Along the High Line

[Bruce Day]

Several of us went to the northern plains, Charlie Herzog, Dick Dow, Russ Lindsay, Pete Kappes, Jason ( Pete's hired hand and a taxidermist) and me. Ten days there chasing sharptail grouse, Hungarian partridge and sage grouse. We did well, good dog work and had a memorable time.

We saw hundreds of pheasant, there were three hatches this year, and the season should go well, opening Oct 11.

Sage grouse are trophy birds, difficult to hunt and hard to find, but everyone was successful and Jason will mount them. Everybody shot Parkers except Jason who does not yet own one. Guns ranged from C through V , 12 , 16 and 20ga. Hammer and hammerless.

Sharptails and sage grouse can be hard to hunt. Particularly when in groups, they often post sentries on a high point and will post outriders around the main group. Shots can be 20 yards or 50 yards. Sage grouse take off fast like any grouse and reach full speed quickly, and they take off downwind. Combined with a typical 20mph breeze, a lot of lead is required on a crossing bird. Being big bird, they can absorb a hit and keep airborne. One of our guys folded a big male which we thought was dead in the air, yet it hit the ground, bounced up and flew away, not to be found again.

We walked anywhere from 4 miles to 9 miles each day. My great grandfather homesteaded a couple hundred miles east. The weather was pleasant, much more so than in January.