My goal has been to find birdie places that are closer to home. I’m down to Lloyd as a hunting buddy, when he is in town, and sometimes, like this year, our schedules don’t match.

That means, I’m alone, for the very most part. I don’t have a cell phone, and, the places it wouldn’t work are full of birds, places where I really like to be. Thusly, no great loss. But it concerns a few folk, greatly. Me, not so much. I been at this a while.

This spot is centered between Steele and Waseca counties, in the middle of farm country. The DNR has owned it for perhaps 60 years, maybe more, and it will always be rural, and, have birds. But, it is a wild little tangle, hit hard during deer season by the locals.

Dad was in my thoughts both days. He had a lot of fun at the spot, with an Irish Setter named Paddy, Mom’s Dog, technically, but Dad’s when it was time to go pheasant hunting. A show dog that would hunt 120 lbs, or so. I have Dad’s shotguns, this one was slated to be my Son’s, but, he so much prefers the autoloaders, an A5 and a SBE, that he gave it back to me:

[Linked Image from jpgbox.com]

My brother sent my Dad’s A5 my way. A diabetic amputee has little need for bird guns.
My Son will blast away at our trap course, but, he is a fair weather hunter at this point. He does not seem to be a meat eater, neither was his grandfather, really. He would eat a piece of meat about 1/2 this size of a pack of cigarettes, and call it enough. He loved to hunt, though.

We all soldier on.

Best,
Ted