One of the perks of hiring Rob is my new access to private land - and roosters that hold tight

For the first few years of our Uplanders Warehouse business, it was just Dixie and I running the show. We finally got to a point (about a year ago) where we needed some help, and we bit the bullet and hired our first full-time employee (Rob). I wrote a separate post about Rob earlier – introducing our newest family member – but after our recent trip, I feel more like a member of Rob’s family than Rob being a part of our family

Rob’s hire has come with some nice perks for me personally. First, there’s the private land he has access to here in Montana that I’ve been fortunate enough to hunt a couple times. Second, Rob grew up in Rapid City, SD. But Rob’s mom and dad grew up in the Winner, SD area – prime pheasant country. His grandma and several aunts, uncles and cousins still reside in and around Winner. So with my prodding, Rob was kind enough to setup a hunt for us. We took off last week for one last pheasant fling – closing out the season in style.

Rob and I (and 3 dogs) drove over to Rapid City and picked up his dad who was joining us for the trip. Our trio then continued on to Winner, SD. For a road trip the last week of December, the weather was incredible – dry roads the entire way, and hardly any visible snow anywhere. We’ve had a very mild winter so far in Montana, and South Dakota is having the same. We enjoyed unseasonably warm weather the entire trip. In fact, the thermometer was pushing 60 degrees during our hunt.

Obviously, the primary business around Winner is agriculture. But these days, most farmers and ranchers are setting aside some land – and evening working on habitat projects to attract pheasants, and subsequently pheasant hunters. Our first day in the field, we hunted some private land of a childhood friend of Rob’s dad. This friend runs a large cattle (black angus) operation, and has setup several of his fields with some wonderful shelter belts and CRP. The habitat was excellent – and I was licking my chops. There was so much ground to cover, that it basically took us the entire day to hunt through these shelter belts and sloughs. It was tough hunting though – all kinds of hens, but the roosters were no where to be found or even seen. 3 guys in Winner, SD, hunting some prime habitat on private land, and we ended up with a big doughnut. Zero birds in the bag. In fact, the entire day there were only 2 shots fired at long-range roosters. Somewhat disheartening and NOT what I imagined a South Dakota pheasant hunt to be – even a late season hunt. I did notice as we drove around that day – on the back roads and the highways – that there were no birds loafing in the ditches, on the sides of roads, etc. This seemed a bit odd as in all my prior visits to the Aberdeen area, there were always random pheasants visible from the road while driving around. Maybe all the rumors were true about the pheasant numbers being down after all.

Go check out Rob's cousin Joe's business - and book a pheasant hunt!

Day two of the hunt got a little better, but it still wasn’t the typical shooting-pheasants-in-a-barrel that South Dakota is known for – we had to work for it. Rob’s cousin (Joe) drove over from Sioux Falls and met us at the old family farm house that Joe converted to a hunting lodge. The house was built back in 1907 by Rob’s great-grandfather – and is the same house where his grandfather and mother both grew up. It’s now a fully remodeled, very quaint lodge that sleeps 9 and has heated indoor kennels for your dogs in a separate barn building. Joe showed us the lodge and told us all about the his Dakota Skies hunting business (go check is website out for more details and info on his hunting packages).

Joe’s operation is unique in that all of his hunts are guided on the 2,000+ acres of family land. No one else hunts it except for Joe’s customers. Most outfits depend on leased land – and depend on the cooperation of the farmer or rancher to manage the land for birds. In Joe’s case, all the land is family owned, and he calls the shots on what gets farmed, where the food plots, CRP, shelter belts, etc. get placed. He has built-out some impressive habitat and continues to expand with more shelter belts, and CRP. He’s basically farming for pheasants. While we got skunked our first day, with Joe guiding us around the family land on day 2, we managed to bag 7 roosters (2 short of our 3 man limit). Joe’s paying customers all fared better. Of the 100 or so hunters, and 200-300 hunting days, he says everyone limited out except one group that was less serious about hunting, and more serious about drinking. For liability reasons, Joe can’t charge for alcohol in his lodge, so he offers it free to all his guests (open bar). His angle on it is that you’ll either shoot his birds, or drink his alcohol – but no one is capable of both. He keeps track of his hunters success rate, and he says its amazing the kill percentage on the first day of the hunt compared to day two when the guys have had a bit to drink. The shooting accuracy drops sharply Joe also confirmed the bird population rumors. While his customers all did well, they had to work a little harder than in years past. But Joe also mentioned that several of his customers enjoyed it even more than years past because they got to hunt longer than an hour before they got their limit. Joe also mentioned a conversation with a local fish & game cop who told him the pheasant numbers in the Winner area were down about 80% over the prior year. That is a huge drop – and yet his business still thrives, based primarily on his land and habitat.

