The old and new

The thing about hunting is that you are almost always looking for new places to do it. Today, I hunted the "home covert", my woodcock hot spot from last year. We put up two birds, only one of which had to worry about dodging my shot string, which it did nicely. Coverts that are golden one year my be barren the next. That's why most the time I drive anywhere I am also scouting for land to hunt.

After picking the through the home covert, I went on to explore an area I scouted last spring. After high-stepping through marsh grass, loosing a boot in a sink a hole and taking a tumble in a mud wallow, I once again began to question why I do this sort of thing. There were no birds to speak of and just a lot of misery for me and the dog.

Yesterday, I hunted an entirely new area with a new friend. After about 3 hours of boots on the ground, we put up exactly one woodcock. At least I don't have to take credit for the miss. We still drove home happy. I spent the day feeling like I was walking through one of those paintings that idealizes hunting in the fall. It was ideal, except for the no birds in the bag part.