Al Hansen
Well-known member
Over the years I normally will not hunt on a weekend however yesterday seemed like a ducky day. Since I hadn't hunted too much in the past couple of weeks, it was actually Bev who suggested it, so I went.
The early morning grays weren't too good for my camera but it made for a much warmer day than usual. I set out 14 decoys to see what that would be like and hunkered down to wait and see what would happen.
At first light I had a flock of mallards, oh maybe 13/14 come winging past. I got on my acrylic call and got them to make a swing past me. As they came past me I fired two shots and brought down a drake and hen. Both dogs were out there in a heart beat. As a hunter, I can't begin to tell you how proud I was to watch them do what they were bred for. It was then that Murphy's Law was enacted. "Rule27 Do not get big head over shooting double" The next two groups of mallards came in and I selected five different areas of the New Mexico sky to put holes in. Then I watched them fly away but worse had to glance at my pups who were already giving me "that" look.
About 15 minutes after it was evident that the sun was up----too cloudy but you could tell, the snow geese began to fly north. The spot I was sitting in was perfect but it wasn't windy enough for them to fly on the deck so I sat there with Chili and Pepper and watched thousands of them heading towards their feeding grounds which is approximately 40 miles north. If that doesn't give you a rash of goose bumps---no play on words, I would then wonder what you are doing in a blind----It was about this time when I happened to see one flock that seemed much lower than the others which seemed to know what 100 yards is. As they approached I found myself ejecting dove loads as fast as I could in exchange for a 3 inch followed by two 3 1/2 inch shells. When the time was right I stood up and fired 3 shots watching 3 birds drop out of the flock. The last one was just clipped and it sailed to the other side of the Rio Grande which was impossible for us to get to.
What happened next is a first for Chili. Whenever she has been with another dog she will always let the other dog take the bird. Well, not with that first goose. She held on to her half and of course when Pepper finally brought the bird to me, it showed signs of wear and tear! Not picture worthy.
Chili then went out to get the second snow goose which was also a juvenile and if you look closely at the picture below, you will see the adult snow goose, the third one I shot, sitting on the edge of the Rio at the base of the trees on the far side. I marked where this bird was and when we left for home, I drove over there and Pepper made a quick retrieve on it even though they were in the fast current of the rio.
Well, Pepper headed back out and proceeded to bring in the second goose after Chili relinquished it. Check out the cockleburrs on her.
Well, know doubt about it, it was time for a cup of hot coffee after all of that action. After enjoying that while watching flock after flock of higher flying snow geese, I decided to put a dove load in my gun for the first shot in case some mallards would come in. It was then that I jammed my Nova. Well, heck, just after that happened another flock of low flying snows flew right over me. Oh, well. "Just hunting" is all I can say. I finally got the shell out and once again was in business of duck hunting.
Around 9:15AM a small flock of 5 mallards came flying by, not too high. I got on my call as quickly as I could and sweet talked them into making another circle. There was no doubt that they were looking for a spot to loaf the day away. As they came in, I took out a great looking greenhead and my girls were once again dashing out for the retrieve. You can see that Chili was in the middle of a serious shake on her way back.
I finally decided that it was time to get up and go. What a fantastic morning it was.
I stopped about where I thought that adult snow goose might be and was lucky enough to get the pups within 50 feet of it. Pepper made quick work of that retrieve and before I knew it, we were all back in the truck heading for home.
Al
The early morning grays weren't too good for my camera but it made for a much warmer day than usual. I set out 14 decoys to see what that would be like and hunkered down to wait and see what would happen.
At first light I had a flock of mallards, oh maybe 13/14 come winging past. I got on my acrylic call and got them to make a swing past me. As they came past me I fired two shots and brought down a drake and hen. Both dogs were out there in a heart beat. As a hunter, I can't begin to tell you how proud I was to watch them do what they were bred for. It was then that Murphy's Law was enacted. "Rule27 Do not get big head over shooting double" The next two groups of mallards came in and I selected five different areas of the New Mexico sky to put holes in. Then I watched them fly away but worse had to glance at my pups who were already giving me "that" look.
About 15 minutes after it was evident that the sun was up----too cloudy but you could tell, the snow geese began to fly north. The spot I was sitting in was perfect but it wasn't windy enough for them to fly on the deck so I sat there with Chili and Pepper and watched thousands of them heading towards their feeding grounds which is approximately 40 miles north. If that doesn't give you a rash of goose bumps---no play on words, I would then wonder what you are doing in a blind----It was about this time when I happened to see one flock that seemed much lower than the others which seemed to know what 100 yards is. As they approached I found myself ejecting dove loads as fast as I could in exchange for a 3 inch followed by two 3 1/2 inch shells. When the time was right I stood up and fired 3 shots watching 3 birds drop out of the flock. The last one was just clipped and it sailed to the other side of the Rio Grande which was impossible for us to get to.
What happened next is a first for Chili. Whenever she has been with another dog she will always let the other dog take the bird. Well, not with that first goose. She held on to her half and of course when Pepper finally brought the bird to me, it showed signs of wear and tear! Not picture worthy.
Chili then went out to get the second snow goose which was also a juvenile and if you look closely at the picture below, you will see the adult snow goose, the third one I shot, sitting on the edge of the Rio at the base of the trees on the far side. I marked where this bird was and when we left for home, I drove over there and Pepper made a quick retrieve on it even though they were in the fast current of the rio.
Well, Pepper headed back out and proceeded to bring in the second goose after Chili relinquished it. Check out the cockleburrs on her.
Well, know doubt about it, it was time for a cup of hot coffee after all of that action. After enjoying that while watching flock after flock of higher flying snow geese, I decided to put a dove load in my gun for the first shot in case some mallards would come in. It was then that I jammed my Nova. Well, heck, just after that happened another flock of low flying snows flew right over me. Oh, well. "Just hunting" is all I can say. I finally got the shell out and once again was in business of duck hunting.
Around 9:15AM a small flock of 5 mallards came flying by, not too high. I got on my call as quickly as I could and sweet talked them into making another circle. There was no doubt that they were looking for a spot to loaf the day away. As they came in, I took out a great looking greenhead and my girls were once again dashing out for the retrieve. You can see that Chili was in the middle of a serious shake on her way back.
I finally decided that it was time to get up and go. What a fantastic morning it was.
I stopped about where I thought that adult snow goose might be and was lucky enough to get the pups within 50 feet of it. Pepper made quick work of that retrieve and before I knew it, we were all back in the truck heading for home.
Al
