Central Illinois Opener...

P

Pat Gregory

Well-known member
This is picture heavy although, we had so many great memories the last 4 days, I'd ask you indulge me. Opening weekend, I got to hunt with my son Aaron, and my great friends, Kirk Ijams and Tim Speight. Tim brought along his red lab pup Scout. What a character! Tim made a great shot on a green wing teal drake and, Scout did a nice job of finding it.
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We had a mallard drake go down to the other side of the slough and, he ran into the timber. Shelly being a pheasant dog, as well as a duck dog, made an amazing track on the mallard into to thick cover about 75 yards into the timber. We would have never found that duck without her. Kudos to Shelly and Gary for being such an amazing team.
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And, finally, a few blind pictures and a shot back at the cabin...
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I thank God for the time I have in the marsh with my friends and family. That time is precious to me. The real blessing in this sport is the time you get to have with the people you are with and, the memories we share... As the late Fred Trost used to say, "Get outdoors, it's a great place to be..."

 
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Great pictures Pat, really cool seeing all those different species in one rig! This is kind of a random observation..but I really like that gadwall in the last picture, beautiful birds!
 
Pat your season is opening and mine is almost over. Just a short 11 days and we close for our split.
Great pictures. I was worried for a moment you were not going to have any decoy pictures.
 
Thank you for the kind words guys.

Colin - That gaddy decoy was made from a head pattern from a gadwall drake I harvested on Matanzas Lake, near Havana, Illinois years ago. As a decoy maker, I love tracing patterns from actual birds I harvest. Doesn't get any better than that. Head is from Wisconsin White Pine, body is from North Carolina tupelo.
 
Pat,

Glad you guys had a good opener. That's a heck of a spot your club is on. I imagine you get a good mix of ducks there. Hope your season continues well.
 
Great thread, Pat. It was enjoyable to see all the guys having fun---the way duck hunting is meant to be. No one wonder you were so successful with all those great decoys that you were using.
Thanks.
Al
 
Brad - Gary is a retired biologist from the Illinois Dept. of Natural Resources and a long time friend. He is a Wisconsin native and loves his springers as he both pheasant hunts and, hunts ducks. He also loves to shoot divers. Gary was my first decoy student and has been carving decoys for 20 years. We were so impressed with his 13 year old springer, her tail never, and I mean, never, stopped wagging the entire hunt. Not only did she clean the floor with it near the dog hole in the blind, she also picked up our hulls. During early teal season, she picked up all the hulls and put them in a pile. Amazing...

I hope you are well and ready to shoot some bluebills... Pat
 
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