11-01-14

We ended up seeing way more birds than I expected. Lots of Widgeons (and others) in the area. I ended up with a limit and the GF ended up with a lone teal. Should of had more birds but you know how that goes. Had a crippled Widgeon that disappeared and was eventually chased down up near the truck. Ended up spending 45 minutes of primetime looking for that guy. The GF finished him off with a knee and he was placed behind my blind with my other birds. Five or more minutes later that dang bird came to life and tried to run off again. Had birds landing as we were packing out. Hopefully they come back tomorrow.

The spread...



Paxton doing work...







Smaller flock of Widgeons...



Whipple doing work...







The birds...

11-02-14

Didn't see as many birds as yesterday but still plenty. I ended up with my limit and my GF seems to be having some aiming problems this season. Cool thing that happened this morning was we had three teal buzz over our heads from behind and circle. I dropped one and the other two flew out low over a field to our left. I thought one might have fell and the GF thought she saw the other fall. So Paxton and I went to check it out. We ended up jumping a hawk who just happened to be carrying a teal. He went to the left and landed again, so I tried sneaking up close enough to get a pic. He didn't care too much for that and ended up flying off but left the teal behind. All I know is he got on that bird fast! We never did find the other teal out in field.

Paxton with a Redhead...



Whipple with a Ringer...



Whipple with the ole moss nose...



Paxton with a teal she had to chase down...



Whipple watching Paxton and I return from the hawk/teal adventure...



Paxton waiting for some birds...



The decoys...



This guy was waiting for it to warm up...



Tons of these guys around...



The take...

Great pics.

11-03-14

Got up this morning and Paxton decided she was going to take the day off and never got out of bed. It was going to be all on Whipple today. Apparently Paxton knew more than we did as there was way fewer birds moving around. The only bird that came to the deeks was a lonely teal. We did get tormented by beaucoup dove and got visited by some random dogs.

The sunrise...



Whipple watching for birds...



Whipple wondering what I did with all the birds...



The setup...



The bird of the day...



GF passed out...



Whipple keeping her eye on some of the many dove in the area...



GF wrangling up the decoys...

Outstanding pics. Beautiful dogs at work.

good shooting!

11-07-14

Went out this morning expecting the water to be higher than it was. It came up but not nearly as much as I was thinking. Had two birds come in early and land towards the middle. They began swimming towards the decoys as legal approached. Just as I was contemplating swatting them three Gadwalls came tearing in from the right. I decided to shoot them instead. I swung right to left with them and dropped the first one and moved onto the second one. Then I managed to somehow dodge the dog and roll over onto my left shoulder (I'm left handed) in the layout and drop the third bird as it tried to escape behind me. After all of that I managed to whiff on the next group of three that came in. Got caught looking at the others that showed interest.

The moon made it pretty bright out...



"Spencer" the Kingfisher decided he was going to try his luck...









Whipple watching some birds...



Some Widgeons flying over...



Whipple eagerly waiting to carry a bird out...



The take...

Said it before. Hands down best duck hunting pics

Yeah great pics

If thats you dog and it looks like it is. i would have some pic framedfor later years. I wish I had. My dog has been gone for little over two years now I still miss him with not very many pic. I was to muck into the hunt and not the things around the hunt.

a blind man can see you had great time

Awesome pictures.

Walter

It sucks to take Paxton's best picture of the season so early...nice picture and love the way her eyes look in this picture.

'grats!

11-10-14

This morning started off slow. Had a lone Teal come in before shooting time and stay until legal when I swatted it. A little later we started to see movement but they didn't want anything to do with us. Luckily we had Gary the Grebe on the water for entertainment purposes. About an hour later it was like a fence was lowered. Had a flock of Redheads crash into the deeks and play around for a while until they spread out enough to pick out four. A couple of Teal came in immediately after shooting the Reds. A bit later a flock of Shovelers made an appearance. Then it went dead again. We waited around a little looking for the last bird but it never came. As luck would have it the birds started moving around again as we were walking to the truck.

Paxton watching Gary the Grebe...



Some birds flying around...



Three of the four Redheads on the water...



Whipple picking up one of the Redheads...



Paxton bringing a Teal in...



Whipple eagerly waiting for her turn while watching Paxton finish a retrieve...



Whipple with another Redhead...



Paxton retrieving the other Teal...



Flock of Gaddies passing over...



The birds...

awesome pics, makes me want to get some of my black lab

11-12-14

Went out for a quick hunt this morning. It was not nearly as cold as I thought it was going to be. There was definitely more birds in the area. Had quite a few come in early but they all left before legal. The home team ended up losing the competition with the two rafts of live birds. Made a decoy adjustment a little later and convinced a group of four to come in.

The sunrise...



Whipple picking up the first bird...



Whipple picking up the second bird...



Whipple waiting for some action...



Snipe!...



The adjusted decoys...



The take...



This guy was pacing the truck on departure...

Greatness! Love your pooch pics

Great photos.

Nice pics. Who is whipple out of?

Excellent shots as well. I've been comparing my set ups to yours.

I don't have a duck dog, and that could be useful. I think you have something even more useful though... I have got to get a GF who will set up and pick up the decoys. That's clutch.

And your kingfisher pics are excellent

Great pictures! !

11-15-14

The birds shot today were all taken early. When it gets light out just can't compete with the raft of birds on the safe havens in the area. Tried to fool some with a decoy move a little later in the morning. The only ducks that it stumped was a small flock of Shovelers that happened to come in while out moving the decoys around. Need fresh birds.

Some geese moving through the area...



Original decoy setup...



The changed up spread...



Dove have been driving me crazy...



Paxton waiting...



Whipple wondering why the birds won't play...



The take...



Part of the rafts....