Marc
01-17-2009, 07:56 PM
Well got packed up, put Mr Marshall in the truck and met up with Tony and Rick for a duck shoot back in an alder swamp today. Had to scrape the frost off the windshield this morning so it' started off a bit nippy.
We ended up having to brake and clear about an inch of ice so we'd have somewhere to float the dekes. Things were going really well until the sun was high and in full force. Birds where flaring and we were shooting birds but at a lot slower rate. Both Tony and I managed a double on birds today which was kind of neat as it's been a while for me. We had mostly mallards with a flock or two of widgeon working the area but not as many teal as the last time Tony and Rick where out. Actually the only birds that came into the decoys and shooting range where Mallards.
Something that I saw today was pretty cool. We had a drake and a hen work the decoys and two birds where dropped. I send Marshall on the drake and he comes back with it and it's still quite alive so I ring it's neck and toss it down and go help find the second bird. Marshall finds the second bird and brings it back. It's a hen mallard that Tony had shot and its got a band on one leg...wait a minute I see another band on the other leg! I said to Tony this might be a money bird and sure enough it has a $100 ban on it's leg! The green was pretty much worn off except for a little smidge of it at the crimp, it'll be interesting to see how old this girl was.
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/medium/100_dollar_hen.jpg
On the way back to the blinds Tony hollers "Duck! Shoot it!" I look over and it's a drake mallard and it's flying going away from us. I shoulder the gun, put the bead just below the bird and pull the trigger all in one fluid motion. I'm all proud of myself for making a great shot. So we go pick up that bird and take it back to the blind. We then look for the drake that I rang it's neck and tossed on the ground to look for the hen. Well didn't we spend a good 15-20 minutes with the the dog trying to find it. I knew exactly where I had tossed it but it wasn't there. We then came to realize that the duck that I had made such a perfect shot on was the same one I tossed on the ground and had lifted when we approached the blind. I guess I didn't ring it's neck hard enough the first time and had regained it's composure when we were headed back to the blind. I made sure after that to ring their necks properly before I walked away from them.
I was quite impressed with my shooting today. I managed to get my 8 bird limit with 20 shells, no more no less. Doesn't sound like much of an accomplishment but I was off my game for a while. I only had 4 shells left with 6 birds down so I tried to make sure of my shots if I was going to managed to pinch another 2 birds with 4 shells. The next two birds that come in I lost my balance and miss both shots, Crap down to two shells and still missing two birds. I tell Tony and Rick that I'm down to two shells. "Oh that's two bad" is the reply I get back with big smiles on their faces. Well I took my time and managed to pull it off and tagged two more birds before I ran out of shells.:mrgreen:
When we left the swamp with our limits of birds we only had one shell left between the 3 of us. :biggrin:
I decided to leave my camera home this time around as I heard that we were going to be in standing water and didn't want to take the chance on getting it wet so we did the pictures back at the house.
Had a great time out there, was a nice way to finish off the duck season as I don't think I'll be getting out again before it closes next Friday. Now the plucking begins! Thanks again Tony for sharing your patch of the marsh with me and sharing some good laughs.
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/Marc_Marshall_and_Rick.jpg
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/Marc_Marshall_and_Tony.jpg
On a sad note, I lost the transmitter for Marshall's training collar so I'm hoping Tony finds it the next time he's out in that area or it's going to cost me to get a replacement. Time to buy a harness for it. I'd lost and found that thing 4 or 5 times... it was just a matter of time it was lost for good. :frown:
We ended up having to brake and clear about an inch of ice so we'd have somewhere to float the dekes. Things were going really well until the sun was high and in full force. Birds where flaring and we were shooting birds but at a lot slower rate. Both Tony and I managed a double on birds today which was kind of neat as it's been a while for me. We had mostly mallards with a flock or two of widgeon working the area but not as many teal as the last time Tony and Rick where out. Actually the only birds that came into the decoys and shooting range where Mallards.
Something that I saw today was pretty cool. We had a drake and a hen work the decoys and two birds where dropped. I send Marshall on the drake and he comes back with it and it's still quite alive so I ring it's neck and toss it down and go help find the second bird. Marshall finds the second bird and brings it back. It's a hen mallard that Tony had shot and its got a band on one leg...wait a minute I see another band on the other leg! I said to Tony this might be a money bird and sure enough it has a $100 ban on it's leg! The green was pretty much worn off except for a little smidge of it at the crimp, it'll be interesting to see how old this girl was.
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/medium/100_dollar_hen.jpg
On the way back to the blinds Tony hollers "Duck! Shoot it!" I look over and it's a drake mallard and it's flying going away from us. I shoulder the gun, put the bead just below the bird and pull the trigger all in one fluid motion. I'm all proud of myself for making a great shot. So we go pick up that bird and take it back to the blind. We then look for the drake that I rang it's neck and tossed on the ground to look for the hen. Well didn't we spend a good 15-20 minutes with the the dog trying to find it. I knew exactly where I had tossed it but it wasn't there. We then came to realize that the duck that I had made such a perfect shot on was the same one I tossed on the ground and had lifted when we approached the blind. I guess I didn't ring it's neck hard enough the first time and had regained it's composure when we were headed back to the blind. I made sure after that to ring their necks properly before I walked away from them.
I was quite impressed with my shooting today. I managed to get my 8 bird limit with 20 shells, no more no less. Doesn't sound like much of an accomplishment but I was off my game for a while. I only had 4 shells left with 6 birds down so I tried to make sure of my shots if I was going to managed to pinch another 2 birds with 4 shells. The next two birds that come in I lost my balance and miss both shots, Crap down to two shells and still missing two birds. I tell Tony and Rick that I'm down to two shells. "Oh that's two bad" is the reply I get back with big smiles on their faces. Well I took my time and managed to pull it off and tagged two more birds before I ran out of shells.:mrgreen:
When we left the swamp with our limits of birds we only had one shell left between the 3 of us. :biggrin:
I decided to leave my camera home this time around as I heard that we were going to be in standing water and didn't want to take the chance on getting it wet so we did the pictures back at the house.
Had a great time out there, was a nice way to finish off the duck season as I don't think I'll be getting out again before it closes next Friday. Now the plucking begins! Thanks again Tony for sharing your patch of the marsh with me and sharing some good laughs.
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/Marc_Marshall_and_Rick.jpg
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/Marc_Marshall_and_Tony.jpg
On a sad note, I lost the transmitter for Marshall's training collar so I'm hoping Tony finds it the next time he's out in that area or it's going to cost me to get a replacement. Time to buy a harness for it. I'd lost and found that thing 4 or 5 times... it was just a matter of time it was lost for good. :frown: