On The Road Again 32 Years Later

When I met Nancy at the Skylon Marathon in 1977, she was already an accomplished, record-setting road racer. She continued to work hard after we married in 1978, and in spite of my help, she got even better. Lots better.

We've got a shoe box full of clippings and notes from most all her races. I'm going to use Cold Duck as a vehicle for revisiting some of them with family and friends. Entries will be added in reverse chronological order. I've invited Willie to set the proper mood.

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Jun 5, 1987

Event: Linde 10 KM

Location: Buffalo NY

Distance: 6.214 miles

Time: 36:40

Place: 2

Prize: $250

∑ Career Prizes: $15,604

The Skinny: 

The Linde Run attracted a strong local field back in the ’80s, and was one of the first local races to offer prize money. Nancy enjoyed everything about the race except the starting time, which was about our usual suppertime.

On this day, Nancy ran second to up-and-comer Jennifer Colgrove who became a good friend and occasional training partner to us both.

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May 18, 1986

Event: Lilac Festival 10 KM

Location: Rochester NY

Distance: 6.214 miles

Time: 37:30

Place: 4

Prize: $300 + $200 appearance money

∑ Career Prizes: $15,065 OK

The Skinny: Julie Isphording, Nancy's pal from the Avon Series, won.

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May 4, 1986

Event: NJ Waterfront Marathon

Location: Jersey City NJ

Distance: 26.219 miles

Time: 2:52:30

Place: 15

Prize: $500 + $500 appearance money

∑ Career Prizes: $14,565

The Skinny: Rita Borralho of Portugal’s 2:35:37 finish won her $25,000! These were heady times for us runners!

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March 23, 1986

Event: Chopperthon 30 km

Location: Schenectady NY

Distance: 18.641 miles

Time: 1:59:16

Place: 2

Prize: $500

∑ Career Prizes: $13,565

The Skinny: Jane Buch won in 1:54:45.

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January 3, 1986

Event: Charlotte Observer Marathon

Location: Charlotte NC

Distance: 26.219 miles

Time: 2:50:13

Place: 1

Prize: $2,000

∑ Career Prizes: $13,065

The Skinny: Nancy had run the Charlotte course twice before, and knew it was difficult because of its rolling terrain. So she paced herself early, and hoped she’d have a chance to chase down the hopefully-fading leaders on the back end. I love it when a plan comes together!

Nancy had come to know Kathrine Switzer through Kathrine’s work with the Avon series of races. Kathy, you might recall, was in 1967 the first woman ever to officially enter the Boston Marathon. That was quite a story at the time. You could look it up.

Anyway, Kathy sat down with Nancy post-race for an interview on the sponsoring local TV station. We still have a VCR copy of that interview (Millennials may also look up “VCR.”) It was fun for me to hear Kathy - neutral as a sportscaster should be - nevertheless mention during the interview that the wily veteran Nancy looked very strong at the half-way mark, and that she was not at all surprised when Nancy was able to run the early leaders down.

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October 6, 1985

Event: Twin Cities Marathon

Location: Minneapolis MN

Distance: 26.219 miles

Time: 2:46:47

Place: 13

Prize: $383

∑ Career Prizes: $11,065

The Skinny: Nancy ran a solid race as a member of Team Moving Comfort, finishing about 10 minutes behind race winner Jan Ettle.

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November 25, 1984

Event: Philadelphia Marathon

Location: Philadelphia PA

Distance: 26.214 miles

Time: 2:47:27

Place: 2

Prize: $500

∑ Career Prizes: $9,482

The Skinny: Barbara Filutze won the women’s race. Other than Nancy winning $500 for second place, I recorded no further notes at the time. I must have been underwhelmed at the time. You may recall W. C. Fields’ epitaph….

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October 28, 1984

Event: New York City Marathon

Location: New York NY

Distance: 26.214 miles

Time: DNF

Place: DNF

Prize: 

∑ Career Prizes: $8,982

The Skinny: Nancy never ran well in high heat and humidity. At NY this year, the high temp was 79°F, and it was very sticky. Since she started with the elite women and I started in a different area with the also-ran men, we began the race on different courses. When I ran into Nancy at about mile 10, I suggested she drop out and we’d try a cooler marathon later in the Fall. As you’ll read next time, this was probably a good call.

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June 2, 1984

Event: L’eggs Mini Marathon 10 km

Location: New York NY

Distance: 6.214 miles

Time: 35:57

Place: 22

Prize: $100

∑ Career Prizes: $8,792

The Skinny: Nancy and I were surprised to learn how hilly a course could be routed through Central Park. There was a strong field present for this at-the-time A-lister event; but Nancy’s time also reflected a building fatigue factor in the aftermath of training for and competing in Olympia.

That said, we got to stay in a spiffy room at the St. Regis, got $50 a day for cheeseburgers (almost enough ;-) and were invited to a VIP sitting area one night at a huge NYC hotspot that year: Studio 54.

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May 20, 1984

Event: The Lilac Festival 10 km

Location: Rochester NY

Distance: 6.214 miles

Time: 35:26

Place: 4

Prize: $400

∑ Career Prizes: $8,692

The Skinny: This was Nancy’s second of seven consecutive Lilac 10 km races. The race staff was always extremely thoughtful to her (and me), the drive over from Buffalo was not a bother, and there was always a great after-party at a saloon whose name I can’t remember (I told you they were great parties.) Nancy’s 4th place finish this year must be leavened with her Olympia marathon performance just 8 days before.

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May 12, 1984

Event: US Women’s Olympic Marathon Trials

Location: Olympia WA

Distance: 26.214 miles

Time: 2:40:57

Place: 37

Prize: 

∑ Career Prizes: $8,292

The Skinny: Nancy trained very hard for these first-ever women’s marathon Olympic Trials. I know she left quite a bit of herself “out there” in some very rugged runs in February, 1984. The invitation to and good performance in the Trials remains one of the high points of her career.

I am surprised to find how few mementos we’ve kept of the Trials. I have just one photo, and it’s simply of Julie Isphording and others with Nancy outside their dorms in Olympia. I’ve done a bit of ‘net searching, and found a nice account of the Trails. You can enjoy it here.

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March 18, 1984

Event: RRCA National Championships

Location: Albany NY

Distance: 18.642 miles

Time: 1:50:24

Place: 6

Prize: $350

∑ Career Prizes: $8,292

The Skinny: The Chopperthon 30 km was Nancy’s final tune-up for the Olympic marathon trials coming up in May. Anne Hird outclassed the field in 1:45:15 over a tough enough course on a grey day.

