The Day Sit Buck

Thursday November 7th I took the afternoon off to begin some serious rut hunting. I had already put in some hard time, but was determined to get this far. Nick and I trekked back into the deepest darkest abyss on a public property. It was a trial run for the next day in which we would be sitting all day with a climber stand and too much gear. This hunt was a sweaty horrid walk that ended in a small tree far from where I figured I would end up. Despite this, the last 20 minutes of light was the craziest thing I have encountered in the woods. At one point I grunted in 9 different bucks, all of which grunted the entire way towards me. I had a shot at a rather nice buck, but it was already too dark to see well enough to shoot. After legal light, I looked behind my tree to see a giant cinder-block on legs. He was best described as growl/snort/coughing. I snort-wheezed at him and this only pissed him off more. He postured up and walked my direction. I decided it was time to be done with these games and get out of there before I was gored by a rut-crazed buck.

Friday morning, I arrived at Nick's place a little before 4am. . . . . .

We decided with the time we had we were going to sit all day at a property we had permission to hunt near Guthrie Center. I got set into my tree and Nick faded into the darkness to do that same. The temp was going to be mild, but rather windy, and I climbed into a wet noodle of a tree.

Not ten minutes after legal light I saw a decent buck. I told myself I would pass a deer that was right on the edge of shooter and this one had a tight frame, but not huge. After watching him pace around my stand for 5 minutes, he wandered off never to be seen again.

As the morning progressed I heard a deer running through the timber behind me. I stood up because I knew what that meant. Of course, the buck caught my movement. He was a definite shooter dogging a doe. She ran past my stand, literally ramming the tree I was in. He stood back at 25 yards broadside behind a tree. He ended up facing me at 8 yards and there was nothing I could do about it. He wigged out and turned on a dime, again, never to be seen again. This kind of thing went on all morning even with the wind whipping my tree around like coffee swizzle. After 1pm I did not see another deer.

 As the evening progressed, updates from Nick told me the deer were up his way. Oh well, I was not moving. Nick and I had been texting back and forth all day.
At 4:30pm I got a call.
Again, I grabbed my phone, stared at it, and let it ring a few times before answering.

"Jon, I just smoked a bruiser! He's like a 160" eight pointer and I smoked him."

I had to verify the shot and he told me it dropped about 40 yards from his stand within sight. Things can happen fast during the rut.

I asked if he wanted me to get down and help and he told me to sit tight and shoot a deer. At this point I just wanted out of the damn tree. I had been sitting there all day trying my best to maintain my nerves with the wind and a climber stand I am not 100% comfortable with.

He called back 20 minutes later apologizing that he was going to have to bust my hunt, and he was coming to get me.

Finally.

I was almost at ground level by the time he got to me, and he was a mess. It was rather enjoyable to see Nick tied up in a knot. We got to the truck and then stopped by the landowner to inform of a dead deer and inquired about using their ranger. Within minutes we were on the way up the hill and then standing over a huge buck.

We field dressed him and got out of there with what little light we had left.

This season has used up a fair amount of good karma as both Michael and now Nick have cashed in!


Stay Tuned

Chief: The Halloween Giant

Where do I begin. First I will give my account of said event. Second I will post Michael's story.
Thursday evening, on Halloween, I had just gotten off work and was driving home when I got 'the call'.

"!(Incoherent muffled blather)!"
"Michael are you OK, what's going on?"
 "IJUSTSHOTTHEBIGGESTDEERIHAVEEVERSEEN!"
It was so disjointed I honestly thought he fell out of his tree stand. I did everything I could to pull out discernible information.
He shot a monster buck, and as usual was calling for advise. He hit it in the middle; the middle of the middle. Because of the marginal hit it was decided that he should get out of there as quietly as possible and go home. This deer needed to sit over-night just to be safe. A well seasoned veteran will struggle to let one sit over-night, let alone a 16 year old kid. Nevertheless, Michael waited until morning to start tracking. Based on his description of the shot location, and the deer's body language post shot, it was determined that the buck was indeed fatally wounded.

