The sunset over Lake Michigan was beautiful last night. The wind was out of the NNW and the lake was churned, making whitecaps that rolled in and covered the beach Seamus and I were walking on. The odor of decaying vegetation that’s always there when the lake reclaims the shore was evident as well as the smell of dead grass and ferns from further up toward the tree line. Seamus was having a ball: I was grinning just watching him go through his routine of exploring every smell along the water’s edge and over the dunes.
bonasa umbellus
It was a good end to a great day of hunting in an old covert where we usually found woodcock. Today, there weren’t any …but there were a couple of grouse. The little Britt was in his glory. He covered terrain that was once a farm field with furrows that must have been ripe with corn and were now impediments to walk over because of being covered with tall grass that hid depressions filled with water- thank God for waterproof boots. Tag elders dotted the once open field and cedars created a buffer for the Jordan River. Seamus found the grouse in the swampy cedars along the edge of the field.
It was also an “ah-ha” day. The two-track ends (or so I thought) in a clearing that’s almost a small lake. This time, walking around it, I thought I saw tire tracks on the other side and decided to check it out. Sure enough, there was another two-track that led to a power line with a narrow access road that led to a paved county road. Someone had used the power line to get to the two-track and stopped at the water’s edge just as I had done on the other side. It was a good find and an easier way to get to the woodcock cover – at least when they’re in.
It was a good day for Seamus, and that means it was a good day for me.
TD