Oct  1st   (afternoon) "roaded" at the Square Pond - Taffey, Kooly & Daisy went six miles &
                         Gunny did three miles
                         Interceptor for all
          Oct  2nd  (late morning) "roaded" at the Square Pond - Taffey, Kooly & Daisy went seven
                         miles & Gunny did three miles
                         (afternoon) Gunny to vet for a "whole bunch" of shots & annual heartworm test was
                         negative
          Oct  3rd  day off for all.......except  (afternoon) Gunny scouted Horicon with me.........beautiful,
                        crisp afternoon in the marsh.........not going to fight the "numbers" this weekend, but
                        will hunt one day next week before the grouse trip
          Oct  4th  (afternoon) "roaded" at the Square Pond - Taffey, Kooly & Daisy went seven
                        miles & Gunny did three miles
                                    note: duck opener at Horicon (Wisconsin).......wait until weekday
          Oct 5th   rain = day off......worked on decoys
          Oct 6th   (late morning) "road" all.......five & three miles.......work chukars
                                   note: buy Wisconsin hunting license on line
         Oct 7th   (very early morning) hunted Horicon Marsh with Taffey, went very early.....2nd boat
                       out but six passed us before we got to the main marsh, set up in a good spot....then
                       two groups set up north and south of my spot.......lots of shooting, but not by me,
                       a lone teal dropped into the decoys four minutes before shooting time and left just
                       a half minute before legal time. it wasn't a wasted trip because I now know just
                       exactly what "too much stuff" is, need to trim down on decoys and forget about the
                       Power Hunter when I can't get out of the boat......near shore....Taffey was perfect
                                  note: tripped over the trailer tongue before going out....had a severely
                                           bruised hip (which didn't help), ice & Naprosin later made for a quick
                                           recovery along with sleeping 12 hours    
                                  note: Frontline Plus - Taffey, Kooly & Daisy...Kooly got a new Preventic collar
                                           for fresh tick protection on this weekend's grouse trip
          Oct 8th   (evening) Taffey, Kooly & Daisy ran the remote drop drill with Gunny watching from
                        a tie out.....Gunny then ran the short bumper and two longer cold blinds....followed
                        by three hand thrown doubles working on steadiness and control
                                  note: got most of the "stuff" lined up for the trip, finish list tomorrow
          Oct 9th   (morning) "road" all four dogs plus do some wagon wheel casting with Gunny, 
                        work Taffey and Daisy on chukars
                                  note: charge fan battery & clean both guns
          Oct 10-12th trip to northern Wisconsin - grouse
                                  note: great cabin to hunt from and sleep........with Direct TV & heated, "one 
                                           nole: outhouse, more leaves up than expected and hunted in short
                                                    sleeves Saturday & Sunday
                                           note: 17 flushes mostly not visible with two grouse in the bag for three
                                                    days of hunting (afternoon Friday, all day Saturday and morning
                                                    Sunday
                                           note: dogs mostly showed inexperience with Dan's Wirehaired Griffon
                                                    do very nice work
                                           note: Taffey and Daisy did the largest amount of hunting by themselves
                                                     while Kooly & Gunny hunted as a brace twice to spell the other
                                                     dogs.......they  both hunted a bit too linearly at first ("roading"
                                                     mentality), but Kooly settled into a better close in pattern toward
                                                     the end
                                           note:  Finding out I am NOT close to being in the required shape for this
                                                     kind of hunting (long walking with very rough terrain) was a huge
                                                     concern.
          Oct 13th day off for all......mostly for me....call doctor
                                            note: Chronic knee and leg problems while hunting became very painful
                                                     liabilities (at times). I fell twice the first day with no harm done
                                                     (luckily). Being much more careful the next too days and hunting
                                                     mostly trails eliminated anymore falls.

                                                     The issue is expanded by the information that our hunting in SD will
                                                     be more difficult. Everyone else is much younger and I don't want to
                                                     be a "yoke" around their necks. The bigger problem is my four dogs
                                                     will represent two thirds of the "canine crew" for the trip.

                                                     I can't fathom the walking being any worse in terms of terrain, but
                                                     distance and the number of days will be an additional factors. Dan
                                                     was convinced it would be much worse for me. Bird density may
                                                     be my only hope. The fact the initial segment of pheasant season
                                                     has a daily starting time of noon will make the day in the field
                                                     shorter, too. However, it will be the warmest part of the day.   
                                                           update: SD was easier! footwear corrections & easier terrain
                                                                        made a huge difference even  though we walked A
                                                                        LOT FARTHER
                                                                                                            