Morning came and I just walked around work with my phone in my hand. By 8 o'clock I was becoming concerned as I knew I had to have heard from him yet if there was any form of good news. 8:29... My phone starts ringing and I look at it. I let it ring because I already know.

"Jon? We found him. He's huge. I mean yeah he has a lot of bone, but I don't know how we are going to get him out." 

I literally started jumping around our clients lawn. My co-worker just shook his head and wanted to know how big it was.

Big day for all of us as we all wanted one thing out of this season, and that was for Michael to shoot a good buck.

Here is Michael's take on the event:

This last Thursday, Halloween at that, I got out of school and headed for work. Get there and my boss says its too wet to haul grain today. That was alright with me! So I quick gathered my stuff and got in a stand. I played the wind and got in as quietly as I could. I get settled in and was already enjoying the evening out. After half an hour in I did a light rattling sequence. At a quarter after 5pm I see a buck crest the hill; one glimpse at this buck and I knew who it was. It was a buck I called 'Chief'.



He pinpointed exactly were the rattling had come from and was making a bee-line right for me. He makes it to 16 yards, slightly quartering-to and I let the arrow fly. I hit him directly in the middle. I had felt pretty calm but I just freaked out I guess. He takes off and runs 50 yards out into the corn and stops. I'm glassing him and see my arrow stick out the side of him, but from the angle I couldn't tell exactly how far back it was. He then walked off slowly tail down and head low to the ground. After some phone calls the management decision was made to get down, check the blood to confirm the paunch/gut hit, then back out for the night. Getting out in a stealthy manner was a complete nightmare, deer everywhere, and my nerves were shot. I finally get back to the truck and headed home. I knew he was dead, it was just a matter of not jumping him. My Dad and I got back out there at 7:45am to begin the track job. Found first blood and followed it across the field. It was not a carpet of blood, but it was consistent. We followed blood down into this little draw, still consistent blood. 75 yards down this draw, there he was, piled in a heap!!!


It was just meant to be. I was happy to have my Dad here with me when I found it. Just added to the adventure.



This was by far the largest deer I have ever seen let alone shot at. It took everything we had just to get it in the truck, even after field dressing.

He's all butchered and in the freezer now! He rough gross scored at an unbelievable 168" with just over 50 inches of mass! Still hasn't sunk in that this happened. My goal going into this season was to shoot a 115"-120". I drew the right card and now I get to sit on my hands for the rest of the season, which also means I get to sleep in.

Stay Tuned

Buick Bonus Button Buck

After our duck hunt and even an evening deer hunt, Michael and I decided we were going to make the trek to Steamboat and try our luck there in the morning. It was a lot harder to wake up the second morning. We got in with plenty of time and walked super slow through the timber. It still sounded like two buffalo rolling on bubble wrap. Michael got my stand located and then set up about 75 yards west of me.
This place is instant goose bumps. I felt like it was going to happen at any second. And then I look down. :) Three does had popped out on the trail below me. They got wiggy on me and headed away towards Michael. I heard a bleat, a snap, and a THWACK! I only saw one deer come back my way. Within seconds Michael calls me and says he has one down but it keeps trying to get up. I told him to shoot again and I hang up. I waited a long time before I just call him back. He climbed down the tree to take care of business, but his button-buck had expired before he got there. It was still early so I requested we sit a little longer. By 9am I was cold and ready to see his deer. I come up on Michael and he is all that is 30 feet up. As he starts working his way down I look behind me and there is another button buck within 30 yards. It gets to about 25 yards of me before it figured out what I was. Michael continues his descent when he has a minor mishap. The bottom section of his climber falls all the way to the ground.

Lesson learned and crisis averted.

When we walk up on his deer we turn it over and discover he hit it in the jugular. It was borderline graphic. The 35 yard shot connected and spun it around 180 degrees, before it fell.

We gutted, tagged, and got out of there. Bonus Hardin County tag filled.

