More pics coming but this was the one on my iPhone.
Went out this weekend for my first real duck shoot. Friday, it was 32 degrees here and not a breath of wind and the thought of putting on my 5 mill neoprene waders was not attractive -- so I decided to do something I've never done before -- hunt in a shorts and a t-shirt. Even the ducks thought it was too hot and the three of us only managed to pick up 11 ducks (1 bluebill, 5 gadwall, 4 bluewings, 1 mallard) and one goose. Poacher, in his first hunt of what will probably be his last season did extremely well and picked up all the long retrieves and the goose while my hunting partners young dog got the close ones. She requires a lot more handling and won't go beyond 50 yds to retrieve a bird while Poacher will just chug along and get the far ones without any further direction. We'd send him and keep hunting knowing we didn't have to watch him.
I decided to leave the dekes out overnight and hit it again by myself in the morning. It was only 8 degrees by then and a decent wind was coming from the NW. The first bird of the day wasn't shot until a full half hour after legal and the last duck was shot by 8 a.m.. The first duck was a gaddie that I crippled and my poor old fat dog had to spent 10 minutes chasing a very active diving duck across the marsh. Once he brought him back you could almost read his mind saying "You a**hole, shoot straight next time." I did and aside from one wigeon that locked up and landed dead 500 yds up the lake, I crumpled the rest of my limit. Picked up the dekes and was almost back at the truck when I jumped up literally hundreds of snipe. I pulled into the reeds and for the next 20 minutes shot at singles and doubles as they swirled around the area. SO a first double limit for me -- a limit of ducks (2 pintail, 2 gadwall, 3 bluewings, 1 wigeon)AND a limit of snipe.
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