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October 9, 1983

Event: Miller Lite Marathon

Location: Milwaukee WI

Distance: 26.219 miles

Time: 2:39:15

Place: 1

Prize: $3000

∑ Career Prizes: $7,942

The Skinny: What a great race for Nancy! Her time was a new PR; it won her $3,000; it earned her an invitation to the first women’s Olympic marathon trials; and, we have recently learned, it remains the course record after 32 years.

Milwaukee was very kind to us. Post race, we enjoyed a dinner with friend Dick Kendall and his daughter at a German restaurant. By evening’s end, and much beer, the owner, by now celebrating with us, invited us to his cellar for secret schnapps. Whee! and ouch….

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September 25, 1983

Event: WBEN AROCC 20 km
Location: Buffalo, NY
Distance: 12.418 miles
Time: 1:11:54
Place: 1
Prize: $0
∑ Career Prizes: $4,942

The Skinny: On weekdays Nancy trained almost exclusively on the loop in Delaware Park. She was quite prepared for this 20k held on a glorious Sunday morning in September. Her time was the 9th best 20k performance of all American women in 1983.

Nancy was introduced to the local media after this race. She was quite a hit, and was often the “color commentator” for occasional local broadcasts of racing events.

The autumn of 1983 was a high point in Nancy’s racing career. It was Good to be Queen.

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June 5, 1983

Event: Linde Run
Location: Buffalo, NY
Distance: 6.214 miles
Time: 35:20
Place: 1
Prize: $300
∑ Career Prizes: $4,942

The Skinny: The Linde Run — Linde is now Praxair — was held in the afternoon, somewhere near 5 or 6 o’clock. That was not Nancy’s favored time of day for racing. Further, she had been traveling and racing quite a bit over the preceding month and a half. Her time, if not her prize, is reflective of her fatigue.

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May 28, 1983

Event: L’eggs Mini Marathon
Location: New York City
Distance: 6.214 miles
Time: 34:46
Place: 15
Prize: $100
∑ Career Prizes: $4,642

The Skinny: L’eggs Mini Marathon was a biggie back in the ’80s, attracting the world’s best women racers, including Greta Waitz who won it 5 times.

Nancy is pictured here with her Moving Comfort teammates including Ellen Wessel, Eleanor Simonsick, Elizabeth Goeke, and Gail Kingma.

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May 22, 1983

Event: CTFA Senior Championship
Location: Southern Ontario
Distance: 6.214 miles
Time: 34:00
Place: 3
Prize: $392US
∑ Career Prizes: $4,542

The Skinny: I’m surprised that I have no photos, newspaper clippings or notes about this race, as it is Nancy’s career PR at 10 km. There must have been a very good field, as 34:00 and $500C is pretty rich for a 3rd place finish in 1983.

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May 15, 1983

Event: The Lilac Run
Location: Rochester, NY
Distance: 6.214 miles
Time: 34:02
Place: 1
Prize: $600
∑ Career Prizes: $4,150

The Skinny: On Nancy’s first ever visit to the Lilac Run, she set a new PR and the course record. In this initial and in subsequent years, the Lilac Run proved to be generous sponsors and great friends. Those were very happy times!

Here’s Nancy and men’s winner Sosthenes Bitok mugging with their awards.

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May 7, 1983

Event: The Elizabeth River Run
Location: Norfolk, VA
Distance: 6.214 miles
Time: 34:41
Place: 1
Prize: $1,000
∑ Career Prizes: $3,550

The Skinny: The Elizabeth River Run turned out to be a wonderfully enjoyable affair. Nancy was treated like family by personable race director Roberta “Bert” Cake of The Virginian Pilot. Nancy smashed the old course record in 34:41. And we both got to enjoy watching his girl friend haul star runner Adrian Leek around by the ear.

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January 27, 1983

Event: The Birth of Paul Donnelly

Location: Buffalo, NY

The Skinny: Nancy’s sister Martha raised 4 wonderful children who are now outstanding young adults.

In addition to being whip smart, Martha’s kids have become very good athletes as well. I often send them additions to this blog not just to acquaint them with their favorite aunt’s accomplishments, but also, because they’re so fiercely competitive, to maybe fire them up to pursue even greater accomplishments.

“The kids” have grown up in a microchip age and, like their hip peers, are firmly dialed in to the digital age. They might be wondering why Harold Tinsley, in the prior entry, sent us a hand-written letter instead of just texting us. I guess the kids could be forgiven not “remembering” that there were no text messages 32 years ago. Remember? They hadn’t yet been born!

But that has changed overnight. Today’s entry therefore does not reference Nancy’s racing, but rather celebrates the birth of our godson Paul Donnelly 32 years ago. As Nancy was at the beginning of her racing successes, just so Paul was at the beginning of his life. I’m proud and happy that they both have succeeded so well in their missions.

In the photo below, Paul is seen with his young and lovely mother Martha lo those many years ago. I hope your birthday, and every day, is perfect, Paul!

Editor’s note: Nancy tells me that some of the preceding language may be construed as insensitive. She reminds, and I append with apologies, that Martha remains lovely to this day.

Thanks to AP, AN and ACDA for their effusive support and encouragement with this entry.

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December 11, 1982

Event: The Rocket City Marathon
Location: Huntsville, AL
Distance: 26.219 miles
Time: 2:39:41
Place: 2
Prize: $0
∑ Career Prizes: $2,550

The Skinny: Jane Buch beat Nancy over this hilly course. But Nancy’s 2:39:41 set a new PR and got her plenty of notice in women’s racing circles.

Harold Tinsley communicated with me in hand-written notes like this one. This was less a thoughtful and classy gesture (although Harold was certainly all that) than simply the way things were still commonly done in 1982.

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July 17, 2014

Event:
Location: Buffalo, NY
Distance:
Time:
Place:
Prize:
∑ Career Prizes: $2,550

The Skinny: Events in this blog happened 32 years ago today. This one, however, seems like it happened only yesterday. That’s probably because it happened just yesterday.

Our local newspaper published an article that referenced Nancy’s absence from a certain local race some years ago. The reference provides half the answer to the question of why there are so few local races mentioned in this blog.

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July 11, 1982

Event: The Utica Boilermaker
Location: Utica, NY
Distance: 9.321 miles
Time: 0:55:45
Place: 2
Prize: $50
∑ Career Prizes: $2,550

The Skinny: Earle Reed once again invited Nancy, this time a past champion, to have an enjoyable gambol over severe hills on a hot, sunny morning. What’s not to like?

