Ohio’s ruffed grouse season was five months long and allowed a three-bird-per day limit, so hunting the shortened days of January and February in the teeth of winter could be punishing. And yet, heading out into the worst weather seemed preferable to sitting idle on the couch watching a sports event on television.
Bad weather wasn’t always the norm in a southeastern Ohio winter, but when it did occur, it was memorable. Deep-freeze conditions were often excessive: bone-chilling cold, of course, and at other times heavy wet snow, or worst of all, sleet and ice that sheathed everything and made both seeing and walking difficult and even dangerous in our precipitous up-and-down hill country of the Hocking River Valley.
I recall days of below-zero temperatures, days of unremittingly harsh winds, days of blizzard whiteouts and days of ice storms severe enough that walking itself was a chore and a burden, made even clumsier by the overstuffed and often inadequate winter gear we wore to keep us dry and warm. Best of all, through thick and thin, the dogs hunted like champs. At different eras, all the dogs of our group – English pointers, English setters, golden retrievers and Labs, springer spaniels, Brittanys, Gordon setters – thought the woods owed them something after a five-day layoff, and they were out to exact their portions of recompense.
Denne historien er fra Spring 2021-utgaven av The Upland Almanac.
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Denne historien er fra Spring 2021-utgaven av The Upland Almanac.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Tailfeathers
The essence of fly fishing, I think I've decided, is time.
Ten Questions with Tim Flagler, Fly Tyer/Cook Extraordinaire
Culinary Creations from Gordon Hamersley
GREY on the Wing
Hands clutching the wheel of a large, lumbering vehicle whose vintage and purpose partially prompted the invention of \"powering steering,\" disengaged the clutch and applied the brakes, bringing it to a stop.
James Purdey & Sons Ltd.One of London's "Best"
At the conclusion of a recent breakfast meeting of the Shrewsbury Men's Club of Massachusetts, I was packing up my show-and-tell aids after giving a presentation.
WAWAWAI
I don't chase chukars anymore, but from the time I was 16, chukar hunting had been my favorite bird hunting endeavor.
A FAIR EXCHANGE
Among the concerns faced by many small community gun clubs here in the Northeast is our inability to attract and maintain new and younger shooters.
Coming to Heel
I'n the world of gun dogs, it's not unusual that retrievers are taught to heel.
Bird Dogs - Health Matters
Avoiding Medical Mishaps on the Road
MATT HART
Matt Hart, owner, designer and artist of Hartist Metals, is a highly skilled metal sculptor based in the picturesque Catskill Mountains of New York.
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