I only have direct experience with one other lodge/outfitter in South Dakota, but what sold me on Joe’s operation was the land that you hunt. There is absolutely nothing wrong with the accommodations – but the land was amazing and I thoroughly enjoyed hunting it.

The trip definitely could have been better as far as the birds go, but everything else was top-notch. I was introduced to Rob’s extended family, got to eat his grandma’s famous enchiladas (definitely a highlight), and met some wonderful people. Hopefully we’ll make it back to Winner in years to come – I’m strongly considering making it one of Rob’s job duties

The frozen tundra at Bowdoin held a lot of birds. Real smart birds.

I was fortunate enough to get some good bird hunts in the last month of the pheasant season (and I still have a chukar hunt coming up to close things out for another year). In early December, my wife (Dixie) asked what I wanted for my birthday, and I quickly replied “to go hunting.” She acquiesced and before she had time to reconsider, I had the dogs in the truck and was 10 miles down the road. Just me, the dogs (Cora & Gracie) and the open highway for 4 days!

My first stop was just north of Denton, MT to hit my usual Pheasants Forever land that has always been productive for me. I got there just before sunrise and figured I was golden. The route I take requires a bit of a hike to get back in to where the birds are, and as I crested the final hill that looks down on my target hunting grounds, I noticed several birds flushing, and 2 hunters in blaze orange in the distance. Crap! I was too late – these other guys beat me to the honey hole. I had already invested in the hike back there, so I still hunted around to see if I could pick up any scattered birds. While I saw several pheasants flushing wild in the distance, the best I could manage was a covey of sharptail grouse – which made me look silly as I missed with both barrels. My stop at the Pheasants Forever land amounted to a long hike and some really poor shooting. My kids always ask me when I return from a hunt – “did you get anything?” At this point in my trip, my only response is “good exercise.”

I left Denton and continued the journey north to Malta, MT where I stayed for a couple days. Just outside of Malta is a national wildlife refuge called Bowdoin. It’s 15,000+ acres of public hunting and I have had decent success there on my prior 2 visits. There is a dirt road loop you can drive that takes you all the way around the lake. There are scattered Russian Olive trees and a lot of prairie grass that provides great cover for pheasants and sharpies. You’ll also see a lot of waterfowl when the place isn’t frozen over. But for the upland hunter, it’s an easier place to hunt once its frozen – there’s a ton of water and marsh that you have to negotiate unless its all frozen over. Fortunately, when I was there, highs during the day were in the 20′s, and everything was frozen solid. I marched through the cattails and marsh grass without fear of getting wet.

When I first pulled in to the Bowdoin refuge, the sun was going down, so I made a quick loop around the lake to scout what area I would tackle first thing in the morning. I stopped the truck and watched a few pheasants loafing next to the road. As I looked around, I saw dozens more in the brush around some trees. I was getting excited – and knew exactly where I would start the following morning. I retreated back to Malta and checked in at the Sportsman’s Motel (a dog friendly motel).

Next morning, I was on the ground in the refuge before sunup. What happened next is a lesson in what NOT to do when pheasant hunting. The approach I took resulted in me flushing several pheasants directly into the rising sun – I couldn’t see well enough to distinguish hen from rooster, so I didn’t shoot. My dog Gracie was going nuts with all the pheasants running around, and while I was distracted with the flushing pheasants, she took off after a few runners headed in the opposite direction. When I turned her beeper on to locate her, I swung around behind me to see at least a dozen more pheasant flushing – with my excited shorthair right there – 100+ yards out. Ugh! Gracie is a good hunter, but she is an alpha female as well. She is more prone to range far unless I continually keep her close. I let her get out of range in the excitement, and blew my shot at several birds. After I called her back in, we hunted the edge of the frozen lake shore and had some great points and flushes – but every single one of them was a hen. Gracie started pointing every clump of marsh grass she came up on – because there were at least 6 in a row that produced hens. We pushed on, chasing several singles here and there, and watching more roosters flush well out of range, and a few more hens flush well in range.

