Dove Hunt

Went for a dove hunt this afternoon at a gravel pit. Dove's freaquent gravel pits to "gravel", meaning they eat grit to help crush seed for digestion. Today's hunt did not go well, as the birds have been scattered due to cooler weather, and widespread corn picking, however I killed a few.

The gravel pit:


Fin after a retrieve, he loves feathers in his mouth:


My Winchester Model 42 .410 gauge, my dove seat, my dog, and the four birds I shot tonight:


A close-up of my bag:

Hoopers Weekend

Went to Hoopers Island over the weekend to build duck blinds and do a a little fishing...



a little striper, but fun to catch. Unfortunately, this fish was one of just a few caught all weekend. Weird weather scattered the forage fish, and the predators followed. However, we caught all our fish casting to shorelines, meaning that the fall pattern of fishing, arguably the best pattern, is beginning.

Big Fish

Went out fishing one evening last week with my father. We caught several nice rockfish, but the brute pictured here won the trophy. The fish measured 33 inches and weighed 13.5 pounds. I caught him on a red and white surface popper. Using topwater lures adds excitement to any fishing trip. I watched this fish jump out of the water as he inhaled my lure! Nothing matches the violence of a predator attacking prey.

Been a while

since I've posted.

AS THE summer of 2006 fades, I think a recap is in order. I spent a week in Colorado, catching trout with Dan Sheats (see his blog). My best fish measured in at 24 inches. That's a good trout, and I had a blast landing him. Here's a few pictures from that trip with Sheats in the Black Canyon of the Gunnison

My monster


My favorite camode in all of the Americas


Sheats fishing the Gunnison


And here's another picture of the Gunnison:


I ALSO did some fishing this summer on Hoopers Island. On this blog, I've posted several pictures from the Island. I love Hoopers Island. It is quiet, peaceful, and isolated. Cell phones do not work there, and as far as I'm concerned, no finer living can be found anywhere in the whole world as that found on Hoopers Island, so long as you don't mind relentless hoards of biting flies. Here's a few images taken down there this summer.

This is the house. It is an old hunting club called South Hoopers Island Tolling Society (S.H.I.T.S.). Unfortunately, this picture turned out blurry, but I like the colors, a thunderstorm was on the verge of bearing down on the island:


Net Poles at sunset:


Hoopers rests just north of another chain of Islands . The last in this island Chain is Hollands Island, once inhabited, now deserted. This abandoned excavator rests on Hollands Island, someone tried to slow down erosion with this machine, but the remote location of Hollands (10 miles from any road), and the harsh salt water beat the machine. Now an osprey calls it home:


My dog, Fin, explores one of the many salt ponds that pock Hoopers interior:


A great horned owl decided to nest in this spar which marks the channel into the harbor at Hoopersville. Later in the summer, Ospreys drove her away. She did not belong over the water anway:


Perwinlke snails abound in the Island's marshes:


Pine trees dominate the landscape. There are few non-conifers on the island:


My buddy Jeremy Mercer caught this stingray. We used him for bait:


Shannon and I caught these stripers at Sharkfin Shoal, a rockpile at the top end of Tangiers Sound, just south of Hoopers. These fish are small stripers, but keeper sized, and we ate them later that evening:


We often catch and steam blue crabs. No finer seafood exists. Anyone who wants to subscribe to my guide must enjoy blue crabs:


Hoopers Island Light, there is no lighthouse keeper anymore, but an automated horn and light:


This egret is just one of the many birds that reside on Hoopers:


Workboats on Hoopers Island, waiting for 3 AM the next morning to crab and fish for the Seafood houses of Baltimore:


MY LAST accomplishment of the 2006 summer is the completion of the Annapolis Ten-Miler. As my first long distance event, I am pleased with my finish of 1215 out of over 5000 participants. I finished it in 84 minutes and 41 seconds. I'm not convinced that long distance running qualifies as fine living.

Here is pic during the run, sorry it turned out so small: