Lions and Tigers and Bears...well, not Tigers

Strangely enough, one of the things I miss most about hunting in Utah and Idaho is that it's done in the presence of mountain lions and black bears.


There's just something about an after-dark hike back to the truck down a cold, lonely canyon that makes your neck hairs stand straight up. The anxiety-induced adrenaline bursts from every predator-shaped shadow are addictive. I've only ran into bears a couple of times in the woods and have yet to encounter a cougar while not in my truck, but it's not uncommon to hike a dusty afternoon trail back to camp and see bear or cat tracks on top of your morning footprints. That was exactly the case here, (click the pic to enlarge if you need).


On my last Utah elk hunt before moving to Nebraska my buddy and I spotted these old claw marks in the bark of an aspen tree.


He's from Mississippi so he thought it was the coolest thing. I didn't understand what he was feeling until I hunted this year out here in Cornland where the most vicious animal you'll encounter on the three minute walk down the dirt road back to the car is the farmer's drunken daughter making out with her boyfriend in the grass. Well... you might see a bobcat if you're lucky, but it's just not the same adrenaline rush.


The truth is human encounters with mountain lions and black bears are very uncommon, and usually end with the animal scared and fleeing the scene. Still, it makes me feel like more of a man carrying a gun "just in case".

Trail Cam Captures

I got a trail camera for Christmas a month or so ago and have set it up several times. Here are a few photos just for the fun of it.

I threw some birdseed out onto my back porch and caught several pics and videos of these House Sparrows bouncing around. This chunky little guy decided he'd steal a free meal as well.


In this video you can see the sparrows dart for the bushes once they spot the danger fast approaching, (watch the top of the fence).


That Sharp-shinned Hawk was the coolest thing I had caught on camera until this week when I placed my trail cam in the woods.


If you look close you can see the coyote in this video holding something in his mouth, perhaps a squirrel? A rabbit? The pheasant I missed earlier in the year?


Late one night a couple of months ago I let Rudy out to do his doggy business just before going to bed. I hadn't even closed the back door when he erupted into a barking fit that I knew meant something or someone was in our backyard. Expecting to see a cat or our neighbor, I stepped onto the back porch and was surprised to catch a glimpse of one of these being chased away:

I had never seen a possum before that night. I figure it lives nearby because I've spotted it twice since then. I've set up the trail cam a few times trying to catch a photo (this one isn't mine), but no luck yet. Not long after that I caught another trespasser in my yard but this one was quick, (unlike possums), with a ringed tail (like a coon), but skinny as a cat (unlike a coon) and I only got a glimpse in the dark. I'd really like to catch a picture of it because I think it was a ring-tailed cat, though all the books say they don't live around here.

Farmland Fun

Other than my recent duck hunt post, I haven't written much lately about my adventures here in the wild and rugged farmland of Nebraska. I miss the Rocky Mountains and the public-land-deer they provide, but I had my share of fun up until the seasons closed.


Rudy and I have been chasing birds all fall. He flushed his first pheasant in late October and my twelve gauge brought it to the ground. Rudy was on it like a hawk with his propeller-like tail swinging frantically behind. I commanded him to retrieve, not knowing quite what he would do with a bird half his size. He stuck his nose to it and then looked up at me with a confused look on his face as if to say, "Ya wahme da wha!?" (He's from the ghetto so he talks like that). Again I told him to fetch it, to which he incredulously replied, "Dis sucka ain' no dove, man. You gotta be ou yo freakin mind!" He then moseyed off to go find a tree to pee on.

I left my camera home that trip so this is the only picture I have of the bird.


A few weeks later we were out looking for a new place to hunt deer, (because the whole rifle-hunting world moved into my little honey hole once the corn harvest was over). Rudy flushed a flock of quail out from this little patch of cover.

As startled as I was, I'm surprised I had time to get my gun up and drop the last bird through that opening in the trees. Rudy got it, left it at my feet and ran off looking for more. I had to call him back to take this picture.

