It’s 66 degrees, sunny and calm at 4p.m. I’m sitting next to a huge saguaro cactus typing this. Obviously, we’re not in the Madison Valley. Jackie, our shorthair pointers Finn, Dozer and Gizmo left Montana for a couple weeks to enjoy desert sunshine and quail shooting. We’re finding low quail numbers but still like to walk nearby arroyos, mesas and mesquite flats. This morning Dozer lifted his head into the light breeze, wiggling and snaking his way through cactus he locked while Gizzy and Finn backed his rock-solid point. I walked in and flushed a pair of gambel quail scoring a male on a lucky shot. The dogs circled around and pinned another pair of birds in a cluster of prickly pear cactus. Gizmo was the lead dog on point, he looked regal with his tail and head held high. I pulled another lucky shot. There was some disagreement between the dogs as to which one would retrieve and bring the bird back to me but, in the end, Gizmo delivered it to hand.
Jackie gave the dogs a well-deserved drink while I cleaned the birds, preserving the skins and feathers for fly-tying. We talked about how great it was we were hunting and hiking BLM land, the same we area we have for over 40 years. We discussed how our freezer was full with elk, bighorn sheep, whitetail deer, pheasants, dusky, ruffed and sharp tail grouse all taken on public lands during last fall’s hunting season, and how fortunate we are to have these public lands and organizations like Backcountry Hunters and Anglers that make sure we will have them, forever. I joined BHA as a life member last year for this reason.
Please, for our kids and grandkids, join and support organizations like BHA.
I’ll be writing soon about our bighorn sheep hunt last fall along with my 41st elk in 41 seasons and more about our public lands. Stay tuned, and thanks so much for reading.