doggone if it aint paul bunyon and babe the blue ox....charlie

Absolutely brutal weather for the first few days of my fall hunting pilgrimage. On Monday we enjoyed 3 inches of rain around Watersmeet. Yesterday was two inches of rain accompanied by plummeting temperatures. We have moved a lot of Grouse from the cedars but this makes for very difficult shooting. Relocated to Grand Rapids, MN and enjoyed rain, sleet, hail, ice and finally snow accompanied by 30 MPH winds. Tomorrow is the first day of the National Hunt and we are expecting 6 to 10 inches of snow. Hard to believe, but we are having a great time in spite (or maybe because) of the weather.

Dick and grouse,finally.

Pointed by his Gordon?

We hunted south of Wirt today. Moved some grouse but not the numbers I hoped for this year.

I hope you left me a few. We head North tomorrow.

We'll be in Blackduck in ten days. I'll take a picture of the big duck. Then I'll figure out how to post it. Bruce's foto of breakfast is where we eat every morning. Owners seem to change but the food is always pretty good.

Garry , I suspect you stay in the cabins on the south shore of Clear Lake and not in the old general store on the highway. We left plenty of birds for you, I assume because we did not find many.

This is our last day up north , have to go home then get ready to go again.

But here is Pete with his 7 month old setter pup, the brother of my setter. Just a big baby that loves to run.

Then fall trails.

And finally, the woods today. If you are coming north be prepared for snow, mud and cold.

The old store was once also the post office. What you saw there is all of Wirt. My kind of town. There used to be some good cuts behind the store but they've long since grown out. Sorry you did not find many birds. When the weather gets like you've described and the birds head to the conifers, the hunting -- at least the shooting part of it -- really takes a hit. Enjoyed your pictures and reports!

In the past years, the weather in early Oct has been too darn warm and dry, hard on men and dogs. It is also miserable hunting in that slopy wet early snow that soaks right thru you. Tough waiting all year for a hunting trip, and then having bad weather.Looks like it will be better for me when I get up there next Sat--but as they say, it is what it is..I will be going regardless of weather forecast and bird numbers. Getting all those little chores and last minute packing done this weekend, luckily the wife is in Fla, so not getting sidetracked. Good luck to all.