OUTDOOR Tales and Trails

About a month ago, I had a chance meet – ing with a childhood friend which led to a grouse and woodcock hunt in northern Wis – consin last week. My friend Dave and I went to school together but after graduation our paths went in diuerent but similar directions and we lost contact. The one interest we con – tinued to share was the outdoors, so when Dave invited me up north for a couple of days I jumped at the chance. Specifically, Dave’s cabin is east of Moose Junction, Wis. Since Moose Junction is liter – ally a tavern at an intersection in the middle of nowhere, a better way to locate it is to say that it’s about a half hour south of Su – perior. The cabin, by the way, is worthy of a story in itself so I’ll circle back to that in the dead of winter when the outdoor sports slow down. When I pulled up to the cabin, Dave walked out with Falco, his Munsterlander breed hunting dog and constant compan –

ion. From that point on we hunted and un – packed all of the years that had separated us since high school.

I’ve bagged a few ruued grouse in my day, but my previous experience with woodcock was limited to watching their elaborate mat – ing ritual in the spring. Because I have been hooked on watching that play out every year, I had some hesitation in actually hunting them until I had one flush and bolt to safety so quickly that I never even raised my gun. In the battle between the woodcock and me, I was the definite underdog. From that first en – counter I guessed that if it was up to me, we would be eating pizza for supper. We worked through the tightly packed young birch trees and tried to keep up with Falco who had boundless energy. When he went on point, we hustled in behind him and waited for the bird to bust out. Being a rookie at this sport I couldn’t believe how fast these birds could leap into flight. When Falco came to a point and a bird jumped up and Dave fired all so quickly, I had a Joey Lawrence moment of “Whoooooaahhh.” As for my “batting average” in this wood – cock game, it would be safe to say that it took me a while to get the hang of it. Eventual – ly I did bag some birds and at one point I had three woodcocks and one grouse in 14 shots. I started to feel a little confident with getting the hang of this timberdoodle (slang for woodcock) game. Immediately after that I was humbled with six straight misses. My shooting aside, I was having a great day and thankful that Dave and Falco welcomed me into their club.

We celebrated with a supper of grilled woodcock wrapped in bacon and shared more catch-up stories. I hope to do both again soon.

If you want to see more pictures and vid – eo of Dave’s northern Wisconsin woodcock hunt, go to “Outdoor Trails and Tales with Dave Beck” on Facebook.

Didn’t get enough Dave this week? Visit “Outdoor Trails and Tales with Dave Beck” on Facebook for photos and video of Dave’s adventures. You can share your own photos and video with him there as well, or by emailing him at [email protected] Also, check out OTT content on Instagram @ thepiercecountyjournal

Dave’s cabin is about a half hour south of Superior, near Moose Junction. Photo by Dave Beck