TIED TO NATURE
magazine
THE UPLAND ISSUE: CLOWN QUAIL BADLANDS BUCKS ROGUE STEELHEAD ALBERTA UPLANDS MONTANA PHEASANTS POINTERS AND SETTERS UPLAND ROAD TRIP GEAR DIY DALL’S SHEEP THE PLIGHT OF SAGE GROUSE FIELD TO FLY
FALL 2020 DISPLAY UNTIL NOVEMBER 31, 2020
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Strung Fall Photo Contest (Honorable Mention) Sawyer, a Brittany German shorthair mix, leads Charlie Fischer to pheasants on a southern Utah walk-in access property. Photo: Colin Clancy
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Strung Fall Photo Contest (Honorable Mention) “Duck hunting gives a man a chance to see the loneliest places [...] blinds washed by a rolling surf, blue and gold autumn marshes, a rice field in the rain, flooded pin-oak forests or any remote river delta. In duck hunting the scene is as important as the shooting.” — Erwin Bauer, The Duck Hunter’s Bible, 1965. Photo: Chris Ingram
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Strung Fall Photo Contest (Honorable Mention) Despite an unseasonably hot day in Southern Iowa, Junior didn’t slow down and was rewarded accordingly. Photo: Korey O’Day
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Contents
FIELD TO FLY by Mark Lance “Although I’ve fallen hard for this bird-dog-upland-wingshooting-wild-game-on-the-table thing, a voice in my head still cries out, What about steelhead? What about trout?! Fly fishing remains a lifelong passion despite the call of the uplands. The fact that my favorite season for swinging flies overlaps with the upland season presents both a quandary and an opportunity.”
LIVE OAKS AND CLOWN QUAIL by E. Donnall Thomas Jr. “Mearns quail offer the most challenging wingshooting of any game bird on the continent. Imagine climbing through chukar terrain to shoot at birds whizzing through ruffed grouse cover while flying as erratically as woodcock.”
BADLANDS BUCKS by Nick Trehearne “Big country, extreme heat, and stalks that can take an entire day to execute—early season mule deer in Alberta’s badlands are one of the toughest hunts in Canada.”
ROGUE by Dave Zoby “They donned cheap sunglasses before opening the door. And then Allan Housman, humanities professor from Casper, Wyoming, two-time winner of the Ballard Excellence in Teaching Award, author of three books and one chapbook of narrative poems, and the state’s sole representative to the National Humanities Foundation, discovered himself surrounded by over 100 female cannabis plants, replicas of themselves, five-and-a-halffeet-tall, their stems drooping with the weight of flowers.”
FIRST AND LAST by Jim McLennan “If you choose to view things a certain way, you might see a number of symbolic or at least poignant points to ponder in the events of October 31 in the southern hills [...]”
THE PERFECTLY IMPERFECT NATURE OF PHEASANT HUNTING by Noah Davis “While Chris closes the distance, he speaks to his dog the way my father spoke to me as I shot jump shots on the basketball court: firm but with a tender recognition that the body knows what to do. I recognize that I am in the presence of something beautiful—a moment balanced but ephemeral, made more beautiful by its impermanence.”
POINTERS AND SETTERS: WHERE DID THEY GO? by Tom Keer “For some, there remains no greater thrill than to ride a walking horse through an endless prairie, arrive at a higher elevation, and see a brace of pointers locked up. Others praise the athleticism of a performance setter zigzagging through a tangled mess of primary- and secondary-growth forests and pinning a grouse. Nevertheless, times change and breeds fall in and out of favor.”
66 70 72 78 86 88 96
UPLAND GEAR GUIDE by Strung Staff Part of what makes upland hunting so enjoyable is its simplicity—grab your gun, load up the dog, and go. That works fine when you’re hunting close to home, but an upland road trip requires more forethought and planning. We’ve compiled a gear guide that will come in handy when you hit the road in search of new birds and new habitat.
TRAINER’S CORNER: SAFETY by Josh Miller “Opinions on the e-collar run the gamut from love to loathing. Like it or hate it though, there is no way to make a correction at distance other than an e-collar. Over the years, the e-collar—the “invisible leash,” I call it—has saved the lives of countless hunting partners, enabling essential communication in times of need and calling numerous dogs away from bad situations.”
RATIONS AND INTOXICANTS by Jenny Nguyen-Wheatley “The beauty of the boundless plains is that it’s full of opportunity, and a person only has to take advantage of it. I suppose as a hunter and forager, I’m wired to look for those opportunities: whether that’s dragging home a deer that’ll provide weeks of food, gathering an often-ignored wildflower to flavor my next batch of kombucha, or transforming a common weed into something delectable.”
NO SUCH THING AS EASY: AN ALASKAN DALL’S SHEEP HUNT by Brian Ohlen “In my experience, a hike-in sheep hunt can be more of a backpacking trip than a typical hunt. Animals do not densely populate the mountains, and you must travel far to find them. This isn’t a bad thing, because to follow sheep you have to go into the mountains—and what better place to spend your time putting one foot in front of the other?”
THINKING MAN’S GAME by George Jacobi “If rivers have personalities (and they do) this one is mature, focused, on a mission. It coldly it goes about the business and wordlessly communicates its message: “Be serious, boy, this is for professionals.”
