| |
Sept 1st
late morning
-
all four dogs got the day off.....too much to do
note: bought Federal Waterfowl Stamp
note: clean gun, Plug & Pellet for trap tonight
note: made 36 mini-J-anchors for "small decoys"
evening
- went to the shooting range - two rounds & fifty shots to get rid of
the "rust"
Interceptor
for all
Sept 2nd
morning
- worked on teal decoys & used the "home made" Mini-J anchors, modified
the circular dove blind to use on teal hunts, dogs "rested"
note: took a long boat trip on the Rock River to give a final check on
motor, it
ran smoothly (like new),
gets up on plain & no issues,
Gunny
went along
afternoon
-
Taffey, Kooly, Daisy &
Gunny retrieved two
ducks from the pond out of
the Avery Ultra-Low Dog Hide with calling, shooting and waiting
Sept 3rd morning
- repeated last night's
drill to emphasize the expectation & afterwards
"roaded"
four miles
afternoon
- load boat & van for trip
evening
-
Frontline Plus
except Kooly
Sept 4th early morning
- leave for the Mississippi, scout for teal spot Friday......starting
the
four day trip to the
Mississippi (early goose & teal)
note: this evening all four
ran a 175 yard cold blind
Sept 5th early teal season opens -
Taffey
hunts first......setup completed at 6:25 am...legal
shooting was sunrise 6:29 am..............there was a lot of shooting to
the south, at
6:33 am two teal buzzed the decoys....two shots..one teal dropped &
Taffey had an
easy retrieve from the far edge of the decoys, shortly thereafter
a group of at least
a dozen blew by out of range....a few "peeps" on the teal called made
three peel
off and make a quick "look/see" pass.......one shot and the second "blue
bomber"
was down in the decoys at 6:35 am, after hardly enough time to
relax....three teal
scorched in from the left and not slowing down a bit, the first shot
dropped one in
the decoys and the second finished one off in the lily pads off to the
right........I'm
thinking...we're done! Taffey marked the first one down, but the second
was wide of
the narrow window she had out of the tall shoreline purple loosestrife
"blind". It was
no problem, she one whistled the blind.
Taffey
and I had just experienced an almost
perfect teal hunt.....and it was only 6:53 am.
note: this evening all four
did a session of three handed casting
Sept 6th
Gunny's
day......can be summed up
with "Feast of Famine"......however, the four
teal from Taffey's glorious outing were turned into some great grilling
snacks today,
butterfly fillets rolled around a slice of pepper jack cheese, a hot
pepper and wrapped
in a partial fried piece of bacon were grilled to perfection......tasty
note: during Gunny's cruise home down the main channel of the
Mississippi we
encountered a boat called the Twilight. It appeared to look exactly like
a
"steamboat".....What a wonderful encounter!
River Cruise on the Twilight
Riverboat (Link)
note: this evening all four
did an individual session of walking "poorman" singles
Sept 7th
Daisy's
day......was a truly bluebird day....warm, high sky and teal staying
away.....at
9:30 am we raised the white flag and decided to do as much scouting of
new areas
as possible before noon.....found some idea places to setup farther
south
note: this turned into a two "barge day" not much else happened
late this afternoon we arrived back home for a short, rest
note: Kooly knew he missed his turn
(left click on
thumbnails)
"first day setup"
|
"hidden boat"
|
"Taffey's hide"
|
"kwick finish"
|
"the teal boat"
|
"Taffey's limit"
|
"The Harvest"
|
"unloaded"
|
"Gunny's hide"
|
"steamboat"
|
"The Twilight"
|
"Gunny's look"
|
"Daisy's hide" |
"first barge"
|
"second upstream" |
|
Sept 8th day off
Sept 9th Taffey, Kooly, Daisy & Gunny "free
roaded" with the ATV, did four
miles with a cool water
drinking break at two miles, during the last miles I went by and they
went into the pond
for quick dips, afterwards cooled down quickly and under not stress,
pushed the temperature
issue a bit today and went out at 11 am when it was 73º and some sun
once in awhile
note: their upland conditioning is on schedule
Sept 10th Taffey, Kooly, Daisy & Gunny
repeated yesterday's four
mile "roading" with 72º and
higher humidity, scouted for geese later
Sept 11th Taffey, Kooly, Daisy & Gunny
did our "roading" very early in the morning at BT's hay
field, 62º and very heavy dew on the grass.......dog's stayed wet &
cool, ran 4.5
miles at
10-12 mph without a break.......dogs did it easily and cooled down
quickly
note: started "roading" one month ago - up to
4.5
miles with seven miles as the
goal for Oct 17......South Dakota
Sept 12th morning Taffey, Kooly, Daisy & Gunny
"roaded"
4.6 miles - very early at BT's no
breaks & at a steady speed.......cool with heavy dew
note: Benelli to the gun shop, needs action spring so won't get it back
until late
next week.....have to use the popper gun on the duck trip......a Winchester
1300
pump......not
thrilled 
finished making the corn stalk leaf bundles for "camoing" hides in the
field, picked
210 leaves off standing corn, made bundles of 8 with zip-ties plus a
plastic sap, then
hung them separately to dry out, after the final "shrinking" and drying
out will
trim
the zip-ties (left click on
thumbnails)
"plastic snaps" |
"corn stalk leaves" |
"bundled leaves" |
Sept 13th morning
- Taffey, Kooly, Daisy & Gunny
"roaded" 4.8
miles in the hay field at BT's
note: another in a "continuous string" of great days to road, cool in
the 60's with
plenty of heavy dew on the grass
note: patterned the modified choke on the Winchester 1300 at 25 yards
with
2¾ inch 7½'s, 3 inch 4's and 3 inch 2's = pretty tight for waterfowl
over decoys
(2's not giving all that great a pattern), switching to IC choke which
was what
I was shooting with the Benelli M-1 (won't get that back for another
week)
note: since August 11th's start on "roading" the dogs have run 15 times
out of
34 days with a total mileage of 52.2 miles....should have well over 30
days
of "roading" and 100 plus miles "under them" by the time we hit the
uplands in South Dakota....with four dogs rotating, they'll remain fresh
during the five days of hunting
Sept 14th extended swimming for Taffey, Kooly, Daisy & Gunny
at Hook Lake
note: change lower unit lube in motor.......more to check than needed
this soon
note: order online Iowa waterfowl hunting license
note: buy more 2 cycle oil for the gas 50:1 mix
Sept 15th another day of swimming at Hook lake for all
note: get packed for duck hunting trip
Sept 16th left in the morning to hunt Illinois teal on the 17th & 18th plus
do some Iowa side
note: Kooly & I went scouting to the north, circled around and came back
down the
main channel to the "Cable Crossing", fished some = nothing biting and
the
water is really low.....didn't see any ducks ????