Nancy had a good day, but couldn’t keep pace with Laura deWald (54:41) over the last 3 miles. The ice-cold post-race beer was, as always, superb.

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June 6, 1982

Event: The Avon International Marathon
Location: San Francisco, CA
Distance: 26.219 miles
Time: 2:45:50
Place: 10
Prize: $2,250
∑ Career Prizes: $2,500

The Skinny: The first-ever women’s marathon was scheduled to debut in the 1984 L.A. Olympics. Avon used their race and its relatively lavish prizes to focus attention on the considerable abilities of female distance runners.

The invited athletes got a pre-race bus tour of the course, and not surprisingly discovered that it was quite hilly. On a warm day, Lorraine Moller’s winning time was a modest 2:36:12. Of the 13 racers headlined in Avon’s pre-race press literature, Nancy beat all but 5 of them.

Nancy’s prize was her first large paycheck. It was huge for its time, but specially so for a 10th place finish in a women-only event. The incentive of such prizes fundamentally altered the way that Nancy would select and train for events in her racing calendar.

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April 19, 1982

Event: The Boston Marathon
Location: Boston, MA
Distance: 26.219 miles
Time: 2:44:17
Place: 10
Prize: 
∑ Career Prizes: $250

The Skinny: Charlotte Teske won the race on a blue sky 65°F day that was a bit warm for many marathoners’ preferences. Nancy’s 10th place finish established her as a serious runner on the national stage. The BAA medal she earned, while among the smallest she ever won at an important event, remains a talisman of one of her proudest achievements.

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December 12, 1981

Event: The Avon Series

Location: Deer Creek, FL

Distance: 6.214 miles

Time: 34:30

Place: 2

Prize: 

∑ Career Prizes: $250

The Skinny: The Avon Series was not just a lot of fun for a great many female athletes, but it also was a launch pad for a number of successful racing careers. In this race, Nancy broke her own PR at 10 km, and nearly ran down Nancy Conz for the win. We were both a bit surprised and delighted.

There was an after party that we traveled to by boat at night. It was a long time ago, but I recall that we all enjoyed a great night.

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October 17, 1981

Event: The Skylon Marathon

Location: Buffalo, NY

Distance: 26.2 miles

Time: 2:40:48

Place: 1

Prize: $200 appearance fee

∑ Career Prizes: $250

The Skinny: The day dawned cool, blue and windless, and it had Nancy all pumped up for a good race.

As usual, Nancy started at a conservative pace and gathered steam as she went. Onlookers were letting her know that she was the first woman, and this caught the ears of several of our male running club friends. They fell in step as sort of an honor guard, and that happy crew chugged along until near the very end.

Here’s a photo of Nancy setting a personal and course record just above the Horseshoe Falls. On her feet are a pair of the orange and white Etonic “Eclipse,” by far her favorite shoe over her career.

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March 15, 1981

Event: The Cherry Hill 10-Miler

Location: Cherry Hill, NJ

Distance: 10 miles

Time: 0:57:10

Place: 1

Prize: none

∑ Prizes: $50

The Skinny: Nancy and I flew into Philadelphia with tickets provided by the race director. He also found lodging for us with a well-intentioned couple eager to host an invited “star.” The couple was ever so sweet. They fussed around Nancy in anticipation of her every need, insisted that we take their bedroom, and were completely and impossibly nice. We phoned the race director and begged him to please get us a quiet room at the race hotel.

We breakfasted on race day with Bob B., a fellow we’d met some years before at the Maple Leaf Half Marathon in Manchester, VT. He was a middlin runner who was well enough connected to appear “at all the right races.” Over oatmeal, he casually mentioned that Ellison Goodall was going to win the race going away “because no one else is here.”  Nancy appeared to let the remark slide while we were at table, but she actually took it like a hard punch to her gut. Channeling Knute, I reminded Nancy of Bob’s withering assessment on several occasions prior to race time. Nancy made a point of finding Bob at the post-race ceremonies so she could ask him how he’d done. Like the commercials say, “priceless.”

Miss Goodall was a gracious good sport after the race. She not only congratulated Nancy, but promised to talk to her sponsor (Adidas) about adding Nancy to its team. Both Goodall and Adidas came through, although those particular shoes never proved to be a good fit for Nancy’s foot.

Her first place finish at the Cherry Hill 10-Miler was a significant victory for Nancy, bringing with it her first sponsorship and several invitations to coming races. She had arrived on the regional scene.

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January 3, 1981

Event: The Charlotte Observer Marathon Race

Location: Charlotte, NC

Distance: 26.2 miles

Time: 2:47:08

Place: 1

Prize: none

∑ Prizes: $50

The Skinny: The Charlotte course is quite hilly, and is not a place where a racer is likely to set a PR. Nancy did, however, smash the former course record by 11 minutes and 18 seconds (!!) with her time today. This win set the tone for 1981, and even better things were soon to come.

The men’s winner was Steve Podgajny. He and his wife Marjorie became new friends after we met at the post-race ceremonies. The morning-after headline: Editor’s Nightmare as Podgajny, Mieszczak win Charlotte Marathon.

We’d driven to Charlotte, lugging a case of one Canadian beer or other to share with friends we were making “on the circuit.” While recovering from the race with these potassium-enriched fluids, we heard of deteriorating weather in Pennsylvania and western New York - we used to have “old fashioned” winters then - and so, after we’d all polished off the case, we decided to head home around 3 a.m. Everything went smoothly if darkly through North Carolina. But we ran into some snow in the hills of West Virginia, and it continued to worsen through the swing east at Erie. The stretch from Pittsburg to Erie was a real bear after having driven red-eye all night and with the west winds now making the driving treacherous. I recall two campers who were very happy to arrive home two or so hours later.

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July 13, 1980

Event: The Utica Boilermaker

Location: Utica, NY

Distance: 9.321 MI

Time: 55:02

Place: 1

Prize: $50 appearance money

∑ Prizes: $50

The Skinny: The Boilermaker is a tough, competitive race. 15 KM is a long way; in the severe hills surrounding Utica on a hot and steamy morning, this race ain’t no day at the beach. Winning this race did a lot to establish Nancy’s regional and national bona fides as a competitor tough as, if you’ll forgive, a boilermaker.

