How much mud is too much for a 'Mudbat'?

[Kevin McCormack]

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!

[Bill Murphy]

The last week was a wet one for the Patuxent watershed where Kevin walked and for the Monocacy and the Potomac. The valley where Kevin pursues woodcock is just below an Izaak Walton League chapter where I shoot skeet. I am sure the bottom was a real swamp for a three or four day period. The Little Bennett Creek watershed, in contrast, has shown fast but absolutely clear water because of the lack of farm runoff. I ran Eva in the creek yesterday, where she showed little enthusiasm for more than chest high water. Today, I took pigeons to the fast water for some retrieving practice. Eva does not like water, absolutely hates cold fast running water. However, semi live pigeons from todays box bird shoot are a different matter. For a change, the cold, fast water was no problem for her. I have found my training aid.