Well it’s been awhile….but I’m back. The last three months have been pretty hectic with our Deutsch Drahthaar puppy, commonly referred to as Chompasurus Rex. Hade’s has completely changed our lives and we couldn’t be happier. That’s where the title of this article comes in. I have 28 days of vacation time I have to use up before 1 October 2021, and, upland hunting in most states opens in October. Montana seems to be the earliest opening state for upland birds. Everything but pheasants will be open in September. What does everything but pheasants mean? That’s a great question. The list of available species are: Hungarian Partridge, Ruffed Grouse, Blue grouse, Spruce Grouse, Sharp-Tailed Grouse, Sage Grouse, Doves, and Rabbits.
My goal with this trip is not to bag as many birds as possible; for three main reasons. The first reason is we are going to boondock this whole trip, tent camping the majority of the time, with no freezer. So, most of the birds will need to be cooked the day of, or within a few days of harvest. Our storage capacity will be pretty limited as we are traveling in a 2009 Ford Ranger with a standard cab. The second reason is training Hades. I want to get him on as many wild bird contacts as possible, but that does not mean shooting every bird he comes in contact with. If he doesn’t point and hold until I flush the bird, there will be no shot. The reasoning behind this is to start building his steadiness to flush, as well as keep and hopefully enhance his point. If I shoot every bird regardless of how Hades does he may develop a creep. Or worst may become a bad flushing dog or flash pointer. While I’d like to bag as many birds as possible this year’s hunting season will lay the foundation for our pup’s entire hunting career. I want Hades to be a brag dog not just a meat dog. The third reason is due to Hades age. On 18 September 2021 Hades will only be eight months old. Between his age and the potential heat he will probably only have two to three hours of quality hunting time in him per day and that’s ok. I’d rather hunt a few hours with him each day than exhaust him to the point where he can’t hunt for a few days, or worse get injured.
When Hades is unavailable I have five real options for what to do with the day. First is just hang out at camp, nap, hang out with the pup and my wife. Second is attempt to bird hunt solo. This is honestly probably the least likely thing I’ll do. Third is scout for the next day’s hunt. This will happen, however, I’ll have to be careful. Gas may be a real issue. My truck can hold about 15 gallons of gas and who knows how far we’ll be from a pump at any given time. I plan to have at least five gallons of spare fuel but that’s so we don’t get stranded. We’ll see what the situation is when we are there and adjust accordingly. The fourth option is find a location with doves or pigeons and do some solo dove hunting. Depending on the numbers this is a pretty plausible. The fifth option is to fish. Montana should have some quality trout fishing with two species I’ve never caught before. Those are the bull trout and the cutthroat. Alongside these native fish are browns and rainbows. I’ll be happy to catch any of them. The plan is to bring my fly-fishing set ups - both my six and eight weights. Hopefully it’s warm enough to wet wade. Besides from just being fun, the fishing will provide a fresh source of protein for us to eat.
This trip will be the longest and most remote camping I have ever done. We have A LOT of research and planning to do. I wish I could say we are ready to leave today but we are not. Between the gear we still need to acquire, learning the laws and regulations of Montana, bear considerations, physical preparation, and training Hades we just are not there yet, but we will be. As of 23 June 2021 we have 72 days left until we depart. Just over two months isn’t a long time but a lot of progress with a dog can be made in that time frame.
We are really excited for this trip which will be about so much more than hunting! I hope you guys follow along on whether it’s on here, Instagram, or YouTube. Your best bet is to follow all of them to get as complete a picture as possible!
Thanks for reading and remember - Stay Versatile.
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