It was unfortunate that Lou would recover fully, after our waterfowl season had concluded, so I did the next best thing and chased roosters with her. After Dad's visit for the end of the season, he left a 'new' gun that I have acquired from my Uncle Rick. A strange gun, the Browning double auto, only shoots two shells, and is choked super full. Upon taking some fish to the landowner thanking him for the access this season, a new spot magically presented itself. Lou and I no more than got out of the car and there were birds airborne. At the end of the slough point, a late rooster got up about 40 yards out. This ol' gun dropped him stone dead. Lou and I walked the fenceline of the quarter and had two opportunities but I had some gun malfunctions. It needed a deep cleaning and was not functioning at 100%. By the time we had pulled a loop around the field, I figured we should just go back and do it again as there was only about ten minutes left of legal light. It took us 50 yards to find a rooster and Lou did her greatest upside down cat impression after the shot smoked the bird stone dead in the standing corn on the other side of the fence. Her flip was caused by her foot and vest twisting and catching in the fenceline. After a quick unravelling, Lou made short work of the retrieve. Two South Dakota roosters with a gun probably older than my Dad (sorry Dad).
Garage photos because my phone froze.
On a whim, on a day I had no intention of hunting, I pulled a loop back to this same property with my new 20 gauge double to do a last minute pheasant trudge. It was so unplanned I didn't even have the dog with me. As I crested the hill I could see the snow geese still using the cornfield to the east. They were getting jumpy and as I drove closer they rose and quartered away from me, towards the field I had planned to hunt. I came to a screeching halt in the field approach, grabbed only two steel shells I had and popped out the door. When I rose there were birds in all directions. I picked the closest looking ones above me and took a poke. With only two shots, with steel 3s, it was going to take a random pellet in the right spot to bring a bird down, and I was able to put such pellet in such a place.
In the words of my buddy Ethan Shetler: "better to be lucky than good".
After my more than lucky shot I proceeded to biff on two roosters on my loop. Oh well, I burned up karma on the goose I guess.
Stay Tuned
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