HUNTING -- Eastern Washington's upland bird hunting seasons for partridge and quail ended at 5:15 p.m. today.

That means my English setter is going to be a little less than fulfilled every day from now until the mountain grouse seasons open on Sept. 1.

Even the Seahawks' Richard Sherman could take a lesson from Scout on the disciplines of focus and determination in the field.

Scout would rather hunt than eat, as you can see from the photo. When I've had the privilege of owning a good hunting dog, my goal has always been to get it out on birds twice a week during the seasons. I fulfilled that commitment to his blood line pretty well this year with brief exceptions for elk season and a New Years break for skiing.

By the end of the hunting seasons, Scout is lean and hard like the basalt cliffs he contours in pursuit of chukar scent.

He'll get an unwanted chance to fatten up for a few months. We'll both have to chew on the taunting but promising memory of a flock of chukars cackling from a rock band above us as we descended from their haunts for the last time this season.