Opening day muzzy 2011

Not a lot of excitement for opening day.  Went in the morning to sit at 10 (well, the hedgerow of 10) and saw nothing.  In the afternoon I went to the Cadillac...nothing.  Beautiful, warm day though and I really loved being there.

Bang! Bang! Done!

I'm getting back on track!  Lined up next to the old man again.  Told him and his son exactly which way I would be going.  Went in and started down the field...first bird, missed.  Walked a little further, second bird...missed.  Argh!  Bacci started chasing after the second bird so I stopped and called for him.  When I got him back to me and started to walk I saw that the old man was in front of me.  I yelled at him to not start next to me anymore.  He cut me off...he yelled something back and I told him after stealing my bird last time, now cutting me off I don't want him near me anymore.  I turned to head back into the field.  Bacci immediately went on point (right where the guy was walking) and put up a hen, bang!  got her!  FINALLY!!  We literally went another 10 yards and bacci put up a cockbird...bang, got him!  It has been 10 minutes and now I'm done for the day.  It was fun but I wanted more!  So Dani and I did a little caching.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Getting a little better with shooting!  This time we didn't find as many birds.  I did shoot one when we first walked in but some old guy ran to the bird and picked it up.  I said thank you but he asked me to put it in his bag.  I said what for and he said, because he shot it.  I was dumbfounded and said, are you sure?  You didn't even shoot.  He said yes so i told him to check his gun because I'm sure it's cold and I walked away.  Me and Greg both shot the second bird we saw and then Greg got one.  So he had two and I had none...of course, I had one that the old guy took and the one that me and Greg shot.  Oh well...I still had fun.

I can't shoot!

I'm writing this very much after the fact so I don't remember all the details but I do know that we put up 7 birds and got one!  Me and Greg suck this year!

A little button

Got into the woods around 1:30 at the recycling center.  Just before dark a button buck came from the road's side and stayed under my stand.

Bat outta hell

Went to Mountain way and I didn't see anything for almost the whole time.  Around when it was starting to get dusk, a quad came rolling up behind me but quickly went back down the hill and gone.  Then, just before dark, I buck was chasing a doe and they were running like their butts were on fire.  I heard him grunting the whole way, it was about a hundred yards up the hill.  Then nothing else.

Opening day of Pheasant 2011

Today was a gorgeous day!  I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to walk very long or "hard" but I managed to make it for the day.  Dani came along with me today.  We got to our spot and Greg was there.  After talking to him about deer hunting we got our stuff together and lined up at the road.  When 8:00 came we started in and holy crap...there were birds EVERYWHERE.  It was actually too much...too crazy too fast.  Many of the birds all went up at the same time and many were low, close and near the road or other people so it wasn't really productive.  We walked toward the back and Greg managed to get one.  After that we turned and went across the road to the hill.  While working around Bacci locked on point.  It was a tucked in hen bird and bacci was solid as a rock.  She flushed straight up and I got her.  A little while later we were working around to the big hill and I saw a bird fly into the edge of the swamp that we just came from so we went back.  We went to where I saw the bird fly in but apparently it landed and ran back across the path into the hedgerow.  Bacci went in the hedge and held point.  I couldn't get to the bird so we waited the stand off out with bacci and the bird...eventually the bird took off and both greg and I shot...I think we both him him.  We couldnt' find him right away so we went into the swampy area and while we were looking we heard bacci and some flapping wings...bacci found and subdued the bird.  All in all it was a fantastic day bird hunting.  On the way home, Dani and I did a little caching and had a great time.

Opening day of Pheasant 2011

Today was a gorgeous day!  I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to walk very long or "hard" but I managed to make it for the day.  Dani came along with me today.  We got to our spot and Greg was there.  After talking to him about deer hunting we got our stuff together and lined up at the road.  When 8:00 came we started in and holy crap...there were birds EVERYWHERE.  It was actually too much...too crazy too fast.  Many of the birds all went up at the same time and many were low, close and near the road or other people so it wasn't really productive.  We walked toward the back and Greg managed to get one.  After that we turned and went across the road to the hill.  While working around Bacci locked on point.  It was a tucked in hen bird and bacci was solid as a rock.  She flushed straight up and I got her.  A little while later we were working around to the big hill and I saw a bird fly into the edge of the swamp that we just came from so we went back.  We went to where I saw the bird fly in but apparently it landed and ran back across the path into the hedgerow.  Bacci went in the hedge and held point.  I couldn't get to the bird so we waited the stand off out with bacci and the bird...eventually the bird took off and both greg and I shot...I think we both him him.  We couldnt' find him right away so we went into the swampy area and while we were looking we heard bacci and some flapping wings...bacci found and subdued the bird.  All in all it was a fantastic day bird hunting.  On the way home, Dani and I did a little caching and had a great time.

Rut is what?

I thought that the rutt would be in full swing and I was excited to take the day off of work and head to the woods.  I went to the tower and sat from about 1pm until sundown.  I saw nothing but a fox and a whole crap load of squirrels.  When I got out of the woods I met up with that guy "Bill" Brodeur.  He said that he's been going a lot and has seen nothing.

Youth Day Pheasant

What a rewarding day!!  Danny has been trying to get me to do the youth day pheasant hunt with him for years and this year, I finally decided to do it.  It was a beautiful morning, sunny and slightly chilly.  I made the long drive down to Colliers Mills and got there early.  As the kids and other guides starting filtering in it ended up with more people that I was anticipating.  There was a nice crowd and I have to say, the state did a nice job (aside from being very disorganized in the beginning).  Danny and I were teamed up with six boys between 12 and 14 years old and one other assistant (without a dog).  We got our field assignment and went out.  The way we ran it was, we would stock two birds in the field and then hunt them up with one of the dogs and three kids.  Then we would stock two more and trade out dogs.  The looks on the face of these kids was priceless.  Especially the last little imp of a boy.  For the life of me I can't think of his name...but on the last bird that we had, he was able to get the shot off and the bird went down.  He could barely hold the gun but when that bird went down his smile was as wide and as bright as I would have ever seen.  Made the entire day worth it.  I will definitively be doing that again next year!

$4

Well...sort of.  I took the day off of work today.  Now that my back is feeling better after getting my epidural shot, I was bound and determined to get back in the woods.  The weather was just outstanding...mid 50's to lower 60's.  Sunny and slightly breezy.  I decided to go to the recycling center.  I didn't really expect to see anything there but wanted to go someplace easy just in case I had a hard time getting in or out of the tree.  I went closer to the road than my stand and feeder.  It's been where I have seen deer crossing.  I got up the tree without a problem and sat.

Around 5:50, it was just starting to get dark and I heard some movement coming from the recycle side.  Suddenly a spike came fast walking (almost running...say trotting) by.  Followed by a doe.  I thought, "how funny, the does are chasing the bucks".  Then I thought...wait a minute...what would cause this?  I stood up because I knew what was next.  Just then, I saw 4 bucks.  The first two made their way towards me.  The first one was a small 6 point...had 4 on one side and two on the other.  The second was a 4 pointer.  I was thinking of taking the first one but he was kind of scraggly.  I thought, it was just the beginning of the rut...I just started back into the woods and I didn't see the other two in the group.  The third was a 5 pointer but one...kept just out of sight.  I was convinced he was the big boy.  Well, the 6 and the 4 stood by my stand for about 5 minutes...then walked to 30 yards and had a fight.  Then they walked away.  I never did see the last hidden one.  I climbed down, with no problems, and really enjoyed the night!  I can't wait to go out again.