In checking the trail cam pics, a number of bucks were there that morning. That's hunting I guess.

We got all of our gear and the deer back to the car and devised our plan. No trailer. No pickup. No problem.

First deer on the back of the Buick. It's about time!

I would call this weekend a success. It's Monday night and I am beyond beat. :)



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Coot Shoot

A friend of mine, Jon Jones, invited me, and subsequently Michael Parker, on an opening day duck hunt in southern Iowa near Red Rock. He had scouted out the spot at the end of the week and had found ducks. He and two of his friends got to the parking lot at 3am and got their spread out and ready. Michael, Mocha, and I arrived at 6am. At 3am there were about 5 vehicles in the parking lot. When we got there at 6 there were upwards of about 30-40. I counted 18 boat trailers....When we finally got towards our group, Michael and I got into the water and Mocha was a champ. As soon as we hit dry land I decided to unclip the leash she was on.

I immediately regretted that decision.
She bolted for the water and I see as about 500+ coot swarm away from the splashing hound. It didn't matter what I said or did, she was reminding me that she is still indeed a dog. When I caught up I was a sweating, slobbering mess, and I clip on the leash without a peep.

We met up with our group and waited for first light. We had ducks and coot pouring into our spread before legal light. I have never seen anything like it in my life. Unreal.

At first light the gunfire began. We had serious problems trying to pick of the ducks amongst the coot. The first volley was pathetic. The second volley I was able to double on a pair of shovelers. The 10 gauge sure has reach.
At one point I made a horribly bad call and started shooting at a flock of decoying pintail that were swinging away from us. I pulled one down but was unable to find it.........

We were able to get two wood ducks, and two gadwall as well. Then the coot shoot ensued.

The guys were getting bored and the ducks were not flying and if they were, they were not decoying. SOOOOO, they started blasting at any coot that got near. Fish in a barrel is more challenging. After shooting a handful the three amigos left to chase down some on the water. Michael and I stayed put and just let them push the birds back to us. I let Michael try the ten gauge as he rand short on his own shells. He was having some connection issues and we let the coot flights help iron them out. We ended up with 6-8 of the vile creatures. When they guys came back from their shoot, their tally was right at about 45 birds. I was glad they were taking them home.

As we trudged back to the car my phone buzzes. I wait to check until back to the car as we still had 500 plus yards of decoys on back and carrying gear, and dog.
I open my phone to see 8 missed calls....Early in the morning Rachel informed me that she locked herself out of the house and had to get a ride to the vet school for her morning wet-lab. What I neglected to tie together was that she may indeed need a ride back. She had been waiting for an hour and we were still an hour away. Oops...

Quick parking lot pics and gun it.

 

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Early Muzzle Success

It's been difficult to get Rachel out in the stand this year as her schedule is beyond booked. When I can even think that I have enough time, we are off to the woods. Last Tuesday I told Rachel we would forgo the evening hunt as I figured work would run late. The weather was cold, gray, and windy. I HAD to get her out. It worked out as some circumstances at work for the day gave me a normal schedule. I bolted home and had Rachel waiting ready at the door when I got there. We hunting the prairie stand right behind Nick and Lisa's house while they hunted the alfalfa field across the ravine. Nick got Lisa to do the same and get her out with what little time she had. Now, she had an early muzzle tag burning a hole in her pocket yet.
It was not happening for Rachel and I.
The vibe was dead, and it was windy and cold. Great evening and beautiful nevertheless.

20 minutes before legal light.

BOOM!
I grab my phone and wait for the call. Nothing happens. I text Nick '?!'

No response. Ten minutes go by.

BOOM!

At this point all I could think is she either missed the first shot or was finishing something off with the second. Still no communication.

Legal light expired and Rachel and I make our quick walk back to the house. I was under dressed and was freezing. Rachel was smarter and warmer.

Shortly after we got to the driveway I hear a truck coming down the road. It honks incessantly as it passes the neighbors.

