Scouting

Friends, the count down is almost over.  Only 8 days until the 2011 upland hunting season starts.  Soon we will be knee deep into that sweet, sweet CRP.

 I was driving down the Interstate today and noticed a few dog crated pick-up trucks heading north toward South Dakota.. (their season always starts a week earlier than ours here in Nebraska/Iowa).  Harvest is in FULL SWING, and it is almost time.

Lately I have been spending all of my time outside of the work place driving up and down every dirt and back wood road I can access. That map up there, my PLAT map for this county, has been scribbled on and over analyzed to the point to where it is "dog eared".    Ive handed it over to every farmer, farm hand, store keeper, and any local that would look at it, in efforts to find out who has what ground that we can access this season.   I`ve even taken on a part time job working at a local small town Steak House/Lounge to try and meet some of these people around the areas I will be primarily hunting.  I`ve met a lot of interesting characters and  its been a funny few months.

This year I decided to hunt the Omaha Indian Reservation in addition to Nebraska and Iowa.  Looking further into the proximity of their "public" ground that is offered through the permit, and the great habitat that is offered, I decided to go for it.  The permit sells for $170 and is only offered to 100 applicants, but after the last scouting through the Reservation, I had to go for it. Big, big overgrown fields surrounded by crop and waterways.  Just what we want.  Surprisingly well marked boundaries too.  Im totally in.

This is shaping up nicely.

Very soon and in pleasant company,

AP

PS:  I will again be FREQUENTLY and oh so RANDOMLY blogging about our 2011 upland adventures.  Don`t miss out if you are a fan.  I don`t do Facebook or Flutter (twitter) or whatever... we are in the country and the internet slowly works via satellite if we are lucky.  I old school blog here.  Subscribe.  If you want to.  I guess I don`t really get anything if you do subscribe.  Thanks for reading.  (Shouting to the folks in Korea!)

Filson

I want to write a little about the experience I recently had with Filson.

Last season I totally wrecked a pair of double tin chaps.  I had them for only one season....  Roughly 3 months, and easily 70+ hunts through very rough CRP grass/weeds. On the last day of the season they looked like the pair you see in the Filson catalog where the caption beneath reads something like: "after 55 years these chaps are still working", sort of thing.

Getting closer to opening day here, I finally decided to give Filson a call and inquire about the possibilities of fixing them and wether or not its worth it.  At this point the double tin chaps are not water resistant enough for my needs, and there are so many tears and punctures that they rip every time I put them on.

The lady on the customer service line told me to send the damaged pair in to their Seattle factory and they would access the damage, after my description of their present condition and my needs for the future. Only a week later  after sending the chaps out to them, they phoned me back and told me that they would give me a one time deal by making me a new pair of chaps, much like the briar and burr chaps that are offered in their catalog.  FREE OF CHARGE. (read the last line again).

How awesome of customer service is that?  Who, these days, does this?  Stands by their product in such a fashion that they truly mean 100% satisfied.  I even told them on the phone that I was ready to lay out $160 for a new pair of better chaps, from their catalogue, and I totally would have.  "No, no Mr. Schroder", the kind voice over the phone said to me.  "I will make you a new and better pair"...

This is a totally true story about my experience with this company.  I get NOTHING from them to post this.

I cant even begin to describe to you how happy I am about all of this.  Buy Filson.  Its worth the money.

On a side note, I will say that the double tin chaps are OK for the hunter that goes out a few times a season in minimal cover.  They were NEVER water resistant (early morning dew on grass totally leaked every time, even after harsh waxing).  Im not claiming that I am the extreme upland bird hunter that takes on the harshest terrain or anything like that either.  If I were considering buying a Filson chap I would definately go with the Briar and Burr chap.  Tho, through the obvious testimonial I have just given I still strongly support this garment company.

More on this as the season progresses.

Might as well have the best,

A.P. Schroder

The Countdown To Fall

60 days until fall!  Think about it: cool breeze, pulling out that sweater you forgot about, running the bird dogs a little more, and maybe shooting a little trap to get ready for BIRD SEASON.  YESSSSSS!

It`s time to up-grade.  In this slow economy I hope you have socked away a little money to get yourself something nice for the upcoming opener.  After all, if you read this you are like me and live for the bird season.

Its time to start shopping.   Whats it gonna be?  A new dog collar, perhaps?  Fix those chaps?  A few new long sleeve button ups from the LLBEAN catalog?  Or, likely, finally springing for those Under Armour long johns that everyone raves about...  Maybe, just maybe, this is the year you saved all those quarters and unmentionables to the point (heh, point) where a new SHOTGUN may be in your future come Halloween weekend??!!

For me, the latter.  Yes friends I am finally upgrading from the old Mossberg 20 gauge pump action I was given as a teen to a very worthy Browning over/under Superlight Feather 12 gauge.  28" barrel to be exact.  AHHHHH.  I have been saving and waiting for soooooooooo long.   I had to scrape and scavenge for this one, but thanks to gunbroker.com it is finally going to be a reality.  YESSSSSSS!