          Oct 14th  rain = day off      
          Oct 15th  run set of three cold blinds across the erosion strips in the picked bean field at the
                         Square Pond DTA.......Taffey, Kooly, Daisy & Gunny.....all did well 
          Oct 16th (afternoon) "roaded" Taffey, Kooly, Daisy & Gunny.......three miles
                               note: boat readied for Saturday's duck hunt
          Oct 17th (noon) "roaded" Taffey, Kooly, Daisy & Gunny.......three and a half miles
          Oct 18th duck opener - Illinois (Mississippi) - Daisy, going in the afternoon....fog, navigation
                        and safety were the deciding factors....small, slow boat, one person& after the fact 
                        comments from those coming in when Daisy & I were going out were validations
                               note: got to the spot scouted a couple of weeks ago & set up ready to hunt by
                                        3:00 pm, quite a bit of shooting from the other end of this island & we had
                                        three quick shooting opportunities.......none of the ducks flying were going
                                        to decoy and were already shying from the Mojo (turned it off), found out I
                                        don't shoot nearly as well from the Power Hunter (sitting), at about 5:30 pm,
                                        the blind around the corner (in the picture) shot twice and as I glanced over
                                        a duck was hooking out of their sight and not flying normally, landed about
                                        150 yards from us on a narrow patch of land, after waiting a bit and seeing
                                        no dog coming from their direction (didn't see see one in their boat when
                                        they went ashore out of sight, either), it became a long blind for Daisy,
                                        with lunging water all the way, I avoided loosing her behind the two
                                        clumps of cover the left of the AOF..........she brought back a very alive
                                        hen green wing teal
                               note: shooting ended at 6:13 pm (heard some almost half hour later), picked up
                                        quickly to avoid darkness issue....didn't work, got semi-lost on a bend in
                                        channel and hit a mud flat on the Iowa side, corrected and then it looked
                                        like I would be right in the middle of two barges passing in the night,
                                        decided to cross a mud flat that has a ton of stickups, water was about six
                                        inches higher than the last time through this area (when it was light), got
                                        hung up on submerged logs three times, but the shoreline was clearly to the
                                        east (lots of light from cottages), finally made the navigable channel to the
                                        landing, one of the barge spot light workers must have noticed my "passage"
                                        and had nothing else to do, so he lit up the shoreline to my right for quite
                                        awhile, no need..but it was a nice gesture, got back to the landing at 8:15 pm
                                        and home at 11:30 pm.....some might think this was a bit too unnecessary, but
                                        I enjoyed every minute of the hunt, on the final run down the side channel,
                                        Daisy was curled up, sleeping in her small space in front of me with her head
                                        resting on my boot..........priceless!   

                                        side note: after I pushed the boat (still loaded with all the hunting gear) into
                                                         the garage.....Daisy leaped up on top to look for her teal  
                                                                         (left click on thumbnails)

"The Shadow knows"	"pintail"	"canvasbacks"
"32 inch goose"	"two more"	"full bodies"
"Avery drake FB"	"view to the right"	"Daisy's blind"

          Oct 19th (afternoon) ran Taffey, Kooly, Daisy & Gunny on three blinds  
                                   note: Gunny still does not have a good straight ahead look                                
          Oct 20th (late morning) "road" all.......three miles
                                   note: buy SD license on line
                                   note: clean out van and start loading for SD trip

          Oct 21-26th KwickLabs First South Dakota Pheasant Hunt (link)
                                                                         (left click on thumbnails)

"close"	"Dan & Al"	"Jim & Al"
"one to go"	"off the road"	"Dan planning"

          Oct 27th  day off for everyone - scouted bean field pond - WOW!......300+ geese

"It's Time!"

          Oct 28th one more day off
          Oct 29th (afternoon) Daisy did a short session of walking baseball with a couple of concept
                        doubles afterwards, Kooly did several concept doubles taking most out of order &
                        doing a blind before any marks, Taffey did about the same thing as Kooly and
                        Gunny did several hand thrown concept doubles (working on the routine at the line) 
          Oct 30th (dusk) Taffey & Gunny worked together in honoring retrieves.....then Daisy & Kooly
                        did the same thing (no e-collars)    gas today was $2.27 per gallon   
                                    note: huge number of geese feeding.....late afternoon in the bean field
          Oct 31st (afternoon) goose hunt.....setup around 11:30 am & went home for lunch.....Daisy and
                        I came back around 1:30 pm to start the hunt, but first changed the setup a bit (put a
                        feeders closer to the layout blind)....................... four geese came in around 2:00 pm
                        and were headed for the pond.......not good because if they splashed down there the
                        rest of the geese this afternoon may end up no where near us..........finally got them
                        turned around and shot one, long wait until at 5:15 pm, one lone goose decoyed in
                        and I just "dinged" him enough that he went into a long glide all the way to the pond,
                        Daisy had a tough time snagging him after many dives, hurried and picked up
                        everything.....but one group of 12 came along and saw us......not many "educated" 
                                                                          (left click on thumbnails)

