Todd Duncan Tennyson
Well-known member
i didn’t know what i was getting into
not by a long shot
with a set of thrown away
stray dogs
i was clueless
but still able
to find a couple of em
to find me
placed here
by the all mighty
possibly
filaments and fur
are all throughout the house
black and grey and silver
in every corner now
under all the furniture
it gets into my mouth
it gets into my eyes
i’ll never sweep it all up
it just isn’t possible
it is spun so deeply into the fabric
that it wont ever come out
when i was a youngster
i broke a carton of 5000 copperhead bbs
upon the thick carpet on the living room floor
and whenever i pay a visit to my folks place
a b b shows up
skittering down the hallway
to remind me of the beginning of my hunting days
i bet they’ll be there forever
we launched the bomber in the dark
and got there just in time
across water pretty near smooth
and easy
it was the first hunt with tony
he runs his dog in the same neck of the woods
we’ve always talked about getting out
things never lined up
today was his first trip out on the big river
and i handed him the light
he’d never been down on the river
he’d never experienced the run across the flats
or the shoals
or having to run a bow light off the bomber
i had forgotten how it was to be new to it all
if you have hunted waterfowl on the big river
it is damned intimidating
especially in the dark on your way out
to a totally unknown destination
alex pushed tony up to the bow and he set the light cast out about 40 yards
“that is perfect” i shouted.
he was in position and we got across the flats after plowing for a few yards
i remember the first trip out across the waters
i was nervous
trusted the guys i was with to get us there alive
we set alex loose on the island
tony looked at me kind of funny
“he won’t get in to too much trouble” i said
“ it is a pretty small island”
as we pulled away from the shore and left the dog in the dark
alex went ashore and ran
to wherever he runs
we readied the ganglines
i handed the anchors and the reels and we set out the first set.
my buddy was able to see how it all worked
the longline clips
the weights
the long leads so that the dog could swim over it all without getting hung up
set the anchors off the bow and stern
and stumbled aground
birds work in from downriver
in couples paired
and trios forming
into our day
i missed
missed again
my buddy didn’t miss
& ol’ alex knew
a pair of widgeons landed in the ganglines
we jumped up
they took off
i shot twice and winged one
the bird got back up and took off and flew 20 feet or so
tony was on it and dropped it in a single shot
ol alex did what he does
soon another set of widgeons were working the ganglines
i shot and missed again
with both barrels
tony fired 1 shot and anchored the bird
by this time i was beginning to feel kind of silly
here i was taking tony on his first official diver shoot
and all i could do was miss
and all we had were dabblers
we didn’t even bring decoys for dabblers
i asked tony what choke he was shooting and he looked at the old pump 12 ga he has shot for about 25 years and said
“regular”
“i’d better pick up on of those”
i responded
tony realized that alex likes the bird almost too much
it had been a terribly slow day for the area we were in
in years past
the swarms of birds numbered in the thousands
this season has been unlike any other
due to the lack of divers
in the usual places
my friend doug
from longview gave us a call
he said they had a few birds between the 4 of them
i let him know we weren’t exactly shooting the lights out
after a while
he decided to come by and check on us
he was going to re set a ways up river
in the process of doing so
a group of birds moved in front of them and managed to just skirt us
we waited
we could see another group of birds winging their way
they carved off on tony’s side of the spread
it is “all you”
i said
he shot and 2 birds fell
one was still kicking and the other
stone dead
out about 45 yards or so
alex was in the water and went for the one that was still kicking
he fetched it back to tony
but refused to relinquish the bird
i called him over and grabbed it.