CAPABLE PARTNERS by Levi Glines “Hunting is something I’ve done since I was young. It was easy for me to access, and I never considered how fortunate I am to have the physical capability to get outdoors. But all that changed last fall when my friend Chad Fix introduced me to a Minnesota-based organization called Capable Partners.” THE GROUSE FLIES AT DUSK: VANISHING MONARCHS OF THE SAGEBRUSH SEA by Reed Knappe “Though only a small percentage of Americans today are aware of the Greater Sage Grouse’s predicament, it may be the most momentous North American species under threat in our lifetimes. Herein lies the deeper meaning of the sage grouse’s status as a “landscape species”: they are indicators not only of the sagebrush sea’s integrity, but a litmus test for the willingness and ability of Americans to set aside space in our landscapes for nonhuman life, to safeguard traditions of outdoor life and wildlife appreciation which link us to past generations and to nature.”
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magazine
Publisher: JOSEPH J. BALLARINI
Editor-in-Chief: RYAN SPARKS
Creative Director: SCOTT MORRISON
Conservation Editor: REED KNAPPE Fly Fishing Editor: DAVE ZOBY Upland Editor: TOM KEER
Waterfowl Editor: E. DONNALL THOMAS JR.
Wild Foods Editor: JENNY NGUYEN-WHEATLEY Editors At Large: EHOR BOYANOWSKY
ALEXEI JD BOYANOWSKY JOE DOGGETT
MARK HATTER Copy Editor: LEILA BEASLEY
Website: MICHAEL DUCKWORTH
CREATIVE CONTRIBUTORS Denver Bryan Colin Clancy Noah Davis Levi Glines Logan Hinners Chris Ingram George Jacobi Lee Kjos Mark Lance
Jim McLennan Lynda McLennan Mia McPherson Josh Miller Korey O’Day Brian Ohlen Heather Thomas Lori Thomas Nick Trehearne
COVER
(Fall 2020 Photo Contest Winner) Although the bond may be tried and tested through many challenging and difficult conditions, the infinite trust we have standing behind our bird dogs can never be broken. Photo: Chris Ingram Strung Magazine is a quarterly outdoor lifestyle publication focused on upland, waterfowl, and big game hunting, fly fishing, wild foods, and conservation.
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As the world becomes increasingly digitized, we’ve been asking ourselves how we can intensify the experience of reading a print magazine? I think part of the answer lies simply in the subjects we cover—hunting, fishing, the food we gain from those pursuits, and the conservation efforts to protect the places where we do it. One side effect of more screen time is that society becomes less conscious of our earthy sources and begins to regard nature as scenery, a backdrop to be admired, a playground. This is counter to everything hunting and fishing tells us about ourselves and our place in the world—we aren’t separate from nature, but tied to it. In his essay Before the Echo, Pete Dunne speaks to the transformative effect hunting has on our perception of our place in nature: “Think of the natural world as a great play, an incredible drama held on a world stage in which all living things play a part. When I carry binoculars, I stand with the audience [...] but when I carry a gun, I become an actor, become part of the play itself.” Those that hunt and fish know the intensity and meaning in this “becoming.” It is something we strive to convey in every issue of Strung. To help us do it we are always looking for unique voices, both new and experienced. And so, with our Upland Issue we’re introducing a fleet of new editors. As our new Upland Hunting Editor, Tom Keer brings a wealth of experience and knowledge about all things upland hunting, bird dogs, and wing shooting. For over 30 years Keer’s work has appeared across 75 titles earning him over 35 awards in the process. In this issue, his writing on the historical trends in sporting dogs raises interesting questions on the future of classic hunting breeds. Award winning writer and cofounder of Food for Hunters, Jenny Nguyen-Wheatley is a prolific author of wild game recipes and one of the leading wild food writers in the country. As our new Wild Foods Editor, she is the link between chef and hunter, exemplifying all the best things about field-to-table cooking. Keep an eye out for many delicious things to come. Dave Zoby is one of the greatest sporting writers of our time and its an honor to have him as our Fly Fishing Editor. Zoby
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letter from the EDITOR has taught in Brazil, the Netherlands, Germany, and was a Fulbright scholar in Syria. Outside of writing he also teaches composition and creative writing at Wyoming’s Casper College. While Zoby joins Strung as Fly Fishing Editor, he also enjoys hunting pheasants, ducks, and grouse with his black Labs. I’m pleased to have him on our editorial team. Don Thomas is a name many readers will recognize. Thomas’ passion for waterfowl hunting is unsurpassed and we are delighted to have him as our Waterfowl Editor. Although labeling Thomas as just a waterfowl hunter would do him a disservice. Thomas has been a physician, commercial fisherman, bush pilot, hunting guide, and is an author of more than 20 books. He is a zealous bowhunter, fly fisherman, and upland bird hunter—a truly well-rounded sportsman if there ever was one. Reed Knappe is one of the most interesting people I’ve ever met. For years he lived in a remote Japanese river valley studying forestry and taking daily excursions to fly fish for amago trout. He studied history at the University of Chicago, environmental history at Montana State University, and continued his studies of the natural world at Harvard. His piece on Montana’s threatened Smith River in our summer issue as well as his article on the current status of sage grouse in this issue speak to his ability as a writer, commitment to conservation, and eternal interest in nature. I’m proud to announce him as our new Conservation Editor. With this fleet of new editors, we have a considerable talent pool to draw from. Our overarching goal is to make the outdoors as alive and dynamic as we know it to be. On behalf of our editorial team I invite you to enjoy the Upland Issue.
Ryan Sparks Editor-in-Chief
Photo: Scott Morrison
ACE, German shorthaired pointer OWNER: brian PIlgreen trainer: Fowlco Retrievers
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DENVER BRYAN Denver Bryan is a former wildlife biologist and long-time outdoor photographer, primarily hunting and fishing, with over 500 magazine covers and several books to his credit. Nowadays, he’s more retired than not, and lives by the motto, ‘Less film.....more bullets, bows and flyrods.’ For more on Denver’s photography check out his website at www.denverbryan.com
NOAH DAVIS Noah Davis grew up in central Pennsylvania and now lives in Missoula, Montana. His writing has appeared in Fly Fisherman, American Angler, The Flyfish Journal, Anglers Journal, The Drake, Fly Fishing & Tying Journal, Backcountry Journal, and Southern Culture on the Fly. Davis earned his MFA in poetry at Indiana University and his first collection of poems, Of This River, was published this August by Michigan State University Press. He hopes to become more familiar with all the wild birds Montana has to offer.