This great photo popped up in newspapers all across the country:

For those keeping careful score at home, notice that this race was the first in which Nancy either received appearance money or won prize money. Stick with her here: she’ll do even better soon enough. 

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June 22, 1980

Event: Mentholatum 10K

Location: Buffalo, NY

Distance: 6.214 MI

Time: 35:48

Place: 2

The Skinny: Almost exactly one year later, Nancy still almost catches Jackie Gareau.

Moving off the “32 years ago today theme,” it was on this very day 35 years ago that Nancy D. moved in with Michael M. And exactly one month later, they were married. Aw shucks.

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November 4, 1979

Event: Avon Series 

Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada 

Distance: 12.42 MI 

Time: 1:15:52 

Place: 4 

The Skinny: From the Buffalo Evening News: “Nancy Mieszczak of Buffalo’s Checkers Athletic Club finished fourth in a 20-kilometer race here Sunday and won a trip to the Avon National Championships in Pasadena, Calif. next spring.”

In a pre-race article the Ottawa Sunday Post wrote: “Among the Americans traveling to Ottawa is Nancy Mieszczak of Buffalo…. She is the Road Runners Club of America 1978 20K Champion.”

The winner of the race was Karen Doppes of Cincinnati. Karen, Julie Isphording and Nancy would become friends over the years of the Avon circuit. It’s a small world. Two years ago, I met Bill Cosgrove whose Springer was competing at a local field event. Bill is quite a star - deservedly so - in the spaniel world. We got to jawing about this and that. While making small talk, I may have mentioned Julie as another name I recalled from Cincinnati. He knew her well: she used to run around with his wife Karen… Small world, indeed.

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June 24, 1979

Event: Bonne Bell
Location: Buffalo, New York
Distance: 6.21 MI
Time: 37:56
Place: 2

The Skinny: This was one of the slowest 10Ks of Nancy’s career. My notes are sketchy, but I suspect race day must have been hot, or the course perhaps a bit long. In any event, she was the first local finisher, and second only to that pesky Jacqueline Gareau woman. Nancy recalls that Tom Donnelly paced her on his bicycle.

In the pre prize money era, the Bonne Bell bell was a tasteful and sought after prize, and it still remains in the trophy case. We’ve always liked this photo taken at the awards ceremony.

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May 13, 1979

Event: The Ottawa Marathon
Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Distance: 26.2 MI
Time: 2:55:58
Place: 3

The Skinny: Nancy and I enjoyed racing in Ottawa. We’d drive north several days ahead of the race and visit with Doc and Mom Dragoo. Then we’d overnight in Ottawa the night before the race and scoot back home when it was over.

Nancy set a PR at this race even though she developed a bad set of blisters en route. She was third to Jacqueline Gareau who ran 2:47:58.

This was the first of several races having a Husband - Wife Division where I gravy trained my talented wife’s performance with a modest one of my own. We still have the beer mugs proclaiming us Labatt’s Husband - Wife Champions of Canada.

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September 24, 1978

Event: Maple Leaf Half Marathon
Location: Manchester, VT
Distance: 13.1 MI
Time: 1:20:00
Place: 2

The Skinny: Nancy had not been racing quite a year when I met her in October, 1977. She had done very well in that time, including victories - as a rookie! - in two marathons. In one of these races, she absolutely destroyed a particular fellow who was desperately trying to keep pace with her.

We know this because Guy Thomas told her so, on the phone, when he invited her to run his inaugural Mapleleaf Half Marathon in Manchester, VT. He was a great sport, and in no time we became friends with Guy and his wife Vivien.

For some reason, I neglected to keep a journal record for this race. Nancy didn’t take a lot of seconds in those days, so I suspect whoever beat her was quite good. It may well have been Patti Lyons, a superstar in road racing in 1978. In any case, Guy’s promotional efforts and the fast 1978 times helped the race to grow in stature over the years.

Nancy and I were there again a year later when Patti set a world record with a 1:14:03 time. You can see Patti hoisting the cutting board that was a cool prize in those just-before-prize-money days. Nancy has one, too; we’ll use it to chop some cheese the next time you’re visiting.

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May 14, 1978

Event: Revco Classic
Location: Cleveland, OH
Distance: 10 KM
Time: 36:40
Place: 1

The Skinny: Revco was a fore runner of stores like Walgreen. Its chain was wide spread and healthy back in 1978, so its signature race attracted strong men’s and women’s fields for both the 10 KM and marathon events. Revco disappeared after its stores were bought and renamed by CVS in 1997.

Nancy beat second-placer Kitty Consolo by 43 seconds, finished 68th overall, and continued to garner regional and national attention.

I had a good race, too. I finished in 32:33, at the time a personal best that was good for 23rd place and bragging rights as first western NY finisher.

This race pre-dated the prize money era in road racing. One of the attractions of the event was the offer of Revco merchandise in addition to traditional “statue trophies.” I don’t remember what Nancy won; but my age-group award was included in Webster’s definition of irony: a hair-drying iron.

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April 17, 1978

Event: The Boston Marathon
Location: Boston, MA
Distance: 26.2 MI
Time: 2:55:00
Place: 20

The Skinny: In the week before the race Nancy and I flew to San Diego for a National Council of Teachers of Mathematics conference. Although working math teachers and genuinely interested in the Conference’s programs - specially hands-on events using those new personal computer thingees - we were also delighted to absorb some sun and get in some easy training before flying into Boston for the Marathon.

A woman for whom I’d worked earlier in the 70s was nice enough to host my fiance and me for dinner at her club in La Jolla. I recall gentle conversation and a great view of the ocean. The evening was a special engagement present to a couple of starry eyed kids. Thanks, Mrs. Kellogg.

In Boston, we crashed with my school days pal Peter O. We slept either on floor-laid mattresses, or futons, or something; I don’t exactly recall. Except that if we slept on them tonight, we’d be dead by morning.

Anyways, we got up, went out for breakfast, and - incredible for us - finally committed around 9 a.m to actually starting the race.

Nancy’s 20th place was therefore darn good. If Cold Duck lives long enough, I’ll be able to blog an even better finish.

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March 19, 1978

Event: AAU National 30 KM Championship
Location: Albany, NY
Distance: 30 KM
Time: 1:58:23
Place: 1

The Skinny: Nancy and I were engaged at the time of the 30 KM Nationals in Albany. We bunked with Richard J. and his lovely wife Kathy. Cold Duck regulars will recognize him as Cousin Richard of Speculator fame.