"initial 18 decoy setup"

"Daisy released"

"2 o'clock goose"

"Daisy's two pose"

          Nov 1st (morning) two "Euro" Shoots at Milton's Blonhaven Game Farm - Kooly & Taffey 1st
                       with Daisy 2nd with Gunny along for the ride
                              note: Taffey & Kooly picked up 24 roosters through 12 rounds, working together
                                       being stead, quiet and delivering without issues was the focus, Kooly was
                                       really focused and high.....at first Taffey needed work on her whining,
                                       it was a perfect situation for training
                              note: Daisy worked in a different spot......and it was slow........not many roosters
                                       made it easier to get her focused......one of the later rounds had her running
                                       four cold blinds and a couple of marks..........good session for her
                              note: decided to not switch out Daisy for Gunny.....cover too difficult for a young,
                                       inexperienced dog.......next weekend's "Euro" at Blonhaven - Orfordville
                                       will be better
                              note: scouted early this morning found some mallards & the geese were back in
                                       the bean field again late this afternoon (no rain on Sunday morning, but rain
                                       in the afternoon)
                             Interceptor (for all)
          Nov 2nd (very early morning) short duck & goose hunt with Daisy  
                              note: they were there yesterday......didn't come back this morning
                              note: several groups of geese came to the bean field after 7:30 am
                              note: Hank didn't recover from his fight with "blasto" - He will be greatly missed.
                                       I will always remember his last four days of hunting in South Dakota....he
                                       was impressive. 
          Nov 3rd (dusk) Taffey, Daisy, Kooly & Gunny ran a set of two pattern blinds (orange bumpers)
                       for exercise.......very warm today
                              note: made a big batch of goose sausage this morning
          Nov 4th (dusk) repeated yesterday's leg stretching exercise - another warm day
                              note: Daisy is in heat
          Nov 5th (dusk) repeated yesterday's "exercise" 
          Nov 6th (dusk) Taffey, Daisy, Kooly & Gunny ran two cold blinds......Gunny & Daisy came back
                       out and ran a long 200+ yard cold blind up the hill into the bean field
                              note: Daisy ran the long blind really well, when Gunny was half-way to the blind
                                       two geese landed about 75 yards off to the left of the blind and were a huge
                                       suction, walked out to close the distance and finally "hacked" him to the blind
          Nov 7th (early morning) Daisy - goose hunt in the bean field - used ATV, 18 Avery Lesser FFD's
                       (12 feeders & 6 actives), 3 Avery Pro Grade feeders and 3 Pro Grade feeder shells
                              note: four geese came in early......and four left....Duh! other geese flew over,
                                       but it seemed they are now more interested in nearby corn
                                                                        (left click on thumbnails)

"loaded ATV"

"hunting equipment"

"Daisy"

                       (afternoon) Gunny ran his first "Euro" shoot with the focus on delivery & control
                              note: picked up about 25-30 birds and improved as the session progressed
         Nov 8th day off for all - rain, wind & cold
         Nov 9th (morning) "Euro" at the Orfordville, WI Blonhaven Hunt Club - run Taffey & Kooly 
                              note: scouted bean field afterwards - many geese in pond which may freeze up
                                       this week - hunt tomorrow
                              note: the first station had Taffey & Kooly behaving so poorly - whining and
                                       "competing" for each retrieve was getting to be a pain & corrections were
                                       not having any lasting effects, so I put them up for the day and brought
                                       out Gunny - he was wonderful for just the second time at a "Euro" & he
                                       remembered how to negotiate the gates and fences, handling improved,
                                       his search for running cripples was noticeably better and his deliveries
                                       were much better........he was fun to work with
                              note: Gunny was a quick study - Friday the horn for starting each round did not
                                       mean anything to him and where the birds were coming from was not
                                       too clear....today - the horn focused his attention toward the tower hidden
                                       in the woods & he "watched" for the flight of pheasants all morning & it
                                       was not long before he was able to figure out which "falls" were his, he
                                       was giving good efforts to do the right things and remained responsive
                              note: with the below freezing temperatures, concern for watering the chukars
                                       had become an issue, checked with Dawn at Blonhaven Game Farm and
                                       they water once a day, game birds do very well with this routine....so
                                       my "water tower" will be placed in the Johnny House during the above
                                       freezing times of the day or for short periods when the chukars will be
                                       able to get their daily "hydration" before the water freezes in the "tower"
        Nov 10th (morning) Gunny's first goose hunt at the bean field pond, 1st time wearing a neoprene
                                       vest, first limit......used the Kwick Raffia "Halo" Blind and geese never saw me,
                                       until it was too late, wore it sitting on a bucket in a small area of  waist high
                                       shore weeds and it worked like a charm, scored an easy double for Gunny
                                             note: Gunny was steady and waited for me to break out the camera,
                                                      he stayed nicely in the blind 15 yard behind me with his hide
                                                      hidden by large pine trees, mostly he was steady because he
                                                      didn't quite know what was going on   
                                                                          (left click on thumbnails)

