"The Fever"

Well here it is still 2 1/2 months away from hunting season and the fever started in earnest this morning. After weeks of 80 & 90 degree temperatures and blazing sun I woke this morning to temps in the 50's and steady rain with overcast skies, kind of like a good hunting day without the cold. Now I know full well that I shouldn't be ready just yet but circumstances have been conspiring against me.

My first issue of Wildfowl, after months of haggling with the subscription people and changing my address, has finally showed up. I put it out of sight in the library under some other magazines and told myself not to read it until later in the summer. Then the Macks Prairie Wings catalog shows up. Certainly it's only a matter of time before the Cabellas Fall catalog arrives too. How am I supposed to resist them? Then yesterday Big Betty, my not so trusty Ford, went in for some service. It had been running poorly and all my attempts at fixing the problems myself had failed. Time to leave it to the experts. (The experts at fixing cars that is, we all know who the expert at folding Greenies is.) I only drive a couple miles to work each day and it runs well enough to get me around town but in the back of my mind I'm thinking about needing a truck to drive to Anderson Lake, maybe even towing a boat. What about a trip to Umatilla? How about even a trip to Portland? Montana? Got to have a good truck for that.

Then there is the people factor. Zach, who worked for me all last winter, called to tell me about his summer. He is a Hot Shot firefighter in Montana and has been without much work because of the wet spring and low fire danger. Talk naturally turned to our plans to do some upland hunting this fall in his home area in Montana. Turns out he bought a English Springer pup and is having it trained this summer to be somewhat ready this fall. Game on. Also, I have met a man named Grant Miller. He owns a property on the golf course where I work and we have been been forming a rapport. In talking with him the other day I found out he is a wheat farmer and owns thousands of acres of fields in eastern Oregon. He headed home last week for the harvest and will be back again to enjoy the late summer here in Idaho. I think I'll be in a position to ask him if he has any unruly ducks, geese or upland birds terrorizing his cropland, and if so I know just the guys to help him with his problem. I'll keep you updated.

Then the capper. On Wednesday my hunting buddy Dallas called. I thought he was gone for good after some kind of altercation at my old place of employment, Dave Smith Motors. Rumor had it the Dallas and another salesperson got in a fistfight in the back parking lot and both had been fired. I hadn't heard from him since. So I get a call and it turns out he is coming back to town next month to go back to work at DSM and wants to be sure that we are still hunting. Of course we are. Add all this to the fact that I keep meeting people that can't wait to slay ducks. Rocky, a bartender at the resort and recent transplant from California, is a duck hunter and is ready to go. Even my old boss at DSM, Tom, said he may be inclined to show me a secret spot or two.

Add all this together and how could I not be getting lost in the thought of the upcoming season. Only one thing about this season gives me pause. I won't be sharing every day in the blind with my H7HT co-founder Fred G. I would have to suspect that he too is starting to get the fever, a fever that only gets worse as the fall approaches. How could he not? For Heston's sake, the man was 'The Expert' for 8 years running. Fortunately for us Cliffy has started to contribute to the Blog and even though his main mission in life continues to be ridding the world of hatchery fish and keeping the rivers and streams safe from dangerous and unpredictable swimming varmints, I know he suffers the same affliction. Perhaps even Jenny X. is laying awake at night, trying to figure out what gun in his arsenal is best suited to bring down the East Coast plague of ducks. And how about Jiggitty? I'd bet money that he is just waiting for a chance to take out "One of God's green creatures" as he calls them.

All told this morning was the right time to break out the Wildfowl magazine from behind other reading material. I flipped through to an article entitled 'Three Colors: a Teal Trifecta' and was immediately transported back in time to sitting in the blind listening to Fred G's rousing rendition of the bastardized Neil Young tune, 'I want to live with a Cinnamon Teal'. How could I not have the fever now?

GBCH

The best cart in the fleet.

