11-12-16


Had some rain the past week leading up to the opener. Didn't do much of anything to the water level. Lots of snot moss on the water. Clear and warm with variable north winds. Birds were moving early due to how bright it was out. Had some hooligans that had to get a head start just before legal. Had a few birds on the water out of reach early. Several flocks moving about. About five minutes into the hunt four teal come in to the left. The GF unloads and the birds bug out. I take an awkward shot over the back of my head and miss as they were flying away behind us. Seven minutes later a couple come in and land in the middle out of range. Two minutes later a single buzzes in and as I get ready to shoot the GF shoots at it and misses. About ten minutes later about a dozen teal drop into the middle out of range. Shot a pair of teal that came in about fifteen minutes later. The GF had to leave pretty early for work and took Paxton with her. Whipple and I decided to stay longer, much to our chagrin. Got surprised by several small groups that came in from weird angles throughout the morning. Lots of dove. Several flocks of Sandhills flying through. Plenty of ducks moving about the area. Lots of lookers but not a lot of takers.

Some birds that came in out of range...



Some birds flying around the area...





Whipple picking up a bird...





Paxton picking up a bird...





Sandhills flying over...



The birds...



After the hunt I had Whipple disperse some of the moss that's on the surface of the water.

Ole Moss Back...

Nice! Might want to ask Santa for a couple new dog vests.

You get the mud rig dirty?

lol I have a few backups in the closet.



Haven't had it out since October.

11-13-16


Clear, calm and warm this morning. Light south winds would develop later. Had some birds fly over and a couple land on the water before legal. A minute after shooting time three others would come through the area and the birds on the water jumped and followed. The next hour would pass with nine different flocks totaling roughly seventy birds flying through the area without showing much interest. Then four gadwalls came in from the front and swung over the decoys. Took out half of that group. Three minutes later a trio of gadwalls did the same thing. Took two out of that group but lost sight of one that tried to fly off hurt behind the blind. Had to send out the girls from Black Dog Recovery to assess the situation and make the recovery. A couple of minutes later a pair of teal would circle a few times before bugging out. No shots taken. Four minutes later a single would fly through the area with four others following three minutes afterwards. Half an hour would pass before two redheads circled in over the decoys. Immediately after shooting both of those birds a single ringer would circle over them and get dropped. The gf had to head out early again, but the black dogs and I stayed in an attempt to get my last bird. Had to wait another hour before some ringers would buzz through with me taking out a member of their quartet. Had some Sandhills and a decent flock of ducks fly overhead while picking up.

Whipple heading out on a retrieve...



Whipple coming back with a bird...



Paxton picking up a bird that crashed to the right of the blind...



Paxton bringing in another bird...



Paxton retrieving a redhead...





Sent Paxton after a bird that crashed to the left of the blind.

This is Sparta!!!...



Paxton coming back with the bird...



Sandhills flying over...



The birds...

11-15-16


Very bright out due to the moon. Had quite a few birds moving well before shooting time. Clear, calm and warm this morning with a very light sporadic north wind. Had a lot of bird movement with a bunch of various sized flocks moving about the area. Only problem was that most of them were not showing any interest. Had a few flocks give us a look but they were out of range. A little after an hour in to the hunt a rogue teal appeared in the decoys. No idea where he came from but I'll take it. About twenty minutes later a couple of birds were moving off to the right. While keeping an eye on them a Widgeon pair came over from behind. They were convinced to hit the brakes and check things out. After circling a couple of times they dropped in and got taken out. Got buzzed by some mergansers sometime after that and had a few other flocks fly through the area. Tons of Sandhills passing through as well.

The moon made it very bright out. This was well before legal shooting time...



It was quite wet out as well...



Whipple picking up a teal...





Some ducks flying through...



Whipple with a widgeon drake...



Paxton retrieving the hen...





Some of the many Sandhills that flew through the area...



The girls with the birds...

Great pictures, as usual. That moon picture is awesome.

Thanks.

I bet those are the best honoring dogs in Texas. I think it is cool, and a heck of a lot of fun, to work 2 dogs.

It's not always rainbows and butterflies.

11-17-16


Overcast and muggy this morning with an unexpected fog. South winds that would get steadily stronger throughout the hunt. Could hear some ducks moving around right after legal but could not see them. The only bird of the day appears out of nowhere smack dab in the middle of the decoys and gets swatted with precision eighteen minutes into the hunt. There were plenty of various sized flocks moving around the area. Only a couple gave a quick look, the others showed no interest. Lots of dove flying around.

The decoys...



Bird down...



Whipple bringing the bird in...



Whipple with the bird...



Web of water beads...



Black Dogs taking a look...



The lone interested party...

My favorite of the first split, that would be in a frame on my desk.

I like it too.

11-19-16


A front blew through the previous day. Clear and cooler this morning and fairly bright out. Was supposed to have a decent north wind but it was dead calm to start off the hunt. When the wind picked up later it wasn't near as strong as expected. Heard some ducks early and had a lone bird sit down and leave while setting up. Plenty of flocks moving around the area but most already knew where they were going and could not be convinced otherwise. Had about five flocks that showed a little interest but ultimately decided to take their business elsewhere. The lone bird of the day came in under the cover of the sun immediately after five buzzed behind the blind from right to left. Had a flock of Sandhills fly through and tons of dove flying around all morning.

The sun coming up...



One of the reasons I hate a north wind...



Bored Whipple...



A shower of feathers...



Whipple happy to be of service...



This gal entertained us for a while...



The bird...

11-21-16


Clear, cool, and calm to start out the morning with it eventually warming up with south winds. Fairly bright out. Heard some birds before legal shooting time. Very few birds moving in the area. Even fewer gave us a look. Lots of dove moving around all morning with a good amount of snipe. Had a single Sandhill fly over. The only thing killed this morning was time.

The moon made it fairly bright out...



This dude was hanging around...



A flock of dove flying by...



One of many...



Some dove and snipe...

This dude was looking for a meal...



A lonely Sandhill...



This guy spent some time with us...



The dogs messing around after the hunt...





The lack of birds...

11-25-16


The morning started off muggy, calm and overcast. Had some rain on the ground from the night before. Had some birds moving around before legal. A couple landed on the water off to the right. Seconds before shooting time three sat down just outside of the decoys and immediately jumped and flew off to the right. After a couple of minutes a single would buzz over out front and head to the right taking the two that were on the water with it. A few minutes later a group of five came in and sat down in the middle out of range. A group of four came in right behind them. Had a few other birds flying around the area but they showed no interest. By this time the wind starts to pick up from out of the north. Two minutes later a trio of gaddies come in from the left. Took a couple of shots at the closest bird only to watch it fly off hurt onto an adjacent property. A couple minutes later the wind really starts showing off. Twenty minutes later it started to rain. About thirty minutes later a lone redhead appeared on the water. A few shots later it would fly off to the right with his tail tucked. A single merganser showed up in the decoys seventeen minutes later giving the pup something to do. Roughly twenty minutes after that we hear some widgeons. The dog lets me know where they are. Three circling with two flying off behind the blind. As I am trying to work those birds we got surprised by four others over the blind. They met up with the three and headed off behind. While waiting for the rain to let up the only other birds seen were a single and a flock of five off in the distance. Heard some honkers a couple of times throughout the morning but never saw them. Lots of dove. The forecasted "slight chance of a passing shower" turned into raining damn near the entire morning.

The approaching weather...



Some birds...



Starting to sprinkle...



My entertainment was watching the water beads drop off the blind cover...



Bird down...



Whipple doing work...





The bird...