The bird hunting over the last couple of weeks has been good here in Nevada. Two weeks ago I had some great hunting and shot both Chukar and Huns. This last weekend the weather was a bit of an issue, but Saturday I still had a nice hunt, and Sunday was just too windy to hunt were I was, though I gave it a try for about an hour.

As each year goes by I find myself appreciating the time outside hunting with my friends and my dogs a little differently. I used to be overly concerned with whether or not it was going to be a good season in regards to population, and the number of birds that I would be able to bag through out a season, etc…. It almost felt like a season long race. Anymore I find myself simply appreciating each day out in the field, regardless of outcome. The only real outcome that matters is that we have a good time, and that the dogs make it home safe. I know that I am going to hunt 40 – 50 days, and I accept that some of those days will not be very successful in regards to hunting, and some will be amazing. I can’t really control that but I can control my outlook on each hunt. Bottom line, if I can get one new unique memory from each hunt then I am very fortunate.

Here are a couple pictures from the last few weeks that stand out in my mind:

The above picture is Porter trying is hardest to get a crippled bird from out of the rocks. A minute after I took this photo I was down on my stomach fishing around for the bird, while porter stood directly on my back with his head looking into the hole right next to mine. Team work at its finest! It was really funny and I really wish that I had a picture of that.

This is a picture of me standing near the summit of one of the many scenic mountain ranges in northern Nevada. I rarely notice it but the worn bluing on my shotgun is very apparent in this picture. It has been carried around in my sweaty hands a few times, to say the least.

I have a Nevada Bull Elk Tag and will be heading out for that hunt late next week, but for this coming weekend it is bird hunting as usual, and I am excited.

My running shoes were clearly a poor choice, I thought as I tested my foothold and pulled myself over the rock face, one of many such obstacles on the trail my teammates and I were now negotiating on our hike up the Hochschwab (a 2277-meter-high peak in the Austrian Alps). I paused and looked up to find the next good hand-hold, but got distracted by – of all things – a Chamois seated on the promontory above me, quietly observing my clumsy progress over the trail. I laughed out loud. What could be more poetic than to see a lone Chamois on our team’s end-of-season hike?

My teammates and I (very) briskly negotiated the rocky trail over steep alpine terrain, gaining elevation with surprising speed. We crested the peak in under three hours, a full hour and a half less than predicted by the trailhead sign. Although the exposed peak offered stunning views, an icy wind drove us quickly back down the trail to the next meadow, where we sought refuge and Kaiserschmarrn in the Hütte there before descending the mountain.

Sipping hot cocoa in the warm Hütte, I smiled and thought our end-of-season celebration could not have been more fun, or more thoroughly Austrian.

The previous day we won our final race of the season (also the final race of the Austria Women’s Cup Series), a technical criterium through narrow village streets in the world-renowned Viennese Weinland (wine country). In an excellent display of teamwork, Dani countered a move by Berni and got away with one other rider, while I covered bridge attempts and won the field sprint for 3rd. We stacked the podium and sealed our team’s lead in the Women’s Cup standings. Booyah!

I ordered a round of Sturm from the local Winzer (vintner) who had set up a stand on the race course. Bundled up in beanies and coats in the brisk autumn afternoon, we toasted the win and the season’s end, as the men raced by in their last hurrah of 2010. We lost track of time, and in the midst of our second round of Sturm found ourselves being paged by the announcer and running to the podium, throwing off jackets and scarves and donning our jerseys for the Siegererung (podium ceremony) in the waning autumn light.

With armfuls of colorful bouquets (Austrian races have the most beautiful arrangements for the podium), we piled into the local Heuriger for a lavish Jause (in Vienna this means dinner) of homemade rolls, Liptauer (spicy cheese spread, a regional specialty), cold cuts and, of course, Wienerschnitzel.

The next day we drove south from Vienna into Styria and hit the alpine trail for our end-of-season hike up the Hochschwab. Five and a half hours and 1000 vertical meters later, my body, my camera’s memory card and my German vocabulary exhausted, I looked back over a hazy glow of sunlight low across the mountains and officially bid my 2010 season tschüss.

Do you have questions for me? Is there a particular topic you’d like me to cover in future columns? Please write your questions or suggestions in the comments section of the column, and I’ll do my best to address them in future entries!

Amber Pierce - An American expat living in Austria, Amber has made the leap across the Atlantic in pursuit of her dreams on the road. After making a name for herself as one of the top road cyclists in the US, she now faces new challenges in her life on the road in Europe.

Amber's path to full-time racing in Europe has been anything but linear. From high school valedictorian holding national swimming records, to scholarship athlete at Stanford University and researcher on the open ocean, she has found herself in countless adventures all over the globe. With 53 career victories under her belt, however, Amber appears to have found her calling on the bicycle.

Follow Amber's adventures as an American cyclist and expat in Europe and beyond, as she shares the journey through her own words on Anywhere Road.

I spent the last 4 days in one of my favorite areas in the world. Every year I spend the second week of October up in Oregon in the Owyhee desert, and this year was another memorable trip, in many ways.

The bird hunting this year was a lot better than it had been the last few years, but still not even close to how good it can be at its best. I hunted for 4 days and shot plenty of chukar and quail. The dogs hunted well and we made it another year without any encounters with snakes. There will be a few memories from this trip regarding hunting that will stand out in my mind for years to come. I had a few of those situations with dogs on point and birds all around me that in many ways are the same as every good point, but were somehow unique and awesome in their own way. Images that are imprinted in my mind.

My Dad was there once again, and this is always a great opportunity for us to get to spend the most quality of times together. I feel very fortunate for that. Dad had a new Labrador puppy and there was lots of good opportunities for it to have birds shot over her head. Dad mostly hunted quail along the river, and there were tons of quail to be had. Hunting with his older lab, Amber, who is an amazing dog, and his new puppy, Monkey, there was not many quail that escaped the nose and desire of those two dogs.

Sadly this year my good friend, Hank, who I got one of my dogs from years ago, and who introduced me to our area along the Owyhee could not make it this year because of potentially very series health reasons. Hank is one of those men that if you are honest with yourself you want to be just like, as a man. I have all the respect in the world for him and missed him a lot. I did a hunt on Monday that Hank and I did years ago. When I first started walking I did not realize it, but as I went on it struck me that the last time I did that hunt was with Hank, and as it turned out he would certainly have had a great time with me the other day. I wish he could have been there. That day was kind of bitter sweet, if you know what I mean?

As always I find the Owyhee desert to not only be one of the most beautiful places that I have ever seen, but it also kind of pulls at my imagination. I can’t help but to let my mind wonder what the place was like 90 years ago when there were old ranches along the river. It must have been a much more simple life, and a very tough life. I envy parts of that. I can’t help but to wish I could go back in time to see the place as it was then. All these years later it is still the same rugged area that it was then, but to see it then in that time, would be amazing.

If I am lucky I will get a chance to make it back over there one more time this year. If not I will just look forward to making more new memories next year.

Jay