when the chit hit the fan.
I pulled some burrs off his front leg and noticed some blood on my hands. I took a look and gasped! the skin from front of his leg all the back around his elbow had been horribly lacerated! when it happened I do not know, he never even yelped. since he survived getting hit by a car a few years ago I have always kept a close eye on him for limping, and this time he never did. Gordons are tough critters.
although it was very bad, I could see it was just his skin that was cut, every thing else - tendons flesh ect looked alright. its times like this I am glad I have an extensive first aid kit. I fired up my battery powered shaver and cut away all the matted dirty hair around the wound, cleaned it with benadine and stapled what I could and then bandaged it. I knew better than to staple the whole thing since elbows can be tricky spots even for qualified vets.
knowing full well that this long planned hunting trip was over I rushed to nearest vet so my dog could get stitched up properly.
the rest of the day was a bit of blur as I waited at the vet clinic for them to attend to my dog. all I really remember was that they had some really nice office cats
soon enough it was time to rescue the dog, he was like a limp noodle for the rest of the night because of all the anesthesia. all the nearest hotels and motels were out of rooms so I took him back to an RV park and got him set up comfortably in back of the truck on my air mattress and sleeping bag while I shivered the whole night through with a shiny emergency blanket (next time I am bringing more blankets with me)
morning broke and he was back to his normal self, I on the other hand was pretty bummed out that my trip was over (Dr. orders no hunting for two weeks) and that my dog was injured. I made the most of things and relaxed in camp for the morning trying to figure out a plan B.
as luck would have it there was another bird hunter in the RV park and his son was heading home for seattle that afternoon, he wanted to spend more time hunting in MT but didn't want to do it all by himself ( I don't blame him, its a big place) so he asked me to join him... and like an idiot I said "no thank you". then a few hours later he asked me again, and I came to my senses and agreed. luckily he had more than enough dog power in a couple of very nice Drahts and a GSP.
so the next couple days we checked out some spots and got some hunts in and even managed to bag a few more birds. I really owe the guy, he salvaged my trip.
Bones and Greta the Drahts couldn't escape the burrs with all their bristly hair
Jazz the GSP is one impressive girl... I must admit I was kinda smitten with her
jazz with a sharpy
one more sniff before going in the bag
lots of imature birds made for great eating.
fun lovin' Draht
wide open spaces
Jazz doing her thing
more wide open spaces
Dog boots?
cone of shame
I found I really enjoy young sharptail meat, probably better than any other bird save ruffed grouse. for an easy camp fix I would part out the birds and let them sit in a ziplock baggy full of italian dressing overnight before throwing them on the bbq. cook them med rare and add some salt to taste and it would pass for sirloin.
on the way home we hit the little black foot, the clark fork, and the XXXX for some decent fishing. it was pretty hot and the water was low but I found a few fish to cooperate.
things didn't work out as planned, but it was a good primer. hopefully I can pull a few strings and go back as soon as my dog's stitches are out at the end of the month.
