Posted in News, tagged Aliner, Awesome Upland Road Trip, Bird hunting, pop-up trailer, Scott Linden, upland bird hunting, Wingshooting USA on October 8, 2012| 4 Comments »
Can you guess where we are tonight?
Besides the usual hunting, dog work, hunting, dog work, hunting and dog work, we’re having some fun on this year’s Awesome Upland Road Trip … figure out where the Aliner pop-up trailer is and win a prize. Here we are tonight – any guesses? Hint: Lewis & Clark spent the night here.
Extra credit for guessing our destination for Thursday … Charlie Russell used to buckaroo there.
Posted in News, tagged Aliner, Bird hunting, free hunting gear, Gun Dog Expo, hunting dogs, pop-up trailer, Scott Linden, upland bird hunting, Wingshooting USA on June 21, 2012| 1 Comment »
No dirt, no snakes, but Manny and Buddy will be there as will the Aliner Expedition pop-up trailer.
Moved in, unpacked, and already made two new friends and saw a couple old ones. This should be a winner – 2nd Annual Gun Dog Expo this year in Portland Oregon. Starts tomorrow! Great seminars, including my “What the Dogs Taught Me,” and plenty for waterfowlers and uplanders.
We’re playing the “Real Bird Bumper Brawl” at my chukar camp … so stop by and win a prize! More info here.
Posted in News, tagged Aliner, Awesome Upland Road Trip, bird dog, Bird hunting, chukar hunting, Fields Oregon, German wirehaired pointer, pop-up trailer, Scott Linden, Wingshooting USA on November 14, 2011| Leave a Comment »
This scree harbored a covey of chukars, believe it or not.
Have you ever had virtually everything go right? For almost three weeks? When the equation included two dogs, four TV cameras, crew, vehicles and a squeaky-tight schedule?
As the saying goes, I’d rather be lucky than good. In this case, good planning was complemented by better luck. This year’s Awesome Upland Road Trip was a vestful of highlights, which you’ll see starting next summer on Wingshooting USA. I’ll do my best to recall some of them here between now and then, starting with the warm-up chukar hunt in southeast Oregon.
It was warm, dry, and where we hunt that’s a good thing. (The roads turn to gumbo with a light sprinkle; if you’re up a canyon you’ll slide into something on the way down. If you’re at the mouth, you won’t be going uphill any time soon.) Mike got there early and staked out our favorite spot. I followed, paying a visit to my favorite town, Fields (pop. 9) and proprietors Tom and Sandy Downs. There’s always a new or old friend in the cafe’, and the Friday before the opener was no exception. It’s one of many reasons I hunt that area, and there’s been more than one occasion when I’ve seen folks there I haven’t seen in town in years, adding spice to an already tasty serving of high country adventure.
A warm-up hill ... easy walking, relatively speaking.
Dave rolled in late (he’s got a respectful day job – actually, two) and we finally got some shuteye. Dawn came early and cold, with the crack of shotguns down canyon. A neighboring camp had the jump on us, scattering the home covey of valley quail before we’d finished our coffee. They didn’t stay long, though, as their principal quarry was mule deer.
We mobilized and headed for higher terrain and chukar partridge but our walk was interrupted by Buddy’s first point and the whir of quail wings … apparently the other hunters hadn’t broken up the covey completely … or was it another bunch, headed down the same canyon?
Dave’s young Lab Buster was enjoying the tantalizing scent, the excitement of gunfire, and a playmate in my wirehair. He’s got potential. Singles flushed sporadically, and we pursued. How we did is the subject of a future installment.
One tired wire.
Camp. If I told you where it was, I'd have to kill you. The Aliner pop-up trailer performed perfectly!
Posted in News, tagged Aliner, Dan Hyland, Ned Collins, pop-up trailer, travel trailer on September 13, 2011| 1 Comment »
We started with this, and went WAY beyond.
Oh boy! The Aliner Expedition arrived today and it is locked and loaded for a bird hunter. Details to come soon, but a quick shout out to Ned Collins and his creative crew at Aliner for such an innovative approach to customizing the rig. Thanks Dan Hyland for delivering and giving us the more-than-fifty-cent tour/orientation. Stand by!
The trailer’s arrival primes the season’s-almost-here pump, for sure. Here, a warm-up at a local preserve kicks off the Awesome Upland Road trip on Oct. 5. From there, chukar opener on the 8th and then off to Illinois for the first TV shoot of the season.
What kicks it off for you? Is it a place, hunting buddy, specific bird species that gets you going? We’re all gear junkies – does that set you off? The planning?
Here, it’s just 20 days and we’re hunting. You?
Posted in News, tagged Aliner, Bird hunting, pop-up trailer, Scott Linden, television show, travel trailer, Wingshooting USA on August 24, 2011| 4 Comments »
Beefy, rugged, manly. Nope, that’s not the opening line for a beer commercial. Better still, it’s a description of the tricked-out off-road, custom-built Aliner Expedition travel trailer that leaves the factory Friday for the journey west where it becomes the official travel trailer of Wingshooting USA.
Aliner president Ned Collins has pulled out all the stops to make this the ideal bird hunting rig: practical touches abound, from a fan in the dog box to off-road tires, rock-repelling diamond plate to exterior shower. Once it’s here, you’ll get the full tour with lots of photos. Until then, here’s another set of the rig “under construction.”
Here's what you'll see when I pass you while exceeding the speed limit. Or vice-versa.
Ventilation fan on exterior dog box entry. Buddy and Manny approve.
The grand entryway ... note the logo on the dog box (right). Will my dogs know that's their entrance after a long, muddy day?
Scott Linden Outdoors 