A hunting story
Oct 22, 2012 12:19:50 GMT -7
Post by 72camaro on Oct 22, 2012 12:19:50 GMT -7
I send out a daily screen saver to friends and families and sometimes a story, well this is one of the stories about this last weekend.
Saturday was a frustrating day going hunting as we only got a few birds but put a ton of time into it. Gordon shot the only Snow goose as he was in a ditch and snuck around till he could get a shot. Mark took pictures of me in a field waiting for the Snows to get closer for a shot but I'm not sure how come they look so close in the picture he took. I look like Dr. Doolittle as the picture makes it appear that they were about 40' away but instead they were more like 100yds. Almost embarrassing if the picture was accurate. He better not Photo Shop it with zzzz's above my head like I was sleeping. We stalked these guys in a field for hours but they just would not fly close enough for a good shot.
There was almost had a bird misidentification accident by one of our guys but it was averted but that is for another day, and not in print. Let's just say birds you shouldn't shoot at sometimes look very similar to birds that are legal to shoot if they catch you unaware while you are snacking at the truck and not in your position hunting, but, crisis averted.
Finnegan, what can I say about Finnegan the Labordoodle, Larry's dog and sometimes seconds as a curly haired Moose. He is my buddy, my hunting pal and at the same time he makes me absolutely insane at the same time, but he really is a nice dog. I hadn't seen him in a while and he was barking at first but as soon as he seen it was me and I was getting hunting gear and a gun he was ready to go to Larry's duck blind with me and Mark, my brother. He bolts down the path into the woods and you hear him splashing in the water and a couple ducks flying out before we could get there. He comes back and we do it again. Finnegan leads the way. We come around the corner and I can see about 25 ducks and they should fly at us. Just after trying to let Mark know Finnegan rushes in towards the ducks and we are now in a shooting gallery and we hit a couple but it is absolute mayhem as we are shooting. I shot one from behind and a fluff of feathers but it kept flying somehow. Mark and I seem to always think that the one that fell from the sky is the one we hit. How we always seem to be firing at the same duck or goose always amazes me so our count is evidently up from reality when our ducks seemed to have landed in the same areas and we are both taking credit for the downed animal. Finnegan is so happy to be out there he is leaping and playing in the water but not retrieving one duck.
Last time I was with him we didn't get any ducks and I had a shell that had been underwater for about 2 hours and I didn't think it would shoot and Gordon, my cousin, did, so I shot it and Finnegan jumped out of the blind and retrieved a decoy. Gordon was laughing and laughing at that one. I wasn't a very good shot at that time and seemed to only hit them when they were on the water. It was a running joke for a while the only safe duck was a flying duck, but if they were in the water I owned them.
We get into the next corner and we are inside an envelope with some openings and there is about 50 ducks at the other side of the pond. Before we can get ready and our ammo ready again the curly haired Moose has gotten in the duck blind and he sticks half his body out of the blind, his version of being stealthy, and starts swimming toward them and our low shot is now null and void because we do not want to hit him. We now have to wait for him to flush them way high and hit the birds that are now flying like escaped convicts. We hit a couple more and again Mark and I are taking credit for some of the same birds. Head scratch.
While in the blind the Moose continues to go from side to side, because there are two dog openings in the blind, and he is so far out of the blind that if you nudged him he would fall out since 49% of his body is hanging out over the water. I wonder if the ducks notice him because going back and forth is certainly making me insane while trying to be perfectly still to lure the ducks in.
Duck Commander would be proud, I called a group in using a duck caller that Gordon gave me. I hit one and Mark and I again are thinking we hit the same duck. Call me insane. My fearless, go crazy or go home dog is out there to get the bird out of the water so we do not have to. He comes back empty handed. What the? I get out and start wading in my waders toward the duck and the Moose then leaps out, again after I just helped him back in, he leaps out to save the day and brings it back the measly five feet I was short to retrieving it myself in the water. Out of all the ducks he has now retrieved half of one. I bet if it was a decoy, never mind, no I'm not still embarrassed about it.
We get some more close fly bys but don't shoot after getting the last group to land I'm feeling like a real professional. Larry comes out looking for his dog and we are essentially done for the night. I ask Larry, the professional duck hunter, if I was calling too often and he didn't really give me any advice but some insight. He said that he only knew two calls, "Danger", and "Hunters below". I think I was giving out the same call sign at times as some ducks look like they had a rocket pack on to get out of the area.
We split the game and while at home cleaning what I took home I pulled my #4 shots out of one bird and Marks #6 out of another and the other bird I didn't find any except holes.