note: Sept 15th was the last day for Illinois early goose with teal a
few more days
(left click on
thumbnail)
| |
"duck boat at trailer site" |
"another view" |
|
Sept 17th early
morning - it was Daisy's turn, headed for "the spot", got
there early, plenty of teal
flying just not many close, walked out into the decoys and saw why,
after some simple
changes had two more (for a limit) by 9:00 am with one that looked
like it was
on
steroids
(left click on
thumbnail)
"sled loads"
|
"setup view"
|
"another"
|
"hidden boat"
|
"the look"
|
"Daisy's hide"
|
"Daisy's teal"
|
"looking for more"
|
"back at the camp" |
"four teal" |
"teal skewers" |
"very tasty" |
Sept 18th morning - up again even earlier,
got all four dogs aired and with the boat right behind
the
trailer decided to get started and be there early, slight fog which
didn't look bad,
following the shoreline most of the way.....it got worse and finally got
to the point
where I head out into the vast marsh (two white chairs on the shoreline),
it was very
obvious this would be just plain "stupid", pulled the boat up on the
shore and took a
one hour nap, woke up & fog somewhat better so with three bright lights
on the bluff
started out......bad decision.....after about 15 minutes of slow movement the lights
disappeared and
concentrating on keeping a straight course was a misguided effort,
30 minutes
later we
came upon a shoreline that did not look familiar.....went left and
continued to "spot" the shore when all of a sudden the two white chairs appeared....we
had made a
huge circle........duh!.....sooooo, kept aiming right to avoid making
the left
handed
circle.......this time we made it out into the stump field which I know is to
the left
of the
"spot".....we find the edge & head west.........the fog is finally
lifting and the island
where the "spot" is looms out of the fog.........we had left an hour
earlier than normal
and were setup an hour after shooting time...........Gunny was pretty much
fine with the
trip......but his string of going the wrong day
continued........pintail, two widgeons and
four wood ducks all came right in to the decoys.........but the only legal
birds were the
teal and they continued to fly by, over and around out of range
afternoon - Brian arrived with his big duck boat
sporting a 35 hp growling, mud motor,
went
scouting for the Iowa opener......finally found a large number of ducks,
but not
nearly
as many as he has seen in the past, with the water down very low some of
the
shallow
water "riding" became.....interesting!
note: no pictures today.....never did get out of the fog
Sept 19th early morning - Brian had
camped out and fished some yesterday, two were to hunt
with him and we were picked up back at the launch, the idea was to find
a spot near
the scouted ducks from yesterday, as per normal several were already
setup there
much earlier or slept in their boats, we continued to move around until
about an hour
before shooting we were able to setup, with shooting time a half hour
away we were
ready....fifteen minutes later....that's fifteen minutes before the
half-hour before sunset
legal shooting time.......the shooters (not hunters) started their
barrage, we sat there for
15 minutes waiting until we could shoot.......a lot of birds flew over
and by, the groups
near the best spot continued to shoot at everything (including those way
out of range),
not much we could do, when we finally could shoot most had already been
shot at
once, they continued to fly high and were educated way to early
.......this was not a
pleasant morning in some respects.....the three of us ended up with a
total of two
mallards, a green
wing teal and one "woody".....could have been many more
note: it's a good thing we had an excellent marking dog, with an
very good nose
and the desire to compliment it......retrieves would have been almost
impossible without
note: hunting alone has an entirely different approach to shooting vs.
having two
other guns close-by.....these two "extra factors" add to the effort & makes
shooting more complex That's
my story.....and I'm sticking to it.
note: my new breathable chest waders worked fine until about mid-hunt a
log
"at least I think it was" hooked my left foot on the bad knee leg which
had me sitting in the water for a few seconds....Brian was very quick at
snatching me up, but some water went over the top and it was
"refreshing",
the warm day made it not that big of a deal, but the knee took a
beating,
torn adhesions are not pleasant
(left click on
thumbnails)
"The Beast"
|
"The Burden"
|
"a few ducks"
|
"Jeff & Neka" |
"Neka" |
"looking for more" |
afternoon Brian and I went fishing,
ended up between two wing dams and caught
a hefty carp that put up quite a fight and two very large sheepsheads
note: knee really tightened up when not moving around
evening - knee is
bad, limped around camp and went to bed early, toyed with the idea
of NOT hunting tomorrow, but there was no one around to "feed me any
sympathy"
Sept 20th very early morning
- woke and had a "heck of a time" just standing, the "call of nature"
turned into a huge effort, but it was only pain and that should never
get in the way of
hunting.......I slowly "gimped" around until the pain became tolerable
in the face of
the "greater good" which was to go hunting....doing something else
always seems to
push pain to the "back burner"......it is a useful skill to learn how to
be preoccupied
with something else, I was going to take
Taffey, but the youngest dog hasn't picked
up a "real duck" yet...............things didn't change for
Gunny........but we had
a good
time.........if several issues with the knee were ignored
Sept 21st with rain forecast for later in the day......the knee
won out.......we slowly loaded up and
left for home camp at about 3:00 pm........couldn't get the left leg in
and out of the van
unless I hoisted it by lifting on the pant leg........yikes!
