Mater the Griffon

[Sasquatch]

Beauty Yama...looks like a little island. I'm guessing you are going to slay them in that rig.

[yamadirt 426]

4 trips out for ducks. 2 mornings and 2 evenings, with good people and wonderful dogs. All the dog got some work every time out. Only one notable retrieve was a swim in the river. Unfortunately we haven't taken ay field pics lately. Not even while we had 3 griffs out playing in the muck. Here are a few fat birds.

Last night was our first teal shoot. In fact that was the only birds we brought down. It was also the first time I had anchored Mater down with a spike. Now I have never really trained him for steady. I have a couple of theorys on why I didnt. Mostly because I hunted solo a lot and I didnt really care. Now this year my hunting partners have been very gracious with me and I felt the need to start working on steady. Maybe its too late but dam it he is not aloud to get all the birds. The only other time Im going to worry about steady is on a chukar hunt with potential fall hazards. So after dragging a corn stalk around, and a crappy ground spike, my partner lent me a spike that held Mater firmly in place last night. I loved it. In fact it was relieving that I didnt even have to think about him hogging all the birds. Until he gets it he will be spiked even on solo adventures. Im sure some of you are thinking Duh. Thats how a dog is supposed to be . Well he would have been if I did my part and trained him that way so it is no fault of his.

tasty teals

[yamadirt 426]

The poor dog has not seen a lot of action over the last few weeks. 1 retrieve before the freeze up but other than that ive been letting him down.

The last couple outings have been fun. With a water retrieve and a near catch on his own. The both of us running away from the set up looking for cripples for 15 mins. Running back sweating balls and blasting away. We were able to stand out in the dekes for the last few birds. It came down to 2 shells and 1 bird to go. Boom , nice... first limit with 1 shell left.. Most retrieve were quite short and he did well. He just loves to be sitting right in the middle of the dekes with me.



Last time out I got to hook up with Sasquatch and his boy. Always a great time hanging with you sir ! The boys were switching up on the retrieves, again nothing too spectacular.1 bird was into some thick bush and surely would have been lost if it was just me retrieving it. Due to the wind, the angles the ducks were approaching were right over our heads and most were 10yds away when they took their dirt nap.. It was one of those days when you have to do a quick count before we blew out the limit. Lucky we still had 1 to go and then promptly limited out with some time to spare. I brought out the single shot this day and 11 shells. I came home with 8 birds and 1 shell to spare again and a happy dog !




And just like that this wave of birds are gone. Until the next....

[yamadirt 426]

Been on a few hunts . Last hunt for deer was a fail, in fact this season was a bust. Not enough time in the bush this year. Mater trailed a few older buck tracks. I got him to climb up for this shot



We did not get into the marsh during the freeze up. Was disappointing for us both because we haven't tried out the new boat blind yet. He is itching to jump out of it. I couldn't hit the broadside of a barn last duck hunt in the field. 0 for 10 shots lol a small flock of 5 so close i could see the blacks of their eyes. Buddy manage to put one bird down for a retrieve so i did not get bit.

We did have a good training day recently and he was able to work his first pheasants . No birds were shot but all were retrieved with a solid point. Mater was very happy and did not want to leave.

[Sasquatch]

Great pic of Mater on the stump Yama. Surprised you haven't been out in that duck slayer rig yet. Maybe put it up for sale so someone can kill some birds with it

[yamadirt 426]

Soon Sasquatch soon...

We had 2 rock solid points on trainer birds today. one bird was held so tight it gave me time to take a few photos of the point...

and the retrieve...


this was followed by an additional point , flush , shoot and water retrieve . with such a high bank i had to help him out of it by clinging to the long grass. And what did i get for my effort, as soon as he could he presented the bird to me and proceeded to shake twice in my face. Nasty ditch water in my mouth and not a thing i could do but hold on to the grass, clinging to the side bank to prevent myself from falling in the biggest ditch ive ever seen. lol good times

[Discoverer]

Nicely done!

[yamadirt 426]

We made it out on the boat and into the marsh today. Ive almost forgot how nice it is out there off shore. Time was limited today, just enough to set up for a few birds and a few pictures.

All i wanted was to test out the boats new camo(fail), new long lines for the decoys(pass) and get a few big water retrieves. Although we managed to stick out like Shrek at the mall we were able to fool a few birds. I didn't bother using the dead reeds to cover up the green camo but that's all it would have took to look a little better. Ill do a few mods before i take it back out next week. We flared a few birds for my lack of effort although I got my first spoon-er today so that was cool. There was no land to be had with the high tides right now so Mater jumps in and out of the zodiac while we are nestled into the tops of the reeds. What a stable boat they are to hunt and shoot out of.

This was a widgeon retrieve which he marked well over about 30ys of water and into the swamp.


It was a lot of work for a short hunt but really revitalized me going back out there. It doenst get better than duck hunting in the marsh with a dog out of a boat. That is the trifecta of waterfowling IMO.



Maters got my back quietly watching for birds. His tell is to slowly shrink to the floor when they are coming in.

[yamadirt 426]

Another beautiful sunrise in the marsh


What should have been a 4 or 5 bird day was only a 1 bird day. Im not a good shot from the sitting position and then between the taking of pictures , have to get the boat and rescue my decoys that were swimming away, and one trip to go for a 15 min boat ride to see if there was a potencial cripple on the other side of the river i blew most of my chances. But the cover worked great on the boat when i dressed it up. I watched a very big sea lion cruise by in the open water which was cool.

The lone widgeon we got hit the water and did some dipping and diving to get away from the dog but eventually succumbed to the mouth.



With ice up on the way there should be some fine shooting on the horizon .

[yamadirt 426]

This might be my favorite shot of the year