Dead deer.

Nick and Lisa pull into the driveway and inform us they called and she shot a buck! 

Again, we collect the neighbor kid and his 4-wheeler and head to the field.

Her first shot was right where it needed to be, but it kept trying to stand back up, so Nick reloaded and had her help speed up the process.

The vet student guts and tags her very first deer after three years of hunting.

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Pheasant Rendezvous

This year's pheasant camp was a little different than we have had it in the past. Due to some significant habitat loss, as well as a few tough winters in a row, pheasant numbers are down, and it was advised that non-residents just come for festivities and save the cash from licenses.

Friday evening was windy. Super windy. Everyone still hung out and we even created a circle of chairs in the garage. Rachel, Michael, and I waited for our sleeping quarters to arrive as Nick, Lisa, and Ethan Shetler were on the road later, and they were toting the camper. A little before 1am they arrived and we made short work of getting things settled as we had a few tired and cranky individuals on our hands.

Saturday could only be described as an all out shoot-a-thon. A small group of residents and Michael (youth licenses are cheap) went on a trudge. Nothing.
Once they were in it was non-stop guns, and bows until dark.

 This year a few even brought tannerite, a rather wonderful exploding target.
We shot a Pumpkin and a log. Both were spectacular!

Saturday before dark was a landmark event for one. Russ had never shot or handled a gun before and he finally decided it was time. To give him his space and to not pressure him further, Brian took him to the bottom of the hill to give him some pointers, and to throw some clays for him. Again I want to stress, never shot or handled a gun for that matter. He went 9 for 10 on clays.

No-one shot that well the entire day. Not even Al. This was monumental to say the least. I was very happy to have been there for this. While Kate was taking pics I was trying to coax a rather unhappy Belanna from a meltdown. Worth it!
Saturday dinner was the usual venison stew which lived up to the hype!
The wind had finally subsided enough to enjoy a large and wonderful campfire.

 Sunday morning was what it usually is. Time to go home and everyone is grumpy because no-one wants to leave. Clean-up and head out. Another successful gathering!



Stay Tuned

Double Tap

First hunt of the season I had the pleasure of sitting with Nick in a double set-up that he set this year. This happens to be the same tree I fell out of last year, but I needed to 'get back on the horse' if you will. We sat and bull-shitted for the remainder of the evening not seeing anything in the process. At one point a squirrel pulled it's usual stunt. Mid sentence, I see two heads come into the field not twenty yards in front of me. I slowly pointed and told Nick to grab his bow. The large doe took the far path and I watched as the smaller deer took the inside path. Nick drew back, and I hear the SMACK of a good hit. 12 yard chip shot. Nick fist pumps and says "good hit, good hit!" I am trying to find the deer between branches and cannot tell which is which. Neither go down. The large doe takes a loop and gets wiggy. The other one stands in one spot with it's ears back. When the large doe leaves the field it finally follows but slowly. Nick had handed me his binos to check the deer over. It was waning legal light and was already tough to see. I see the arrow hanging out of it's side and tell Nick to shoot again. He hesitates as he is unsure that it's the right deer. I tell him to just trust me and shoot again.   30 yard follow-up sounded and looked much better this time around. The deer barrels down the field this time looking visibly wounded. We hear a crash, get down, check for blood, then head out for re-enforcements. We got the neighbor kid to bring his 4-wheeler and got Lisa to forgo some studying to join in the tracking.
 We get back out and the first thing we find is the first arrow. In the dirt. At ground zero. Nick gave me the "you have got to be kidding me" look and I just asked him to trust me on this one. We went to the location of the second shot and found good blood. It was a walking trail from there on. The little button-buck was not 50 yards into the timber. Thankfully, when we turned him over, there were two distinct broadhead holes

Tenders for the freezer!



Stay tuned 

2nd Anniversary

I know I am behind.