One of the challenges with late-season pheasant hunting is that the birds are really smart. These are the all-stars of the pheasant crop – the smart birds that get straight A’s in survival. All the dumb birds are long gone. But that’s part of the challenge I enjoy. The last place you’ll find me is on a preserve or game farm with easy targets. I’m more about the hunt and watching my dogs work than I am about the kill. That said, it always feels nice to bag a rooster

We eventually circled back and jumped in the truck to find a new spot to hunt. On the next stop, I put Cora on the ground and left Gracie in the truck to rest up. Cora and I stumbled on a pheasant gold mine – literally dozens if not hundreds of birds loafing around some Russian olive trees. I stood about 100 yards out and watched the mass of birds flush out into the marsh grass cover towards the lake. The numbers of birds were impressive given all I’d heard about low bird numbers, bad hatch, winter kill, etc.

Cora and I chased down a few singles out in the marsh grass, but again, all the roosters flushed well ahead of us. Only the hens would stick around and play the game with us. I was getting tired and frustrated. Seeing so many birds, and not getting close enough for a shot starts to get aggravating. As I headed back to the truck with Cora, one of the refuge rangers pulled up to check my license. We chatted for a while and he told me the group of pheasants I was targeting has been hunted practically every day for the season which was over 2 months old now. These birds knew the drill well – and it wasn’t likely that I would outsmart them. But it sure was nice – and encouraging – to see that many birds out there.

On the Bowdoin refuge, they keep half of the refuge closed to hunting until the first week of December. When it opens, it basically is another pheasant opener – lots of birds that haven’t been hunted yet. Apparently they had some good weather for this second opener, and the refuge ranger told me they had 50+ hunters up there for it, and lots of success. I charted my course and put on a few miles in the recently opened half of the refuge, but didn’t fare any better than the first day. Lots of hens sitting tight, lots of roosters flushing wild and out of range. Gracie eventually found one unsuspecting rooster that flushed in range and made it to my gamebag, but that was it. The trip to Bowdoin kicked my butt – tons of birds, but only 1 in the bag. To compound the smart bird issue, I also missed a couple other makable shots on birds – adding to my frustration.

I had thoughts of extending my trip and driving east across the hiline to other well-known bird towns, but reconsidered and packed up all the gear and dogs and we made the 5 hour drive back to Bozeman. Late season birds take a different strategy than what I was throwing at them. I needed another couple hunters with me that we could position to intercept the flush, or to cutoff a some escape routes. I figured that continuing on as a solo hunter would only result in more “good exercise”

Nelson and Isabel hit the field

Last summer I took my scout troop to the trap range several times. While big-game hunting is very popular here in Montana, many of the boys do not own, and had never shot a shotgun previously. I was impressed with how quickly they started hitting clays. They all had a ton of fun, and to this day continue to ask me when we can all go to the range again.

One of my scouts, Nelson, knew I loved to hunt birds, and asked me if I would take him hunting this fall, and I committed to him that I would. Now the pressure was on

I was out of town during the special youth pheasant hunt weekend, and had prior commitments on the pheasant opener. My usual haunts for pheasant hunting were more “involved” than a casual hunt where a pheasant rookie could have some success, and not be turned off to the sport by my usual death marches in search of roosters. I needed an easily accessed, high-potential-for-pheasants place to hunt – I needed some private land!

JT on the left and daughter Isabel on the right

As the pheasant season continued into December, I still needed to take this youth hunting. I finally got an invite to go hunt some private land in the Billings, MT area, and Rob (our Uplanders employee) and I hunted the private land on a Saturday. It was incredible – lots of birds, easy access, and an easy hunt. Rob and I had out limit in short order, stopped for lunch and headed home. I instantly thought this would be the perfect place to bring Nelson for his first pheasant hunt, and asked permission to return with a couple kids a week or so (Nelson plus my 2 older girls). Permission was granted, and I set the date for Friday, December 23.