A day after the race, I kissed Nancy goodbye and while she headed back to Waterford, I drove home to Buffalo. In addition to teaching math there during the day, I was also teaching applied trigonometry to machinist apprentices at night. I had a tradition - enabled by an administration that looked on with benignly blind eyes - of taking the class out for an adult beverage after I’d rated the last student’s terminal exam.

After buying the first round and reporting that everyone had earned a passing grade, I discovered that the men were still thirsty - and generous. An hour and too many beers later, all tongues were loose, if a bit thick, and conversation flowed freely. Proud of my bride-to-be's recent win, I blurted out that I was engaged to the national trucking champion, except that I did not say "trucking."

After the slightest of pauses, the guys all gave me a look - visualize the Last Supper - and asked in one voice, "You're marrying the national trucking champion?" And a spontaneous cheer broke out.

This story is now known word for word by the whole extended family, down to our nieces and nephews’ college friends. There’s usually a call for the story, somewhere after the second bottle of wine, at all the major family feasts.

Social Media Is A Spittoon For Saloon Wits

(This post first appeared in 2013.)

In light of recent revelations and developments, the old Duck decided to let this blogpost bubble up to the top. It sure seems as though the Duck was 6 years ahead of the curve.

Please understand that the Duck is one of the last adults left standing in the room, so you will find no mean-spirited schoolyard-trashtalk hint of "nyah nyah, nyah nyah nyah nyah I told you so" anywhere inside.

___________________________________________________________

February 21, 2013

After logging into LaceNook (not its real name) faithfully and often happily for the last three years, I have decided to close my account and quit using it forevermore. A friend or two has suggested that I’m just temporarily burned out with this “social medium,” and that I’ll return sooner or later. No, Sirree. Although I’m reminded of Mark Twain’s quip about another addictive vice - “Giving up smoking is the easiest thing in the world. I know because I've done it thousands of times.” - it says here I’m all through.

I started Cold Duck after I retired in 2004. I was interested in using my new-found leisure trying to write stories that sounded like those I’d read in Field & Stream as a kid in the ‘60s. I discovered soon enough that it’s hard work to write stuff that reads easy. But with support and encouragement from like-minded bloggers, I enjoyed the challenge of “producing original content.”

But a funny thing happened on the way to the original content forum: along came “LaceNook.” I didn’t notice it at first, but the blogosphere, or at least my sector of it, soon began to shrink. I think I can guess why. Writing stuff I’m satisfied to include in Cold Duck remains hard work. It’s much easier to crash my friends’ discussions and crack wise like a saloon wit. Although I have several other concerns about “LaceNook,” I’m leaving it ultimately because its easy way out is too attractive to lazy old me. Cold Duck offers me the attractive challenge of writing as good a story as I can. Both my readers will be happy whenever I do.

Great Customer Service With A 16 ga Franchi Instinct SL Shotgun

I have had it with new 12 ga O/U field shotguns because they’re all too heavy and swing like fenceposts. I have done more than a bit of traveling checking out models from different manufacturers whose websites tout their “6.8 lb.” guns. I admit that it’s not clear to me whether these manufacturers — usually European — mean that the “.8” part is 8 oz. or, instead, .8 of 16 oz. or 12.8 oz. I would (probably) not quibble too much about 4.8 oz. But whenever I’ve arrived at a merchant’s counter with my trusty digital scale in my briefcase, inevitably the number to the left of the decimal is a 7 when I lay the gun down. So, getting back to my initial sentence, I’ve stopped looking for a 12 ga field O/U around 6 lb. 8 oz., the sweet spot for me. Full disclosure: 5’ 10”, 155 lbs., 70 years old.

After expressing this concern online recently, I received suggestions that I look into a 16 ga. It turns out that Franchi now offers an Instinct SL 16 ga. that not only fits my hand well, but also comes in well under 7 lbs. What’s not to like? I’ll tell you: it comes in under 6 lbs. I’ve owned very light guns like this before, and I did not shoot them well.

And so it was with some anxiety that I ordered one from my local mom and pop gun shop. They are The Old Guard hereabouts, and these days — what with competition from Gander and Cabela’s and … — they have gotten the good word and do right by old customers like me. When my Instinct SL came in, all I was interested in checking was its weight, and it came in at 5 lbs. 9 oz. I paid for the gun with much concern that it would either “shoot at both ends” or else be too whippy to center the preserve pheasants I was buying it for. After I got it home, I inspected the gun more closely. Its wood was unremarkably modest, as I expected in this lower-priced shooter. But upon further inspection I noticed that the butt stock was cracked on the boxlock’s right side “oval.” I returned the gun straight way to the merchant, who agreed that the gun was shipped flawed from the manufacturer. My local merchant sent it back on December 14, 2018.

The gun came back early in January. I thought this was a remarkably good turnaround, what with Christmas and New Year’s holidays in between. What surprised me more was the butt stock on the returned gun. It looks like this:

I am quite pleased with Franchi’s customer service with this transaction. I am hoping that the gun will shoot comfortably enough to be an often-used keeper, one of two in my safe. I haven’t had the chance yet to try it out, but I’ll return to this channel to report on how it’s working out as soon as I do.

My Tax Dollars At Work: WTH?

As I was riding my bike down the road this morning, a town truck slowly passed by me. It had the town seal painted on its doors, and the words WASTE WATER DEPT. printed prominently around it.

And I thought, ”What a crazy way to spend town money!”

Sometimes The Old Ways Are The Best To Catch A Nice Trout

I should have listened to Eve Moneypenny:

If you've read the post below about Czech nymphing, you’ll know that I’m intrigued by that technique, and have made several initial forays using it on my home waters. I decided the other day to fish the same quarter mile twice, once nymphing, once resorting to my good old dry flies. I had no luck with the nymphs. So I went back to the car and switched rods to the one rigged with a #16 Ausable Wulff. In a short run of nicely rippled water, I took this stream-bred 12” rainbow.

I’m keeping the 8’ 6” rod rigged for Czech nymphing. But when the water is too deep or too far away for dry flies, I’ll return to some really old ways and toss a 1/8 oz. Panther Martin out there with a 6’ ultralight spinning rig.

There! I’ve said it, and it feels GOOD. Fly fishing purists, including bobber fanciers nymph fishermen, should feel free to fall onto their fainting couches.

Freshly Killed Wild Trout Pan Fried In Butter Are Really Tasty!

