The Roaring Plains

I made the long drive back into the Roaring Plains of West Virginia for the first time in several years. Other covers closer home had kept me satisfied for awhile, but the call for a wilder type of hunt led me back to these high mountain haunts. The birds were there, but as usual they used the thick spruce-rhododendron cover to make good on their escape route and although Hattie has several productive points I was never able to get off a shot. Hope you enjoy the following pictures of my adventure. The pipeline is the path to the top of the plateau. Pushed through in the early 70's, it prevented this area from becoming a wilderness area. So while the Dolly Sods wilderness area gets overrun by backpackers looking for the wilderness experience this 20 some squaremile area, which is just as wild except for the long pipeline scar running through it, gets few visitors.

A view of the pipeline on top stretching eastward.

The mountain holly were a bright red against the green spruce background.

A windswept hawthorn, a living testament of the harsh weather that rules this land.

Springs abound in this high mountain plateau.

Hattie working through some open cover.

The walk back to the truck.

Hattie at the end of the hunt.

A Change of Diet

Although I'm starting the hunting season 10 lbs lighter than last year this isn't about my diet. It's my 16 gauge Grulla that will be fed a diet of 2 1/2 inch roll crimped shells this year. You may be wondering why I would be going to so much trouble when a trip to a local sporting goods store could result in shells that would kill grouse and woodcock. I attribute it to my quest to be different. Just as I'm a grouse and woodcock hunter in a land of deer and turkey hunters. Just as I'm a 16 gauge shooter in a land of 12 gauge shooters. The reasoning is plain to me.........because I know of no one else who does this.

I've reloaded my own shells for some years now and the move to roll crimping was just a natural progression for me. Maybe its the need to be even more of an oddball that drove me to purchase the tools and spend hours in the basement working up loads and then spending time at the patterning board looking for the prefect recipe.

What ever the reason I'm committed to using these little beauties this season loaded in 3/4, 7/8, and 1 oz. loads.

Below are the tools of the art of roll crimping.

A home-made hull cutting tool. Using a dowel rod approx. the size of the inside ID of a 16 gauge shell, I drilled a hole big enough to drive a blade from a exacto knife up through it and added a large headed screw to the end to adjust the length of the hull cut. It's an excellent, speedy way to cut plastic hulls.

A hull cutter from http://www.leadtradingpost.com/. I find this cutter works better on paper hulls than my home-made one.

A hull vise from Ballistic Products Inc.

A modern roll crimping head mounted in a drill press.

This is an old hand roll crimper made in the late 1800's that still does an excellent job.

The Results.

October Time

Time to experience the thrill of a pointing dog with nerves strung to the breaking point.

Time to travel abandon logging roads. Letting them lead me where they want to.

Time to visit old homesteads. Silent reminders of days long past.

Time to visit old friends that I have found over the years and contemplate their lives and deaths in this rugged mountain land that I love to roam.

Time to enjoy life in the uplands.

Allegheny Mountain Smallmouth Bass

Fishing in the Alleghenys to me means Smallmouth Bass. On my eastern slopes there are small secluded streams that flow against steep ridges and along isolated meadows where you cannot find a footprint of another angler. Often you have to walk through unproductive shallow waters to find the stretches that hold fish, but when you do its well worth the exercise.

My great-nephew Caleb is my usual fishing partner (when he can find time in his busy schedule :) ).

A few evenings a summer my wife goes with me fishing. Large or small she enjoys the tug on the end of her line.

My wife's best ever Smallie, an 18 incher, taken on a mole worm.

Fishing alone it's impossible to get pictures that honor this KING of all fish but here are some nice fish that I've taken while fishing without a companion.

I use light spinning tackle for my Smallie fishing. My favorite lures are plastic lures that I hand-pour myself. You will usually find this worm called a "mole worm" tied to my line 90% of the time.

Crawdads can also tempt a Smallie into a strike.

When all else fails a Rebel Teeny Wee Craw will catch you a fish. It may be a Smallie, a Rock Bass, a Fallfish, or a Sunfish but it is a deadly fishcatcher. Caleb jokingly refers to it as the small child and woman lure.

It's more than just the fish that draw me to these lovely little secluded streams. It's the wondering of what's just around that next bend that pulls me on.

A late June walk

At this time of year it's hard to sit in front of the computer and work on my blog, but here are some pictures from a late June walk through the Allegheny Mountains.

The elderberry are in full bloom promising a bountiful crop of berries for the birds and maybe a few for me too.

The flower of the Persimmon tree. While barely noticeable it will soon be followed by the orange fruit that the deer so eagerly seek out in the fall.

The Rhododendron's are brightening up the steep mountain hollows with their showy blooms against the dark green foliage.

An Early June Walk over the Back 40

A damp evening too wet for the yard work that seems to always await me this time of year was a perfect time to take a long overdue walk over the Back 40. Here are some of the things I saw on my hour long hike.

These Blackberry blossoms are a prelude to the juicy sweet fruit to come.

You'll find me along this path with a berry bucket during the first weeks of August.

The Mountain Laurel blossoms are at their peak this time of year.

Multiflora Rose. An invasive plant despised by many. It can be a valuable food and shelter plant for a multitude of wildlife if controlled.

A Multiflora Rose blossom promises to produce a bounty of berries for the grouse.

A witches broom on a Multiflora Rose. Caused by a virus it is naturals way of controlling this invasive plant. I have had several rose bushes die from this disease.

Wild grapes forming on the vine. What every grouse hunter yearns to see.

The apple trees will be a popular place this fall for the deer, bear, grouse , etc.

The Hawthorn trees promise to bear a good crop this fall also.

The wild Cherry starting to bear its fruit.

A Norway spruce that someday will provide shelter of a variety of wildlife.

Some of the seed heads of the grasses that I'm trying to maintain in the old pasture section of the Back 40.

I wasn't the only one enjoying a cool evening stroll over the Back 40

West Virginia Road Trip

Our destination on this trip to West Virginia was Spruce Knob, at 4863 feet the highest peak in West Virginia and also the Allegheny Mountains. A wind-swept desolate place with its Red Spruce trees limbs pointing eastward caused by the westerly winds and its stunted Birch and Maple trees growing in small gnarled clumps. We lucked into a beautiful day as you can see by the following pictures.

Views from the 1/2 mile long Loop trail on the summit of Spruce Knob.

A dead spruce tree along Loop trail that my wife thought "needed a hug".

A Trillium along the Loop trail on Spruce Knob.

These Birch trees on the top of Spruce Knob were only now on May 22 starting to leaf out.

Some sort of fungi growing on a Red Spruce limb on Spruce Knob.

A stand of wild Geranium along a mountain road.

The flower of the Cucumber Magnolia tree.

After visiting Spruce Knob we headed west to the Sinks of Gandy area of WV.

The southern entrance of the Sinks of Gandy. Gandy Creek travels under a spur of Yokum Knob for about 3000 feet before reemerging.

Some of the large meadows that make up the Sinks of Gandy region of WV.

And so ended a beautiful day, one of so many that we have enjoyed in the mountains of West Virginia.