Early morning of the hunt, I loaded up the dogs, my two girls, and picked up Nelson. We drove over to Billings on a dry, mid-30′s day – a very nice day by Montana December standards. Everything was shaping up nicely.

We pulled the truck into the farmland where we would hunt, and saw two roosters run across the dirt road in front of the truck. It was hard to hide the big grin on my face thinking what a great experience this would be for the kids. We parked, geared up and got the dogs out.

Nelson out on the wing

About 20 yards from the truck, one of my dogs goes on point next to a ditch. I was still lagging behind the kids when the rooster flushed – very close to the kids. I yelled “rooster” but the kids were all indecisive and no one took the shot. No worries – I was sure we’d have plenty more opportunities.

We continued into the field we were hunting, with Nelson and my youngest daughter on the wings. 5 minutes later, we had another point right along a fence line on Nelson’s end. The rooster held really tight as Nelson approached, and to Nelson’s surprise (or shock) it finally flushed a foot or so in front of him. Unfortunately the rooster took off directly in line with a farm house, and I yelled at Nelson not to shoot – and not shots were fired. Still no worries – we had two roosters flush within the first 15 minutes of our hunt – and not all was lost, as Nelson got the full adrenaline experience of a rooster flushing from underfoot. And I still remained confident we would have several more opportunities.

That confidence soon disappeared as the same field that Rob and I had previously worked with great success was empty! The dogs weren’t birdy, and me plus 3 kids in a line didn’t flush another bird for an hour. Finally, we had another point. Again, right in front of Nelson. As we approached, the rooster flushed about 10 yards out. Nelson lifted his shotgun and followed, and followed, and followed… then fired. By the time he pulled the trigger, the rooster was out of range – and escaped without a scratch. Ugh!

Style points, but no birds.

We finished the field without another point of flush. Tally: 3 roosters flushed (but only 2 of which were shooters), 1 shot fired, no birds in the bag.

We loaded up in the truck and drove over to another nearby field. We pushed through that field without any hint or signs of birds. I could tell the kids’ patience was starting to get thin, so we called it a day and I took them all out for burgers.

Though we didn’t bag any birds, they all told me (unsolicited that they had fun and wanted to do it again. As a father of 4, I’ve learned the hard way not to push the kids too hard. Keep it light and fun – and eat a good lunch – and they’ll want to come back for more.

Cora on point in the Denton, MT area

Most upland bird hunters in Montana (and across most the northern states) spent a lot of time worrying about bird numbers throughout the summer and early fall months due to a harsh winter and a horrible spring. I distinctly remember June 15th – the peak of the pheasant hatch, and we had a cold front push through with rain – cold rain. The hatch conditions were absolutely horrible. The poor spring hatch conditions, coupled with the harsh winter had many bird hunters in despair.

When grouse season opened on September 1st, my fears were fueled. The sharptail grouse and Hungarian partridge numbers in my normal haunts were gone – it was tough sledding trying to find some birds. While I’m an eternal optimist, I developing serious heartburn over the the upcoming pheasant season. The pheasant opener is usually a sacred weekend – there are very few things that can trump that special day for me. Unfortunately for me, my daughter (Emma) who is on the freshman volleyball team here in Bozeman, had an away game in Billings the pheasant opener Saturday. Despite my love for the opener, I’m a father first – so I went to Billings and attended the volleyball match. Emma’s team won in 5 games – very good and close games – and Emma played well.

While I did attend the volleyball match, I left early enough in the morning to hunt a few public lands around Billings before and after the volleyball match. The Billings area definitely wouldn’t have been my first (or last) choice destination to hunt, but my situation was what it was, so I made the best of it. The first state land section that I hunted had some standing corn and looked promising. Sure enough, there were birds in there – on a dead sprint a hundred yards in front of me It was a fairly hopeless situation as a lone hunter with no wing men or blockers. But I saw birds – I was encouraged.

