I have been waiting

The sun had yet to crest the Larb Hills when I let Ace out of the truck. He hit the ground running , and like he always does, raced 50 yards down the road before turning back to join me for the hunt.

It takes him some time to settle down and he leapt and barked for a couple minutes until he got all the nonsense out of system and went to work, nose glued to the ground.

Walking through the snowberries bordering the creek, I saw his tail become a blur of anticipation. A second later the morning stillness was broken by the raucous cackle of an immature rooster pheasant taking flight.

I started...