Afternoon Doves

Flip and I went alone for a quick dove shoot. Leaden skies, nothing flying. Always better to be in the field than not. 

Last Early Ducks

Monday, October 12 Afternoon Hunt




Sat with Cris some this morning at his house. He's still pretty under the weather, but we had a nice visit.

There was plenty of cloud cover early in the afternoon, so I figured the birds might be fooled into flying early as is often the case on gray days. Dad didn't feel like tagging along, so I grabbed Flip and the Mule and hunted Edward's side. It's plenty thick...lily pads, cattails, bullrush, and other stuff...but with enough open water for landing. We went early and sat for two hours. A few birds came in before sunset, but set in way out in front...too far for a shot. Got some nice pics around sunset as the early season ended.



I looked over my shoulder as I latched the gate on the way out and saw dozens of woodies coming to roost. Suckers always arrive twenty minutes after legal time...oh well. It was still good to get out with the dog, and the sunset was beautiful.

More Early Ducks

Saturday Morning, Oct 10

Dad and I hunted the same spot and saw fewer ducks...still all woodies. I put one down way below the dam...Flip hunted pretty hard but the bird was poorly marked and in the thick stuff and we never found it. Meanwhile Dad put a drake down ten yards in front...when Flip and I got back he recovered that bird fine. Once again it was all over quickly.

Early Ducks

October 8

We haven't hunted doves since opening day...no birds anywhere that we can find. Finished the skeet season with the closed club shoot in Sept. It's been a busy Fall. Cris has been under the weather and we missed having him here for our ducks opener.

Dad and I hunted on George's side of the creek. Went in plenty early. The corn's not cut, so we slipped into our little honey-hole by walking between eight foot tall rows of corn and then creeping to the beaver dam. The beaver made known his dissatisfaction with our intrusion before we even got set, and kept popping his tail until the shooting sent him back into the lodge. Flip fidgeted and protested that he couldn't go "play" with the beaver, but he sat tight and didn't yip.

Right at legal time bunches of woodies came piling in, mostly in twos and fours, but some bigger groups too. The suckers came, as they always do, screaming in through the trees, fast and furious. You only get a second or two to commit, mount the gun, and get off a shot before they're either past up the creek or down on the water...no circling and quacking for these guys...you'd better be ready and quick about it.

We got in plenty of shooting but only two down for sure, with one lost. By 7:30 it was over. No pics today.

And So Another Season Begins

September 5, 2009

Dad bushogged the church field and around the pond this week. The sunflowers were a dismal failure; Short, stubby, tiny seedheads, and choked with weeds. We made a few mistakes this year; no fertilizer, no herbicide; just tilled and planted. Oh well.

It was a weird opening day. The birds seemed to have moved out of the area ahead of a front earlier in the week. Nobody has birds near us. Even with the sunflower failure, there's plenty of weed seed in the field, but still no birds. Should've brought our fishing rods.

Cris and Christiane came down from Madison; so did Jay, Kathy and Larry. Harry took a break and drove up from Ashland, and Kurt came over from Harrisonburg. We still had fun getting together, despite the lack of birds...good excuse to hunt up all the gear and work the dogs anyway. Croc and Flip were well behaved and ready to hunt.

The story of the day: Cris was the only one to shoot a dove, the only one to even pop a cap. Poor little bird didn't stand a chance...I'll let Cris tell the tale on himself...if he wants to.