If you’ve read any of the fishing entries below, you know I love to cast flies to stream-bred trout. You’ll find no mention of trolling. So please accept my apologies for the wording of this post’s title if you’ve arrived here in high dudgeon with blood in your eye.

I released the first trout I ever caught, in 1962. The site was the Cohocton River near Atlanta, and the fish was maybe 5” long. When I told my mentor, he was horrified: you threw back perfectly good breakfast food? The 13 year old who tossed that fish back was not clever enough to have invented “catch and release,” so the conflict between the historical “let’s catch a few fish to eat” and the new fangled “a wild trout is too precious to be caught just once” must already have been splashed all across the sportsmen’s magazines of the times.

I still catch a lot of 4” and 5” trout in my home water. I’m not a fisheries biologist, so I don’t know whether these small fish are all that’s left after “meat fishermen” have taken all the 9”ers, or if, on the other hand, these fish can’t get any bigger because they’ve got too many mouths for not enough food. I repeat: I don’t know.

But I think it’s a good question that deserves a well researched answer.

So I was interested to read a meditation on this subject in the back-page article of the Spring, 2018 TU magazine. The piece, which you can read here, is titled “Trout” It Was ‘What’s for Dinner!’,” written by Paul Bruun. Here’s how it opens:

“‘OMG, those guys are keeping a fish!’ chimed the lady in the passing driftboat. ‘What are we going to do about it?’ she wailed.

Despite current incendiary mores toward this once normal but now frowned-upon practice, ….”

Bruun reminisces from there in a warmly nostalgic way, thus guaranteeing his vilification in the Twitterverse and a dearth of Christmas cards from TU members.

For a deeper dive into wild trout management, take a look at “Lost in the Driftless” by Tim Traver. After not so many pages you — like me — will probably get fired up to buy a half dozen Cress Bugs and head for the streams of SW Wisconsin. But “Lost” is not a travelogue. Traver frames his themes around the career of Roger Kerr, a retired Wisconsin county fish manager who has strong opinions about trout fishing. Depending on whom Traver was interviewing at the moment, Kerr is either Gabriel or Lucifer. If you’re like me, you tend to view trout management in Wisconsin by TU apartment dwellers in Manhattan with a cocked eyebrow. But Traver does a good job of reporting instead of lobbying, and the book is a tasty if complicated intellectual chew.

I’ll close this entry with a question about Wulff’s dictum. Please understand that Wulff was a much more skilled fly fisherman and pilot than I am, and I greatly admire his body of work. But still, I wonder whether a few 5” trout that a youngster has caught, maybe on her initial outing, are really fish that’re too precious to be caught just once?

WTH? What A Wreck! Made A Trek To Check Czech Nymphing

After spending too many unproductive hours last summer exclusively fishing dry flies, I resolved over the winter to learn more about nymph fishing. I recalled reading something from Joe Humphreys years ago to the effect that a man could easily fish out a section of a good trout stream just nymphing (obviously that was many years ago.) I don’t mean to fish any creek out, even figuratively. But fishing where the fish mostly are instead of where I want them to be just makes sense.

So I watched lots of internet videos of nymph fishing. “Czech nymphing” seems to be the hot item these days. So I bought a neon colored leader section, tied a tippet beneath it and bent another tippet onto that such that I could add a dropper to the trimmed tag end. With a split shot a bit ahead of the bugs, I was ready to go!

For some reason, the videos do not show how to remove one or both bugs from budding willow trees; or how to keep the bugs and split shot from balling up into one hellacious mess; or how to keep one of both bugs from hooking your boots, or your fingers, or your hat; or how to keep your scant bit of dangling fly line from sliding back down your fly rod’s guides and getting tangled into the brush at your feet.

My inaugural nymphing outing wasn’t a complete disaster though. I enjoyed a terrific double-decker of Perry’s Ice Cream on the drive home. One scoop was Caramel Praline Turtle, and the other was Sponge Candy. Yummers!

I made a few notes to make the next trip simpler and hopefully more productive as I get the hang of this new thing. Here’s what I’ll do next time:

• I’ll use a leader that’s shorter than my 8’ 6” rod;

• I think I’ll try fishing with a 7’ leader as a beginner. I’ll trim a new leader to 5’ 6” and tie on an 18” tippet. I’ll tie on a single unweighted nymph, probably something familiar like a Hare’s Ear. And I’ll pinch on a split shot of appropriate size just above the knot securing the tippet;

• I customarily walk a half mile or so downstream from my car and then fish my dries upstream back to the car. To learn how best to fish nymphs, I think I’ll walk downstream from the car for about half of my time, then fish my nymph back upstream. In this way I hope to learn which attack plan works better for me;

• I’ll choose for my nymphing classroom a stretch of water that has lots of pocket water and short runs rather than long stretches of shallow riffles interspersed with gigantic pools; and finally

• the Sponge Candy was specially tasty, so I’ll go with it for both scoops.

Fishing jokes from Bible stories

North Country Grouse Roosting in the Snow

I was after snowshoe hares with my beagle Jupp back in 1983 behind my father-in-law’s place north of Malone, NY on a sunny but cold day in January. “Cold” in the St. Lawrence Valley frequently means daytime highs in the single digits with well-below 0°F temperatures at night.

Ruffed grouse, or “partridge” as we call them in the North Country, long ago adapted to surviving in frigid weather by burrowing into the snow. Back in 1983, I hadn’t learned about this behavior. I was wearing old-fashioned ash and rawhide snowshoes on this hunt, and, standing still for a moment, was straining to hear beagle music from Jupp who was trailing out of sight. Suddenly, literally out of nowhere, a partridge erupted from the snow just inches in front of my ‘shoes. I was so shook up by the feathered missile launch that I took a tumble a$$ over teacup. Regaining your footing after flopping into 3 feet of fluffy snow with two 3’ snowshoes twisted underneath you is a time consuming jiu jitsu match in which you paradoxically dig yourself deeper into the powder with every clawing effort to extricate yourself. In the future I’ll leave the deep powder to the grouse.

Here’s a photo of a snow roosting partridge, and two short video clips of grouse flushing.

Here's one

Here's another

Finally! A Recipe For Tender Crockpot Pheasant

When I traded bunny chasing with beagles for bird chasing with flushing spaniels 25 years ago, I was certain that grouse would forever be my number one target, with woodcock filling in the occasional gap. After all, we were never surprised to flush a partridge or two by accident when hunting snowshoe hares on my father-in-law’s and others’ private land near Malone, NY.