LEVI GLINES Levi Glines is a freelance photographer that grew up with a passion and love for the outdoors and wildlife. Hunting and fishing has always been a constant in his life, but recently he has poured his energy into photography, endeavoring to capture the spirit of the hunt. His photography seeks to shed a positive light on hunting and relate his appreciation for the beauty in creation. He currently resides in Minnesota with his wife Bethany, their three children, Hudson, Emmy and Bear, and Deutsch Drahthaar, Eikahey. Bethany and Levi are expecting twins this summer.
CHRIS INGRAM Chris Ingram is a outdoor photographer and writer living in Vermont with his wife Danielle and their pocket-rocket poodle, Greta, where life is focused on making time for the next upland or flyfishing trip. His motivations are rooted in sharing information, promoting kinship, and creating content in the sporting community. To tell a story and elicit emotion in a photograph really puts a feather in his cap. As a lifestyle photographer, he hopes his imagery speaks to the passion of wild pursuit that burns within each of us. His greatest achievements are the friendships and experiences he has generated along the way. To keep an eye on Chris and his work, check out www.featherwindcreative.com
MARK LANCE Mark Lance is a photographer and outdoor writer based in Colorado with his wife Sharon and bird dog Zeke. Mark is the founder of River Light Images, an outdoor lifestyle photography company founded in 1995. His photography is deeply entangled in the pursuit of trout and steelhead, upland wingshooting with versatile dogs, the great outdoors, and distant travels. His photography has been the visual foundation for many flyfishing brand campaigns, lodges, and outfitters. He is a frequent contributor to flyfishing, wingshooting, and conservation focused publications. See more of Mark’s work at www.riverlightimages.com 14
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Jim McLennan is a lifelong lover of the outdoors who indulges his twin passions of fly fishing and hunting upland birds with pointing dogs. He has written about both extensively, in magazines and in his four books about fly fishing. Jim and his wife Lynda live in southern Alberta where they split their time between fishing, hunting, photography, writing, and playing music. Together they own and operate McLennan Fly Fishing (mclennanflyfishing.com), a longstanding business offering fly-fishing instruction to people of all ages and levels.
MIA MCPHERSON
CONTRIBUTORS
JIM MCLENNAN
Mia McPherson’s images have been published in guidebooks, birding apps, national and international magazines including BirdWatching, Audubon and the American Birding Association’s Birding magazine, as well as a variety of other publications. Her photography has been displayed in several locations across the U.S. including interpretational signs, kiosks,
and museums such as her local Natural History Museum of Utah. She was gracious to give us the use of many of her images in support of Greater Sage Grouse conservation.
JOSH MILLER Josh Miller is the owner and operator of River Stone Kennels in New
Richmond, Wisconsin. After his college athletic career, Josh focused on his
true passion, training gun dogs. He has been training professionally for nine years. Josh has uniquely exhibited success over a range of competitions including retriever hunt tests and horseback pointing dog field trials. In
addition, he has won 6 NASHDA Championships with dogs he has trained.
Josh is also the Product Training Specialist for SportDOG® Brand where he
takes pride in educating people on the proper use of training tools to get the most out of their relationship with their dog. Josh spends as much time as
he can over the winter traveling the country with his dogs chasing waterfowl.
BRIAN OHLEN Brian Ohlen grew up fly fishing and deer hunting in the Black Hills of South Dakota. The scent of sagebrush drew him west, where ever-larger rivers and mountains stoked his desire to explore. He received a Bachelor of Science from the University of Idaho and has worked across the west as a bicycle mechanic, logger, trail builder, and writer. Brian currently resides in Alaska where he revels in the ability to fill freezers full of wild berries, fish, mushrooms, and game. His freelance work has appeared in Backcountry Journal, Strung Magazine, and for many outdoor gear brands. You can follow his work @spoke_n_fly or at spokenfly.com
NICK TREHEARNE
Born and raised in Western Canada, Nick was self-taught when it came to not only photography, but hunting and fishing as well. This has not been a hinderance however - since his early teens and successfully taking his
first mule deer with a bow on his first day of hunting, Nick has personally taken over 100 big game animals ranging from Bighorn Sheep to Sitka Blacktails and his award-winning images have been used around the
world for magazine covers, international advertising campaigns, and fine art prints. These days, Nick is most happy while sharing camp with good people and taking part in their experiences, camera in hand.
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FIELD TO FLY STORY AND PHOTOS By Mark Lance
With Colorado’s dusky grouse season behind me, I look back at the days and the mileage—the time spent catching my breath in the clean mountain air, lungs on fire and legs achingly tired by elevation gains and descents. The Colorado high country has a lot to teach us about grouse and upland hunting in general. It was the logical place to begin our wingshooting season and avoid the energy-sapping heat of the plains below. Our home turf is also a good place for a reality check: to confirm our fitness, to knock the rust off the mount-swing-bang sequence, and to prove up the hours of training since last season.