This last September 24th marked Rachel and my 2nd wedding anniversary. We have been busy and tired and find it difficult to find time for each other. Even though it was on a Tuesday, I promised Rachel an evening at The Cafe. A little local restaurant that we have taken a rather shining too. We don't go often, so it keeps it special when we do. No hunting, no vet school stuffs, just us. We enjoyed a spectacular meal together. I had a chicken dish that I can only describe as a concoction of greatness on a plate. Rachel had a smoked pork sandwich, which again was unreal. I debated between the cappuccino cheesecake and the tirmisu, and was convinced to try the cheesecake. As expected it was phenomenal. About halfway through, our waitress puts a tirmisu dish in front of us and says it's on the house. :)

Two years is just the start, and this are going very well. Even though Rachel spends most of her time studying, I know its intensity is temporary, and I try to keep her happy and fed.

 

Stay Tuned

Weekend Visit from the Protégé

Well, this weekend Michael Parker decided he wanted to come down to Ames for a visit and to just hang out. I figured I would have no issues finding things to do.
Friday afternoon I took a quick visit to the doc office to check out a possible sinus infection. Thankfully, a quick visit, stayed a quick visit and I was able to get some meds. Micheal walked in the door and pork steaks and a flat iron steak for Rachel went on the grill. It was a wonderful evening just hanging out and being well medicated. Rachel said once Michael shows up we can watch hunting shows. More deer stories and hunts to get us jacked than I think I could have handled.

Saturday morning, Nick got us permission to hunt the sacred dove field again, so I took Michael out. I was hoping for an even 10 birds. It was a beautiful cool morning in the mid 40s. We ended up with 2 birds.

Not the most productive morning but the thought of breakfast was just as exciting as shooting birds. We got back to the house and Rachel was going to make is breakfast. We both decided to cook as Mocha was a muddy mess and I would do anything to not give her a bath. Rachel took care of that while I started food. Bacon, and eggs. When Rachel was done with the pup we got pancakes. Doves went in with bacon. A nap ensued.
This last spring Michael and I doubled on jakes and I just couldn't bring myself to separate the birds. Together at death; together forever. I made a fantastic double mount on a cedar slab with the picture epoxy inlay-ed. Each fan is on the respective side of the of the picture.

  This was to be sent off to Michael's own trophy room.
While I had a difficult week I was unable to work on the next deer mount that Michael and I have been talking about for some time. That worked out just fine as we were both able to work on it and it is a buck Michael found this last spring while shed hunting. This gave me an opportunity to practice on a non-harvest deer head. I built and reserved a table for Michael (free of charge; Micheal has done more than enough for me) and we mounted it up.

I have been super excited about this mount for a long time. I always said the best part about finally harvesting a nice buck is grabbing those antlers and gawking over them. My mounts do a great job of showcasing a hunt and experience, but I wanted something that would allow the hunter to enjoy that feeling of holding those antlers again. This mount has two pipes that fit slug one over the other. I put the brass pipe in the skull, and a copper pipe in the table. It pivots so when you want a different angle because you are in a different mood, and want change. Then when you want to pick it up and gawk again, or show it off to a friend, you just pull the head off the table. It just puts another spin on euro and pedestal mounts.

After finishing up this mount Megan, Ryan and Kidlets showed up to 'watch' the Cyclones game with us. Well, because paying an arm and a leg for cable is still not enough for the scum sucking bastards, we did not get the channel the game was on, so we listened to it instead. No matter, my Cyclones got beat anyway.

Sunday morning I was met by cinnamon rolls in the oven. If I haven't said it yet I will say it again, my wife is the greatest. After enjoying those, Michael and I settled ourselves into the man cave to wrap and re-fletch his arrows. His blaze orange camo wraps with orange and white offset fletching looked amazing. The only way to know if they would shoot was to actually shoot them. A couple shots in the basement showed the fletchings held up. A trip to Soper's Mill outside of town showed us they shoot as good as they look. It was nice to fling some arrows again.

