Just got back from the road trip to talk to the farmers we do our Dove shoot on. The good news is everything is lined up and there were probably more Doves then we've ever seen this time of year. Saw several Eurasians in a couple of the small towns we drove through. The general region we hunt is in north eastern Colorado around the town of Yuma.
The bad news is the main landowner that has been great to us for the past thirteen years is now in his mid-eighties. When we pulled into his yard we knew something was astray. Weeds in the driveway, yard unkept, etc. He greeted us as usual invited us in and then proceeded to tell us he has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's. During the conversation we could tell and see the effects of this terrible disease. He said he had to give up his drivers license and will be moving into town this fall. He then said his son would be taking over and moving into the house. Then he said don't worry, I've talked to my son about you guy's and you'll be able to hunt here as long as he has it. You talk about an absolutely heartbreaking visit. This is the type of guy he is: We camp in his old home place about two miles from where he lives now. During the summer it get pretty over grown, so a couple of day's before the opener he'll hook up the brush hog and mow the entire farm yard so we have a great place to set up camp. Colorado has a walk-in access program that he enrolls all his land into for Pheasant season, when the game & fish expanded the program last year to include Dove season, He told the G & F that he has a group that Dove Hunt's and if he couldn't keep his land out for Dove season for us, he wouldn't sign up for the pheasant season, so G & F went along with him.
When we drove out of his place it was real quiet in the truck for a mile or two. But then we started talking about how we need to do something special for him while he is still able to know how much he has meant to us over the years. Now it's just a matter of figuring out what that might be!
