Bear River/Cornfield Mallards

My friend Jordan called me and invited me and Todd to come up to his grandpa's farm and hunt some mallards. We started out in the corn, but the warmer weather had the ducks more interested in the river.  We made it the move over and it paid off.  We ended up with 18 greenheads and 3 wigeon.  It was stellar!

 

Jordan was able to shoot his first ever limit of all greenheads.  He was pretty excited.

 

 

 

 

As we were picking up decoys the Fish & Game pulled up to the field. They came out and checked licenses, birds, and guns. They were very friendly and nice. They even posed for a picture on their way out.

Rainy Day

Headed out with Todd for a rainy day of hunting.  Slow and wet was all it was.

 

Finally Some Green

I've been having a hankering for some mallards.  Got a tip as to where I might find a few.  Turned out to be a good one.  We ended up with 10 in 2-1/2 hours.  Not spectacular, but better than what it has been.

 

Trap Shoot 2012

Pheasant Farm

Went out to the pheasant farm with my neighbor Will. It was the hardest I've ever hunted for pen raised birds.  It was a lot of fun.

Pheasant Hunt?

I had the day off today and decided to head out after some pheasants.  I went to Ogden Bay and walked for a while around the phrag.  I came up to a pond and I as I came around the phrag a couple swans took off.  I made the decision to take my swan; I wasn't sure how many more chances I was going to get.  One shot and it was down.  I also shot a coot for the dog. I ate the coot for dinner, and it wasn't as bad as everyone says.  Later on Todd and I went back out after some pheasants. The dog found seven but only one was shootable.  It was a good day even though the pheasants didn't turn out like I'd hoped.

 

First Swan

The predicted storm for Friday was too much for me to handle.  I had to leave work to go chase some ducks and swans.  Todd took off early with me.  We headed out to Harold Crane and got set up.  We had borrowed a couple swan decoys from Ryan Stratford.  We had been set up about an hour and watched hundreds of swans fly over when all of a sudden one of the groups turns and starts dropping our way. They set up right over the decoys, feet down.  Todd pulled up and dropped one on his first shot.  3" 2-shot Winchester Xperts, who says you need a big shell to kill a swan?  Chase made a perfect retreive on it too.  He ran out and picked it right up.  Stratfords met us out there later and then the ducks started flying.  We ended up with 18 and the swan.

 

 

Trick and Treat

Had been seeing a few geese flying around work in the morning so we decided to set up and give it a shot. Todd, Ryan Stratford, and Steven McFarland came along.  Only had one flock work us good.  They set up behind us while we were under burlap.  We didn't look until they were right on top of us.  Todd and I were the only ones to get shots and we each knocked one down.  I was lucky enough to get a band though.

 

Deer

I got a couple depredation tags from one of the farmers who lives down the street.  He has been having problems with deer in his corn and hay fields.  A little scouting and talking to neighbors and the hunt was set up.  It took 4 00 buckshot and 30 minutes and we had 2 deer in the truck.  It was a blast shooting them with shotguns.  Its amazing what damage that buckshot will do at 30 yards. 

 

Some Guys Have All The Luck

Todd and I headed out for a quick hunt tonight after work.  We only had one flock of 7 come by.  They presented us with a crappy shot and we decided to try it.  Todd knocked one down and it ended up having a collar! I was shocked to say the least.  What a way to end the first part of the split. Once in a lifetime!  

Nothing Spectacular So Far

The title says it all.  Ducks have been hard to come by for me this year.  Here is a little shot of the dog though.

First Geese 2012

Got an invite from Mike Ballard to hunt some geese in North Ogden with him, Jeff Hill, and Clint Costley.  It was an awesome hunt.  Ended with 12 birds, 4 bands, 30 minutes.

2012 Opener

I have been so busy that I haven't had the chance to do any preseason scouting.  Todd and I decided that our best bet was just to head out to the same place as the youth hunt.  I knew that my buddy Ken would be out there so a call was placed and the hunt was set up.  We left way too early, and packed way too heavy; but we had a good time.  The hunting was average and the bag mixed, which is what was expected.  I'm excited that hunting is finally open now!  

Youth Hunt 2012

Made it out on the youth hunt with my buddies Mike Ballard and Ken Turner and a few of their kids.  I wore them out walking and carrying decoys but it was a blast.  They ended up shooting 15 ducks and 1 goose.  We had lots of 1st's also: first limits, first ducks, and some new species.  

From Left: Auz, Jake, Mike, Thomas, Ken, Weston, Braden, Gracie, Chase. 

Just Arrived!

Well, life has changed.  Annie and I had a baby girl on September 11.  Her name is Lila.  Hunting opportunities may be less now, but that is ok.  She's pretty cute!

Browne Lake/Green River

I had the opportunity to go camping the last few days with Annie to one of our favorite places, Browne Lake.  We left Sunday and planned to stay until Wednesday.  We did lots of relaxing and fishing.  Todd, Mary, and Colton came up Monday for the day.  We had a great time, and caught a bunch of dinky fish on the stream.  Todd even out fished me on the lake; he used spinners though.  Here are a couple stories I needed to share though:

We decided to go to the Green River on Tuesday morning.  We got there around 9 a.m. The wind was blowing like crazy and on my third cast this happens:

It was too deep for me or Annie to remove by pulling on it so Annie decided we needed to find somewhere in Dutch John that could help me. She did not have the stomach to push it the rest of the way through and cut it off.  Believe it or not, there is not a soul in the greater Dutch John area who could (or would) help me get my hook out.  After about the fourth place we stopped I decided to quit being a wuss and just yank the stupid thing out.  It hurt like a mother for a couple minutes but then it was fine.

I caught a couple of the biggest fish that I ever have on my fly rod this trip.  18" but really fat and heavy.

Nothing like this one though.  I'm finally in the 20/20 club. (20" fish on a size 20 fly)  I was ecstatic to land a fish of this size all on my own too.  It was only like a 20 minute battle.

Moab 2012

I had the opportunity to go with our Priests Quorum to Moab for high adventure.  It was very hot, and they kicked my butt mountain biking; but we had a lot of fun.  Here are a few pictures from the trip.