![The First Bird After](https://magarticles.magzter.com/articles/7434/394179/5e4bc4145a2cf/Watermelon.jpg)
It had been a lazy but satisfying Indian summer until my house burned down.
Watermelons and tomatoes were ripening, the freezer was full of salmon and walleye, and with the consistently pleasant weather, the hammock on the deck had beckoned often. Gone from that lazy respite where but two hours earlier I had been relaxing with the dogs as I reread Spiller’s Grouse Feathers, I was returning from town with groceries when I saw the spiral of smoke from five miles away.
That looks pretty close to Pease Mountain, I remember thinking. The little valley below was where my two-story log home had stood for 27 years on 11 acres of mixed forest and grassland — the dream home my late wife Marie, four kids and I had built with trees cut from her mother’s land — two years of cutting, hauling, peeling and milling. Lots of sweat, lots of laughter, lots of love and even a few memorable “disasters” as we built a home and a future for a young family and a widowed mother-in-law.
There had been much joy but also much sorrow at that house to be sure. Both Marie and her mother had passed away many years before their time, and I had buried three good hunting dogs on a sandy knoll near the house. More recently, though, life had treated me well. Although the now-grown kids had moved on, they were usually available to lend a hand, and the boys, Evan and Matt, had purchased land within sight of mine. Evan had been remodeling an old house on his acreage.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der Spring 2020-Ausgabe von The Upland Almanac.
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Diese Geschichte stammt aus der Spring 2020-Ausgabe von The Upland Almanac.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent? Anmelden
![Luigi Franchi Imperial Monte Carlo Extra: One of Italy's "Best" SxS Doubles](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/7434/1351870/0SAiBgwJa1690522419485/LUIGI-FRANCHI-IMPERIAL-MONTE-CARLO-EXTRA-ONE-OF-ITALYS-BEST-SXS-DOUBLES.jpg)
Luigi Franchi Imperial Monte Carlo Extra: One of Italy's "Best" SxS Doubles
As on London’s gun-maker’s row, Italians had skilled craftsmen who made “Best” guns of superb quality
![An Upland Bird Hunter's Equipment in Need and Equipment Indeed...](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/7434/1351870/0h6ZDlgeW1690522171927/AN-UPLAND-BIRD-HUNTERS-EQUIPMENT-IN-NEED-AND-EQUIPMENT-INDEED.jpg)
An Upland Bird Hunter's Equipment in Need and Equipment Indeed...
From the first year I discovered upland bird hunting in my early teens, my search for the right clothing and equipment began in earnest. All you need to see to support this reality is to look at all the upland clothing and equipment I have stored from ceiling to floor in my garage and sportsman’s closet downstairs
![Day's End - Making memories](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/7434/1351870/EeU72KbeV1690521830955/DAYS-END-MAKING-MEMORIES.jpg)
Day's End - Making memories
Has there ever been a bird dog man or woman with a soul so dead that he or she has not been re-energized by the first cool days of September, by the first forecast of frost, by noting the opening days marked on the calendar so many months before?
![A SIMPLE PLEASURE: THE HUNT LUNCH](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/7434/1351870/4Mz1sXXwx1690521511022/A-SIMPLE-PLEASURE-THE-HUNT-LUNCH.jpg)
A SIMPLE PLEASURE: THE HUNT LUNCH
In William Harnden Foster’s classic book, New England Grouse Shooting (1942), for which he wrote the text and provided numerous black-and-white sketches, he includes a wide-ranging catch-all chapter called “Grouse Shooting Outfits
![PACKING for Success](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/7434/1351870/l4XBowtsD1690520861758/PACKING-FOR-SUCCESS.jpg)
PACKING for Success
I spend a lot of time these days chasing game birds. But it hasn’t always been this way
![Shooting FAST and SLOW](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/7434/1351870/gjwqXIrYF1690520647592/SHOOTING-FAST-AND-SLOW.jpg)
Shooting FAST and SLOW
Scientists have recently discovered that human brains operate in two settings – a fast, reactionary “fight or flight” mode (System 1) and a slow, considered, contemplative mode (System 2)
![Private Lands, Public Access](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/7434/1351870/2sl_j_sBx1690520520826/PRIVATE-LANDS-PUBLIC-ACCESS.jpg)
Private Lands, Public Access
“Just what lies behind that fence?”
![Early Season - GREATER PRAIRIE CHICKEN HUNTING](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/7434/1351870/ZoKkc9gSo1690520053991/EARLY-SEASON-GREATER-PRAIRIE-CHICKEN-HUNTING.jpg)
Early Season - GREATER PRAIRIE CHICKEN HUNTING
Greater prairie chickens are tailor-made for early fall gunning. Young birds hatch early enough to be nearly full-grown by September, offering lots of potential targets in good habitat
![QUAIL Struggle to Survive a Multitude of KILLERS](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/7434/1351870/-l8cK61yV1690519328990/QUAIL-STRUGGLE-TO-SURVIVE-A-MULTITUDE-OF-KILLERS.jpg)
QUAIL Struggle to Survive a Multitude of KILLERS
By some estimates, the wild bobwhite population in the U.S. has declined 70 to 80% since the 1960s
![Journeys Shared: A Worcester Letter](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/7434/1351870/LVBmlYdlV1690519046706/JOURNEYS-SHARED-A-WORCESTER-LETTER.jpg)
Journeys Shared: A Worcester Letter
Hi Bob, Just finished the sensational roller coaster “memoir-style” essays of man and bird dog(s) that you and Dave Smith assembled and put into print