note: it rain all the way home and well into the night
Sept 22nd early morning
- up early with left knee in the pool
"Jacuzzi"........some relief & "meds"
are like magic
Sept 23rd rain & thunderstorms = day off for all with the dogs not
complaining...."sawing wood"
Sept 24th late morning
Taffey, Kooly, Daisy & Gunny "roaded"
3.2 miles with a
water break at
2 miles followed by "quick splash time" in the pond, temperature 71º &
partly cloudy
note: finished at noon & the humidity made it a bit more of an effort
today
note: "knee therapy" for me & found pheasants to buy for upland training
note: extended swimming for the dogs behind a row boat once a week
note: 16 days of upland preparations including working up to "roading"
7 miles,
Sept 25th early morning
Taffey, Kooly, Daisy & Gunny "roaded"
4.6 miles with a
water break
at 2.5 miles plus two quick passes by & in the pond to get wet, finished
with four dogs
honoring a single water mark for each one
note: dogs were fresh when we finished "roading".....cloudy, "nice" dew
& 65º
note: clean out the Johnny House
note: work on goose trailer (mount hangers & carpet walls behind bags)
Sept 26th late morning -
Taffey, Kooly, Daisy & Gunny went "water roading" at Hook
Lake in
Wisconsin....radar indicated at least a three hour window without rain,
dogs swam
at over a mile and got a good workout.......was easy on the joints &
pads
note: not breathing hard at all when we finished, excellent "change of
pace"
evening rain
(left click on
thumbnails)
Hook Lake
Bog State Natural Area - WDNR (Link)
Hook Lake Bog ranks as one of the highest quality wetlands in Dane
County. It is a soft bog lake, which is unusual for southern Wisconsin.
The lake, located in a glacial pocket, is nearly extinct with only 50-70
acres of open water remaining. The rest is covered by a floating sedge
mat and emergent aquatic vegetation with tamarack swamp forest, open
bog, and southern sedge meadow communities. The bog mat harbors plant
species that are rare in Dane County including the insectivorous
round-leaved sundew, seven-angled pipewort, and bogbean. Other Dane
County rarities are pickerel weed, watershield, leather-leaf, and
large-fruited star sedge. The tamarack swamp contains paper birch,
cranberry, and spinulose wood fern and a dense ring of bog birch
surrounds the tamaracks with cotton grass. Other species include
steeplebush, buttonbush, American woolly-fruit sedge, rushes, and
spike-rush. A cat-tail dominated moat with water plantain, swamp
loosestrife, wool-grass, and arrowhead surrounds the bog. An upland
island of dry-mesic forest is also present and is rich with spring
wildflowers such as Dutchman’s-breeches and bloodroot. The natural area
also contains restored prairie and oak savanna along the western edge of
the lake. The diversity and structure of the vegetation offers a variety
of habitat and cover for wildlife, including open water, reed beds,
sedge, cat-tails, shrub, deciduous and coniferous forest areas. Nesting
birds include common snipe, woodcock, sora rail, green heron, wood duck,
and pied-billed grebe. Great blue herons also use the area for foraging.
Hook Lake Bog is owned by the DNR and was designated a State Natural
Area in 1991. |
Sept 27th early morning
Taffey, Kooly, Daisy & Gunny "roaded"
5.1 miles at BT's hay field......cool
at 62º, cloudy & heavy dew on the grass.....three miles then a water
break & the next two
miles were no problem......not breathing hard when we
finished......steady 10-12 mph
late afternoon all four ran a
set of three cold blinds in BT's hay field......up the side of
a steady rise in calf high alfalfa in a fan configuration with about a
15º separation, all
three were around 150 yards...orange bumpers in the first two and
Dokkens for the last
note: Gunny was impressive.....excellent
initial lines, kept it for a long way, a
couple of whistle sits near the end for precision, he understands it and
his
skills are in place
note: Daisy is much more predictable
lately, good initial lines and her efforts are
consistently sharp (another indication that spaying has made a
difference)
note: Kooly is not flashy on blinds, but is
easy to handle and keeps a good line
note: Taffey is very fast and
confident......no matter what, longer sits make it
more likely that she will take MY casts......she keeps me "on my toes" &
always seems to think her line is correct, top speed all the time
note: all four dogs have a very different personality & their blind
running abilities
consistently demonstrate their individuality...........it's fun to run
them
(left click on
thumbnails)
"Ready to Road" |
"somethin' was here" |
Sept 28th
mid-morning
Taffey, Kooly, Daisy & Gunny "roaded"
5.2
miles at the Square Pond
DTA, 63º, sunny & dew on the grass, took quick dips in the cool pond on
the way by at
the three mile mark & again at four miles, they all quit breathing out
of their mouths
in about five minutes........the conditioning process is progressing
well
note: Taffey is showing a bit of stiffness
after sleeping, warms out of it quickly, but
going to back off a bit on her "roading" distance & go only every other
day
Sept 29th morning ordered a dozen hen pheasants &
day off for dogs
note: cleaned out the Johnny House & worked on goose trailer
Sept 30th morning - picked up the pheasants
& transferred to the Johnny House (They are wild!)