After shooting we had to try and find us a smallie. This was the first time I have been able to fish the Skunk River this year. First cast gave me a slab green sunfish that smelled like mud.
The big hole produced nothing.
Micheal finally un-skunked us on the Skunk. Nothing huge but a smallie nevertheless. I finally pulled on in as he was on the opposite bank un-hooking his. Next cast I lost a pounder. I ended up with three total and it was homeward bound.

The best way to cap off the weekend was to come home to a homemade batch of chicken noodle soup made by the loving hands of my wife. Michael and I could smell it when we got out of the car. I have been craving this for a couple of weeks. It was legendary batch, dumplings and all.

I all but bailed on my wife to "play" all weekend. I was blessed by great food and a smile whenever I came up for air. I am truly blessed to have such a wonderful wife.



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Another try at Doves

After a short week in Iowa City, ( that felt like a month) for a paver job,

Yesterday, I was able to pull myself together enough to take another shot at doves this season. This time Nick was in Western Iowa with Ethan, and he got me permission to hunt the same field again.

It ended up being my buddy Ned Parker, and another friend Aaron Steffen accompanying me for the morning's hunt. I had told them about our previous hunt out of this field but warned them that this particular morning may be a little slower.
It was almost 40 minutes before we even saw a bird. We were able to finally pull down one. Another flurry came through and we pulled down one or two. A lot more singles and pairs this go around. Finally a flock pulled a loop around Aaron and he let them come around to us. I think we unloaded our guns to have Ned harvest his first true single dove. Had it not been for Mocha, we would have never found that bird in the weedy standing corn. Aaron had only fired a shot after an hour. I sent him to the hayfield with his mojo and pup. I knew he wouldn't mind and would probably stir up some birds in the process.

This proved vital to our success. Ned and I did all kinds of shooting after Aaron stirred up the pot. This was Ned's first dove hunt and he had some difficulties with the little feathered rockets. With that in mind so did I. We each had a small pile of birds and decided to walk around like last time. No birds down and more shots fired.
We pulled a loop and met up with Aaron. He had 11 doves and a bonus pigeon he folded earlier. We walked the remaining loop and decided to call it a day. Before we even got back to our spot Aaron had two more while walking back to the Blazer.

Ned and I counted our birds with Ned's 4 and my 5. Low numbers for two boxes of shells each...
Nevertheless it was an enjoyable morning.

We decided with Aaron's 13 and our 9 we had to complete at least Aaron's limit. We would do this via the grave roads. Iowa law dictates as long as you don't slues them off of the telephone wire, it is legal. We drove all of a quarter mile and Aaron lays on the gas...
Three doves were on the road.

Only two got away.

That makes 14.

We drove a couple miles with the only doves being adjacent to a house. At a farm about 4 miles North of where we started, another flock sat in the road.

Five on the road.

Four fly away.

Again we back up and pick up yet another bird.

That's 15 for Aaron without two shots fired.
I asked that we at least make ten for our birds. I borrowed Ned's gun as we stopped for a slow bird on the wire. Pasted him.
We let Ned try his luck at a few more but that didn't pan out so we called it a day. It turned out to be a productive day with 25 doves and a bonus pigeon.
That evening we enjoyed the fruits of our labor at Aaron's place with cream cheese bacon wrapped dove baked in butter.

With all of this working in the heat, and getting up early I am used and abused. The allergies are killing me and I am weary. Hopefully this abates soon.


Stay tuned

Labor Day Morning

The day after our big shoot, Rachel and I went home to celebrate birthdays and to pick up some stuff from my parents place. This if course gave me another opportunity to hunt doves. This time Michael Parker picked me up at the unholy hour of 4:30am. With the allergies destroying me, I was not at my finest but went anyway. We beat some other guys to the spot by ten minutes. The three guys limited out opening morning in this spot and now we beat them to the punch. We walked in and took the far side of the public field. Over the course of the morning, 8 people lined a 200 yard swath. I was not pleased, but it seemed to work out ok. The only issue I had was controlling the dog. Every time someone shot, she would take off to retrieve their birds. A few times I had to take birds back to guys because they would shoot one, and Mocha would retrieve it to me.....I was rather displeased. I see a shock collar in the near future.

