November 29, 2008 November 23rd- A work day at the Gridley property...
All work and a little action
I got out to the tank to do some wok and ended up having a good time watching birds through the afternoon. I ended up watching two different large flocks willow-leaf into the decoy spread. It was a great sight watching the birds nearly crash into eachother just to go home with me. I ended up pulling a nice, mature bird out of one of the flocks.
November 29, 2008 November 26th
Hunting with my father is always a good time, and today was no different. The specks cooperated well and we had numerous opportunities to seal the deal on at least two limits of geese. We had my father's dog, Duke on the trip, and he performed unbelievably. Our checks have six foot tall johnson grass on them and we have a hard time finding birds unless we bring a dog. Duke did a great job on long retrieves and hidden birds alike. Here's the hero shot...
November 29, 2008 Thanksgiving 2008
Thanksgiving morning hunt...
Thanksgiving 2008 was spectacular. Not because of the great food, but because of the great hunting. My brother and I headed out for a two hour hunt at the Gridley property. We were not disappointed!!! We got to the tank with 10 minutes to spare. We listened to whistling wings until shoot time, and then waiting for the first geese to fly by, spoke of past hunts. We spoke of times when we didn't have great places to hunt, and how greatful we were to have the property we now have. Time spent in the field is definitely priceless.
The morning hunt was full of adventure! My brother and I each pulled a double on a flight of ten specks early in the morning, and then proceeded to stink things up. We missed so many birds it wasn't funny. We even miss-counted the number of birds we had and ended up not shooting birds out of a flock that was within 30 yards. It was so funny... I can't believe it really happened. Anyways... enjoy the photos...
November 29, 2008 November 28th-Gridley Tank
Another GREAT Hunt
This mornings hunt was special in many ways. I was asked to take three of my brother's friends on a hunt at the Gridley tank, and was happy I did. Why, if it weren't for the three of them I wouldn't have seen half of the birds that kept slipping into the decoys in through the fog. It was a fast, and furious type morning... There were both ducks and geese flying in the fog everywhere. I hear from people all the time about how you shouldn't call to the birds in the fog... OK... whatever. I call constantly, with success. The birds come through the fog if there is something they want to hear on the other side, is how I look at it.
I was host to Kenny Black, Jesse Adams, and Cole Gould. These guys can shoot... let me tell you. There was very few birds that made it out of the decoys to be able to tell the story to their friends. We ended up knocking down a total of 17 mixed ducks and 8 specklebelly geese. We all took turns puting shot into a hen mallard that cruised through the decoys and after Cole retrieved her, he yelled out... what do we do now... she's banded. I didn't say a word. I knew each one of us hit her at least once... at the end of the day these guys tossed her to me and told me to take the band. I humbly accepted... Thanks guys.
The number of birds in the bag do not begin to say how amazing and special this hunt was. This hunt was the last hunt Cole will be able to go on until he leaves for Afghanistan with his unit. I wish him good luck in his missions. Thank you for your service. Anyways... enjoy the photos. These smiles were earned.
November 6, 2008 Thought I'd go solo at a local refuge...
Hunting with TJ and Rocky...
I was lucky this last sunday. Lucky enough to run into a friend in the parking lot and not have to hunt alone. We got into the refuge with a sweat line number and made the best of being the last people to set up on the refuge. Suprisingly the 2 mile walk went by rather quickly, and it was nearing shoot time before we knew it. With the decoys in place and the shooting holes and lanes determined we scoured the horizon for the first waterfowl of the morning. We were blessed with plenty of shooting and even some birds dying to go home with us. Here's the aftermath of a quiet Sunday morning hunt with TJ. Thanks goes out to his wonderful 10 1/2 month old pup Rocky.
