The Streak is Over

I have been scouting some geese for the last couple days and today was the day to set up.  My Dad and Ryan & Braden Stratford came along.  We ended up with 10 in about 40 minutes.  It was sweet.

The best part though....My first band!

11/19/11

Went for a hunt with Todd, and Jordan and Tyler Herzog today.  We hunted Crane again.  The storm moved a lot of birds out of the area though.  It was a fun hunt anyways.  Chase made a couple of 300 yard cripple retrieves.  Todd made a sweet double on some teal right at the end. The total bird count for the day was 23.  Froze my butt off (literally), but its still worth going out hunting.

Todd's Pheasant

I took the afternoon off to take my dad out pheasant hunting. He doesn't remember the last time he shot a wild pheasant and had really been wanting to get one. Last year we only got out once together and the only bird we found was one that the dog caught. I really was feeling the pressure to find him one today. Well it worked out pretty good and he was able to shoot his first limit of pheasants.

 

11/15/11

Went out after pheasants this morning before work.  Chase had two cocks in the air in the first 200 yards.  I had spent 3 shells and missed all 3.  I finally connected on my second shot on the next bird.  It was a fun, quick hunt.  Nice bird too.

A Bucket List Bird

The other day at work I got a visit from Dale Thompsen.  Dale is the father of my good friend Travis.  We were talking about hunting and he mentioned that he had been wanting to get out.  I told him to tell me when and we set a date.  We went out this morning to the refuge and had a really fun shoot.  We walked for about an hour before we found a rooster.  It flushed a little wild, but I was able to make a good shot on it.  After that I was a little concerned about getting Dale a bird.  The spot we were hunting has seen a lot of pressure in the last week.  We continued on and about 20 minutes later Chase made an excellent point.  A little working in and we had a nice rooster up in the air.  Dale made a great shot on it.  After the retrieve he informed me that he could cross one thing off his "bucket list."  He had wanted to shoot one more wild rooster.  It was really cool to be able to help him accomplish this bird.  We were both really excited, and it was a perfectly worked bird to boot.  We ended up getting one more which was just icing on the cake.  Thanks for coming out Dale, it was a blast.

Another Great Day

I decided to head out by myself this morning and chase some cocks.  I hunted out yonder at the refuge and had my two birds in under an hour.  Chase found like 10 birds today.  It was a blast. The first we couldn't find so there is only one in the picture.

After hunting pheasants I went home and worked in the yard for a bit.  Then it was time to head out after the ducks again.  Hit the same spot as yesterday.  Todd came out with me, and Jordan met us out there after a bit.  The ducks worked good but it took Todd a while to start hitting them.  Its an adjustment to shoot from the sitting position. We ended up with 17 between us.  All drakes except for one suzy widgeon.

No Mallards

Mitch talked me into going out hunting with him this afternoon.  We had an exceptional hunt.  Spent twice as much time walking as we did hunting.  It was the first hunt this year I haven't shot a mallard.  We shot pintails, widgeon, gadwall, teal, and a spoony.  We did it in just under an hour.  It was a blast.  Tons of action, tons of fun.

First Pheasants

Mitch and I went out after the chickens this morning.  We walked a long ways and saw a few birds.  I shot one shell and got one rooster.  Mitch shot six shells and got one rooster.  Next time I'm not going to let him shoot, then maybe we could get a couple limits.

The Elusive Wood Duck

I got an invite from Zach Morris to come try and shoot my first wood duck.  Zach spends a lot of time putting out boxes and creating good habit for these pretty little birds.  We hunted two mornings and saw a lot of woodys but never a good drake that was a good shot.  I did take one tough shot but couldn't connect.  We did kill a couple mallards in our pursuit though.  Thanks for the invite Zach, can't wait to try again.

11/01/11

Went out with my dad and the Ogden Bay boys tonight. I got out to the spot around noon. Nothing flew until 4:45 though.  Then it got crazy. There were ducks everywhere.  I think we killed a total of 23; mallards, pintails, and widgeon. Almost all drakes.  I love the all drake limit days.