Grouse hunting with Dad

So every year in September after my Dad gets back from his boat trip to Alaska he tries to find some time to come to The Methow valley to do some grouse hunting with me. I always enjoy hunting with my Dad so I look forward to this every year.

This year he arrived and we basically had one day to hunt. So that morning we set out with the whole family because my wife and Maddy decided to tag along. We went to an area we call the upper road and went for a short hike. We did not see anything but had a fun trip.

We got back to the house and my wife went to work and my dad and I hung out with Maddy all day.

I like to start my evening hunts by leaving the house around 4PM. This time it was Maddy , my Dad and I. I decided to take him to the next canyon over from the house since we have been having good luck over there. We get off the main road and right away I spot a grouse on the side of the road. As the good host and guide I let Dad get out and shoot it as it flew up into the tree. About 200 yards down the road Dad spots a grouse running down the road. We get out and chase it and just as its getting into the brush and about to get over the hillside I say to Dad you better shoot it before its gone. Dad pulls the trigger and down it goes.

It is at this point I see how the day is going to go, I see the grouse Dad shoots it, Dad sees the grouse Dad shoots it.

Anyway we get to where we were going to start our hike with Maddy on my back and right away Dad see's what looks like the biggest grouse ever sitting on top of a rock. Dad sneaks up on it staying behind trees and shoots it. When the dog recovers it, it turned out to be the smallest runt hatchling ever. I thought it was a quail, HAHA.

The rest of the hike did not turn anything up. On the drive back home I see a grouse fly up into a tree. I jumped out of the car as fast as I could and shot it before Dad knew what was going on. In that split second I had two choices. Let Dad get it so he could have a limit of grouse and never hear the end of it how I was not able to shoot a grouse. Option two was shoot the grouse and hear about how I was so mean and didn't let Dad get a limit. Of course I chose the latter and shot my grouse.

The best part of hunting with my Dad is the variation of how everything happened. The same event will have a million different stories depending on who you ask. OOO what is going to happen next!

Weekend 2 of duck hunting

My family has been duck hunting the same area for around 65 years. This weekend something would happen that has never happened there before.

Friday after work I head up do duck camp like normal. My wife wasn’t feeling too well so she and Maddy decided to stay home. When I got into camp Dad and Ellen are already in camp with their new trailer AKA the castle. They have the fire burning which was great since the weekend before we couldn't have a fire due to an area burn ban. Later that night my sister E'lana and her kids and my little sister's (Ellary) boy friend (Caranza) with his little sister Jazmine showed up in camp.

The next morning we all got up and got ready to go like any other day hunting. The first couple lakes produced some Teal and Widgeon.

Caranza and his double banded Green Head

We get to the lake we call Rock Lake. E'lana goes around to scare the lake and I sneak into my spot. My dad and Caranza are a ways on the other side of the lake. While I am sitting in my hiding spot I can hear all the ducks splashing and talking in the water and I can tell they are mallards by the sounds they are making. Like a tornado they all get up as soon as E'lana shows herself. Just my luck they all go over Caranza and Dad. As I watch the Mallards start to fall I start walking their direction in case they need Remi my dog to help find the ducks. When I get there they have found all the ducks but one. They tell me the area where they think it fell and Remi goes to work. Remi get birdy a few times but isn't finding anything. Finally Caranza says he sees it in a mint bed about 75 yards away. When he picks it up he says it has two bands. Everyone gets excited; Caranza had never shot a banded bird let alone two bands. A two banded bird has never been shot in our group in this area; it only took 65 years and tens of thousands of ducks.


Day one results

Later sitting in the truck after a closer look at the band Caranza finds out that it is a "Reward Tag" worth $100. That has also never happened in a group I have been hunting with.

We continued to hunt and Remi had a stellar day. She was able to find numerous injured ducks in the thick cattails and bring them out. Remi even brought out a 100% healthy coot from the cattails.

At the end of the day we all had our limit of seven ducks and were happy. We returned to camp to clean the birds and tell the stories of past hunting trips around the campfire.



Day two results
 

Day two (Sunday) yielded 10 ducks. Sunday is a relaxed day where we don’t work as hard since everyone has a long drive home after hunting. It was a great weekend and can’t wait to be back at duck camp.

The maturing of a growing hunter, Part 3 "10 years old"

10 YEARS OLD

Grandpa, Dad and Brother Eric all pile out of the trucks. I get out and Dad tells me "Don't slam the door". No one can see the pond but everyone is hunched over in the sneak position. The pond is just over the berm and we can hear the ducks splashing and playing in the pond. The hunters line up while getting ready to say "hi guys". I keep having to be reminded to stay behind the hunters. "It's just not fair, I want to be involved", I think to myself, "I can't wait to be part of the shooting group". The hunters jump the pond and I watch where the ducks fall. After the shooting I run back to the truck to release the dogs.

We get back to the truck and move on to the next lake. Since this one is a lake that is too big to jump, Grandma and I will trek around and scare the lake. We walk to the cow trails and get to the point by the lake where we jump out and yell at the birds and get them to fly over the hunters. We see birds fly and yell "heeeerrrree theeeyyyyy coooommmeeee". A few seconds later we hear the guns go off over the horizon like a distant war zone. We start to make our way back to the trucks, and I ask Grandma, "How many do you think they got?" Grandma replies, "I guess we will see."

We get back to camp with all the birds and like always I help all the hunters pluck the birds, but I am unaware of the impending change that is about to fall upon me. Dad tells me you get to gut this year. I wasn't exactly excited about it. Dad says "if you shoot you gut." Since I wanted to be shooting in the next couple years I got down to gutting.

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Without realizing it, the dues I put in as a gutter, and the opportunities with Grandma teaching me how to scare the lakes, let me learn the steps I needed to know to become a successful hunter later in life.

Part 1 (Before Memories)

Part 2 (5 Years Old)