Thanksgiving Day

Got out on Thanksgiving after some guaranteed shooting. Had a really good group this year for our annual "turkey shoot." It was a lot of fun and tons of shooting.

11/25/09

Went out to Ogden Bay with my Dad and Mitch. We started the morning by breaking ice and pushing it underneath the ice on the edges. Then we sat around. It was really slow. Ended up with 4 birds between all of us. Maybe next time it will be better.

11/18/09

Well today was my wife's birthday and she was nice enough to let me go hunting...pretty much all day. First I chased pheasants with no luck. Then my dad took off work and we went after some ducks. Luckily he has a little time to scout so that I don't have to "waste" my afternoons with no birds. He found a spot that was very easy to get to. Especially compared to where we had been hunting. Ended up with my limit of drakes (6 greenies and 1 gadwall) and a bonus snipe. My dad shot 6 mallards. He might try to say that he let me do the shooting but its not true. I know of at least one bird that I let him shoot all three and miss before I brought it down for him. I'm glad he likes to go with me though.

Check out this picture of Gayland Jr. Don't you see the resemblance?

Click on this picture to blow it up and see if you can see all the ducks flying around in the background. They were all over the place after sunset.


By the way.... HAPPY BIRTHDAY Annie!!!!!

Friday the 13th

Today I was actually pretty lucky. I'm a little ashamed to admit this but up until today I haven't ever shot a wild pheasant. I have shot farm raised birds but never a truly wild bird. Today I got one though. I always see lots of pheasants while duck hunting so I figured I knew where a few "marsh chickens" were. We finally found a few on the edge of the GSL. We ended up flushing 8 different birds but this was the only cockerel that was close enough to shoot. Jick did most of the work. Chase was pretty cold and tired. We had been breaking ice all morning and had walked about 4 miles when we found this rooster. I am excited to get the puppy ready for next season. I have to keep reminding myself that he is just a puppy. The bird is pretty ugly in the picture. He was hiding in inch deep water and we shot him over water too. Pheasants are not pretty when they get wet.

11/09/09

Went after the cockerels today. We found one. Jick did a great job getting the bird up. My puppy made a great retrieve. He watched the bird flush, and was right on top of it. Hopefully we can get a few more over the next couple of weeks.

Hooded Merganser

Happened upon a funny little duck today. It is called a Hooded Merganser. They are pretty uncommon in Utah. They are one of the coolest looking birds I have ever seen. This first pic is what they look like when they are still alive.

11/2/09

Went running around with chase this morning and snapped a couple pictures. Just thought I would post them up.