10/31/09

The north goose zone reopened today so we decided to give it a shot. I had been seeing geese land in this field for the last couple of days. They decided to take tonight off though. Still fun to get out.

Finally a Limit!!

Me and Mitch, 12 Greenies, 2 Bull Sprigs... Need I say more?

10/28/09

After waking up, trying to go back to sleep, and deciding it was too cold I finally headed out to Ogden Bay this morning. I ended up shooting 3 for 3 even though the factory bead and the glo sight I have both came up missing. I don't know how they both broke off, but it doesn't seem to be affecting my shooting too much yet.

10/26/09

Me and Mitch went to Howard Slough to try and get some early pass shooting in. Nothing doing though. I never even loaded my gun. Just spent my time trying to keep the dog under control. That can be hard with as many people and dogs that are out there.

10/23/09

Got to leave work a little early and go out with Todd to chase some quackers tonight. They have been flying really good for him lately but I guess I am bad luck. They only flew for the last 20 minutes of shooting but we had some good flocks work us. I shot absolutely horrible. We ended up with 5 ducks. Always fun to get out though.

10/20/09

Got to go out with my dad's neighbor Will today. We took his boat out to the end of the channel at pintail. There were lots of ducks flying. They quit by the time we got set up though. We ended up shooting 5.

Deer Hunting

I had the opportunity to go deer hunting this last weekend with my uncle Mark. I left Friday afternoon. We hunted above Flaming Gorge in the uintas. Mark is nice enough to let me come with him and stay in his trailer. Its more of a vacation than hunting. Saturday we woke up early and walked through the woods for a couple of hours, not seeing anything. Then we drove to Goslin Mtn. We saw a few deer there, and one little buck. Someone shot it while we were looking at it. Saturday afternoon we decided to head up to Dowd Mtn and try to see if there were any deer there. I ended up having Mark drop me off and I walked through the trees looking for deer. Mark then would pick me up at the next road. I saw quite a few does but never any bucks. Sunday morning we decided to sleep in. I woke up a little after 8 and just looked out the window for a while. I finally had to relieve myself so I walked out of the trailer. I happened to notice that there were a couple of deer standing in the trees by our camp. I go back in the trailer to grab my binos and tell Mark to come look at them. Upon further inspection I realize that one is small buck. I don't know why but I decided that I was going to shoot it. I went back in the trailer, grabbed the gun, and used the camp chair as a rest. Mark was my eyes, and helped me keep the right deer in the scope. (It can be hard when its antlers are about as tall as its ears) Once the deer was broadside, Mark said shoot him in the shoulder; so I did. The deer reared up and then fell dead in his tracks.
I know that he is a pretty small deer, but I am still proud to have gotten it.

By the way, that is Mark's trailer in the background. I had only moved the deer about 50 yards from where this picture was taken.

10/16/09

Mitch, Tyler Herzog, and I went to Ogden Bay this morning. We had this great plan to carry out layout blinds into the marsh and hunt this really low cover we had seen tons of ducks landing in a couple of days ago. Too bad they didn't show up today. It was a lot of work for not even a shot. Maybe next week things will get a little bit better.

10/15/09

Decided to try a little "white trash" duck hunting today. Went out to Howard Slough with Steve, Tyler, and Mitch. We hunted a spot that is commonly called machine gun alley. There were no decoys, no calls. We were hoping to shoot some redheads or other divers but all we saw were teal and coots. Mitch ended up shooting two teal, and I shot two coots. I know its hard to believe but I actually shot a couple of those things. It wasn't as embarrassing as I thought.

My Puppy

I have decided that my new puppy is a retrieving machine. He will retrieve anything and he absolutely loves it. Today I shot a goose and my lab, Jax, would not bring it to me. I took it home and threw it for Chase; he dragged it back for me. I can't wait for him to get a little older so that I can train him more seriously. Even though he is only 12 weeks, he shows a ton of potential. Half the time I hate him and the other I love him. I love him when he has a duck in his mouth though.

10/14/09

Me and Mitch went out to Ogden Bay this morning to find some ducks. We had an idea where some might be, (mostly because my Dad hunted their yesterday). We got set up and had a pretty nice shoot. We ended with 9 ducks between us. Jax did a really good job retrieving them. He is really starting to be a good dog. You might notice that there is a goose in the picture. It is pretty rare for me to shoot a goose, let alone one on the bird refuge. There was this lone goose that had been flying around for like 10 minutes. This bird obviously didn't know where to go. I decided to start blowing my goose call. This dang goose started to circle us. We didn't have any goose decoys and the mojo was running. He circled probably seven or eight times, losing a little altitude each round. Then finally he swung wide and made his descent. He came about 30 yards right in front of us and we unloaded on him. This goose was not going to get away. Pretty cool, but pretty crappy to carry for 2 miles. It was a really fun hunt though.

10/12/09

Mitch found some geese the other day in West Haven. We got permission last night and then headed out this morning to hunt them. When we arrived at the field there was already hunters there! We were ticked. Decided not to hunt with them, and headed to a different field just to see if anything might be flying. Of course nothing did. Oh well, better luck next time I guess.

10/10/09

I decided to head out after work today. Mitch and Todd were already out there. We hunted what I would call "northern Idaho". It was the worst hunt I have had in a long time. There were birds everywhere. We couldn't get a single bird to give us a good look. I will be back out there though to find where the birds want to be. I was able to kill one suzy that came a little too close.

10/09/09

Mitch, Tyler, and I went out this morning after some more ducks. We hunted the pintail flats area again. It turned out to be a really slow morning. They ended up killing 3 birds. I did not kill any, mainly because I forgot my gun. That is the first time that has happened to me. I hope it is the last time.

10/08/09

Went out after a few ducks this afternoon. Mitch and I hunted the pintail flats area. We walked for a while and found an ok looking pond. Mitch wanted to keep going to try and find something better. We walked for like 40 minutes through fifteen foot tall phrag. After never finding anything we headed back to the pond we found to begin with. We had about an hour to hunt and killed a few. I shot 3 for 3. I was pretty proud of that. Mitch killed 2. Not too bad for not knowing where we were going.

First Geese of The Season

Went after some honkers this morning. We thought we might get into a few, but it turned out much better than we could have ever imagined. We ended with our limits. Todd is the luckiest guy ever. He shot a BAND!!

Opening Day!

Well today was the much anticipated opening day. Todd, Tyler Cole, and I went out to Ogden Bay at around 5:30. Saw lots of ducks, but didn't shoot as well as we wanted to. Ended up with 7 between us. It was a mix of Mallards and Green-Winged Teal. We had lots of fun, but hopefully our shooting will improve as the season progresses.