reporting on a week in Western Maine

[Andy]

Originally Posted by Russell E. Cleary

Andy:

Thanks for your comments and report.

I have enjoyed late-season hunting up there, despite the possibility of encountering snow. But, even with a two-wheel-drive Toyota Tacoma truck I have thus far made it out of the woods, even as late as Thanksgiving week, with tire chains added, if needed.

On hunts without a guide and his dogs, as during this year, many shot opportunities are eschewed. As much satisfaction as one can have in the alternative of finding and stalking, unaided, the “King of Gamebirds”, you can’t beat having a dog for game-recovery.

Agreed. I posted yesterday about my young setters first grouse in another thread. I surely would have lost the bird had she not morphed into a ferret and found it in a huge pile of dead tree tops from a logging operation. Damn near played Twister to lay on it and reach down and grab it, but without Raisin's nose I never would have found it.