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When I say “we,” I mean my bird dog Zeke
BC rivers are as spectacular as any in North
and me. Mountain grouse in September—
America; the mountainous terrain towering
“blues,” the old timers call them—is our
above the valley floor swallows you up. Fly
season-opener tradition. After a couple of
fishing for steelhead, each one swimming
weeks hunting them, we look forward to
upstream on a journey from the ocean
so much more of the upland season: more
to natal waters, is addictive. Pursuing
species, more terrain and covers, more hours
steelhead requires preparation, honed skills,
on the open road, more time outdoors. With
and persistence—not unlike upland hunting.
grouse in the game bag, however, I have
We diligently hit the water at first light
another itch to scratch.
morning after morning, driven by hope and addiction. A natural rhythm unfolded as
Although I’ve fallen hard for this bird-dog-
days and eventually weeks of steelheading
upland-wingshooting-wild-game-on-the-
drifted by. I don’t quantify success by the
table thing, a voice in my head still cries out,
number of fish hooked or landed; rather,
What about steelhead? What about trout?!
the currency in this game is the richness
Fly fishing remains a lifelong passion despite
of the experience: falling headlong into the
the call of the uplands. The fact that my
expansive views of surrounding beauty and
favorite season for swinging flies overlaps
feeling the force of big weather on your
with the upland season presents both a
exposed face, the freedom of movement
quandary and an opportunity.
along the river, and the immersion in a big natural system where humans are incapable
***
of calling the shots. You have to go with the flow. The reward is in there somewhere.
In the fall, the tilt of the earth whittles away at the daylight hours. Frost blankets
As I have come to realize, this currency
the landscape overnight, yet temperatures
and these rewards overlap with my upland
rise to t-shirt level during the day.
sensibilities. While pursuing steelhead I often encounter grouse. The rolling farmland
A late September road trip out of Denver
in the valleys and the vast stands of aspen
took us through the heart of Rocky
and birch giving way to conifer forests
Mountain upland country. Lots of it. Birds
where mountains rise up; clearcuts criss-
were heavy on my mind as Zeke gazed
crossed with an endless array of abandoned
intently out the window from his “shotgun”
logging roads and readily available water all
position in the front passenger seat. Idyllic
add up to wonderful grouse habitat.
country—except for the wind blowing sideways, pinning cover grass flat to the
Though British Columbia is in many ways
ground. I wondered if it would have the
similar to my home-turf grouse habitat, the
birds pinned down as well, or if an audacious
local grizzly population here meant that I
sharptail would move between cover and
had changed positions on the food chain;
crop today. Either way, scenting conditions
as a result, the snap of a twig or plunk of a
were abysmal. Only the most desperate and
pinecone falling to the ground took on new
diehard hunters would be out.
meaning. In addition, accustomed as I am to the more open landscape of Colorado, the
I had to suppress thoughts of birds,
dense dark forests here would challenge my
although the driving wind did dull the
reflexes to mount and swing my gun before
sting: No, we weren’t hunting this beautiful
thunderous wingbeats disappeared into
landscape today. We were just passing
the woods. A seasoned New England ruffed
through on another adventure, heading
grouse hunter would likely chuckle.
north. Way north. Across the country’s northern border. Two more days of hard
What to do?
driving, jet boat in tow, landed us in northern British Columbia with high hopes
The phrase “cast and blast,” though
of wild steelhead.
descriptive, is clichéd, conjuring images of
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conquest and Saturday-morning-outdoortelevision high fives. “Cast and blast” simply doesn’t capture the deep, meaningful connection I feel between upland hunting and fly fishing. It took a while of puzzling over this before I finally put my finger on the crux of the connection: What really pulls these two passions together for me is fly tying. *** I have burned countless hours tying my own flies—as a creative outlet, to pass long winter evenings, and of course to match the hatch. My tying bench is littered with loosely organized piles of synthetic materials and feathers from genetically enhanced birds dyed in unnatural hues, all jammed into small plastic packages that I bought exorbitant prices. In my defense, there is also a special box of tying materials on the bench that contains the carefully prepared feathered skins of game birds, all of which were pointed and faithfully retrieved by Zeke. “Zeke’s Box,” I call it. And the flies I tie from those Hungarian partridge, sharptail, blues, and pheasant feathers in the box are “Zeke’s Flies.” I fashion a number of my flies after the centuries-old Yorkshire spiders. When tying these patterns, one cannot help but feel a connection to the very origins of fly fishing. Silk thread wrapped around a delicate hook, a tiny ball of hare’s mask dubbing, a couple wraps of a single Hungarian partridge hackle, and a neat silk head creates arguably the most iconic soft hackle profile on the water. If you can find them in fly shops, they will be in a bin labeled “Partridge and Orange” or “Partridge and Purple” or something similar. Simple descriptive names from a bygone era. From this simple fly pattern the imagination can run wild—or perhaps run amok, as in my case. These impressionistic patterns, tied from wild game bird feathers, are suggestive of mayflies and caddis either drowned or struggling to the surface. So simple, yet deceptive enough to dupe most fish. You can create the silhouette of larger bugs
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AND THE FLIES I TIE FROM THOSE HUNGARIAN PARTRIDGE, SHARPTAIL, BLUES, AND PHEASANT FEATHERS IN THE BOX ARE “ZEKE’S FLIES.”