note: borrowed two remote Dogtra upland launchers from a friend
Sept 31st late morning - "road" five miles
-
Taffey only going three
afternoon - upland training with pheasants
two for Daisy & Gunny
note: scenting conditions were not good & next time do before "roading"
Oct 1st day off
Oct 2nd other things to do - day off
Oct 3rd rain - day off.......three days of
"slacking"......dogs didn't complain
Interceptor for all
Oct 4th evening -
Taffey, Kooly, Daisy & Gunny "roaded"
3.6
miles at the Square Pond
note: no issues......it was in the 50's
Oct 5th mid-morning -
Daisy & Gunny did their two pheasants at Rock Cut State Park DTA
note: Gunny pretty much moved right in on
each of his...steady to the flush
note: Daisy had two very nice, long points.....steady when I flushed
them
note: Taffey & Kooly
had a good run in the uplands and excitedly sniffed the
areas where the pheasants were planted earlier
Oct 6th evening -
Daisy & Gunny
had a long session of Walking Baseball, afterwards
Taffey & Kooly each had four honoring
singles
note: Frontline Plus for each dog except
Kooly......new
Preventic collar
Oct 7th day
off for all with "roading" schedule falling way behind
Oct 8th morning - rain
coming early just got Daisy & Gunny on some
pheasants
note: Gunny had his first points this
morning - high head and steady when
they were flushed - yippee!
note: Daisy had one bird and was flying
high when she made a cast from
the up wind side.....I don't know who was more startled the pheasant or
Daisy.....however, she was steady to the
"bump"
note: rained the rest of the day.....lawn is out of control
Oct 9th morning trip to Mississippi "duck camp" & scout for the Iowa
opener on Oct 10th
note: winterize the trailer
Oct 10th-13th hunted the "2nd split" Iowa duck opener - total score = 7
mallards & 3 GWT
Oct 10th Gunny & I left the "dock" with the
12' Carsten Bluebill loaded down with 11
Dakota Mallards, six Avery FB, four FB mallard "resters", five Pro Grade
teal, a MOJO teal, MOJO hen mallard and my old ROBO duck plus three
full body goose decoys, not to mention an Ultra Low dog hide and a Power
Hunter, gun, ammo & gear bag, a lay-out seat, camera, stakes for the
"electric" ducks, "camo" to hide the boat, couldn't sleep so we were
there
very early and were setup soon enough to let some of the sweat
disappear,
it was in the upper 20's, watched boat after boat stop, look and head
for
their next place, 40 ducks in the decoys ten minutes before shooting
time,
three minutes to shooting time someone fired shots right nearby, they
all
jumped up and left, I didn't fire a shot.......still too early
all left, it wasn't
long before we were covered in teal, Gunny had three
GW teal
singles
in the "dekes" first,
each retrieve was more animated, then two mallards
were dropped (one at a time and again in the decoys) the second one was
a busy cripple......these
were Gunny's
first "real" ducks and he caught on
quickly, the third & last was a mallard
shot back over my shoulder into the
deep, large marsh grass to our left, he saw it.....marked it and I did
hesitate
to send him because it was not going to be easy, but he was zeroed in,
and
when I asked him he fired...he didn't come back for awhile...walked out &
could
not see or find him, in fact I could hardly walk in the tall & partially
matted
"mess", finally I headed back to the blind & met him coming in from
the
main channel
shoreline where our boat was hidden......he had a lively
hen mallard in
his
mouth and seemed pleased with the situation, the three
mallards completed out limit......started picking up "stuff" at 9:15 am, had to
start packing it
all back
across the knee deep "marsh" littered with dead lilies
& trying to avoid the deeper
muskrat runs, 8 trips of 100 yards out and
back....twice, duck hunting is "sooooo" easy
Daisy got four big mallards Sunday morning
and the "little birds" weren't
flying,
went with way less "stuff"...but vowed to "never again"...the
sled would have been much easier
Taffey went Monday morning and
Tuesday morning.....got skunked both
times....weather was too nice.....ducks were not flying, went with
even less & used the sled on Tuesday (once in and out!!!)