"Raffia Halo Blind"	"sans body"	"Gunny's Geese"	"retrieve #1"
"first ever goose"	"easy mark - got it"	"good pup"	"water exit"
"retrieve #2"	"cold blind"	"close & wet"	"A Kwick Two"

     Nov 11th (morning) Taffey's turn for a goose hunt, forecast was for cold rain and/or snow, it was
                    only cold and Taffey had her two geese by 8:30 am.....more geese flying today & the
                    "Halo" blind is deadly   her first was a water retrieve & the next "crashed" about
                    six feet in front of her hide.......kind of like "duck" hunting   
                                                                      (left click on thumbnails)

"setup"

"Taffey's hide"

"retrieve #1"

"better grip"

"Taffey's limit"

          Nov 12th - rain, cold day off - Daisy is in the "bleeding a lot stage" stage of her heat cycle & so
                           far Gunny has not started to go crazy 
          Nov 13th  goose hunt with Kooly (depending on scouting results)
          Nov 14th  duck hunt to Savanna with Taffey - hunted from 6:30 am to 4:00 pm, a few ducks were
                         flying early, high and didn't want to decoy, lots of "skybusting", shot a merganser for
                         Taffey plus want to see just how bad they taste, even then lucky shot as three were
                         really  "trucking" flying in a small V, stood up from very low blind and they flared to
                         my right in a line, shot at the front one and dropped the back one  , no more shots
                         the rest of the day, but the blind was comfortable.....so I stayed all day, DARN tired when
                         I got home, puling the boat through too shallow mud and "doing" 26 decoys in the same
                         mud was tough.......on a positive note Taffey was excellent today.....quiet & continually  
                         and scanned the sky to my back (which helped a lot)
                                                                      (left click on thumbnails)

"Taffey Scanner"

"Close Up"

"Merganser"

          Nov 15th day off - scouted bean field.......geese there......hunt tomorrow with Kooly
                                   note: Taffey was a bit stiff in the left front this morning, walked out of it........either
                                            getting in and out of the boat or jumping into the blind (?) looks minor, but
                                            she is sleeping a lot today....watch carefully  
                                   note: Daisy is half-way through her heat cycle........another benefit of having more
                                            than one dog
Today  
          Nov 16th (morning) Kooly did a goose hunt to the bean field pond, setup a little different with 7
                        sleepers, 2 semi-active/resters and 5 feeders (all shells except to Pro Grade feeders),
                        decided to sit in a chair instead of on a bucket, first two groups around 8 o'clock flared,
                        ditched the chair and moved up the bank about 10 yards, next group in dropped two, 1st
                        was a short "crip" in the water and the second was a long shot dropping dead across the
                        pond in the bean field........Kooly gets his two and completes the KwickLabs "goose limit
                        quad" with Taffey, Daisy, Kooly & Gunny each getting a limit of geese this season.......we
                        are eating a lot of geese to keep up......."good stuff".....Big Bird burgers, chili, lasagna,
                        hot meat loaf, cold meat loaf sandwiches.......and spicy jerky.... the best thing is my wife
                        who would never eat any game or fish.....thinks this goose "stuff" is delicious
                                  note: setup at 6:45 am, 28º, 12 mph wind from the west, cloudy with flurries at
                                             10:30 am, but we were back home and unloaded by 9:00 am    
                                  note: the four sleeper heads for my Pro Grade Shells came in the other day,
                                           the online ordering process for Mack's did not distinguish between the
                                           "male" attachment required for my field shells as opposed to the "female"
                                           of their floater decoys........I got the wrong ones (naturally).......needed
                                           them this morning, zip ties & drilling became the mode of attachment,
                                           worked fine (except taking them off and putting back on is a chore), now
                                           I have an excuse to buy four "floaters" which is beginning to interpolate
                                           toward the need for a bigger boat 
                                                                          (left click on thumbnails)

"first goose down"	"flapping wing"	"cripple in tow"	"it's almost over"
"better grip"	"first retrieve"	"mark two"	"in the bean field"
"clean kill"	"almost finished"	"2nd mark"	"good boy"
	"this is Kool"	"Kooly's Double"

      Today  
           Nov 17th - day off - "yard work" = back yard leaves  
                                note: Daisy is still bleeding from her heat cycle and not particularly happy
                                         with her "confinement"
                                note: scouted for geese - no ice on either the swim-by pond or the bean field
                                         pond with about 30 geese using it at 10:00 am....freeze-up any day means
                                         tomorrow will be a goose hunt for Gunny