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with longer grouse hackle, or double up the speckled grays of hun and mottled browns of grouse to create flies for swinging in burlier water. Game bird feathers also lend themselves to more modern fly-tying techniques. Composite loops, a technique borrowed from Pacific Northwest steelhead anglers, hold several materials at once and ultimately create the size, shape, and lifelike movement I’m looking for. I include synthetics to the loop for added color and shape before tying on various lengths of the longer fibers stripped from pheasant saddle hackles or the wispy leg plumage from a sharptail. Once the loop of materials is spun and wrapped around the hook, the fly takes on a life of its own. Typically, no two flies turn out the same. *** After BC, our upland season marched on across the prairie potholes of North Dakota, the National Grasslands of South Dakota, the Sandhills of Nebraska, and the corn rows of Kansas. In Montana we scratched the fly fishing itch with Bighorn river trout and the wingshooting itch in the nearby hills. In Wyoming we camped and fished and wore down the tread of good boots in search of sharpies and chukar. With a few birds in the freezer the season ended all too quickly, but we had laid down a fine blueprint for seasons to come. When I have the good fortune to hold a harvested wild bird in my hand, I appreciate its beauty and stand in awe of nature’s design etched in every feather. I strive to honor that bird with a good meal and extend its memory by tying flies from its plumage, which in turn are swung through big Western rivers in search of trout and steelhead. Every day that I hunt behind my dog, I see another day ahead when I can fly fish with feathers from the field. And when I fish with those feathers wrapped upon a hook, I relive a successful hunt in the field. It is through fly tying that I have found a fulfilling and lasting connection between upland hunting and fly fishing.
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Illustration: Heather Thomas 38
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rogue By Dave Zoby Illustrations by Heather Thomas
IN COLLEGE HE WAS BABY-FACED, A BIT CHUBBY IN THE MIDDLE. SOFT, THEY CALLED HIM. HOUSMAN COULD TAKE HIM IN ALL SPORTS: RACQUETBALL, BASKETBALL, WRESTLING, HORSESHOES, AND BEER DARTS. HE TOOK HIM ALL THE TIME. THEY DRANK ALL NIGHT LONG, AND LOGAN WAS INVARIABLY THE FIRST TO FADE. HOUSMAN SEIZED THESE MOMENTS TO PAINT LOGAN’S FACE OR GET SOMEONE WITH A CAR TO DRIVE LOGAN’S LIMP BODY OUT INTO A COW PASTURE AND DUMP HIM WITH JUST A BLANKET AGAINST THE DEW AND CHILL. LOGAN WOULD WALK BACK TO THE DORMS THE NEXT MORNING, CHUCKLING, CARRYING HIS BLANKET. “ONE OF THESE DAYS I’M GOING TO SHOW YOU,” HE WOULD SAY.
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They fished one day, Housman and Logan, in the New River, just outside of Blacksburg.
“Tell Sadler I’m presenting a paper. He
They caught pumpkinseeds and little
always goes for that.”
smallmouths on spinners. There were college kids all over the rocks. There were radios
“All right,” said Carrie. She went outside of
going. That was over 30 years ago.
the outreach building to smoke in the wind.
Logan flunked out of college his junior year. They lost touch. In graduate school Housman bumped into Logan at a grocery
There was so much to do in Ashland: An
store in Richmond, Virginia. They stood
incredible number of boutique wineries
in the rain in Carytown and talked. Logan
were sprouting up in the Applegate Valley.
was working construction, building decks
There were restaurants bowing to the
and patios for the newly rich who dwelt in
faddish force of farm-to-table cuisine.
the outer rings of the city in 4,000-square-
Organic produce and goat soaps were for
foot homes. “Pricks,” he said of them.
sale at nearly every shop. There was a coffee
“Wannabes.” Housman told Logan about the
culture, two respectable co-ops, and a world-
book he was writing on Stonewall Jackson.
class film festival occurring on the very
Logan invited him to come watch Monday
same dates Housman had booked. There
Night Football at his apartment. Housman
were poetry readings, live music, sidewalk
turned him down. They lost touch for real.
sales, and garden tours. But Housman was keenly interested in only one thing:
Only by the miracle of social media did
steelhead fishing. He packed his waders, his
they find each other again. Logan Bruell
boots, and his 8-weight. Logan told him not
owned an excavation business in Rogue
to worry about flies.
River, Oregon. He was also a river guide. The pictures of steelhead and happy
“Dude, the run is sort of petering out. But I
customers proved it. He reached out to
bet something will turn up. I always seem to
Professor Housman first. Housman was
catch something when no one else does.”
jetting between conferences, one in Italy on the Baroque, and one in Miami on the
Logan’s voice rang with a confidence
Afro-Cuban diaspora. He didn’t have time to
Housman recognized in big game outfitters
immediately respond. And he forgot for a
and backcountry skiers. He was surprised
while. What did they ever have in common?
to hear it. He remembered beating Logan
Housman asked himself. But you couldn’t
at basketball, catching him flatfooted and
argue with the photos of 30-plus-inch
driving past him for an easy bucket. He
steelhead.
remembered Logan going to the cafeteria and stuffing his face with meatloaf.
Housman found a conference in Ashland, Oregon, that took place in the spring—about
Housman never actually made any of the
when he imagined the steelhead fishing
conference events unless you count the
might be good. He contacted Logan and
opening social where local Oregon pinot
they exchanged messages but never actually
noir was served in plastic glasses meant to
spoke in person. Housman bought tickets
resemble champagne flutes. He picked up
and had his secretary pay the conference
his conference packet: a schedule, his name
fee. Carrie also arranged his hotel and rental
badge, and a water bottle. He saw his name
car.
on the program, for a roundtable discussion about the future of humanities education.
“Housman,” said Carrie, “you’re breaking
He went downtown to a brewery and
the bank on this one. The dean said no
foundered after three pints of potent IPA.
more conferences until the state approves
He woke the next morning and called Logan.
a budget. I’m guessing you already know that.”
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“Hey, I’m about done over here and thought,
if you had some time, we could hit the river a day early,” said Housman.
HOUSMAN HAD SHRUNK, LIKE THE REST OF US, WHILE LOGAN HAD BECOME ENORMOUS, ROMANESQUE, BEARDED IN THE MANNER OF LONGSHOREMEN.