I hunted a few other pieces of state land that morning and my dogs pointed a covey of huns. Not the target bird of the day, but I never pass up an opportunity for huns. After the match, I hunted another area just off the interstate west of Billings. It looked good, but I figured it must have been hammered earlier in the day (given the ease of access and proximity to the city). I had another lone hunter in the distance working towards me, and between the two of us, we did kick up one rooster – that flew in the other hunter’s direction, and he made a good shot. Still – another bird in an area I wouldn’t have thought would produce much.

In the weeks after the opener, I made a couple trips up to the Denton, MT area. I found plenty of birds yet again – visually seeing more birds than I saw last year, which was considered a pretty decent year for birds. I also stopped by a friends place just south of Denton. He owns approx. 800 acres that he has managed for the past 20 years specifically for upland habitat – he always has birds. He also tracks closely how many roosters are taken off his land. 3 weeks into the season, he and others had taken 100 roosters – which he said was right on par with prior years. He knew for certain that the concerns about lower bird numbers were unfounded. I put in a bit of work on these trips to Denton, and the last time up was in some tough, very windy conditions, but I still managed to find and bag several birds.

I also talked with another friend of mine who went deer hunting around Wolf Point, MT and ended up on a pheasant hunt. The deer were scarce, so they traded out rifles for shotguns and got their limit each day – relatively easy – without dogs. He’s not a big bird hunter, but he said he’d never seen so many pheasants. I’ve also had reports out of eastern Montana (typically the best pheasant hunting in the state), and while they report there are fewer birds, they say there are still plenty enough to get your limit in short order.

Bottom line – the birds are out there. Get out and go find some – it’s not as hard as some would lead you to believe -JT

A few weeks ago, with my Montana map loaded into my GPS, I revisited this same slough that looked so promising in the past. I was extremely curious to know if the slough was state land, and guess what – it was. In a few places, the state land didn’t match up with existing fence lines, which made it harder to determine the boundaries. But with my GPS hunting map loaded in, the state land was clearly marked, and I always knew exactly where I was with regards to public and private land. I flushed several birds in there and ended up bagging a couple roosters. I knew there were birds in there – it was just a matter of knowing if they were huntable.

I carry my GPS on me every time I go afield. I hunt a lot of public lands, and my GPS map is invaluable. Despite me using this GPS map and viewing it as a critical tool in my bird pursuits, it never dawned on me that I should probably sell the maps on our Uplanders Warehouse site. When I finally woke up to this fact, I felt a little stupid – which was only compounded by the fact that the maps are created by another local Montana company (in Missoula) named HuntingGPSMaps.com. I contacted Eric – the owner of HuntingGPSMaps.com – to see what it would take to get setup as a dealer. And later that day, I was officially in the GPS map selling business

There are maps available for most of the states with any hunting to speak of. And there are a couple different options when buying them – the actual micro SD or SD card, or a downloadable product. The SD card version is much easier to use in my opinion. You simply drop it into your Garmin GPS unit, and you’re good to go. With the downloadable version, you have to download a sizable file (up to 750 mb), then transfer it from your computer to your GPS unit. A little more complex, and requires some technical expertise that at times is a little beyond me. However, with the downloadable map you can also use it as a Google Earth overlay on your computer – which is handy when trying to scout out new areas for your next adventure. Due to the extra value in using the download version on your desktop – and to help cover additional technical service requests, the download version is priced at $129.99 while the SD card version is only $99.99. Despite the cost on these, the tool is worth it. Go check these out on our website at this link.

Shoot me a note or post a reply to this blog if you have any questions or need any additional info on these map products. -JT

This friend of mine was born and raised in the small town of Froid, MT – right in the heart of Montana’s best pheasant country. I didn’t learn of this till after the fact, but apparently Froid celebrated its centennial last year (in 2010) – 100 years as an official town in this great state we live in. To commemorate the event, Froid produced 100 silver belt buckles (made here in MT by Montana Silversmiths). The town auctioned off the buckles – the first one going for $300 or so. And each auction winner could pick their number (each buckle was numbered 1-100).

My friend called his parents in Froid to ask if there were any buckles left, and they told him to call Kathy at the general store. My friend gave me Kathy’s number, I called and to my good fortune, there were still 3 left that needed owners. I realize its a bit after the fact, but I snagged me a pretty cool buckle (officially #65) for only $75.

