Quandaries

These have been a fun few days when I've had the Labraduo on the trails with me. It's so much fun to see their antics when they're together.

We were out shortly after sunrise this morning, and I asked the two of them to take a bow. They are both taking "bows" in this photo but look how different their styles are! R looks like the puppy!

We never stop practicing recalls in this pack. Given that we live in the midst of wildlife, I need to know that the Duo will come when I call them. The competition of the Duo makes their recalls even faster!

This pair is truly becoming a "Duo" with a bond that has grown so fast over the past year.

After a good romp for the two dogs and a short ride for me, I dropped them off at home to start my solo ride. I was feeling really tired, primarily because my back pain has been bad lately. Consequently, I was soft pedaling my way through the ride. I stopped for every pretty little thing in the forest, enjoying a warm Indian Summer day.

I loved this combination - a chokecherry bush that was turning red with a wasp on it! The two seasons juxtaposed...

Then, I headed through a deeply forested area that I adore. One reason that I love it is that no one else ever goes there (except abundant wildlife), at least until today. As I was riding along in a forest so dense that I couldn't see further than 10 yards from me, I started hearing this repetitive grouse calling. It called and called and called but it didn't sound normal to me - it sounded tinny and fake. Then, I heard a big crack of a human footstep, and - ah ha - I knew what was up. It was a hunter, using a recording of a grouse to try to attract grouse to him so that he could shoot them.

My first thought was that I didn't want to get shot so I called out "hello!" to let him know that I was there. The forest was too dense for him to see me and my bike was silent. No answer from him. So, I called again in a super friendly voice, hoping for a reply so that I could stop worrying about an accidental shot in my direction. This time, not only was there no answer, but there was the sound of the guy moving fast away from me.

Now, I was baffled. Based on his odd behavior, I started wondering if he'd been doing something illegal. I didn't know the bird hunting rules so I was ready to forget about the whole thing if nothing more happened. Then, I saw his vehicle and quickly snapped a photo of it, just in case. Right after that, he came up out of the ravine like a bat out of hell. I was out of sight, and I made sure that I stayed out of sight until he'd sped away.

At that point, I felt certain that he'd been doing something illegal. After some research, I discovered that it's illegal to use electronic calls while hunting birds. So, what do I do? I have no doubt that he was using an electronic grouse call. However, I might run into this guy again, in a remote area, with him wielding a gun and me unarmed. For the moment, I'm mulling it over.

Life is full of quandaries like this one. In the "wild west", not only do you have to follow your ethics but you also have to be cautious if you like to frequent remote areas like I do.

Ah, if only life were as simple as a morning bike ride where I stopped to smell the flowers.