Good News.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – July 2, 2010 – The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service released its preliminary report today on mid-continent breeding ducks and habitats, based on surveys conducted in May. The total duck population is nearly 41 million, which is similar to last year's estimate and 21 percent above the long-term average.

"These are encouraging numbers as we see most species are at or above their long-term averages," said Dale Humburg, Ducks Unlimited chief biologist. "The habitat conditions in many regions should support a good breeding effort."

Watch DU Chief Biologist Dale Humburg's video summary of the survey results.

Habitat conditions across the U.S. and Canadian prairies and parklands were generally good. However, further north, wetland conditions in boreal regions of Alaska and northern Canada were only fair at the time of the survey. During the survey and into early summer, many regions important to breeding ducks received significant precipitation, which could increase later breeding efforts and ensure brood survival. If these wet conditions continue, prospects going into the winter and possibly into spring 2011 could be favorable as well.

Mallards, gadwalls, green-winged teal, northern shovelers and redheads mirrored last year's numbers, and all remained above their long-term averages. Canvasback and American wigeon numbers were similar to last year's, as were pintail and scaup numbers, although populations of these two species remain below their long-term averages.

"It's great to hear the report of steady duck populations, but habitat loss continues to be a significant threat to North America's waterfowl," said Dale Hall, DU CEO. "For most species, this year's numbers are encouraging, but DU must remain dedicated to its mission of long-term, landscape-level habitat conservation if we are to meet the life-cycle needs of the continent's waterfowl."

"I would expect to see a fall flight similar to last year's," Humburg says. "But everyone must keep in mind that weather and habitat strongly influence the timing and distribution of ducks in the fall flight, and these factors are very dynamic. Although I'm optimistic about the 2010 fall flight, it's several months before the season opens, and a lot could happen to migration and wintering habitat before then."

WHO SAID SMOKIN' WAS BAD FOR YOUR HEALTH

Stupid hatchery fish.

Happy Birthday

So....
Last night just as I'm getting off work, it's about 5:30 pm on America's birthday and I'm looking out over the mountains. Green golf course behind me and the Silver Valley dropping away into the distance, sun setting and creating an early summer alpenglow. 3 ducks flying in perfect silence and formation fly over my head and off into the evening. Heston bless America!

Big Steel!

Hello all you glamorise followers of the H7HT blog. With hunting season only 4 months away and a day off, I woke up and felt the need to slay. With the 'accident' behind me and a new spey rod, I woke up at 0' dark thirty and headed out to my stomping grounds....the Clack. I love the Clack, I really love the Clack. Today was epic for me. While floating down in 'Old Cracka' (I can call her Old now), I saw two things I've never seen before on the river. First was a river otter, ya, a river otter. I've seen them before on other rivers, but I float the Clack more than anything else and I've never seen one there before. Second, a turkey vulture, ya, a turkey vulture. Bright red head, looks like a turkey vulture. Must have been one, right? Anyways, on to the good stuff. Brand new Echo DH 13 ft. spey rod, ross reel and scandi shooting head. It's cloudy and drizzly, perfect day for summer steelheading. I'm on my usual float, feeling out the new rod, and it's great. I mean it was turning the fly over with the ease of my old Anderson rod (tears, I miss you). Swinging flies all morning and picking up little native rainbows that are feisty and well fit. Already having a great day, I decide to switch to a bigger fly. A big ole nasty Freight Train, a Deschutes classic. As I'm starting my retrieve on my fifth cast, to start the sixth, the tug happened. It was like a hammer out of nowhere. At first, I was worried. I left my steelhead leaders at home and had to make one on the fly with 4x tippet (trout line). Ya man, here I got this 13-14 lb. fish on with 5 lb. test. After the fish made its first run and I got her in close enough to see if it was adipose clipped, I noticed it was a hatchery. SWEET, I decided to tire this fish out and net her to increase the odds of a native fish surviving. After a 25 min. battle, she was in the boat and had a rock taken to her head. Can you say Almondine!!!

Golf course pics by Fred G.

Free golf for all H7HT members!