How much mud is too much for a 'Mudbat'?
Sneaked away Friday afternoon to a secluded little valley at the head of the Patuxent River watershed. The area has been know to hold woodcock over the years so I gave it a try. A couple of hundred yards into the best of the covers, I noticed the entire valley floor had the look of a recent "gully washer". Lots of soft, yellowish-brown mud slick underfoot, but the higher tummocks were crisp and dry. The narrow mainstem of the river and all of the smaller feeder creeks were jammed with flotsam from upstream.
I decided that whatever birds may have been in there got out fast when our heavy rains came last week and the deluge overran the valley floor. Nevertheless, I gave it a good 2 hour back-and-forth, nice and slow, zigzagging across the face of the sun (isn't it weird how even on a bluebird day, the November sun looks like it has gauze draped over it?). No birds, no signs of birds, nary a peent. Eerie and quiet all the way in and out of the little valley.
It seems so strange to hunt alone. God I miss my dogs!
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