Kooly "did the dishes"
(left click on
thumbnails)
"Gunny's First" |
"Daisy's mallards"
|
"Taffey's funday" |
"Power Hunter view" |
"Avery FB mallards"
|
"close-up" |
| |
"blinds" |
|
Oct 14th-Oct 15th update journal and prepare for trip to South Dakota
Oct 16th long drive to South Dakota - 12 hours straight through & 750+
miles
October 17th Illinois duck opener.....but leaving for South Dakota pheasant
opener
Oct 16th
& back on the 22nd
Oct 17th group of 6 hunters with 9 dogs total begin by splitting up and
moving toward each other
pinching a slough......mostly to take the edge off the dogs, but ended
up with a few birds
then it was on to areas with nothing but corn, the plan was to pick dogs
that would stay
at heel while each hunter drove the corn fields......that's where most
of the pheasants
were & zero crops were harvested....not even the beans or
sunflowers....not productive
note: this was the worst thing I could have done with Daisy as she spent
the next two
days checking in way too often and not really hunting
finished the day with the group hunting a large grassy area and the
younger hunters
(and they all were younger than me) went at a pace where I could not
keep up....with
my dogs hunting for me.....we essentially trailed 50 to 100 yards
behind the others
with no chance of getting on birds or having a shot - wasted day for me
& the dogs
note: I was totally exhausted at the end of the day, none of my dogs
were on any
birds and the only shot I had was early and the pheasant was shot by
someone else the split second that I shot in the early slough dog
exercise
note: Daisy did make one retrieve early in the morning
Oct 18th the group split up, fewer dogs, but I still could not keep
up........even when the small
group split up and hunted toward each other....my dogs were hunting with
the wind
and didn't get to where the birds were before the other two
hunters did.....no birds up
and no shots............that's two days in South Dakota and not one pheasant
bagged
that evening......I hunted a waterfowl area alone, but that didn't last
long as another
hunter had started to circle the area 30 minutes before Taffey and I
entered, turned
around and went back to the base camp (rented house)
note: much warmer today, but with all the water around the dogs seemed
to
last quite well
Oct 19th the two of us that had zero birds went together this
day.....cold and not very productive,
but my dogs could now hunt in front of us over fresh ground without the
pressure to keep
up.....finally pinned two roosters that flushed & I shot my first bird.....after scouting we
spotted some birds flying into a waterfowl area, with steel shot loaded
this was the best
session of the trip for Daisy and Taffey, they hunted hard and persistently,
but the birds
were running a bit "spooky" in the cold wind.......bagged bird number two
Gunny & Kooly hunted a "ditch trail" in the afternoon and one
bunch of pheasants
flushed unexpectedly and fast just as I was answering a phone call from
the other
group wanting to know how we were doing............nothing went down
note: I was much more encouraged by the way the dogs hunted today, Daisy
was
checking the cover and moving out on her own today and had one short point
on a rooster that ran, Taffey was doing super on trailing the
runners.....best
all she didn't push them so fast that the two of us couldn't keep up with her
note: on one part of the hunting, Taffey and I were headed back to the
van while
the second group intended to back track, pick up their transportation
and
move forward to pick me up, Taffey disappeared into a huge corn field,
she
did not respond to the whistle and I did not want her to get lost, unloaded
my
gun
& climbed carefully to the top of a huge rock pile.....so the sound of the
whistle
would carry, mounting the top rock, I let out a blast on the whistle &
a
rooster jumped up not more than a few feet from me........no gun....and
Taffey
showed up soon after..........the "good luck" continued
Oct 20th rain and cold with me pretty much under the weather with a sore
throat, head cold and
continuously coughing, I went out for about an hour and a half in steady
rain with no
birds for a final result, seven birds up along a corn field, but
flushing up out of the corn
and into the wind
they were almost immediately out of range
note: Gunny has learned to respect barbed wire....but he won't go over
or under it,
without some assistance
Oct 21st up a 5:30 am, loaded up and left for home at 7 am......coughed
continuously the entire
twelve
hour drive back...... that's a lousy method of keeping awake........but it
worked
note; rained all the way home until about Madison.......what
fun.....not
note: the group of six ended up with 49 birds......out of a possible 72....with
almost
all shot by four
note: In retrospect the cold coming along when it did had me low on
energy, other
hunters moving faster was frustrating, most of the birds were in the
corn and
all together.......these three factors made for an almost impossible
situation.
However, I don't think the dogs even noticed....they seemed to enjoy the
trip.
Therefore, my dogs in their simple acceptance of what every day has to
offer
gave me a useful insight. The trip was....what it was...and that's all
OK. South
Dakota is a harsh and majestic place to be.........under any
circumstances.
Somehow, this photo seemed to say it all.
(left click on
thumbnail)
"old and worn out in South Dakota" |
Oct 22nd Finnigan's quickly replaced the electrical brake & trailer
light fuse in the van, trailer
lights
work again, the dogs haven't
moved this morning after being aired, cough is still
going strong and
the 2nd trip to
South Dakota is cancelled.......for me.....getting old is a
"pain the
the behind"
note: scouted the pond at 8:30 and 10:00 am - no geese
note: It's raining.....The lawn is covered with leaves.........What's new?
note: the head cold, throat pain and coughing have not let up
Oct 23rd rest day for all
Oct 24th work with a group of experienced handlers and retrievers for a
"Euro" shoot at the
Blonhaven Game Farm.....Milton, WI
note: used Gunny & took a spot where there would be the least action,
moved
later & Gunny picked up several marks.....nice job, afterwards brought
Daisy
out with Gunny and we searched for lost birds.....ended up finding 16
more
note: didn't use Taffey, slipped a small piece off her left hind pad,
couldn't keep her
out of the rock piles in South Dakota.....must have taken a bad step
note: totally spent at the end of this effort......just enough energy to
put the dogs away
and crawl under a bunch of blankets
Oct 25th got up to watch the Bears get crushed...back to bed....this
miserable cold will not let up
Oct 26th took the dogs for a short walk in the rain, threw each a short
mark, managed to drive
over to Brian's to buy a bag of dog food and make it back to bed for
more recovery time
note: very short on energy and the continuous coughing is getting really
old
note: this is day eight with the cold issue and it is slowly winding
down
note: ducks and geese on the pond, but still too under the weather to be
any threat
note: spent most of the day in bed......aaarrgghhh!........cough....cough!