This accounts for my unrealistically hopeful expectation that I’d be finding just as many grouse forevermore on public land south of Buffalo.

After driving 80 white-knuckled miles to and then from slim partridge pickin’s in Lake Effect Blizzard country for several years, I determined to find a safer and more productive place where I’d be able to run my dog on birds in January and February. This explains how and why I wound up joining a pheasant release club.

It also explains why, shortly thereafter, I began looking for a way to cook up pheasants that didn’t plate up as dry as a tick on a Bravecto-ed dog. My wife and I tried all sorts of preparations. We soaked breasts in buttermilk. We found a butcher who would accept boneless breasts and mix with secret herbs and spices — read “schmaltz,” or chicken fat — to make Pheasant Sausage. I tried grinding pheasants on my own, with half a pound of bacon being my secret sauce. Most recently I diced the breasts, sautéed them with a generous half stick of butter, then buried them in a cheesy quesadilla. All these attempts were palatable but not exceptional.

After seeing a video on cleaning desert quail recently,

http://uplandjournal.ipbhost.com/topic/62010-quail-cleaning-video/?tab=comments#comment-1096913

I decided to try the same technique on a pheasant, with appropriate tweaks for the birds’ different sizes. In particular, I thought that cooking the pheasant whole, bones and all, might add some flavor. So I began dreaming up a brand-new low-and-slow crockpot recipe for pheasants. It so happened that while I was thinking this over, Matt A. — my wife’s niece’s husband from North Dakota — showed up for our family’s Thanksgiving holiday celebration. We fell to talking about cooking up pheasants, and Matt offered his family’s favored technique. It was darn close to what I had envisioned, and so with just a minor adjustment or two — my vision contained no Cream of Something soup — I gave my new recipe a try.

And it was terrific! I bet it’ll work great with a rabbit or a mallard as well. Your comments and suggestions are welcome and solicited. Without further prologue, here’s my Tender Crockpot Pheasant recipe.

Ingredients

1 onion, coarsely chopped

2 stalks celery, into 1/4” dice

3 carrots, peeled and sliced on a bias into 1/8” coins

2 medium potatoes, unpeeled, and cut into 1/2” dice

2 large garlic cloves, smashed

1 oz. dried porcini mushrooms, rehydrated and diced

1 pkg. onion soup mix

2 healthy dashes soy sauce (don’t doubt me)
a sprig or two of thyme
2 Bay leaves
1/2 tsp black peppercorns
2 whole cloves
1 squirt @ anchovy- and tomato-paste

light splashes of a dry light white wine, as in Sauvignon Blanc

********************************************

3 strips of bacon, cut in half

1 rooster pheasant, skinned and eviscerated (a quite naked bird ;-)

********************************************

1+ tbsp. cornstarch and cold water slurry

Technique

1. Skin and eviscerate the pheasant so it looks like a naked Perdue roaster;

2. Cut and put into the crockpot the first 9 ingredients;

3. Put the rooster on top of your vegetable pile. Drape the 6 half-strips over the pheasant’s breast and legs;

4. Cover the crockpot and set on low for 8 hours;

5. At 7 hours (or 15 minutes less to allow for cooling time), remove the pheasant and pull the best meat off the breast and legs. Reintroduce the “pulled pheasant” into the crockpot. Reserve the bacon and less pleasing looking hunks of meat for the doggie who got you the pheasant;

6. With about 30 minutes to go, mix a hearty soupspoon of corn starch and a bit of cold water in a mixing bowl. When smooth, introduce back into the crockpot and give a good stir; and

7. Eat and be happy. A sprinkling of either Sriracha or, going the other way, some Pecorino Romano, may make you smile. Maybe have some hot biscuits with butter and the rest of the Sauv Blanc, too. God wants you to be happy.

This Neighborhood’s Going to the Dogs.

Actually, hunting dogs will very soon be gone from this emerging neighborhood.

I’ve been hunting on a particular piece of ground since shortly after I was married in 1978. In the 1980s, I hunted rabbits there behind my first dog beagle Jupp. Since 1994, I’ve hunted woodcock there behind flushing spaniels. One day last fall while woodcocking behind Gordie, I noticed earth moving equipment on the far side of our best hunting spots. It has not taken the developers long to bring the land to this point:

Now I have no legitimate *right* to bitch about this. First and last, I’ve never owned this land. Its owners heretofore had simply benignly neglected those of us geezers who still head out in the autumn with dog and gun hoping to bag maybe a bird or two. Further, the road in the picture, and the lots that will spring off it at 90°, is on land I haven’t hunted in years, as it’s too close to older houses that have always been sited along the main road. But the end of this road, very near a tiny flow sometimes glorified as a “creek,” will necessarily move my hunting areas 500’ back from some really good, and historically precious, thickets. So, although I have no legal basis to complain, still I’m bummed.

Best Woodcock Hunting Dates in Western New York in the Last 25 Years

After this year’s woodcock hunting started slowly, I decided to seek some historical perspective by checking the log I’ve faithfully kept since 1993, the year I started hunting birds instead of bunnies. All the woodcock counted are from the single ZIPcode that is my home hunting ground.

“Slow hunting” to me means small numbers of birds flushed rather than a low number of birds killed. There’s lots of reasons why the number of birds killed over one hunter’s dogs on a given date is not a perfect indicator of birds flushed. Local coverts become overgrown and thus tougher to gun over 25 years. When I am hunting alone, I am less likely to pull a trigger these days unless the bird will be reasonably easy for my dog to retrieve — did I mention that it’s crazy overgrown here? — and unless my shot charge is not directed at the new houses that have erupted like sores on my good old hunting grounds. I could go on, but there’s no need. My point remains that birds in bag are not a perfect indicator of birds flushed.

But since birds in bag is the only data I’ve kept, I’m going to run with it while at the same time acknowledging its imperfection.

When I looked at the aggregated data, two things jumped out at me.

First, the median date for shooting my dogs’ woodcock here is October 22, which is exactly the median day of NY’s current 45-day season. This comes as a mild surprise to me, the halfway mathematical “precision” notwithstanding. I would have bet the date would have been a bit later simply because shooting is easier after all the leaves have fallen.

Second, the days between 10/6 and 11/4 account for almost 94% of all the woodcock my dogs have flushed and retrieved. Starting next year, I’ll look for something better to pursue in the “tail” dates of the season. Maybe trout. Maybe pheasants. Heck, maybe golf if the temps are well into the 70s.