I’m happy if my $75 supports the town of Froid, but I’m also hoping that if I proudly wear this buckle in the Froid area when stopping to ask landowners if I can hunt their land, it might, just maybe, get me on to land that I otherwise wouldn’t see. It’s worth a shot, right?

On a related note, my wife (Dixie) absolutely hates big belt buckles – so needless to say, she’s not fond of my pheasant buckle. We took the family out 2 weeks ago to shoot some family photos. Dix and I were getting a couple shots of just us, when I reached in my back pocket and grabbed my buckle that I had brought along. I held it in place while the photographer shot the pic, and the kids were busting up in the background. Dixie thought her hair was out of place or something, but they were just laughing at me ruining the picture with my ugly buckle It’s an enhancement if you ask me. But if I left it to Dixie, this buckle would never see the light of day. (Good thing she doesn’t know the password to my blog account

PS – I’m sporting the Beretta Rugged Nailhead Shirt and Dixie is wearing the Filson Women’s Long Sleeve Shooting Shirt.

Rob and his black lab Cooper

I think it is safe to say that fall is finally in full swing here in Montana. The leaves have changed colors and are falling from the trees, the temps are becoming considerably cooler and snow is once again gracing the tops of the surrounding mountains – and I’m dreading when it reaches the valleys (I’m not a huge cold weather fan   Along with fall comes an increasingly busy season for us around the warehouse, and as the bird season is now open in most states, the orders are to rolling in for new hunting vests, shooting shirts and upland pants!

My wife Dixie and I have always enjoyed the close personal interaction that we have with all of our customers, and being a small family run business has helped us to maintain a level of quality and control that we feel is necessary in order to provide the level of service that we feel our customers deserve. The only “problem” with operating a small family run business that specializes in upland hunting gear during the upland hunting season is finding time to get out and do some hunting

This fall we finally realized that the business was getting bigger than we alone could handle, and the time had come for us to begin looking for another person to help us out around the warehouse. We put out a local search for the perfect employee, and got a big bite. It is now my pleasure to introduce you all to Robert Stiehl (Rob).  Rob is a born-and-raised South Dakota “tail chaser” that relocated to Montana for college and never found his back to South Dakota. Rob brings a tremendous amount of experience in the outdoors industry and he practically has a Ph.D. in Pheasant Hunting (did we mention he was from South Dakota?). Along with his 6 month old Black Lab sidekick “Cooper”, Rob will be helping us out with just about everything from marketing and merchandising to answering calls and shipping orders. He’s very knowledgeable about all of our products – and I’m very confident in his ability to answer the toughest questions. During our interview/courting process of Rob, the only shortcoming Dixie and I could find was his choice of a Lab over a pointing breed

Rob’s joining our family doesn’t mean Dixie or I will be any less involved in the business – only that we’re growing and needed help to keep up our high standards for excellent service. Dixie and I are both very excited to have Rob on the Uplanders Warehouse team. Be be sure to say “hi” and welcome Rob to our larger Uplanders’ family the next time you call in or swing by the warehouse!

No new Ptarmigan's this fall. Looks like Columbia is getting out of Upland

As a retailer, I depend on my manufacturers and vendors to do what they say they’re going to do so I have inventory to sell come fall. The way it typically works is I place my fall season orders in the preceding December-January timeframe. The manufacturer then makes the products through the spring and summer and ships them to me around July – just in time for the bird season ramp up that starts in earnest in early August. So it was a little disconcerting when Columbia Sportswear emailed me in July (around the time I’m expecting to receive my Columbia order) to tell me that they were only shipping a fraction of what I ordered – and none of the key pieces like their Ptarmigan Jacket and their Grouse X Vest. Apparently, they didn’t have enough demand, so they decided not to manufacture the orders they did have. Its unfortunate because Columbia does make some great gear – the Ptarmigan is one of my favorites. Over the last couple years, I’ve watched them scale back their upland apparel assortment – and my gut tells me they’ll be exiting the upland business altogether very soon. In a nutshell, don’t count on any more Columbia upland products. And if you have your eye on one of their pieces, I’ve only got a few remaining from last year’s inventory – so act quickly.