Oct 27th day nine with the cold, this was supposed to be day I drove out
to SD for the second hunt
Oct 28th dogs had a quick run in the erosion strips & tossed a few
bumpers working on honoring
Oct 29th scouted.......many geese on the pond, rained on and off all
day, but ran the dogs anyway
note: dropped the boat & trailer off for repairs/adjustments......left
taillight turn signal
not working, moving axle back (drilling new holes), moving boat forward
and
moving bunks back
Oct 30th scouted (more geese), rained hard all day, trailer
finished...picked up, ran dogs (in the rain)
Oct 31st well enough for a quick, early goose hunt....two Dakota
floaters, two Dakota FBs on land
and two
Avery FB mallards was the setup......in and out quickly, hid in standing
corn &
used
the ATV to move fast.......setup by 7:45 am....seven geese in at 8 am &
with a quick
double
followed by retrieves from the water by Gunny we were done and out,
drove by
soon
after and 40 more geese had set down on the X...........earlier tomorrow........Kooly
note: big geese.......13 and 11 pounds
note: score to date with early teal....8 blue & 3 green wing teal, 8
mallards & 2 geese
note: several "very cool" hunts, back to the Mississippi on Monday (for
three days)
(left click on
thumbnail)
"Gunny's quick limit" |
Nov 1st turned back the
clocks & had to get up an hour earlier to make the sunrise goose hunt,
took
Kooly
this time with Gunny along for the ride (he stayed in the van &
practiced
retrieving
geese afterwards).......used the same setup as yesterday, but should have
been
ready five
minutes earlier......two mallards dropped in and we weren't ready....aarrgghhh!!
didn't wait
long enough for the first group of geese to work.....Duh!.....but had
two before
8 am, it was
colder, with frost on the ground & the two geese were smaller than
yesterday's
"big
ones"....again the Heavy Metal 3" steel shells seem to be kicking way
more than any
load I've
used before..........my middle finger is taking a beating from the trigger
guard,
Kooly was "on the
iron" and corrections didn't seem to make any difference, finally
realized
he was wearing
the orange collar and my transmitter was set for green.....Duh! again
(left click on
thumbnails)
"there's more"
|
"three up & two down"
|
"Kooly's goose"
|
"Kooly's limit"
|
| |
"Kwick goose trailer" |
"ready to leave" |
|
Nov 2nd left for the Mississippi "duck
camp" at 11 am, cold & coughing remain a huge issue,
finally broke loose the lower drain to the trailer's hot water
heater....big issue requiring
special tools, river is up and scouted some, but the wind was blowing
gusts up to 30 mph
which eliminated checking many places, went to bed at dusk and coughed
all night
Nov 3rd up early.....but it is cold......no wind, most of the
morning scouted.....saw very few ducks
moving, water like glass even in the main channel, finally did a small
setup on the Iowa
side.....never saw a single duck.....but did shoot a coot for
Taffey......she didn't particularly
care for it once she had it in her mouth, decided not to do an evening
hunt and spent
most of the day cleaning the trailer up & sorting out what stays or goes
home
note: saw a lot of tree damage along the main channel
shoreline.....beavers, makes
"ya" wonder how "tree huggers" and "anti-trapping fanatics" would deal
with this
(left click on
thumbnails)
| |
"a leaner"
|
"many jobs"
|
"almost finished"
|
"one chip at a time"
|
| |
"another leaner" |
"easy setup" |
"natural blind" |
"Taffey is not thrilled" |
Nov 4th too nice out to hunt ducks, left for home around 10 am,
still not feeling all that well
Nov 5th scouted geese in the morning and caught up on reading,
ordered some "camo" netting
for a new boat blind and decided to put a Sims Limbsaver recoil pad on
the Benelli M1
Nov 6th this cold will not let loose......coughing 24/7 with sore
throat, ordered a Wolff +25% action
spring for my Benelli M-1....the gunsmith "admitted" he put the old one
back in.....use
the Internet to search out a solution & this seems to be a common and
effective choice
note: ordered Wolff +25% action spring
Nov 7th guy was supposed to get rid of all the leaves in my yard &
do it for a fair price, short
story......he wanted $200 for eight hours of work, told him I'd do it
myself at $25 an hour
Nov 8th started doing leaves & ran dogs for a short time in the
afternoon
note: great weather to do leaves & they burn fast
note: cold now into the third week....showing signs of getting over it
Nov 9th finished doing leaves & the action spring arrived this
morning
note: put in about 10 hours total.....so I guess my wages were $20 per
hour, using
a
leaf blower and burning leaves is skilled labor
note: weather is terrible for duck hunting, warm & high sky which makes
it
less difficult to let this cold "heal up" and work on the yard
note: dog training has come to a total standstill.......the dogs haven't
complained,
but the other day when I let them "run loose" together.....they were
like a
pack of wild coyotes
Nov 10th taking the gun to a different gunsmith to put in the new
spring, the new "camo"
netting for the boat blind arrived today
note: started construction of new boat blind.....low profile and "dog
friendly",
the base is desert mesh "camo" with a backing, supports are PVC with
scuba gear rubber bands, the concept is to make it easy up/down & not
in the way, simply place the four main poles under the blind cross bars
and it's up, rubber bands are not disconnected & gear is packed on top
of it going to the "spot", once ready to hunt everything is under the
mesh
and it is easy to "pop up", with the front of the boat shoved up on
