end of grouse season
February 28th . . .
seven month sabbath

michigan 2005

autumn alder swamp
Indian prison nearby
- holds wild cagey birds

lying in muddy corn
among goose decoys -
snoring

season over
shotgun in the corner
unused

2003 grouse odyssey

author son hunt
pair of German shorthairs -
Yanks beat the Sox

dark autumn woods
an owl
glides silently past

Michigan campground -
pan fried jerked venison steak
baked beans on the side

passing of a life
one moment vitality
then sudden stillness

every morning now
goose pairs flying
looking for homes

fall tranquility -
setter barks at big bull moose
moose just walks away

golden tamaracks
cornered grouse bursts into flight
shower of needles

classic hunting haiku

Hunting haiku from Issa, one of Japan's foremost haiku poets of the nineteenth century.

1803

狩小屋の夜明也けり犬の鈴

kari goya no yoake nari keri inu no suzu

daybreak
at the hunting shack...
the dog's bell

(translator's note) Or: "the dogs' bells."

There are just under two dozen such haiku (based on a preliminary search at haikuguy). Translations are by David G. Lanoue, who includes the following note: "Translations based on Issa zenshû (Nagano: Shinano Mainichi Shimbunsha, 1976-79) 9 volumes. Some of the translations first appeared in Issa, Cup-of-Tea Poems and Pure Land Haiku: The Art of Priest Issa."

I will plan to post some of these classic 'ku on this blog in the future, from time to time.

quaking sphagnum bog
shortest distance between points
but a wet shortcut

duck dog icy plunge
icicles hanging from hair
winter wonderland

into a fall breeze
back side of an alder swamp
the dog goes on point

bird hunt with Vicar
while looking for a buck rub
grouse flushes overhead

cold front rolling in
grouse season nearly over
melancholia

despite our presence
a mink swims across the pond -
the dog eyeing it

abandoned old farm -
pastures grown up in thorn bush
noise from the turnpike

snow turned to water
lone pair of geese circles in
their honks echoing

back woods spoil pit
remnants of target practice
the shooter long gone

Big Foot goose decoys
spread around a dozer pile -
sentries standing guard

base of a pine tree
a heap of fresh grouse droppings
above, the dropper

Wisconsin grouse camp -
venison masaman stew
warmed over for lunch

logging roads in Maine
slash and vandalize truck tires -
take two spares at least

crisp fall morning's dew
so cold and wet to the skin -
that and spider webs!

O Multiflora!
bane of hunting existence
Who sings your praises?

as the bird hunter
kennels up his muddy dog
snow begins to fall

after a missed shot
lingering smell of powder
haunts one's memory

Heavi-Shot for ducks -
even at twenty bucks a
box it's still worth it

on grouse odyssey
Munising Michigan has
the best breakfast place

behind the willow
a hunter waits for a deer
which never arrives

what beavers hath wrought
a section of creek flooded
now a wood duck roost

on routine business
like it happens everyday -
two wolves cross the trail

Spencer Lake

hunt rocky slope up
pause and admire scenery
hunt old skid trail down

caved-in cellar holes
here and there lie old deep wells -
treacherous terrain

deep in the fall woods
where no one has ever been -
I find a spent shell

flooded duck marsh -
morning stillness broken
by otters swimming

deer tracks in the snow -
a pause to eat dry catkins
tastes great! less filling!

samurai boar hunt
chasing feral pigs with swords
the old fashioned way

in the dark we hear
wood ducks whistling past the blind -
too early to shoot

hot October day
mosquitoes in the balsams
itchy sweaty hunt

all of a sudden
two teal appear from nowhere
- where did they come from?

autumn odyssey -
closed Forest Service campground
perfect place to camp

errant shot -
feathers floating
a pang of remorse

dense doghair aspen -
fighting for the elbow room
just to have a shot

predawn in the swamp
a coyote premonition -
when I turn he's there

full thermos bottle -
an indispensable piece
of duck hunting gear

pre-season tuneup -
dog running through goldenrod
and spittle bug spit

in the swamp
skunk cabbages
but no skunks

a deer's insides
is like no other place
I've been to

despite blaze orange
twenty or thirty turkeys
walk right on by me

tanka

faded black and white
vintage hunting photographs
who were these hunters?
proud men with shit-eating grins
by now of course they're all dead

November blizzard
biggest buck I ever saw
loaded with 8 shot

my grouse odyssey
every year in October
three states in three weeks

the backwoodsman's
compass
pinned to his chest

noisy gulls
attacking
the crippled duck

head to toe in green
tensed up against a blowdown -
a gobbler calls back

November vision -
antlers above goldenrod
then disappearing

Michigan two track
camping out under the stars -
cold October night

sophie's birthday -
what does she want for dinner?
venison steaks

deer beds in the snow
a clear vantage point to see
men who wish to kill

lost while hunting the
infamous Andy's Ramble -
not far from the truck

woodcock redux

October woodcock
inches from a setter's nose
corkscrews outta here!

again

October woodcock
inches from a setter's nose
a contest of wills

October woodcock
inches from a setter's nose
remains motionless

hound crosses a road -
houndsmen arrive carrying
hound divining rods

venison sausage
only thing my kids would eat
when they were little

bought an SKB
double gun with Mr. Mike -
sold it to Vicar

geese overhead circling
the vvvrrr vvvrrr vvvrrr of wingbeats
closer . . . closer . . . NOW

buying a gun safe?
plan for future expansion
and future gun "needs"