So, enough of me bragging of my new shotgun...   Time to get scouting for the big grass.  Yes, the fabled CRP of the elderly farmer that only gets touched during the week long deer season of my home state of Nebraska.   Last year was a gas and totally ruined a pair of double tinned, but thats just not enough.  I moved here from New York City (forgive me) to walk endless, scathed, cat tailed brush until my hip gives out.  I have recently aquired a seemingly endless supply of the afore mentioned CRP (NOT the CRP/MAP, mind you...PRIVATE) within a 2 mile radius of my home here in sleepy Burt county.  YESSSSSSS!!!  This all happened by meeting some good folk at the local steak house near our home.  Scouting sometimes happens at the local bar.  Sometimes a glass of sweet and cold red wine to the guy next to you will pay dividends.

I want to mention also that lately I have been told that I am 'Young" to be doing this.  Having reached my 36th birthday on the hottest day of july this year, that seemed to be odd to me.  Heh.

Friends.  Get to it.  Run the dogs.  A cold front is headed this a way!

soon,

AP

UPDATE

 

cold bbq.  I couldnt wait to get the deer on.

CLOSING DAY

The last day of pheasant hunting season for Nebraska.  

I wake up at 7:30a.m. to a Winter Storm Warning.  Planning to hit the last "cherry" and undisturbed private field I have access to.  I ready the dog, myself, and chip the inch of sleet off of my truck as it warms up.

I can barely see through the trucks windshield as we drive to the field.  I think, "we are some of the die hards", as I load up.  At this point I do everything to not spook the birds (loading my shotgun in the truck, putting my gloves on).

Before us lies a big big cat tailed slough in the midst of a couple of hills on an undisturbed CRP field.  I KNOW there are at least 13-20 Pheasant that call this little piece of heaven their home.   Ive seen them rush out of this in the 2 times I have slovenly tried to hunt this place due to reasons I wont go into now.  I am the only one that has permission to hunt this.  My "go to" spot.

Darlin` and I set out.  The weather is blowing snow and sleet but the wind is at a canines favor for our direction.  The sky is so perfectly that color of white that reminds you of a Christmas when you were so little.   The snow is drifted and DRIFTED in a way that every other step is a couple of city blocks of walkings worth of labor. .  My breathing becomes labored, my dog digging herself out of a snow drift every other step: in ten yard intervals, happy still.  Her spottings of white and black become hard to mark at a visage.  Still...

With the highway at our backs we reach the thick cattails.  My fingers numb up.  The wind is totally at our face.  I ignore this knowing that this will only help my dog scent the birds.   This time I try to not race through the thicket, but rather let the dog work it.  I keep thinking "last day", I can never focus.  Its early and Im sure something will stir....I see tracks of our game everywhere, although slightly covered by sleet.  My dog is searching in such a manner that I don`t feel I need to correct her or even coach.  My shotgun is getting locked up from the falling ice. To myself I question if it will even work under these conditions.

At the end of the slough after anticipating every possible scenario we see nothing.  I know its over.  This sort of solace falls over me: thoughts of the ones that got away to make more... sort of thing.  Im walking the long way back to the truck with even more falling ice thinking about the dozen or so Roosters I have in the fridge, and how awesome it will be to smoke them in the spring when this is even a more distant of a memory.  My dog walks close.

I unload my 20 gauge, put my dog in the truck, scrape the ice off of the windshield and make my way home.

The slippery and cautious drive back wields memories of days earlier when my father in-law John came out for a hunt and shot that Rooster from way far away (i wished I had a camera for that one) or when Donnie made his way all those times past tough weather so we could grab a couple of hours hunt up here (that could`nt have been easy, especially from so far away).  When my pup Darlin` pointed, tracked and cornered that runaway rooster in that bean field..after that I didnt refer to her as a pup anymore.  The day I finally got my first limit...that hunt ended at 9am on a sunday when I had to work. Accidentally locking my keys in my running truck at that field, then Donnie opened the door lock with some wood and wire found in a PF habitat field (in cold cold and windy weather) and then having cold beers for us to share in my truck after we got it open.

A much needed nap after chasing the late season birds.  I`d like to think she is dreaming of wild flushes with doubles raining down from the skies, but I`m inclined to believe she`s dreaming of digging through the trash and chasing our cats around the house.  

Filson Double Tin Chaps

I think its fair at this point to review the Filson Double Tin Chaps I bought at the start of the season.

I love these things. By this photo you can see that they are SHREDDED.  At $130 a pop one might be a little bit upset at the wear after a hard 3 months of chasing roosters all over Iowa and Nebraska CRP et al.  Im not.

I have waxed them 3 times.  Hard too.  There are creases all over them that are tearing.  Holes up near the inside hip area.  UN-seemly gouges and tears around the cuff.  I hunted these chaps very very hard.  I would never leave the house on an upland bird hunt without them.

The redemption: Filson has a LIFETIME GUARANTEE on ALL of their gear.  Look, things are going to get torn the F* up, friends.  Their stuff is stylish, carefully made, and is easy to take off on those mid-morning coffee/doughnut stops at the little town gas station stops where you want to remain a bit anonymous.  I like that.

So, I phoned my old hometown Seattle the other night and talked to a Filson employee to confirm the procedure to get these chaps into service.  All I have to do is box them up with a note attached to them telling them what I want done, and they will be returned to me FREE OF CHARGE.  RE-WAXED.  YES.

Filson, I am a fan.  Thank you.  I do not regret this purchase.