Craig Kulchak
Craig has been both a friend and colleague of mine for many years. Indeed, I know of no one who is more committed to the classic sporting life than Craig Kulchak. Whether it be rambling up and down mountain two-tracks in his old, restored, honest-to-goodness “safari-style” 1960 Land Rover with Ryman-type setters and old side-by-side in search of grouse haunts, or wading the rivers with split bamboo fly rod in hand seeking out truly wild brook trout, Craig has for most of his life personified a breed of sportsman that is as dedicated and purist as they come.
I first came to know Craig a short while after he had published his first book, “The Creeks – An Upland Adventure” in 1996. Seventeen intervening years have done nothing to dampen his passion for the sport. Now, “My Mountain Grouse” chronicles selected upland bird hunting adventures in the mountains of Idaho over the past thirty-plus years that Craig has enjoyed along with his sons Nathan, Matthew and Kip.
The Ryman-type English setters, of which Craig is so fond, probably define his approach to the sport better than anything. These are shoe-leather gun dogs that are both magnificent in appearance as well as deliberate in their ground work. Craig has owned a number of these fine dogs over the years and their images are here to be found within these pages.
It is easy to see why Craig adopted Idaho as home many years ago. Within a one-hour radius of Boise, Craig hunts ruffed, dusky and Franklin grouse, valley and mountain quail as well as chukar and Hungarian partridge and pheasants. Within three hours of his home there are brief seasons for sage and sharptail grouse. He has hunted them all. Within Idaho’s borders Craig has also taken a variety of salmonids, to include steelhead, Chinook, Dolly Varden, rainbow, brook, brown, grayling, golden and whitefish, all on a fly rod. He also avidly bow hunts for deer and elk. Craig stays physically fit for all of this by running three miles every morning and plays tennis and rugby (yes, that’s right, rugby!) on a regular basis. It is no wonder that he can negotiate the rugged terrain of Idaho's uplnad birds with such ease.
Craig is a gifted story teller with that uncanny ability to draw his audience into the picture. That you will find to be evident throughout his books. Black & white photography and Craig’s own pencil drawings add a wonderfully nostalgic flavor to this compositions as he shares with you his hunting experiences. In addition to The Upland Almanac, Craig’s work has had his work published in The Bird Hunting Report, Pointing Dog Journal, Sporting Classics, Wing and Shot and Pheasants Forever magazine.
I hope you will enjoy his writing as much as I have.
John C. Gosselin
Publisher, The Upland Almanac
