Too much work and not enough play time combined with not being able to head "Up North" to join family and friends that are getting some nice steelhead action had me seriously grousin'. My love convinced me that it would be mutually beneficial for me to go do something I really enjoyed for a few days....

Loaded up the trusty Toyota and headed over to the east side of the mountains to look over some new muley territory. Took along my sweet Sig 20 ga. O/U for fun. Over four days of hiking, I saw a fair number of thunder chickens. Most reminded me of chukars along the Columbia when a couple of wing flaps would put them over a cliff before I could get on them. Managed to put a few in the cooler in spite of pruning some of the pine boughs that got in the way. Saw a few youngster bucks too.

On the way home, I stopped by the old deer camp where my father and one of our dear friends used to tell lies around the campfire as the horses nickered in a nearby corral. They're both gone now. Cancer. Lots of memories were made there. Maybe time to make some new ones....

Cool-NIce week to be out in the woods!

Nice pics...........

Thanks for posting, sweet O/U

Nice!

Kewl...gotta luv it when the Tamarack's start turning!

Nice.

That Sig has some nice wood!

cool post

Nice story and pictures !

Thanks for the comments. The Sig is kind of prissy compared to my more functional scatter guns, but it sure shoulders nicely and feels like it weighs about half of my old BPS 12. Quite a few miles with a few thousand feet of vertical did much in the way of getting my heart into shape for some hunting later this month. Did the soul some good too. Hopefully, it'll last me until I can get away to play hide-and-seek with those dark-maned ghosts of the forest....