Logan laughed. He said something about the taxpayers’ money. He had to go over to Dixonville to pick up two Bobcat loaders he had won at auction. But he said he and his woman would come meet him in Ashland that evening, and maybe have a beer. Housman suddenly felt like a prisoner in Ashland. He avoided the conference and went sulking through town in a rain shower. He purchased a day pass and sat in the
Unimpeded, Windy lunged forward and
darkened theater with the film-fest crowd.
hugged Housman for a long moment. Her
He committed to several documentaries
perfume, her breasts against his chest, the
in a row and found himself exhausted by
honest smell of wine—none of it seemed
mid-afternoon. He skipped his scheduled
real.
appearance at the roundtable discussion. Instead he lounged in the hotel hot tub,
“Logan has told me so much about you,” she
reading a magazine on local happenings—
said.
wine tours mostly—and silently begging not to be recognized by the academics who
Housman was instantly suspicious. What did
strolled along the grounds with their name
Logan say about him—that he beat the guy
tags displayed on their breasts: Vice Deans,
in racquetball for five semesters? Housman
College Ombudsmen, Executive Academics,
made an effort to stand taller, to lower his
and Officers of Strategic Planning. Housman
voice in the style of Logan.
pulled on a sweatshirt and snuck out to a tapas place where he drank local beers
“Logan tells me you teach humanities,” said
incognito. He waited for the call.
Windy.
Logan was somewhat drunk when he walked into the restaurant. He brought to mind Guillaume Guillon-Lethiere’s painting
They drank some more. It was decided, over
“The Death of Cato of Utica.” In fact, the
the drinks, that Housman would jettison
similarities were striking. Housman had
the whole conference and come to Rogue
shrunk, like the rest of us, while Logan had
River with them. The wine was making them
become enormous, Romanesque, bearded
frenetic.
in the manner of longshoremen. And he had become a river guide on the Rogue, no
“Screw this place,” said Housman.
less. His girlfriend, Windy, was clinging to his jacket. She was a tall redhead, perhaps
“Wait until you see my side project,” said
half his age. She beamed at Logan as he
Logan. He grinned.
looked around the room for Housman. Housman was alarmed at the size of Logan.
“Do you think we can fish tomorrow?” said
He couldn’t get over it. The handshake, like
Housman, a little too hopeful, a little too
working with stone and hammers, nearly
pleading.
caused the professor to shriek. “We’ll see,” said Logan. He turned to Windy. “Them guys who sold me the Bobcats made
“How about you, babydoll? Do you want to
us stand around and drink their BS wine for
go fishing?”
about two hours,” he said.
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Pointers and Setters: Where Did They Go? By Tom Keer
When it comes to pulling out my wallet
“Because they find all of the birds?”
for a pup, my greenbacks go towards performance cover dog setters. A while back
former positions in the top 5. Which was over a century ago, between 1900-1910.
“No. To keep the fleas off of my setters.”
Yikes.
and I still am. As a hardcore setter man, I
I learned two truths. The first is that the
The setters’ and pointers’ lack of popularity
knew I’d catch some grief. To determine the
joke applies to any two breeds. And the
isn’t a newsflash to me or my wife Angela.
blowback, I dropped a bombshell of a joke on
second is that 20 years later my jaw still
When we cut our setter loose, the over-50
Peter, a hunting buddy. Like me, he loves all
clicks when I chew a piece of steak.
crowd immediately recognizes our breed. We
I’d been thinking about getting a pointer,
bird dogs—but he’s a pointer man.
setter in years and had one as a child.”
“Hey, Peter,” I said. “I’m thinking about
goes well beyond upland pointing dogs. We
The under-50 crowd, by contrast, offers
getting a pointer.”
both like breeds that used to be popular
up, “What nice spaniels you have! Are they
but have fallen from favor. In 2019, the
springers or Brittanys?” Angela fields those
American Kennel Club (AKC) ranked the
questions, as she is far more polite than I
English setter as a middling 98 in a list of
am.
“You?” he asked.
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commonly hear, “I haven’t seen an English But Peter and I share a common bond that
“Yup. I think it’s important to have an
193 breeds. The pointer came in a tad lower
English pointer in my kennel.”