I marked where the covey landed, flushed them again and shot one more. These were the first Bobwhites I'd ever seen. They fly incredibly fast. I wish we had 'em back home in Utah.


The last week of deer season (last week of the year) I spent many cold mornings and evenings trying to find a deer on public land. I saw three small bucks and a few does, like these...

...but none came within range of my traditional black powder muzzleloader. Why don't I use a better gun, you ask? I tell you in a post or two from this one.

With or without venison this year I had fun. Hopefully I can find some private land to hunt deer on next year, but at least the dog and I have access to birds.

Ducks, Dogs, and Decoys

Until recently I had never been duck hunting. I had hunted ducks before, well...I had shot at ducks before, but never actually went duck hunting (with boats, waders, dogs, decoys, etc.) When I came to Utah during the Christmas break JD and I went out one day to do just that.


Long before the sun began to offer its light we had the canoe floating amidst the ice of the Bear River. Rudy and Lily each sported neoprene vests to keep them warm as we made our way up the main channel.


I was also in neoprene...my new waders I got from Bass Pro in Iowa. I still get some kind of power thrill when I walk in freezing cold water but remain dry and warm. Like when it's raining cats and dogs outside your tent but you're curled up comfy in your sleeping bag dozing off. Take that mother nature.


While setting up decoys I actually stepped off an unseen, underwater cliff and fell in up to my chest. Luckily my waders rise up to my armpits so no water got in, otherwise it would have been a cold ride back to the truck.

We shot a lot of steel into the air that day and more than a few ducks fell. Lily retrieved them. Rudy didn't know what to do. He had never even seen a duck till that day.


We flushed a few from the canoe and on foot, and hit the others over the decoys after calling 'em in. Well...we were calling and they came in. Whether one caused the other could be debated, but you never know. Let's just pretend I speak duck. As for the little guy, he had fun running through the snow and riding in the canoe, pretending to be a tough hunting dog. By the end of the day he was ready to go home, curl up on Courtney's lap, and be the pet that he really is.


I love being outside. Thanks JD for enduring the cold with me. And thanks for missing all the birds so I'd look better. :)

Rudy's training secret (in videos)

For awhile I've been trying to get Rudy to go a little further in his training than just retrieving, but he's had a rough time. I originally thought he just wasn't smart enough, and at times I've mentally kicked myself for not buying a real hunting dog, (truth is I didn't know how much I'd come to love dog training and bird hunting back when the wife and I picked a pet-store pup). I've also thought it must be me. Having never trained any dog before I was convinced that my lack of skill was manifesting itself in my dog.

Luckily I've found the secret. Birds. That's right. The secret is birds. Rudy gets bored with bumpers and balls, but his desire for birds never ends.

At a park near our house the doves feed on the ground everyday so Rudy and I often do our training there. Here's a video of him chasing a bunch up and retrieving for me. Sorry you can't see the doves very well. There was about 15 of them.


I throw doves which I shot last month (now frozen) instead of bumpers or his tennis ball and it has made all the difference. He's been able to learn how to do blind retrieves, in which he takes direction from my pointing hand because he didn't see where the bird fell, as seen here:


Often when sent on a blind retrieve his direction needs to be corrected, so I've tried to teach him to take direction from me. Because I use birds he cares enough to learn that when I blow the whistle he must sit, look at me and go left, right, farther, or closer depending on my what he sees my arms do. He has picked it up very quickly:




I've also been able to teach him that he needs to finish one retrieve before he can go get the next. That way if I shoot a bird while he is on his way back he won't drop the one he has for the one just hit. You can see here that he looks back and marks the fall, but then continues his fetch.


And finally a combination of direction and distraction.


What a good little dog. He'll never win any awards for speed. In fact he still thinks this is all just for fun, (which I guess it is). But even if he never fully gets it, I'm impressed. He is, after all, an unregistered pet-store pup taken from his litter at three weeks of age and considered not worth the effort to doc his tail to meet breed standards. Not exactly from a royal lineage. There might even be a little mutt in him, but like I said...I'm impressed.