Al Hansen
Well-known member
Monday proved to be a day where patience was rewarded. I decided to take just Habi along without Chili because she was developing a bad habit--- "I want to beat Chili to that bird."
I was hoping that we would see some birds early on but that didn't happen. I take that back because several thousand sandhills flew over us.
I guess it was about an hour after the opener when I happened to see 4 widgeons land in the Rio about 200 yards downstream from my setup. They swam around, then found a spot to their liking and just sat there for what seemed like an hour but was only 40 minutes. I just happened to look at them when they decided to fly away. In so doing they flew up stream and one of the pairs came right over my set. I had my hand on Habi's collar and was telling her to stay, which worked out just fine. Both birds got dumped and Habi was off for her first bit of work for the day.
Since the second duck wasn't going anywhere I made Habi sit and pose for a shot.
I knew she had not seen the hen fall so I walked out to the edge to give her some directions and she handled it just fine from that point on.
Well, now things were looking better with a pair of widgeons on the ground by my chair. Once again I sat there for a good 25 minutes when all of a sudden I spotted a flock of widgeons flying upstream. As they flew by just out of my comfort zone I noticed one greenhead in the bunch. I got on my MLBob call and coaxed them back for a second look at the spread. It was then that the big old greenhead appeared as the group leader and I hit him on the first shot a good lick but he continued to fly. The second shot totally missed him and then with my third shot I hit him again only to watch him circle in behind me and head south. I dashed out of the blind to watch him go into a death glide and drop from the sky about a 1/4 mile south. Well, I called Habi and we walked to the Mule and drove down to about where I thought the bird might have dropped. Habi's nose did the rest.
That took a while but boy, was it ever gratifying to have her find that bird. I will go to extremes to find a downed bird. I drove back and parked the Mule in the willows. It was only a short distance to the blind.
I made up my mind to stay for just 20 more minutes. It paid off because in that block of time I spotted 3 ducks flying upstream. I got on my call and by golly the pair of mallards and a lone hen widgeon made a turn and came straight into my blocks. I pulled on the drake mallard and he crumpled instantly with the first shot. It takes me about 2 seconds to put my shotgun down and grab my camera. Since I leave it on all the time it is instantly ready to go.
I sent Habi out and the action began. The bird landed right at the edge of a 2 1/2 foot drop off.
I forgot to tell Habi about that drop off.
It was a wonderful day. A few birds were harvested, Habi had a good work out, and I finally had my decoys on the "X".
Al
I was hoping that we would see some birds early on but that didn't happen. I take that back because several thousand sandhills flew over us.
I guess it was about an hour after the opener when I happened to see 4 widgeons land in the Rio about 200 yards downstream from my setup. They swam around, then found a spot to their liking and just sat there for what seemed like an hour but was only 40 minutes. I just happened to look at them when they decided to fly away. In so doing they flew up stream and one of the pairs came right over my set. I had my hand on Habi's collar and was telling her to stay, which worked out just fine. Both birds got dumped and Habi was off for her first bit of work for the day.
Since the second duck wasn't going anywhere I made Habi sit and pose for a shot.
I knew she had not seen the hen fall so I walked out to the edge to give her some directions and she handled it just fine from that point on.
Well, now things were looking better with a pair of widgeons on the ground by my chair. Once again I sat there for a good 25 minutes when all of a sudden I spotted a flock of widgeons flying upstream. As they flew by just out of my comfort zone I noticed one greenhead in the bunch. I got on my MLBob call and coaxed them back for a second look at the spread. It was then that the big old greenhead appeared as the group leader and I hit him on the first shot a good lick but he continued to fly. The second shot totally missed him and then with my third shot I hit him again only to watch him circle in behind me and head south. I dashed out of the blind to watch him go into a death glide and drop from the sky about a 1/4 mile south. Well, I called Habi and we walked to the Mule and drove down to about where I thought the bird might have dropped. Habi's nose did the rest.
That took a while but boy, was it ever gratifying to have her find that bird. I will go to extremes to find a downed bird. I drove back and parked the Mule in the willows. It was only a short distance to the blind.
I made up my mind to stay for just 20 more minutes. It paid off because in that block of time I spotted 3 ducks flying upstream. I got on my call and by golly the pair of mallards and a lone hen widgeon made a turn and came straight into my blocks. I pulled on the drake mallard and he crumpled instantly with the first shot. It takes me about 2 seconds to put my shotgun down and grab my camera. Since I leave it on all the time it is instantly ready to go.
I sent Habi out and the action began. The bird landed right at the edge of a 2 1/2 foot drop off.
I forgot to tell Habi about that drop off.
It was a wonderful day. A few birds were harvested, Habi had a good work out, and I finally had my decoys on the "X".
Al