shore or
into water cover, the back half of the boat becomes a low profile, one
person duck blind with easy in/out access for the dog or me,
comfortable,
too..waterproof "camo" denier will slide under the mesh when the weather
gets ugly.........blocks the wind and keeps the hunting area dryer, a
few
raffia hanks and corn stalk bunches will be attached to break up the
uniformity of the entire blind, the white, low profile 9.5 Johnson needs
to have a cover and the PVC will be painted, right now the maximum
height out of the water is about 33 inches, by simply trading out the
two
middle supports (for shorter ones) I could easily drop it another 5-6
inches
note: phase one ("roughing it out") is finished....next is to cut and
form the final
mesh shape, attach the rubber bands permanently, paint the PVC, make a
simple cover for the motor and decide how big the opening will be, with
plenty of material left over I can double cover a few areas with smaller
pieces (if necessary)
(left click on
thumbnails)
"phase 1 - roughed out" |
"phase 1 - inside" |
Nov 11th worked on the boat blind,
finished off support frame & not going to paint PVC, will use
"camo" duct tape to cover them, put black electrician's tape over all
band splices/zip ties
to
snaps...this will greatly lessen the amount of "snagging"as the mesh
material is moved
over the support frame, inexpensive aluminum key clasps at $ .99 work
fine with "specs"
of 150 lbs strength (more than enough), the frame "goes up" in less
than a minute and
the mesh is simple to slide on - phase 2 is complete (frame finished)
(left click on
thumbnails)
"full view - phase 2"
|
"linked supports"
|
"front"
|
"cross bars down" |
"vertical sleeves" |
|
Nov 12th this morning "camo" taped supports, cut
desert mesh netting to size and put a few
individually snapped, RIT brown dyed raffia on it, added three
fake leaf strands to
vary "the look".....the snapped raffia are "on and off"
quickly and if wet, they dry out
on a clothes
line for the next "go" - phase 3 finished
note: ran the dogs at the Square Pond...wore them out a bit, too
note: leaving for Mississippi "duck camp" Friday (if the new
action spring in my
Benelli-M1 is replaced today) - phase 4
(left click on
thumbnail)
"final look" |
Nov 13th left for the Mississippi
around 2:00 pm & got the boat launched before dark ("docked"
back
behind the trailer)
Nov 14th the cold had not let up and still coughing a lot.....decided to
spent Saturday morning
scouting........took Daisy & eventually found a
spot that was holding mallards, went
back in the afternoon with Gunny & hunted
until sundown....nothing....too nice out
note: did not use the new boat blind because the spot was a walk-in "pot
hole"
Nov 15th Sunday morning - Gunny went
hunting again at the "pot hole" off the main channel
of the Mississippi, got there early, set up and another hunter nearby
spent the morning
calling like crazy to any ducks that showed up....they sped off quickly
and I never
fired a shot....the wind was cold and I need to move on to the neoprene
waders as the
breathable wader is just not enough
note: quite at 10:30 am, got back and nobody else did anything either
note: Gunny is the youngest and actually to
easiest of the four to hunt with
note: decided to "fold the tent" and head home......it really is too
nice out and all
the ducks are using the refuge........high out and high back in
(left click on
thumbnails)
"three decoys" |
"Gunny in his hide"
|
Nov 16th dogs took the day off and slept hard
Nov 17th ran dogs at the square pond......honoring singles....during the
early run Kooly did
something to Gunny that was "downright"
ugly looking, all the dogs were running up
a long erosion strip in the corn field at full speed.....Kooly
had lagged behind, but
suddenly burst into a high speed chase and literally ran right up and
over Gunny,
he rolled and yelped painfully......fortunately there was no limping or
after affects
except that Gunny was looking over his
shoulder the rest of the day.
Nov 18th rain today...dogs off, brought up from the shed 6 magnum
canvasback & 12 bufflehead
decoys.......going to try doing some diver hunting this weekend......the
migration is on
hold and things are slow on the Mississippi...divers should give us
another alternative
for getting something for the dogs......might even shoot some coots and
see if they are
as good as some say or as bad as what others say
note: Gunny has shown no signs of being
hurt by Kooly's "roll job"
Nov 19th prepared for weekend trip to the Mississippi
Nov 20th left around noon for Savanna, IL
Nov 21st scouted the pool - not too much to see, too nice a
weather
Nov 22nd setup some diver decoys across from the trailer with Daisy
along - nothing
Nov 23rd moved the same setup farther south and had a few shots, bagged
one Bufflehead
Nov 24th hunted on the point of an island just off the channel, put out
divers on the channel
side of a point with mallards on the other side....Taffey was along, but
we saw zero
ducks, at about 2;00 pm picked up the decoys......rain started and it
was a wet ride
back to camp, cleaned up "duck trailer" and decided
hunting in warm
weather for
ducks that won't leave the refuges was a waste of time......packed and
drove home
(left click on
thumbnails)
"point blind"
|
"Taffey's hide"
|
"diver decoys"
|
"canvasbacks"
|
"5 Dakota mallards" |
"from the blind" |
"hidden boat" |
Nov 25th day off for all......to get ready for holiday guests
Nov 26th spent Thanksgiving with relatives, had a great time, later
packed/left for another trip
to "duck camp", diver hunting in the morning with Brian M.
