This season has been a wild and crazy ride. The birds were slow to come south, and we just had some dribs and drabs. Our Sports had some good times and lively conversation, but not the multiple points and excellent hunting we are used to. It is hunting, after all, and it has been challenging without the regular good fall of timberdoodles almost weekly that we are accustomed to.

That all changed for the last two days of the first split. I ran the puppy on Wednesday in a favorite covert and found a couple of birds, but there was nothing to write home about. I had some time open Friday afternoon, and Romeo and I went at it again, hoping some new birds had shown up. Well, THEY DID! What a couple of hours it was. Skittish they were, but a few held for solid points, and a couple even presented shots I was capable of.