Little brag on the puppy and an owl.

[Brandon Yuchasz]

Well I keep meaning to put up some pictures but just have not. I took the puppy out yesterday and setup knowing there are few birds around. The birds got up and left for parts south of here a week ago. I have been scouting every day and still not fresh birds in the normal places.
A drake buffie ( immature) came in and I clipped him badly and swated serveral time he was not totally head up but not dead either and the puppy wanted to go. I figured she needs to learn to stay with a cripple and this one didnt look bad so I sent her. what should have been a short chase turned into THE retrieve that you remember 10 years from now when the dog is to old to hunt. 100's of yards later she caught up to the swimming/diving bird and was right ontop of him. He would pop up for a second grab a breath she would grab he would dive. I had to use my binocks to see her at this point. She started sticking her head and front shoulders underwater looking for him. Finally she lunged and got him as he dove.
See that speck in the picture out past the decoys? Thats my 1 1/2 year old puppy picking up her 196th bird in her life time. When she got back to the boat she looked winded!

Then just a few more pictures for you.

OK and then the owl. Twice now while setting decoys in the dark I have had a snow owl dive down and hit my decoys. Yesterday it dove on my decoys and hooked into one of the herters pulling out a chunk. The owl then just floated in the water for a while till I tried to get closer for a picture of it. Very strange! Its on of those things only hunters get to experiance and I am glad I am a hunter!
bad pic but the white thing in the water is the owl.

 

[jwking]

cool story

did the pup want to go for the owl....

 

[Carl]

Good job on the pup. We hope to get a dog this year after the season goes out, hope I can get her trained as well as others on this site.

Cool story about the owl. Do you see many snowy owls up there? The only documented sighting in Alabama was back in the early 80s near Auburn. The ornithology prof at Auburn took lots of pictures, he showed them to us in class. They are cool birds.

 

[Matt Moore]

A buddy and I were duck hunting a heavily treed river bank once. Some quail flew out, with a smallish hawk after them. It zeroed in on one, and the chosen one actually dove, and landed on the water. The hawk didn't quite know what to do, hovered a second, and took off. The quail swam to the bank, and ran into the brush. My buddy and I stared at each other dumbfounded. Who knew quail could swim!

 

[Kevin Weir]

Three years ago I was hunting the Nisqually river delta area just out from the refuge and a snowy owl glided between me and my partner who was standing only 10-12 feet away, right at legal shooting time. We saw this 'THING' glide by without making a sound and then saw it flare off in another direction a little way off from us. we just stared at each other in shock that it gave us that experience.

 

[Michael R Braun]

I was sculling on a raft of scaup one year... when we got up to shoot the hole raft lifted off the water and out of no wear a hawk came down and naild one of the scup in front of the scull! Was one of the coolest things I have ever seen.