Story Fair 2023

Written By: Marie Madaras. Pittsburg, NH The air shifted.  The humidity settled; a cold mist suspended around me, unearthing the smell of rotting leaf litter beneath my boots mixed with a threatening October chill. BIRD! My exhale was cut short.  The visible breath rolling and roiling in front of me, hanging indecisive of whether or not to dance away with the wind or flirt with atmospheric mist, remaining visible for just a second longer.  The disembodied pounding of wings on the ground echoed down the gully, producing nothing but a moment of hope and flickering glint of glory, wisped away in...

Read More

Written By: Brandon Smith. Mount Morris, New York There is nothing like experiencing something for the first time. It is a reality that can never be replicated. Hunters, and anglers, especially know the everlasting power of those introductory adventures. The first deer! The first fish! The first point! The first flush! We all often recall those pioneering moments with uncanny detail, no matter the time that passes.  I am left in awe when I reflect upon those cardinal moments experienced with my now 3.5-year-old Springer Spaniel, Echo. He would be the first dog that I would train and handle entirely...

Read More

Written By: Travis Deitrich. Elizabethville, Pennsylvania A number of years ago I began hunting ruffed grouse. I was on break from school over Thanksgiving and had already taken an archery buck earlier in the season. I ran my beagles hard the day before, so they earned a day of rest and I was looking for something to do. Almost as a joke, I texted a friend proclaiming that I was going to go shoot a grouse. I didn’t know the first thing about hunting them or where to find them. Little did I know, that day would spark a...

Read More

Written By: Geoff Whisler. Webb Lake, WI  “They also serve who only stand and wait.” ~ John Milton, When I Consider  Gentle Readers and Loved Ones, Another Rowdy hunting story from two weeks ago – three days into Woodcock season.  Roughly last Thanksgiving, Jaybo and I picked up a brand-new Ranger from the East Bethel Polaris dealership. Rowdy and the SAV We spent the spring putting a roof and a windshield on it and it’s a much more usable way to get around the trails up near the cabin.  I’ve been trying – with little success – to get the family to call it the “Sylvan Assault Vehicle” (SAV). The SAV...

Read More

Written By: Lynn Dee Galey. Oscoda Cty, Michiganhttps://www.Firelightbirddogs.com I’m calling it restocking the gene pool. Otherwise, who in their right mind would enter the grouse and woodcock season with three spring-whelped puppies with plans to develop them solely on wild birds. I had figured that as the year rolled on that one or more of the pups would prove to not be a keeper yet when October came around all three were still here as contenders. Today’s hunt though was Orange Crush’s turn. A bubbly 6 month old with an angelic face reminiscent of her great grandmother, I confess a...

Read More

Written by: Ken Griffin Sr. Linthicum, Maryland Stories of the hunting trips, dogs, and guns of a Maryland family “I’m a Yankee Timberdoodle, I’m a Yankee Grouse or die” Fall in Maine is the perfect time of year to experience upland hunting at it’s finest. Accompanied by my sons Ken Jr, David, Joe, and grandson Andrew we visited the Grants Camps at Kennebago Lake near Rangeley Maine to try our luck at grouse and woodcock hunting. We were not disappointed. We left Maryland on October 4th, 2023, arriving October 5th and hunted for three days, October 5 afternoon, October 6 and 7, returning...

Read More