Awesome pants for $46

On the flip side, Browning is actually expanding their upland assortment. They took over the Bird’n Lite brand (strap vest, traditional vest, jacket and pants), and added a couple other great pieces this fall. After close inspection, these other pieces (Cross Country Pro Upland Pants, Cross Country Pro Upland Jacket) may be THE best value in pants and jackets on the market – I’m very impressed with them, and as soon as the weather turns a bit, I’ll be putting them to the test.

This is a lot of jacket for only $79

Both the pant and the jacket are highly water “resistant.” The folks at Browning tell me they are essentially waterproof, but the legal department wouldn’t let them make that claim. They’re also wind-proof for you South Dakota-bound hunters.

Finally! Non-PF branded vests are now in stock

I also finally got my hands on some non-Pheasants Forever versions of Browning’s traditional Upland Vest and Upland Jacket. A lot of people love the PF logo on their attire, but others don’t have that affinity – and I now have non-PF vests available for you!

Hunting was weak, the game was great!

Last Thursday was the bird season opener here in Montana. I had a full schedule, so I planned and afternoon hunt after work. The day started out unseasonably cool and overcast. So cool in fact, I was contemplating long sleeves – or even a jacket. But alas, the clouds broke and the sun came through – and we warmed to a balmy 60 or so

I loaded the dogs up after work and drove to Shields Valley. I’ve never had huge success here, but I usually kick up a bird or two – and it’s the closest hunting opportunity to home for me. As I drove up, I wondered what this year would have in store for the huns and sharptails. We had (another) hard winter here in Montana, but this year it was compounded by a wet, cool spring – not a great formula for hearty fall bird populations.

I pulled up to the target field and parked the truck. I threw on my Wingworks vest, filled my water bottles, then started on the dogs. After the collars were checked and secured, they hit the ground running. I was still at the truck filling my pockets with a handful of Remington Nitro #6′s when Gracie and Cora (my 2 shorthairs) went on a solid point and back about 30 yards in front of the truck. I hurriedly finished getting my gear on and reached for my gun case. The dogs were both still rock solid. I kept an eye on them as I uncased my gun – looking for any sign that they were lying to me or pointing a field mouse – but nope, they continued a staunch point and back, which usually was a sure sign of birds.

I finally had my gun ready, but I still had a barbed wire fence to negotiate before getting to the dogs – who continued in their motionless state. Past the fence now, I reached the dogs and kicked around the grass and sage that was the target of their prolonged point. Nothing. I continued to kick around as I released the dogs to relocate. They both circled and searched – but whatever got them to stop hard and point so long was gone. That first point wasn’t  completely wasted – it did give me a lot of optimism the hunt would be good and that the birds were there despite the rough winter and spring.

So much for optimism I hiked the countryside with the dogs logging considerably more miles. We finally came full circle back to the truck as the sunset faded to darkness. The cool temps returned as well and I could see my breath in the air. Fall has definitely arrived to Montana.

After a stop at the Warehouse to get a couple of truck decals cut out for Glen Bahde and Randy Schultz, I finally headed home to pack my bags for my next adventure.

Ole Miss fans had some funny signs

By 6am Friday morning, I was already in the air  – flying to Memphis, TN to meet up with my dad and drive down to Oxford, Mississippi. Last weekend was the opening weekend for college football – and my BYU Cougars were playing at Ole Miss. I had bought a couple tickets to the game several months ago as a Father’s Day gift to my dad (he may be an even bigger Cougar fan than I). I was thoroughly impressed with Ole Miss – beautiful campus, VERY hospitable fans. As for the game, it was pretty ugly for the first 3 quarters. Both teams struggled offensively and when the 4th quarter started, my Cougs were down 13-0. Hope was dwindling, but we finally got a touchdown – 13-7 Ole Miss with 10 minutes left. A couple possessions later, BYU sacked the Ole Miss QB, caused a fumble, and ran it in for our second touchdown. 14-13 for BYU was the final score. But, as they say in Oxford, they may lose the game, but they NEVER lose a party – and I can attest to that.

Overall, a wonderful weekend. Happy Father’s Day Dad.