the other bird was drifting away dead
the wind had it
alex couldn’t see it
i went to grab the bomber to drive out and pick it up
tony hollered
“alex is on it he is going to get it”
doug wished us well
“looks like you boys have things under control”
“give alex a corndog for me he said”
and with a wave
took his crew upriver to hunt some more
i was able to show tony the difference between a lessor
and a greater scaup
since we had them to compare side by side
it was the first time he’d shot a greater
here he is with a pair of greaters
i was really proud of alex
he is so old now that every hunt is truly a cherished moment
that we was able to do back to back fetches through ganglines
and with an audience
is something that made me smile
as i handed the birds to tony
for the photo
a copper bb fell from somewhere
and i thought about that once you spill a carton someplace
or run an old hound dog on a stretch of river
they’ll be there forever
not by a long shot
with a set of thrown away
stray dogs
i was clueless
but still able
to find a couple of em
to find me
placed here
by the all mighty
possibly
filaments and fur
are all throughout the house
black and grey and silver
in every corner now
under all the furniture
it gets into my mouth
it gets into my eyes
i’ll never sweep it all up
it just isn’t possible
it is spun so deeply into the fabric
that it wont ever come out
when i was a youngster
i broke a carton of 5000 copperhead bbs
upon the thick carpet on the living room floor
and whenever i pay a visit to my folks place
a b b shows up
skittering down the hallway
to remind me of the beginning of my hunting days
i bet they’ll be there forever
we launched the bomber in the dark
and got there just in time
across water pretty near smooth
and easy
it was the first hunt with tony
he runs his dog in the same neck of the woods
we’ve always talked about getting out
things never lined up
today was his first trip out on the big river
and i handed him the light
he’d never been down on the river
he’d never experienced the run across the flats
or the shoals
or having to run a bow light off the bomber
i had forgotten how it was to be new to it all
if you have hunted waterfowl on the big river
it is damned intimidating
especially in the dark on your way out
to a totally unknown destination
alex pushed tony up to the bow and he set the light cast out about 40 yards
“that is perfect” i shouted.
he was in position and we got across the flats after plowing for a few yards
i remember the first trip out across the waters
i was nervous
trusted the guys i was with to get us there alive
we set alex loose on the island
tony looked at me kind of funny
“he won’t get in to too much trouble” i said
“ it is a pretty small island”
as we pulled away from the shore and left the dog in the dark
alex went ashore and ran
to wherever he runs
we readied the ganglines
i handed the anchors and the reels and we set out the first set.
my buddy was able to see how it all worked
the longline clips
the weights
the long leads so that the dog could swim over it all without getting hung up
set the anchors off the bow and stern
and stumbled aground
birds work in from downriver
in couples paired
and trios forming
into our day
i missed
missed again
my buddy didn’t miss
& ol’ alex knew
a pair of widgeons landed in the ganglines
we jumped up
they took off
i shot twice and winged one
the bird got back up and took off and flew 20 feet or so
tony was on it and dropped it in a single shot
ol alex did what he does
soon another set of widgeons were working the ganglines
i shot and missed again
with both barrels
tony fired 1 shot and anchored the bird
by this time i was beginning to feel kind of silly
here i was taking tony on his first official diver shoot
and all i could do was miss
and all we had were dabblers
we didn’t even bring decoys for dabblers
i asked tony what choke he was shooting and he looked at the old pump 12 ga he has shot for about 25 years and said
“regular”
“i’d better pick up on of those”
i responded
tony realized that alex likes the bird almost too much
it had been a terribly slow day for the area we were in
in years past
the swarms of birds numbered in the thousands
this season has been unlike any other
due to the lack of divers
in the usual places
my friend doug
from longview gave us a call
he said they had a few birds between the 4 of them
i let him know we weren’t exactly shooting the lights out
after a while
he decided to come by and check on us
he was going to re set a ways up river
in the process of doing so
a group of birds moved in front of them and managed to just skirt us
we waited
we could see another group of birds winging their way
they carved off on tony’s side of the spread
it is “all you”
i said
he shot and 2 birds fell
one was still kicking and the other
stone dead
out about 45 yards or so
alex was in the water and went for the one that was still kicking
he fetched it back to tony
but refused to relinquish the bird
i called him over and grabbed it.
the other bird was drifting away dead
the wind had it
alex couldn’t see it
i went to grab the bomber to drive out and pick it up
tony hollered
“alex is on it he is going to get it”
doug wished us well
“looks like you boys have things under control”
“give alex a corndog for me he said”
and with a wave
took his crew upriver to hunt some more
i was able to show tony the difference between a lessor
and a greater scaup
since we had them to compare side by side
it was the first time he’d shot a greater
here he is with a pair of greaters
i was really proud of alex
he is so old now that every hunt is truly a cherished moment
that we was able to do back to back fetches through ganglines
and with an audience
is something that made me smile
as i handed the birds to tony
for the photo
a copper bb fell from somewhere
and i thought about that once you spill a carton someplace
or run an old hound dog on a stretch of river
they’ll be there forever
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