Confederate Grouse

Stretching the season below the Mason-Dixon

I hear that it gets pretty cold up north during January and February. I've heard that it snows a lot too. Years and years of calendar artists have convinced me that the grouse hunters of New England, the Rockies and the Upper Mid-west spend this time drawn close to old stone fireplaces with strong drinks in their hands and faithful old dogs beside them. The pictures are pretty, but while Yankee gentlemen and gentle Yankee ladies are remembering brighter days when shots rang true and old Belle was a paragon of her breed, there are a few of us, far to the south, who are still afield searching for a sound that only the fleeing wingbeats of a ruffed grouse can produce.

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