We started 2022 heading into our third year of the COVID-19 pandemic and got introduced to Omicron and all its siblings and children. 2022 also seemed to be the year where the effects of climate change really hit home in the PNW. For all the weirdness though we actually did quite a bit this year and spent a lot of time outdoors truffling, hiking, camping, hunting and fishing.
This year I decided to do a second turkey camp in Southern Oregon to get some more turkey meat in the freezer, to get a few more Rios and to check out the Rogue Valley. I had kind of wanted to do the West Coast Turkey Tour and fit in California but didn’t pull it off this year, maybe next year I’ll go for all three. I had debated on wether or not to tow the trailer or tent camp but decided the trailer would be way more comfy so did the long tow down on Monday and set up camp in Gold Hill, very close to some of the turkey spots we were going to hit.
This year I headed back over to the Spokane area for turkey hunting. I had originally planned a trip to Winthrop a few weeks ago but the weather (don’t get me started) was horrible so that got canceled and I was placing all my bets on Spokane/Cheney area which also happened to have an extended three bird limit this year. I towed the trailer over on Tuesday and set up camp at Riverside State Park, wandered around finding a few false morels and then tried to get some sleep.
Last fall I started Lira in truffle hunting classes through Truffle Dog Company here in Seattle and after finishing up the Foundations class it was pretty clear she was ready to skip Intermediate and move into Pre-Advanced and Advanced. Since early December we’ve been doing training hunts with real truffles most of the time and have been going out “hunting” a few days a week though she had never really even started digging but we knew it was a horrible year for truffles. This last few weeks things have gotten a bit more interesting as she started finding spots she was very interested in and dug a few holes where we’d find nothing or just heavy mycelium.
2020 totally sucked between the Coronavirus pandemic, lockdowns, wildfires and finally Lira injuring her knees so I had hopes 2021 would be a huge improvement. As I write this we are pretty much back in the same place we were in winter of 2020 with the new omicron variant raging in Seattle and the rest of the world and the obvious impacts of climate change hammering us with snow and, for Seattle, extreme cold. The year has been full of pandemic canceled plans but has some bright spots with Lira making a full recovery by summer time and taking on new challenges this fall.
Lira is back to bird hunting after last year’s injury and subsequent stem cell treatment to try and get her back. She’s been out after birds a few days a week only, not wanting to push her daily like I used to so we tend to hunt Mondays or Tuesdays and Thursdays or Fridays. I do have her drag a check cord to help slow her down a bit but she’s been doing great and finding birds every single time we get out, whether or not I get a shot is another thing but this week I’ve hit every bird that we found and the freezer is getting some pheasants again.
To give her something to do on her off days we enrolled her in truffle dog school through the Truffle Dog Company in Seattle. We started the Foundations I class a week ago and have her booked up with classes through the end of the year. She seems to really enjoy “hunting” truffle scent under cones in the house, is getting used to clicker training and loves all the extra treats. This should be a good activity for the off season for her since truffle season here picks up about the time bird season is slowing down.
After last year’s short and hardly huntable turkey season I had hopes for this year. Everyone was confident cases would be dropping like a rock in April and May so things would be safe this year. Of course Washington and Oregon are still on the increase having fourth waves but at least I’m fully vaccinated as of last Saturday so I went ahead and had my trip that I had booked with Joe for last season. Even with the vaccine I had trepidation about the trip. The counties over here are the fifth worst in the nation for new COVID cases at the moment, I hadn’t shot anything in six months and I hadn’t been out using my shotgun since last fall when Lira got hurt. I did manage to get to the range and zero in my Fastfire red dot but still felt a lot of concern that I’d end up missing or wounding a bird. The whole thing tied me up in knots to the point where I was debating just stopping hunting altogether so I sort of needed today.
Lira had her 12-week follow up exam from her stem cell/PRP treatment yesterday and we got some good news! Her knees are both stable now and not showing any signs of inflammation or thickening due to increased scar tissue. It looks like the treatment worked as hard as it was to keep her from hurting herself all over again. The only negative news is that her right hamstring is still atrophied a bit from lack of use and she is now 10# overweight from the general lack of activity and medication she’s been on.
Brighter days ahead, Lira at 11 weeks post procedure
The last four months have been very challenging between dealing with the winter COVID-19 surge, a pretty rough winter in Seattle and Lira’s knee injury. It is almost 4 months to the day that we got the diagnosis of a torn CCL in Lira’s right knee and had to seriously restrict her activity to try an heal it up.
2020 was by far the worst year for pretty much everyone. In my case maybe 2014 was worse since I was sick the entire year but 2020 has been one thing after another mostly hijacked by the Coronavirus pandemic. I had such big plans starting the year, I had stopped working (again) and was looking forward to several big hunting trips, camping and travel to the LA sunshine. All that lasted about eight weeks.