- Location
- Back in the Peace Country
I'll start off by saying that I have always been a shotgun guy. Before moving west, the entire year was spent thinking and planning for partridge and duck season. In the ponds in the barrens, 5 miles back to get two Scaupe,...yup I was there. down on the rocks or out in the boat trying to hammer a few sea ducks,..I was there. In over the barrens and partridgeberry bushes with the dog looking for ptarmigan/partridge...I was there...
I had never seen ducks and geese in the numbers like out here. My first season, I was in awe...
Many hunting seasons have come and gone for me now while being out west.
I have shot many limits of snow geese in the field behind my old house in Saskatchewan (as well as Canada's) and have shot many ducks of a great variety as well as geese here in Alberta.
the one thing though that I could never get accustomed to was stinky, slimey, 4 foot of mud, insect ridden sloughs..... I hate them. The birds come out and are disgusting....
With the water so low the past few seasons, our old honey hole was left with little cover and about 50 yrds of beach to waters edge.
We found another spot and it was one of those hideous sloughs. Ducks get lost in the reeds, the dog needs to be decontaminated after he comes out (lol) and the insects are bigger than many of the ducks...
I gave up on the spot last year. My hunting buddy would call, "come on b'y, let's go, sure there's lots of birds up there"....my response was that I'd rather **** in my boots.
This season I said fine, and on the opener we went to the sleugh. It was as bad as ever, and i had a ****ty time. I will not be back there again.
last night I gave my buddy a call,...how about we try the honey hole tomorrow morning (there is much more water this year).
He said alright.
6 a.m. this morning he picked me up and we grabbed a coffee and were on our way.
We arrived to find a moderate water level, but zero cover...well almost zero... there were a few cattails here and there...
we were disappointed...
My buddy says "we're here now, just as well we give it a go"
I was wearing Irish Setters anticipating a dry bank shoot, but no such luck...I was over the tops withi 5 minutes and sitting in the cattails wishing I' had stayed home....it was dead....deader than dead..
Than in came a pair of mallards...
I brightened up as Jody smacked one and the day began.
Then another pair, and another pair...then a flock,...then the geese... then another pair...then two almost took jody's hat off....landing gear down at 8 ft....they were coming in on all sides....I was back a bit (Jody had on hip waders) and had to pick my shots and managed to pick at least two that were reminicent of the shots I used to make....:sHa_shakeshout:
There were another half dozen though that i gave up due to poor swing and poor balance...
The dog was retreiving well (she's a touch old and stubborn) we were having a blast....
It was agreat day !!!!!!! 6 years ago to the day, me and jody spent our first day ever hunting together at that very honey hole,.... We're both married since, small kids and little more daddy gut, but we did alright...
I had never seen ducks and geese in the numbers like out here. My first season, I was in awe...
Many hunting seasons have come and gone for me now while being out west.
I have shot many limits of snow geese in the field behind my old house in Saskatchewan (as well as Canada's) and have shot many ducks of a great variety as well as geese here in Alberta.
the one thing though that I could never get accustomed to was stinky, slimey, 4 foot of mud, insect ridden sloughs..... I hate them. The birds come out and are disgusting....
With the water so low the past few seasons, our old honey hole was left with little cover and about 50 yrds of beach to waters edge.
We found another spot and it was one of those hideous sloughs. Ducks get lost in the reeds, the dog needs to be decontaminated after he comes out (lol) and the insects are bigger than many of the ducks...
I gave up on the spot last year. My hunting buddy would call, "come on b'y, let's go, sure there's lots of birds up there"....my response was that I'd rather **** in my boots.
This season I said fine, and on the opener we went to the sleugh. It was as bad as ever, and i had a ****ty time. I will not be back there again.
last night I gave my buddy a call,...how about we try the honey hole tomorrow morning (there is much more water this year).
He said alright.
6 a.m. this morning he picked me up and we grabbed a coffee and were on our way.
We arrived to find a moderate water level, but zero cover...well almost zero... there were a few cattails here and there...
we were disappointed...
My buddy says "we're here now, just as well we give it a go"
I was wearing Irish Setters anticipating a dry bank shoot, but no such luck...I was over the tops withi 5 minutes and sitting in the cattails wishing I' had stayed home....it was dead....deader than dead..
Than in came a pair of mallards...
I brightened up as Jody smacked one and the day began.
Then another pair, and another pair...then a flock,...then the geese... then another pair...then two almost took jody's hat off....landing gear down at 8 ft....they were coming in on all sides....I was back a bit (Jody had on hip waders) and had to pick my shots and managed to pick at least two that were reminicent of the shots I used to make....:sHa_shakeshout:
There were another half dozen though that i gave up due to poor swing and poor balance...
The dog was retreiving well (she's a touch old and stubborn) we were having a blast....
It was agreat day !!!!!!! 6 years ago to the day, me and jody spent our first day ever hunting together at that very honey hole,.... We're both married since, small kids and little more daddy gut, but we did alright...