Habitat loss due to human encroachment, I fear, seriously threatens my next spaniel pup from doing as well locally as did my first two. Even so, I’ll keep looking for new spots that may become available to try.

Duck Season? Wabbit Season? Woodcock Season!

When I first started reading my mentor’s cast-off sporting magazines around 1960, I was as drawn to articles about casting dry flies to stream-bred trout as a brookie to a #16 Royal Coachman. Hunting “The King” in the North Woods was also high on my very short bucket list. Everything else was pretty much just OK… in a ham-and-egg sort of way.

I didn’t start the hunting part until Christmas, 1978, when my newly acquired father-in-law introduced me to hunting snowshoe hares behind beagles in the cedar swamps of his going-back farm north of Malone, NY. By Valentine’s Day, 1979, I had my first shotgun — a 20-gauge Mossberg 500 — and my first beagle, Jupp, who’s pictured at the right with some other old buddies.

Those first 10 years’ hunting were among the best in my life. Jupp and I chased snowshoes in the North Country, and cottontails when we were back home in western NY. But here’s the thing: even though Jupp was strictly a rabbit hound, we still shot more grouse then by accident than we have lately while in vigorous, dedicated pursuit.

After Nancy’s parents passed, we sold the family farm in 2004, and I’ve pretty much pursued partridge only on public land ever since. Specially here in western NY, public land birds are scarce because public land is not managed for birds. While I like to avoid politics here, it appears that our public lands are managed for spruce graveyards.

As it turns out, my upland hunting’s been saved by the woodcock, a bird often mentioned back in those 60s magazines simply as a sort of consolation prize. American woodcock — Scolopax Minor to some, the little russet feller to others, and timberdoodle to still others — just love to nest in and migrate through my home ZIP code. I’ve learned to cherish hunting this sporty little bird very close to home as The Main Event; grouse are neither present, nor needed. That he’s damned tasty medium rare out of the sauté pan doesn’t hurt his VIP resumé, either.

Maybe some future day I’ll dither into new thickets that are lousy with grouse. But until then I’m not going to spend much time hunting for grouse that aren’t there when for 45 sweet days I have this terrific seasonal bird right under my dog’s nose. So, joined with a few local friends who love li’l bec as much as I do, I offer a toast

 to our genial guest who makes every October delightful. Cheers!

Annual Youth Pheasant Hunt Is A Blast For Everyone

My shooting and release club will hold its annual Youth Day next Saturday. Boys and girls who have completed a hunter safety course are eligible to attend the 9-to-5 program that contains hour-long sessions in, among other things, skeet shooting, game laws and ethics, archery, turkey calling, dog training, and more. Then there is the very popular session where the kids have two pheasants — a rooster and a hen — planted for them so they can hunt them over a member’s “guide dog.” The idea is to recognize and therefore not shoot at the hen. This isn’t only educational, but also offers an opportunity to praise a kid for not shooting: what a good idea!

About 15 years ago, my AWS “Bean” was invited to be a guide dog; and as he didn’t drive, I was invited as well. It has each and every time been an unmitigated, if you’ll forgive the term, blast. The kids are receptive to coaching and extremely safety conscious; more so, for sure, than some adults I’ve introduced to bird hunting. It’s true that I happily donate a bit of my time so that the kids can have a great time outdoors. It’s probably more accurate to quip that the kids put in their time so that I can have a fabulous time working with them outdoors. They’ve all been polite, appreciative, safe, and eager to learn. Ditto the parents, relatives, and friends who’ve registered the kids and who accompany them on their assorted rounds. I relish my chance to work with all of them every year. I can’t wait for next week!

Here's some smiles from over the years.

These two, however, are my all-time favorites:

Gordie's Stats for 2015 NY Woodcock Season

NY's woodcock season this year ran for 45 days, from Oct. 1 to Nov. 14. Gordie, I, and frequently a friend or two, hunted 36 of those days. Hunts averaged, I’d estimate, 75 minutes. When I had guests, we worked a little longer; hunting alone on warm and dry early-season trips when birds were scarce, I’d cut Gordie's day short. We have the time and the temperament to prefer a short but daily hunt to, for example, big slogs on the weekend.

I keep woodcock logs for the NY DEC; for the Federal FWS; and for a bunch of (us) crazy old coots who subscribe to Grouse Tales. I’m using data from these three to mention 4 statistics from our 2015 woodcock outings.

1) Gordie averaged just under 3 flushes per hunt. If my 75 minute/hunt estimate is pretty close, that’s a flush every 25 minutes. I tried very hard not to count reflushes, and so Gordie’s total flush count would actually be higher than listed. But I’m pretty sure we moved a new bird about every half hour we hunted.

The best period for multiple flushes ran from Oct. 21 to Nov. 1. From the 21st to the 25th, Gordie flushed 4, 5, 4, 6, and 5 birds; successful shooters in this period were Rick J. and Dids. From Oct 30 to Nov. 1, Gordie flushed 4, 5, and 8 birds; successful shooters in this period were Joey K. and I;

2) Almost 50% of the birds Gordie flushed were shot at. This requires some explanation. I count for logging purposes dead birds by *dog*, not by gunner, as I’m a “dog man” first. So the shooting involved here was done not just by me but by my guests as well. I probably shot at fewer than 50% of the flushes I saw, as I don’t like to shoot at birds in very, very thick cover which offer a long, uncomfortable, and possibly fruitless chance for a retrieve. OTOH, my guests, many of whom are relative newbies, take shots such as they can;

3) Only 20% of the birds flushed were killed. This percentage acknowledges that we hunt in very, very thick places, and that newbies are often the gunners. I like to leave my gun at home when I take guests so that they’ll *know*, when a bird goes down, that they’re the successful shooter. But lots of stuck safeties and “oh, is *that* a woodcock?” tend to depress this statistic; and

4) About 40% of the birds shot at were killed (this follows algebraically from #2 and #3 above.) Given all that comes before, killing 40% of birds in tough places, with newbies often taking the shot, ain’t half bad.

All these numbers are fun for math geeks like me to fiddle with. But as the MasterCard commercial avers, to hunt 36 days with my 11 year old dog both alone and with friends new and old in familiar thickets is priceless. What a great year!

PS: The Shot of the Year was made today as the season ended. Gordie flushed a bird from a stand of dogwood and it offered an easy shot as it flew low to the ground down an open lane. Jim S. drew a bead, but then as Gordie came rushing out of the brush after the bird, he safely raised his gun and held fire. Good job there, Buddy.