Duck Season 2014 - 2015 (pics)...

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....

11-18-14

The cold, ice and lack of wind made it rough this morning. Paxton stayed home in order to mend her foot. On the previous hunt she tore a toe up pretty bad chasing after some mice under some wood . A few hunts before that she gashed her back pretty good on the fence chasing after them. I guess she is pretty mad at them. When she doesn't go on a hunt she is always waiting to grab a bird and carry it around on our arrival back home. I was getting ready to clean the birds and there was one missing. It seems as though Henry has developed a liking to duck head and neck.

Frozen blood on my gun...



Whipple waiting for a call to arms...



This guy was watching the action...



Some ice...



A hull stuck in the ice...



The birds...



All it takes is one little mistake...



Henry with his precious...

11-20-14

Had several birds come in early this morning only to leave before legal. Whiffed at more birds than I'd like to admit. A single crow came too close and after being hit tried to fly off only to fall right in the middle of the lil pond. Took Whipple to get it and when she hit the water a wounded duck jumped up and flew haphazardly into the field over a hill. When it jumped I tried to run back 10 feet to grab my gun that I had laid down but I wasn't fast enough. We looked for it but could never find it. I am still baffled where it came from and where it went. My only guess is someone had shot at it the day before and it tried to find refuge in that lil mud hole and maybe went further over the hill than I had thought. I am happy to report that Paxton did exact revenge on the mice.

The sunrise...



Some birds moving around...



Whipple with a Redhead...



Paxton picking up the hen...





Paxton with a Teal...



Whipple with the Crow...



Looking back on the spread from the lil pond...



Whipple waiting to be called back...



The strap...

nice

11-21-14

Took Whipple out this morning for her birthday hunt. She turned 4 years old today. There were plenty of birds and abundant opportunities. You know the old saying "couldn't hit a cow's arse with a banjo." It definitely rang true today. She still had a good time though.

Whipple with the first bird of the morning...



The decoys...



Whipple with a cripple she had to run down...





Whipple with one half of a pair of Ringers that came in...



Whipple getting after the other half...

Whipple watching some birds that swung behind us...



Some birds that came over...



Whipple with a Gaddie hen...



Whipple with her haul of the day...



She loves it when the vest comes off...

11-26-14

This morning started off with quite a few birds in the decoys quite early. Apparently it was more than the dang ole dirty early shooters could bear. To my surprise the ducks eventually trickled back in. There was a variety of other birds than came in as well.

Paxton bringing in a GWT...





Whipple with a GWT...









Spencer on the hunt...

Whipple picking up a Gaddie a few minutes later...



Pelicans came to check things out...



Paxton with another GWT...



This guy was on the hunt...





Some geese that came over while we were leaving...



The strap...

11-27-14

Went to get a quick hunt in this morning before doing the Thanksgiving thing. Birds worked pretty good. Shot a double on a couple of teal that circled and dropped in. Took out a single that came in. Then shot a triple on three that decided to check things out. The third bird tried to get away by flying low out into a field to the left and ended up crashing by a fence. When I went to find it and finish it off a hawk happened to fly towards me down the fence line carrying the bird. I changed directions and went to where I saw him land. I never saw the hawk again but found the teal at the bottom of the fence.

The Pelicans showed back up and decided to stay for a few minutes before heading out...









Paxton picking up some GWT...





Whipple waiting for her turn...



Whipple picking up a couple...





The take...

11-30-14

This morning was a very bittersweet hunt. My buddy (gf's nephew/"son") was in a bad head on collision Thanksgiving night. He was in a car and on his way home with his gf, their 5 year old daughter and his gf's 14 year old sister. His gf ended up with a few scrapes on her left arm. Their 5 year old broke her left wrist. His gf's 14 year old sister was killed on impact. My buddy had to be care flighted to Temple and ended up passing away the next day. He was an organ donor and we got the call that they were taking him into surgery at 11:00 while throwing out decoys. It was also my old gal's 11th birthday today. So, we did a very quick birthday hunt before heading to the hospital. There were early shooters again and as usual the birds did not cooperate with us, so I ended up shooting a snipe for Ms. Paxton.

The only birds that came in this morning...



The spread...



Paxton wondering where the birds are...



Found this lil guy in a cow hole...



Paxton excited to retrieve her snipe...

The girls taking a swim...



The birthday girl coming back to shore...



Paxton with her snipe...







Had to throw out the bird for Whipple...

Great pics. Keep them coming.

12-3-14

Fair amount of birds moving around today. Had quite a few birds on the water before legal. Even when legal came we had to wait to shoot because we couldn't see with it still being pretty dang dark. I ended up limiting in eight minutes and had to wait a bit for the GF to finish up. After watching her chase a Teal out in a field that kept eluding her I went to help. While out in the field chasing that bird we had several Gaddies land in the deeks. I bet next time she will let me (like usual) go get the birds that sail off into the fields. Had some geese come over when picking up.

Paxton picking up a bird...



Whipple picking up a bird...









Paxton with another...



Paxton with the one we had to chase down in a field...

The spread...



Paxton picking up a bird that crashed into an adjacent pond...





Geese flying over when we were getting ready to leave...



Paxton getting after a mouse...



The birds...



The girls with the birds...

12-4-14

Plenty of birds in the area this morning. Problem was very few of them were giving us a look. So, I decided to venture onto the interwebs. Not long afterwards, I happened to look up to see a lone Ringneck that seemed to be trying to land on my head. I think we startled each other equally but I got the last laugh when I winged him as he tried to escape to the right. While in pursuit of the Ringer I was surprised by a flock of Redheads that screamed over the pond right at me. I took a reaction shot and dropped one somewhere behind the tank dam. Birds trickled in after all of that excitement.

Whipple watching for birds...



The crippled Ringer...



Whipple getting after it...









Paxton searching for the Redhead...



Paxton with the bird...



Paxton picking up a Teal...

Paxton watching Whipple chase a Gadwall...



Whipple picking up the Gaddie...







Whipple with another Gadwall...





The take...

Wonderful pictures. What is it about duck hunters? Y'all required to take a class or something? Thanks for sharing with us.

12-7-14

This morning had lots of birds moving around. Bad thing was we had to leave early. Birds were flying strange all morning. Got surprised by quite a few that came from behind us and we never got a chance to react. On several occasions (after I had my six) I could hear wings and I would tell the GF to be ready and zoooooom a bird would buzz low between us from behind without her being able to get her gun up fast enough. I just laughed at her each time. We swear it was the same bird just messing with her. We definitely had chances for the three other birds but it didn't pan out.

Paxton picking up a bird...



Whipple picking one up...





Whipple after another...

Two of three birds that came in together. The third bird is on the shore to the left...



Paxton picking up a bird...





Paxton on another retrieve...



Whipple picking up a bird...







Empty hull...



The birds...