Watch. Learn. Be disgusted. Then share your story in the comments section and you might win a $25 Cabela’s gift certificate.
The drive home ... one tired pup
I played hooky Friday (maybe you did too) and got on the chukar hill in time for a two-hour hunt. They called, we climbed, put a sneak around the rocky top, and scored. Buddy had to search to the bottom of a thousand-foot ravine to produce the bird.
A last-minute cancellation meant I got one of two rooms at the motel – especially welcome as the snowflakes started falling. An old writer friend greeted me in the parking lot, and Sandy held supper for me at the café. There were more old and new friends in the general store, where the beer was plentiful and cold. The population of the town doubled overnight to 18, most from my own town five hours away.
My hunting partners arrived to trade secret spots. A neighbor pulled into the lot. Soon five wires, a couple pointers, shorthairs and a Lab, were all sniffing butts and peeing on bushes. And not one dogfight. Do you own a male dog? You can sense the relief.
That night, an impromptu Italian dinner was offered and accepted, jokes were told, and the one stranger at the café ended up being a fishing companion from almost 20 years ago.
In the field, birds were pointed, some were shot, retrieves were made. By the end of the snowy weekend the sun was blazing, illuminating the desert from a vantage six hundred feet up a rocky draw. Life is good.
Now, how was your closer?
Posted in News | Tagged bird dog, bird hunting, chukar hunting, closing weekend, fetch, German wirehaired pointer, quail, upland bird hunting | 4 Comments »
Alright everyone, time to put on your thinking caps … blaze orange, of course. My radio show has a Trivia Quiz every week: one simple question, everyone wins, we all have fun (why else do it?). I need a few contestants!
You win a Cabela’s $25 gift certificate (I help with the tough questions). Subjects are anything in the way of outdoors, hunting, fishing, camping, and wildlife. We record the show on Wednesdays, and arrange a 15 minute block of time in advance for your national radio debut (200,000 listeners).
If you’re up for the challenge and a good time, just drop me a line at scottlindenoutdoors@gmail.com with your phone number and we’ll schedule a convenient time for us to call you. Thanks!
Posted in News | Tagged Cabela's, free outdoor gear, game show, outdoor quiz, radio show, scott linden outdoors | Leave a Comment »
Buddy’s tail quivered, eyes locked on a nondescript patch of grass along an unnamed North Dakota creek. I kicked the grass and a rooster erupted. One, two, three, and my shot dropped the ringneck. As I turned to my partner to gloat, he asked if I’d shot.
Alright, so who gets credit when you're part of an all-star cast?
He had too. The shots were so well synchronized, neither of us knew the other had also drawn down on the bird.
I write because it’s more than a rare occurence. In the last couple seasons, I’ve shared credit with Ted Turner, winemaker Jerry Lohr, Gov. Mike Rounds of South Dakota, the Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Permanent Ambassador to the United Nations for the Republic of Iraq, and a bunch of regular guys who mean just as much to me in the field as those big shots. Some happened in front of the Wingshooting USA cameras, so you’ll see them next season. Others, well, they were just for fun and you’ll have to take my word for it.
Has this happened to you? What then? Who takes credit for the shot? And who takes home the bird? We generally have a laugh, pet the dog, and get on with the hunt. But what if you’re in a big group, including strangers. Or if one of your party is a well, game hog.
What now? What would you do?
Posted in News | Tagged bird hunting, German wirehaired pointer, Gov. Mike Rounds, hunting dogs, Jerry Lohr, National Shooting Sports Foundation, pheasant hunting, Scott Linden, South Dakota, Ted Turner, Wingshooting USA | 6 Comments »
Pet peeve of mine: All those bird watchers, nature lovers, mountain bikers, kayakers, cross-country skiers, hikers and campers are freeloaders when it comes to wildlife and habitat management.
Back in the 1930’s, hunters then anglers petitioned Congress to enact an excise tax on their gear to be used specifically for management and enhancement of wildlife and habitat. Then along came “duck stamps,” and in many states, trout stamps, upland bird stamps, etc. The upshot being sportsmen and women, so-called “consumptive” sports participants, end up footing the bill for resources all those poseurs listed above enjoy as often (or more often) as we do. (Factoid: did you know that virtually every dollar used to buy and manage federal wildlife refuges comes from your duck stamps?)
There was an attempt in the mid-1990’s to enact a similar excise tax on hiking boots, sleeping bags, binoculars and other gear the spandex-sporters buy to help critters and their environments, but it was resoundingly drubbed by the manufacturers of those products and the very groups that purport to “support” the environment. As most of you know, their voluntary contributions are an economic drop in the ocean compared to the billions in taxes, tags, licenses and dues hunters and anglers shell out every year.
Arguments continue … if we give them an economic stake, they’ll want a place at the management table, and they’re all preservationist-vegetarians! But don’t they already have a voice, whether with picket signs or petitions? And don’t we actually have more in common than we disagree on? I’ll bet we can find agreement on most environmental issues (clean water being one example).
What’s your thinking? Put in your two cents’ worth, below. And don’t spare the incisive (or insightful, or inciting for that matter) comments.
Posted in News | Leave a Comment »
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