The Passing of Three Seasons

[mobirdhunter]

We made a last desperate dash to Oklahoma to try to find good weather and a few birds. We had trouble finding either. Still, it beats sitting at home in dismal weather with no bird season.

Our hunt was characterized by missed forecasts by the weather folks, resulting in heavy mist and fog, instead of sun and warmth, but was punctuated by a few clear afternoons. Oklahoma has jumped their out-of-state fees, and limited the land that non-residents can hunt February quail on, but we were glad to have places to go, even if the Conservation Dept. had plowed under bean stubble and grazed heavily their public land prairies.

Here a few photos from our last gasp hunt:

1. We hunted for good weather and did not find it. Heavy mist and cold was uncharacteristic of late season Oklahoma. Aspen made a gallant effort on a large river bottom bean field, one of the few un-disked fields left on the Conservation Areas we hunted. The result was caked mud and cockleburs -- and a good hour's worth of clean-up.

2.-6. But on a couple of days the fog cleared late and gave us nice weather, if not birds. We found the remnants of old homesteads and a private graveyard. (See Chris Pope's great post on a similar find of his in SC). When coveys are few and far between, "tourist attractions" are even more welcome. It's hard not to wonder about the families that toiled on these grounds and left their marks for us to find so many years later.

7.&8. Our last hunt started late after the fog dissipated. Just being out in the sun on a late afternoon was a pleasure -- even if windy and cold -- especially after enduring cold drizzle. After finally finding a covey nearby, we moved to a place that "smelled" like birds to me. We found none...but I felt vindicated, discovering an old roost, and it was a sign to me of birds remaining at the tail end of this season. What more could a hunter ask?