Northwest Sportsman – August 2019

136 Northwest Sportsman AUGUST 2019 | nwsportsmanmag.com

HUNTING

A couple things about hunting

doves “over there.” One, snakes.

Poisonous snakes. It might not be a

bad idea to have a snakebite kit in your

daypack, know how to use it, and then

keep an eye on yourself and your dog.

Two, dehydration. It’s usually

plenty warm east of the Cascades

in September, and it’s easy not to

consume enough liquids. Heat stroke

and exhaustion, two very different

conditions, aren’t good, and either or

both can end a hunt real quick. Or

worse. Stay hydrated, and be aware

of the signs and symptoms, for both

yourself and your hunting companions,

including – again – the dog.

And three. Give those poppers I

mentioned earlier a try, if you haven’t

already. Simply breast out the birds,

leaving the bone in, and rinse well.

Slap half a jalapeño on the inside

(concave bone-in side), and wrap the

entire thing in an “X” pattern with

fat bacon. Use a toothpick to fasten

it all together. A little salt, pepper

and garlic, and onto a smokin’ hot

grill they go, bone side down. Three/

four minutes, flip, another 60 to 90

seconds, and they’re done.

GROUSE

I grew up in the East – Ohio to be exact

• and most grouse hunters would
  rather date their sister than shoot a
  bird on the ground. Or out of a tree.
  Anything short of on the wing.
  Well, I’m not most grouse hunters.
  I understand unwritten ethics. Fish
  in a barrel. Sitting ducks. Yada, yada,
  yada. But I like to eat grouse, and
  therefore shot them – or shot at them


• as they presented themselves. Some
  flying. Some standing. Some perched.

Wrapped in foil and camped in coals,

they all became one and the same.

I say this because when I moved

to Washington in 1993, my wife

introduced me to road hunting

grouse, otherwise known as driving

the Gifford Pinchot, picking some

huckleberries, looking for chantrelles,

catching an Eastern brook trout,

scouting for blacktails, marveling at

this new Northwest I’d found, and,

as often happened, swatting a ruff or

blue out of a logging roadside alder.

Not a confession. Don’t get me

wrong. Just the way it was. And is to

this day to a large extent.

I will, I’ll have you know, scoop up

the black dog and a light double every

now and again, and go for a more

traditional walk in the woods, the

purpose being – basically – to fire my

’fowling piece ineffectively at birds

Jake the Lab beams over a limit of Colville-area grouse. Logging roads, ridgelines

and moist ravines are good areas to check for birds. (ONTARIO KNIFE CO. PHOTO CONTEST)