Still a great time and special thanks to Mark, Larry, Gordon, and especially Monica who makes a mean meatloaf dinner and continues to feed the uninvited guests. The worst day hunting is better than the best day working. I'm ready to go again.
Saturday was a frustrating day going hunting as we only got a few birds but put a ton of time into it. Gordon shot the only Snow goose as he was in a ditch and snuck around till he could get a shot. Mark took pictures of me in a field waiting for the Snows to get closer for a shot but I'm not sure how come they look so close in the picture he took. I look like Dr. Doolittle as the picture makes it appear that they were about 40' away but instead they were more like 100yds. Almost embarrassing if the picture was accurate. He better not Photo Shop it with zzzz's above my head like I was sleeping. We stalked these guys in a field for hours but they just would not fly close enough for a good shot.
There was almost had a bird misidentification accident by one of our guys but it was averted but that is for another day, and not in print. Let's just say birds you shouldn't shoot at sometimes look very similar to birds that are legal to shoot if they catch you unaware while you are snacking at the truck and not in your position hunting, but, crisis averted.
Finnegan, what can I say about Finnegan the Labordoodle, Larry's dog and sometimes seconds as a curly haired Moose. He is my buddy, my hunting pal and at the same time he makes me absolutely insane at the same time, but he really is a nice dog. I hadn't seen him in a while and he was barking at first but as soon as he seen it was me and I was getting hunting gear and a gun he was ready to go to Larry's duck blind with me and Mark, my brother. He bolts down the path into the woods and you hear him splashing in the water and a couple ducks flying out before we could get there. He comes back and we do it again. Finnegan leads the way. We come around the corner and I can see about 25 ducks and they should fly at us. Just after trying to let Mark know Finnegan rushes in towards the ducks and we are now in a shooting gallery and we hit a couple but it is absolute mayhem as we are shooting. I shot one from behind and a fluff of feathers but it kept flying somehow. Mark and I seem to always think that the one that fell from the sky is the one we hit. How we always seem to be firing at the same duck or goose always amazes me so our count is evidently up from reality when our ducks seemed to have landed in the same areas and we are both taking credit for the downed animal. Finnegan is so happy to be out there he is leaping and playing in the water but not retrieving one duck.
Last time I was with him we didn't get any ducks and I had a shell that had been underwater for about 2 hours and I didn't think it would shoot and Gordon, my cousin, did, so I shot it and Finnegan jumped out of the blind and retrieved a decoy. Gordon was laughing and laughing at that one. I wasn't a very good shot at that time and seemed to only hit them when they were on the water. It was a running joke for a while the only safe duck was a flying duck, but if they were in the water I owned them.
We get into the next corner and we are inside an envelope with some openings and there is about 50 ducks at the other side of the pond. Before we can get ready and our ammo ready again the curly haired Moose has gotten in the duck blind and he sticks half his body out of the blind, his version of being stealthy, and starts swimming toward them and our low shot is now null and void because we do not want to hit him. We now have to wait for him to flush them way high and hit the birds that are now flying like escaped convicts. We hit a couple more and again Mark and I are taking credit for some of the same birds. Head scratch.
While in the blind the Moose continues to go from side to side, because there are two dog openings in the blind, and he is so far out of the blind that if you nudged him he would fall out since 49% of his body is hanging out over the water. I wonder if the ducks notice him because going back and forth is certainly making me insane while trying to be perfectly still to lure the ducks in.
Duck Commander would be proud, I called a group in using a duck caller that Gordon gave me. I hit one and Mark and I again are thinking we hit the same duck. Call me insane. My fearless, go crazy or go home dog is out there to get the bird out of the water so we do not have to. He comes back empty handed. What the? I get out and start wading in my waders toward the duck and the Moose then leaps out, again after I just helped him back in, he leaps out to save the day and brings it back the measly five feet I was short to retrieving it myself in the water. Out of all the ducks he has now retrieved half of one. I bet if it was a decoy, never mind, no I'm not still embarrassed about it.
We get some more close fly bys but don't shoot after getting the last group to land I'm feeling like a real professional. Larry comes out looking for his dog and we are essentially done for the night. I ask Larry, the professional duck hunter, if I was calling too often and he didn't really give me any advice but some insight. He said that he only knew two calls, "Danger", and "Hunters below". I think I was giving out the same call sign at times as some ducks look like they had a rocket pack on to get out of the area.
We split the game and while at home cleaning what I took home I pulled my #4 shots out of one bird and Marks #6 out of another and the other bird I didn't find any except holes.
Still a great time and special thanks to Mark, Larry, Gordon, and especially Monica who makes a mean meatloaf dinner and continues to feed the uninvited guests. The worst day hunting is better than the best day working. I'm ready to go again.