Christmas Snow 2010!

We got a foot of snow! With all of family Christmas events, I haven't been doing much hunting. There will be more hunting posts to come into late January.

Slow Duck day

For now it appears that many of the ducks have migrated down south. We did not see many yesterday. We did see a pair of woodies and a pair of mallards on some ponds we have access to. We did not get a shot. Either way, it was better to be out in the weather than stuck in the house!

Zorbacon vs. Merganser/Zorbacon vs. Pond

The morning started out with a hunt with Longeard mule, Sadie, and Sewer Rat. The ducks either slept late or migrated somewhere else. I counted 5 mallards sky high and 1 far off wood duck. There were no opportunities to shoot. We had fun either way. A little later on I was helping Glove Devil in the greenhouse. I stepped outside to take a break. While contemplating what to have for a snack, I climbed onto the mountain of pallets to get a better look at the pond. I saw ducks swimming on the pond. I saw 2 mergansers. Over the next several minutes I got my shotgun, hat and jacket and walked to the pond. I approached from behind the dam. I was completely invisible to the ducks. As I rose to spot the ducks and shoot, I fired on the merganser drake and got him. I let the hen fly away. 2 wood ducks that I did not see until after I shot flew off as well. They were at the other end of the pond. The dead merganser drake was lying in the middle of the pond. My waders were in the truck back at the greenhouse. It was a 5 minute walk away. I asked myself, "What would Bear Grylls do"? I took off my boots and socks. I rolled my sweatpants as high up my legs as I could. I stepped into the slimy pond. The water was so cold! I knew the pond wasn't deep. I continued to slowly walk to the center to pick up the bird. It was an odd feeling. Was I really barefooted in a pond on December 2nd? Was I doing all of this for a merganser?

No Shave November

I know what you are thinking. What does a beard have to do with being in the wild? Everything!!!! A beard works as a face warmer, and a face mask. At the beginning of November, I did not know I would be participating. I last shaved the morning of November 1st. I saw an old friend who had a nice beard in his own right. I decided I was in.





There is an unwritten rule that you must have a mustache for a short period after you shave your beard.

It's always funnier to scold your child with a stache! You come across much more stern.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Today is a day that our founders set aside to give thanks for our great nation to our Creator. It may be my favorite holiday. It is often overlooked by Christmas. I like it because you just eat and spend time with family and friends. No gifts required. Be sure to take time to thank God for sending his son Jesus to earth. I know that we celebrate this at Christmas, but do it today. We are the most free and blessed nation on earth because of the relationship our forefathers had with God.

On with the hunt. This morning Longeared Mule and Sadie took me on another hunt. I shot a mallard that got away. The duck either swam away or vanished into thin air. I hate losing any duck, but losing a mallard seems worse. We had a good time, but I forgot my camera so there are no pictures of ducks.

Since there are no duck or dog pictures, I will attach a picture of my littlest Turkey. Enjoy!

Sadie.....

on the perch!!!!

Mallards

This morning started by making a 12 cup to the max pot of coffee followed by a trip to the Bojangle's drive-thru. Longeared Mule, Sadie and I got together for our second hunt of the week. We decided to eat, drink and hang out in the swamp for a while today. Our coffee was not measured. The ground jewels were just dumped. Our brew was strong enough to smack someone named shovel face in the face. Duck hunting is a lot more enjoyable when you don't have to leave the swamp at 7:30 am. There were plenty of woodies, teal and mallards before legal shooting time. They flew around and taunted us while we couldn't shoot and mostly disappeared when we could. We got buzzed a few times and didn't react quickly enough. Around 6:50 am, when we had relaxed in the blind and started to talk about things other than hunting, a pair of mallards landed about 35 yards behind us. We whispered "mallards" and hunkered down. Zorbacon on the right, Longeared Mule on the left, we counted to 3 and shot each bird on our respective side. We both hit our targets. With one clean up shot and 2 great retrieves by Sadie, we had a pair of mallards in our blind. There was one drake and one hen. We could not have done it without Sadie. The ducks landed on the creek within the swamp where the water is well over our heads. In the words of my eldest son's favorite television show, Thomas the Tank Engine, Gordon the big blue engine says "job done, job done"!!!!!!