Despite the difficulties, we managed a one man limit between the two of us. There was one point in which Micheal went and dispatched a barking squirrel, which in turn gave me a chance to give him a his first skinning lesson.

We had one bird in particular that was destined to be Michael's. We would rotate birds just to keep it even, but we had one bird fly behind the "firing line" with all of 40 shots fired upon it before it made it's way to us. Michael had the better position on it so I said take him. One shot and poof in the dirt. There were more birds flying so I went to pick up his bird. When I did I saw a tiny aluminum anklet around a leg.
Another banded dove for the kid. He shot two here last year. It was just meant to be and he earned it with a great shot.

As usual, a large breakfast courtesy of Dad awaited us when we got home.



Stay Tuned.

A Taste of Fall

Sunday September 1st marked the opener of dove season for Iowa and I was not about to miss the opportunity. Years past have proven fair as we are new to the dove game, and it has taken some getting used to. This year I was hunting private instead of public in hopes this would alleviate some of the pressure. Nick had a spot lined up through his work involving a mowed weed patch in the middle of a standing cornfield. He mowed it a second time the Friday before and saw tons of birds. We knew this was going to be awesome. After a few flake outs it turned into just the three amigos: Nick, Ethan Shetler, and myself. As it turned out, this was Nick and Ethan's first dove hunt ever! We always seem to get into some sort of mischief when it's the three of us...

Open morning we pull into the field approach and Nick informs us that it is a poke of a walk to our spot so we should strap our stuff on and get moving. 50 yards later we are standing in our patch. A large 360 degree mowed area with a small patch of standing corn in the middle for cover. This spot was juice!
As the sun rose in the East:

A thunderstorm had just passed through which provided a beautiful sunrise.

About 20 minutes passed without a bird. At this point Nick was worried that his guiding had gone awry. One bird came in and Ethan missed by a mile. He was having some consternation about shooting God's birds. With this we were able to convince him otherwise: Genesis 1:26 "Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground." This was affective
Within 5 minutes we had a swarm of doves on the mojo decoy.

It was a FIRE-FIGHT!!!

All three guns unloaded and 5 birds on the ground. Bringing Mocha proved vital as she assisted in finding most of the birds.
The next three hours flew by.
We were assaulted by birds all morning. One here. Three there. Another dive-bombing flock here.

 It was sheer torture...ok maybe not.

The only casualty of the day (besides the doves) was Nick's gun stock cracked amongst the flurry. I suspect this was a previous wound exacerbated by constant gunfire.

 When the shooting subdued to a dull roar, we decided to walk around the mosaic of mowed waterways. We ended up jump shooting another six this way alone. It was outstanding!

When we pulled our loop in the field we sent Nick back to the truck to grab more shells. He decided to just drive it to our spot anyway so we could move to the edge of the corn into the cut hay field. Ethan and I counted our birds. I guessed 25 Ethan 30.

5....10....16....19....25........29....35......37.......40....42...!

We had to recount three times because we couldn't believe it. Three more for a limit each. As Nick pulled the truck up to the un-mowed section I finished off my limit 10 feet in front of the truck.

Asked Nick to guess our numbers. 30 he says.

Nope. Two more for a complete limit.  The look on his face was priceless.

We load everything into the truck and Ethan pops his last one whilst sitting on the tool box of the truck. Unbelieveable.
We hand Nick his gun and tell him only ONE more. We follow as he walks to a waterway, BOOM! Nothing.

And then a flock of 15 gets up and he pegs one.

Done! A three man limit by 9AM.

The hay field we were parked in was still swarming with birds. We could have filled another three man limit if we wanted to. I have never had a shoot like this before, and it will probably be years before I do again. This was a great way to start off the fall.

Photos for this entry are courtesy of Ethan Shetler and Nick Livermore.

Stay Tuned.