Nov 27th went on a diver hunt with Brian and two of his friends...first
time I've every done this,
"what a blast" it was.....two layout boats with shooters and two other
"big" boats to
transport all the gear and hunters....then one of those became the chase
boat, two
watched from afar as the shooters were positioned near "many, many"
decoys in
low profile layout boats.....tough shooting and non-stop action all day,
picked up
when the sun went down.......what a long, neat day - shot two
Buffleheads & shot
the gun more times than I care to put a number on
note: used Marsh Rat & Erie layout boats along with two very large mud
motor driven boats (transports)
note: it was "Buffie central" today - about 12 to 14 were dropped
(not sure of
the exact count), but we ran out of daylight before getting even close to
limits........tough shooting for me from the layout position, with
waves,
the sun in my eyes, too many layers of clothes and limited swing abilities
to the right....not
to mention the speed of these ducks.....plenty
of
outstanding excuses
(left click on
thumbnails)
"Marsh Rat layout"
|
"Erie layout"
|
"after retrieve" |
"chase boat exit" |
Nov 28th scouted the river up and down from the "duck camp" saw zero
ducks....the very nice
weather has totally shut down any major northern migrations
Nov 29th hunted divers on the Mississippi with Brian.......layout boat
with a chase boat coming
in when a duck is down......shot many times and ended up finally getting
blown off the
river.....waves coming over the back of the layout.....also had a close
encounter with
torque....the mud motor tried to knock me out of the boat when I made a
mistake,
luckily I managed to get out of the situation with the only real issue
of giving Brian an
overload of adrenalin....all he could do was watch from the layout boat,
shot better
today.....but that was only relative to the last hunt.......used lots of
shells & ended up
with 2 Buffleheads, 1 bluebill and 1 canvasback......the bluebill was a
lucky one arm
shot as I "ran out of swing" to the right, the canvasback was something
like a
spectacular sequence.....very cool as Brian saw it all from afar, the
"can" worked
in from behind me (where I couldn't see it) and it suddenly appeared
with it wings
cupped, feet down and dropping (just like a series of cool pictures
unfolding) right
down into the decoys...........the best part was I made a clean swing
and shot to
fold it.......Brian then zoomed in with the chase boat and scooped it
up....too cool!
note: watching from the chase boat is almost as exciting
(left click on
thumbnails)
"chase boat distance"
|
"mix of divers" |
"buffies, bluebill & can" |
Nov 30th early morning ran all
four dogs on some walking singles in a grassy area near the
"duck camp", decided to scout the river today, left at 10:30 am back at
2:00 pm...found
zero duck & checkout some new spots I've never been to.....wind chill
22º when we
started (took Gunny along), stiff wind out of the west and wearing
waterproof gear,
when we were finished the wind was right out of the south (warmer
tomorrow) so
decide to come home today and go back on Thursday........where is the
migration???
note: is was cold, windy and wet......but a good time was had by Gunny &
I
note: it was dark when we got home, but still had to drive out of the
way to see
if the corn was picked in the goose field...it was, loaded trucks &
a
picker
(with headlights on)
were just pulling out
Dec 1st day off for all....scouted for geese.......most were
loafing in grassy areas.....not hungry,
with
the big temperature drops coming up.....hunger will set in....and the
drive to feed
will
get them out in the fields
Dec 2nd work on boat blind and scout for geese, run dogs as square pond
Dec 3rd finish up boat adjustments & charge batteries
Dec 4th took what might be the last trip to the Mississippi "duck camp" - it is
going to be cold,
ice in
some places, no ducks around, knee bothering me......decided to call it
a
season......loaded up with all I could carry & took the boat home,
holding tank problem
in the
trailer needs to be taken care of before freeze up - not draining when
pumped
Dec 5th right knee is "killing me".......yikes! can't hardly walk
Dec 6th Sunday - drove down to trailer and turned furnace on.....leave
on until Tuesday to
maybe
keep the holding tank from freezing.....tough driving with knee pain
Dec 7th the dogs continue to enjoy their time off.....good
thing...'cause I can't hardly walk
Dec 8th trip to Mississippi for one last attempt at solving the black
water holding tank plug,
roads
were absolutely terrible on the way......coming back not so
bad.......problem
solved......so I didn't have to haul it back to the RV "clinic"
note: knee much improved
note: much snow on the way......big storm
Dec 9th SNOW almost as bad as last Dec 12th & into the "temperature
tank" tonight + 3º & will
remain
in single digits for a couple of days....geese may leave & saw wave
after wave
of
sandhill cranes headed south this afternoon......they are going to have
a long trip
to find
bare ground...brief break from working on the driveway......finally got
the
goose
trailer "loose"
note: Taffey was vomiting a "bunch of times" yesterday.....food at first
& fluids
later, talked to my vet and described all symptoms....followed his
advice,
by 10:30 pm vomiting subsided, had BM......that was a relief to me, too,
today small amounts of cooked rice and a bit of cooked hamburger, with
carefully measured water "breaks" regularly, so far at 4:30 pm, she
seems
normal and comfortable
note: dogs and I are in "full blown slacker mode".....except for today's
5 hours
of "snow moving"......got my two weeks of exercise done in one day
(left click on
thumbnails)
"hint of winter"
|
"force to pile" 
|
"mail snow"
|
"more to move"
|
"retriever van" |
"goose trailer" |
"priority clearance" |
"The Motivation" |
Dec 11th it was +1º outside when
the dogs were aired this morning, all four spent the brief time
making sure at least one foot was off the ground and walked around like
they were on
the opposite of "hot coals"........."here" seemed especially snappy, too
note: Taffey is almost back to her normal
diet.......with no signs of the "issue"
Dec 12th - Dec 18th S & S days.........."slacker and snow" days
note: scouting geese on the 18th, they finally appear to be "eating
their way"
east....farther from the river, but still remain about a mile west of
the
field I can hunt in.......soon ?.......if deep snow holds off
note: they are feeding only in the afternoon....too cold & conserving
energy ?
Dec 19th - Dec 23rd major storm with ice warnings headed our
way......hunting is probably over
note: taking an extended break from posting in the
Kwick journal, the dogs
will do regular "romps in the snow", work on fun OB drills occasionally
and mostly "hold the rugs down"
Dec 24th - Jan 31 finish of long break
|
Flawless repetition is a
tool....excellence is the goal.
this season's waterfowl count
9 mallards, 4 geese, 8 bluewing & 3 greenwing teal,
5 buffleheads, 1 bluebill, 1 canvasback & 1 coot
days of marks thrown - bird boys
Ben +3
Mark +2
Joe +2
|
|
