Thanks for the replies!
Today is our last day. Sunday we were snowed out, although there was little accumulation. Yesterday dawned with majestic clouds and sun. I had saved a good spot for end of day and as we pulled up, the skies let loose. Heavy snow squalls made seeing the road back to the Cabin difficult. Just at sunset, the snow stopped -- of course. Not sure what today will hold, but this has been a great trip. Aspen made lots of progress, I blooded a new-to-me Parker, and even if my chances were few, I shot fair (for me, at least) and enjoyed the scenery and weather -- in all its iterations.
Photos:
1. A nice shot by Elaine that shows how our coverts evolve. To the right was last year a mature aspen forest. Those whips will be great cover in a few years. It's too bad that urban folks can't get the fact that a forest is a living thing, that human hands have shaped most of our forests, that tree loss is at times healthy for the ecosystem, and that beauty is not just what shows up on calendars and Disney.
2. We hunted from off this road earlier in our trip, and saved a second visit for yesterday. When we pulled up, this is what we found. Those are pine logs, not aspen, but this covert will need a few years to get back its potential. Thankfully, aspen grow fast. We "older folks" don't have time to wait on oaks to regenerate.
3. You'd think that in this cover, there would be a happy ending for the hunter...but, like so many times this trip, I had no shot from this sparse cover. I think the birds know how to foil me.
4. After negotiating the road back to the Cabin in a driving snow squall, the skies cleared about 5 minutes before sunset. From the Cabin window the clouds to the south looked like mountains. Hopefully today will bring better hunting conditions.
Threaded Mode