at 115. That’s a freefall from both dogs’
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strung U P L A N D magazine
GEAR GUIDE
1. PakMule Cargo Carrier- $795 (pakmule.com) PakMule is a TIG welded aluminum cargo carrier perfect for upland adventures. It holds nearly the same amount of gear as half a full-size pickup bed, but being 100% aluminum, its light enough to carry and won’t rust. On a recent road trip from the Dakotas to Texas we loaded a PakMule with two coolers, over 100 lbs. of dog food, and all our camping gear. It never flinched. Beyond its rugged construction we love that you can raise the hatch of your SUV while the PakMule is fully loaded. This makes kenneling your dog and grabbing gear for the field quick and easy. If you’re finally going on that upland road trip you’ve been dreaming of, we highly recommend taking a PakMule along. 2. Danner Pronghorn Boots- $230 (danner.com) Upland hunters have strong opinions about what boots they strap on their feet and after two decades, Danner Pronghorns have reached an almost iconic status among serious hunters. That’s because Danner strives to make the holy grail of hunting boots—light, durable, and waterproof. After two decades of honing, Danner’s fifth generation Pronghorns live up to their legacy. Taking advantage of the latest materials and technology they sport a Vibram outsole for reliable traction on rugged terrain and a GORE-TEX waterproof liner that keeps moisture out while letting your feet breathe. We tested these boots scrambling up rocky Idaho hillsides for chukar and plowing through Minnesota snow drifts for pheasants. Not once did they let us down. 3. RuffWear Overcoat Fuse Jacket- $80 (ruffwear.com) Short haired bird dogs can suffer when temperatures plummet, but the same cold weather makes pheasants sit tight. RuffWear’s Overcoat Fuse is a perfect solution for hunting in wet, frigid weather. RuffWear has been making dog coats, chest protectors, and harnesses for years and the Overcoat Fuse combines all three into one seamless garment. We found it especially handy when parking near busy roads where we prefer to walk our dogs in on a leash. Just clip the leash to the outside of the coat, and the integrated harness gives you plenty of control. After several hunts we appreciated the convenience of this rugged workhorse of a jacket. Just slip it on your dog and go. 4. Igloo Seat Top Water Jug- $40 (igloocooler.com) We’ve gone through our fair share of “camping” water jugs that failed us the first chance they got. Then we realized what every construction worker and little league coach has known for decades: you can’t beat an Igloo water jug. But, you can beat on it. We hauled ours all over the country, bouncing it down dirt roads and continually tossing it in and out of the truck. The Igloo water jug is tough, doesn’t leak, keeps your water cold when its hot and prevents it from freezing when its cold. As a bonus, it doubles as a seat after a long day of chasing birds. 5. SportDog SportTrainer Series- $180-$220 (sportdog.com) Whether you run close working flushing dogs or long-range pointers, the SportDog SportTrainer series lets you pick and choose the options you need to create an E-collar system catered to your needs. Our favorite feature is the easy-to-read OLED screen that simultaneously displays all the information you need like selected dog, stimulation level, battery status, and mode so you don’t have to toggle through different options in the field. By adding additional collars, the system expands up to six dogs. We really liked that multi-dog mode remembers your previous settings for each dog, so you don’t have to go through a setup at the start of each hunt. With ten levels of stimulation, as well as vibration and tone options the SportDog SportTrainer series is customizable to fit any situation. 6. Carhartt Rugged-Flex Upland Field Pant- $70 (Carhartt.com) Traditionally, when it comes to upland hunting pants you have to choose between durability and comfort. With Carhartt’s Rugged-Flex Upland Field Pants you get both. These pants are tough enough to beat through the gnarliest cover, yet so comfortable you’ll want to keep wearing them at the end of the day. This is thanks to Carhartt’s Rugged Flex stretch technology that allows uninhibited movement while maintaining the abrasion resistance and durability Carhartt is known for. With a water repellent finish, they keep you dry on long hunts through wet grass. After two seasons of using these pants we can’t recommend them highly enough.
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7. Federal Premium Upland Pheasants Forever High Velocity Shotgun Shells- $25 (federalpremium.com) Pheasant and grouse hunters often relegate No. 7 ½ shot to clay targets, quail, and other small upland species, but Federal Premium’s new Upland Pheasants Forever High Velocity shells prove otherwise. Shotgun shell technology has come a long way in the last few years, and these shells are a perfect example. The 12-gauge, 2 ¾ inch load shoots 1 ¼ ozs. of copper-plated shot at an impressive 1500 fps for incredible reach and stopping power. Cut one open and you’ll find more than 400 No. 7 ½ pellets per shell. Best of all, a portion of the proceeds from every box sold goes to support Pheasants Forever’s mission to preserve and enhance pheasant habitat. 8. Tuf-Foot- $15 (tuffoot.com) Our dogs rely on their feet as much as their noses to find birds. Foot conditioning is important throughout the season whether you are hunting in hot rocky conditions or late season snow and ice. We’ve been using Tuf-foot for years to condition our dogs’ pads and can affirm it works. Tuf-foot both toughens and protects paws to keep dogs in the field and has been shown to aid in the healing of sore, cut, and tender paws. It has worked wonders for our pointers and now our first-aid kit has a bottle of Tuf-foot as standard equipment. 9. Gunner Kennels- $400-$700 (Gunner.com) As hunters, our dogs mean a lot to us. Come fall, many of us spend as much time with them as we do with our closest friends. So why would we put our dogs in flimsy plastic kennels that need replaced every few years? Gunner Kennels are double wall rotomolded and have a proven record of saving dogs in real accidents. They come with a lifetime warranty and have been put through over-the-top stress tests—like withstanding 4,000 lbs. of force and 200+ foot cliff drops—to demonstrate their durability. If you are serious about your dogs’ safety, you can’t do better than a Gunner Kennel. 10. ReadyDog Gun Dog First Aid Kit- $140 (readydogproducts.com) From barbed wire cuts to porcupine quills, anyone who’s hunted for long knows its not if, but when your dog is going to be injured. Designed with hunting dogs in mind, the Gun Dog Kit from ReadyDog provides the confidence and tools to handle almost any canine emergency and surpasses every other canine medical kit we’ve tried. Highly organized and well designed, the Gun Dog Kit comes with two see-through pouches and a third Field Pouch that allows you to take first aid with you in your hunting vest. The Gun Dog Kit gives you the tools to deal with trauma and serious injury when immediate veterinary care is not available. 11. Eukanuba Premium Performance Line- $60 (28 lb. bag) (eukanuba.com) Some dogs work in short bursts while others run all day. Eukanuba, founded in 1969 to produce scientifically developed kibble for sporting and working dogs, now re-affirms their position by using the latest nutritional science and technology to create their Premium Performance line. Eukanuba Premium Performance provides four specially created products, (Sprint, Exercise, Sport, and Work) that best suit a dog’s exercise levels and nutritional needs through varying blends of protein, fat, and carbohydrates. New in the Premium Performance line, antioxidant cocktails aid in post-work recovery by defending against free radicals, and every blend is rich in vitamins, minerals, and other key nutrients that supports the unique needs and demands of sporting dogs. Whether you hunt rabbits with beagles, run long ranging pointers for quail, or harness up a team of sled dogs, Eukanuba’s Premium Performance line sets a new standard in sporting and working dog nutrition. 12. Duck Camp Head Guide Hoodie- $150 (duckcamp.com) Upland hunters dream of frosty fall mornings and Duck Camp’s new Head Guide Hoodie is the perfect layering piece for chilly walks through the uplands. This fleece lined hoodie is the most comfortable layer we’ve ever worn under our bird vests and we appreciate not having to pluck burrs off at the end of the day thanks to its durable nylon face-fabric. Elastic cuffs keep the sleeves from getting in your way while controlling e-collars or mounting your shotgun and its roomy, adjustable hood seals out the wind while still allowing plenty of room for your favorite hunting hat. From the tailgate to following rover through thick cover and back again, this full-zip hoodie provides warmth, comfort, and durability on cool-weather hunts.
