A scrubapple, in our jargon, is a wild apple tree that has never been pruned or trimmed. I remember when that hillside was only a pasture with cows grazing and a massive bull in a separate fenced smaller pasture. At the top of the hill next to the remains of a fieldstone foundation are two ancient apple trees. When the hillside is covered in snow and a freezing rain covered it all several decades (at least 5 decades) the trees dropped the remaining withered apples and they skittered downhill and stopped in small depressions. This was the beginning of the scrubapples on that hillside.
Five grouse flushes this afternoon. None pointed. First grouse was a fast left to right crosser but a dead pine jumped in front of my well-directed shot string. The other 4 were only heard but Jamie saw two of them but no shot was offered.
Headed home....
.
__________________
"I'm a Setter man.
Not because I think they're better than the other breeds,
but because I'm a romantic - stuck on tradition - and to me, a Setter just "belongs" in the grouse picture."
George King, "That's Ruff", 2010 - a timeless classic.
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