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rations
and
intoxicants By Jenny Nguyen-Wheatley
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the great american desert My view of the Great Plains region has
having to sit in traffic when commuting to
changed dramatically over the last decade. I
work. I like that the more rural the area, the
long held the belief of the “Great American
greater the chances that a stranger driving
Desert,” that “flyover state” was an apt
in the opposite direction might wave “hello.”
name for this sparsely-populated, “flat”
And yes, I’ve fallen in love with the land and
place. As far as I knew, there was the West
its understated beauty.
Coast, the East Coast and the place in between that Oregon Trail pioneers were
The thing is, it doesn’t matter what you
just trying to get through. The game,
tell “coasties” about the Heartland— the
embarrassingly, was my earliest impression
secrets of the Great Plains can’t be told in a
of the Midwest, and if someone had asked
slogan or a picture, which I’m told is worth
me what I knew about the Great Plains out
a thousand words. As an outdoor writer and
of high school, I would’ve blurted out “Dust
photographer, I personally find the prairie a
Bowl” and little else.
challenge to photograph and describe, not because there’s nothing there, but because
Whoever thought to put the words “great”
it’s so vast that it’s nearly impossible
and “plains” together must’ve had a sense
to capture in one frame or convey in an
of humor, because the connotation stuck.
elevator speech. It is this great immensity
The Midwest has long had a PR problem:
that makes the region so special.
Mark Twain compared the Great Plains to “one prodigious graveyard,” and Sir Arthur
I love walking a pheasant field under endless
Conan Doyle described the region as “arid,”
blue sky on a crisp, fall day; chasing grouse
“repulsive” and “a barrier against the
over sprawling sandhills that extend beyond
advance of civilization.”
the horizon in every direction; watching the woods come alive at the crack of dawn while
“Nebraska. Honestly, it’s not for everyone.”
in the pursuit of white-tailed deer; fishing
That was Nebraska Tourism’s campaign slogan
a lake and having it all to myself; coming
last year—no kidding. I guess it sort of worked
home with as much wild chokecherry, plum,
because Stephen Colbert took the bait— one
or mulberries, that I can carry.
of the few times Nebraska made national news last year— and had I never left Los
The beauty of the boundless plains is that
Angeles, I would’ve sneered and continued on
it’s full of opportunity, and a person only
with life not knowing any better.
has to take advantage of it. I suppose as a hunter and forager, I’m wired to look
As fate would have it, though, life did pull
for those opportunities: whether that’s
me from the West Coast, and in early 2021,
dragging home a deer that’ll provide
I will celebrate 8 years of living landlocked.
weeks of food, gathering an often-ignored
Now, I can’t help but understand the self-
wildflower to flavor my next batch of
deprecating humor. I even participate in it.
kombucha, or transforming a common weed into something delectable.
“Stay away.” “There’s nothing to do here.”
I am a whole person because of the
“Nah, you don’t want to move here.”
knowledge and skills I’ve gained while living on the plains—I wouldn’t be able to do what
I’ve come to enjoy “the good life,” as
I do now had I never left Los Angeles. So,
Nebraskans like to say. I live 30 minutes
for my premiere installment as Wild Foods
from Downtown Omaha, but I’m still not far
Editor, I give my gratitude to the land. She is
from the nearest dirt road. I appreciate not
home, she is life-giving, and she is generous.
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HUNTING IS SOMETHING I’VE DONE SINCE I WAS YOUNG. IT WAS EASY FOR ME TO ACCESS, AND I NEVER CONSIDERED HOW FORTUNATE I AM TO HAVE THE PHYSICAL CAPABILITY TO GET OUTDOORS. BUT ALL THAT CHANGED LAST FALL WHEN MY FRIEND CHAD FIX INTRODUCED ME TO A MINNESOTA-BASED ORGANIZATION CALLED CAPABLE PARTNERS.
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A PHOTO ESSAY BY LEVI GLINES STRUNG MAGAZINE
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Hunters who are passionate about passing on their hunting heritage often focus on getting the next generation outdoors. In the past, I have volunteered as a youth hunting mentor, but I had never considered introducing a disabled person to hunting or helping a disabled hunter get out more often. When I learned Capable Partners is committed to making the outdoors more accessible for disabled hunters and anglers, I jumped at the invitation to get involved. Chad invited me to tag along and photograph a waterfowl hunt with himself and Nate Sjolin. On the morning of the hunt, Chad showed up early to set up the decoys and blinds so when Nate and his buddy James Swaggert arrived, the only thing left to do was set Nate up in a kayak and float down to the blind. From the outset it was clear Nate was just another passionate hunter like me. We quickly hit it off, discussing the intricacies of late season mallards.
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