First mature Sprig Pintail

[Marc]

Well it finally hapened after 30 years of waterfowling. I was out with Elkhound & Dutchie this morning and we had some pintail and widgeon working the decoys and I finaly had a decent Sprig get close enough for a shot. I was getting pretty desperate after firing two rounds and nothing hapening, finally on the third shot he fell from the sky! Man was I excited. The dog ran out and retrieved the bird and until he returned I didn't realize how nice it actually was.

This guy is going on the wall.

http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/pintail2.jpg

http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/medium/pintail_2.jpg

http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/medium/pintail_back.jpg

[JoshCampbell]

Beauty bird, that is sure going to look nice on the wall

[d6dan]

Congrats Marc on finally getting a drake pintail. Hes sure has some nice colours.

[rifleman]

nice drake. worthy of the wall for sure. good job on nockin him down

[Theo722]

Nice bird. Very clean.

[wrenchhead]

thats a beauty looking bird. iv never seen one in the okanagan. where do they spend the summer?

[Noname]

Great bird congrats.. I got my first Harlequin this year.
http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs139.snc3/18674_799733909819_14803293_45534880_2194932_n.jpg (http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=45534881&id=14803293)

[Crazy_Farmer]

Beauty clown duck Noname, and thats a bull of a pintail too Marc. nice sprigs by the looks.

[weatherby_man]

Beautys!! I was out this morning in Chilli, but only got 5 mallards.

[Chessieguy]

Great looking bird Marc...

That will be a beautiful mount for sure.

Congrats

[Tanya]

Yahoo! Congrats Marc, I know you've been wanting one of those for a while. Nice bird, he'll be a great mount.

[naes]

Wow that's great Marc Well done!

[longshot]

Beautiful duck Marc!! My dad and saw quite a few this a.m., hoping Catharina could drop one. They seemed to come in quite late this year we we have been shooting them.

GREAT JOB!, Longshot jr.

[Elkhound]

It was a great morning. Beautiful sunrise, great day shared with friends. It was slow, I missed a duck...Marc got his holy grail. Very good day

[Ian F.]

bet I know who wont be mounting that one!

beauty bird mark, good thing marshal was there to do all the work for you!

[dutchie]

Thanks for coming over and hunting with us, it was alot of blast not to mention you showin' us how it is done!

There were a few pins that snuck by us, but when he shot that duck it made the day complete. Definatly got me really excited about hunting with Steeleco and Mr. Dean last night.

He even uttered death threats to Marshal and Goose if they touched the bird after it was retrived!

dutchie

[Marc]

Now that I'm back on the Island and rested up I've had the chance to grab the pictures off the camera and add a bit more to the day on the bay.

We had an exceptional sunrise and we had a full high tide first thing.

http://i683.photobucket.com/albums/vv191/huntingbc/sunrise.jpg

Things were a bit slow and the birds were staying further out so as soon as we could see where the channels and holes where we headed further out the bay to the tides edge. I ended up going for a swim trying to hop over a channel, Elhound thought it looked like fun and decided to try it for himself.:mrgreen:

Dutchie was smart and decided to back track the channel to an easier crossing and I was very pleased with his decision as he was carrying my camera with him.

We tossed the decoys out again and settles in waiting for a chance at some birds. Here is another great picture of the rising sun.

http://i683.photobucket.com/albums/vv191/huntingbc/sunrise2.jpg

There was a lot of birds flying around but 99% of them were to high to consider shooting at. We did hear some shooting going on further down the bay. All that presented itself for an ethical shot that morning was a single widgeon, a hen & drake pintail that managed to sneak past us before we had a chance to raise the guns, and another pair that I was fortunate enough to take the drake.

Soon as I had it in my hands I knew it was the bird I had been waiting for. Being the only duck of the day the dog was jumping around me as I was spinning trying to prevent him from grabbing the bird. I placed it high on a stump and Marshall and Goose both tried on several occasions to get to the duck and I may have muttered a few choice words and made some threats in the process.:mrgreen:

http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/pintail2.jpg

We had some spectacular acrobatic displays with some kind of shore birds not sure exactly what they were but there was tonnes of them.

http://i683.photobucket.com/albums/vv191/huntingbc/shorebirds.jpg

Once the birds slowed down the dogs started to get bored so we gave them a chance to run around a bit and took some pictures of the dog in the surroundings we were hunting in, man does he ever blend in well.

http://i683.photobucket.com/albums/vv191/huntingbc/marshalllayingdown.jpg

and one more of the pretty boy.

http://i683.photobucket.com/albums/vv191/huntingbc/marshallsitting.jpg

Might as well toss this one up as well. This is what happens when the birds aren't flying and Marshall gets bored he wants to try and balance himself on my shoulders and chew on my ears.

http://i683.photobucket.com/albums/vv191/huntingbc/marshallbored.jpg

I was headed to Vancouver to pick up a shipment of food and figured it would be a good chance to get a morning hunt in as well. Met up with Elkhound and Dutchie and went out for a morning shoot. Got to meet Dutchie's dog Goose and I think Marshall made a new friend as anytime we got up to rearrange the decoys or do anything they started playing around.

Dutchie thanks for the pat on the back but my shooting was nowhere near anything worth bragging about that morning. Had a great time and we'll have to do it again.

Marc.

[Crazy_Farmer]

Little guys are dunlins arent they? When I see them it reminds me of starlings here, huge masses all flying together.

[Buck Skin]

thats a pretty cool bird

[PGK]

thats a beauty looking bird. iv never seen one in the okanagan. where do they spend the summer?

I've shot them up here in PG so you probly have them in the OK too. Don't see too many around, but I did see five or six this fall. They don't usually obtain full plumage until mid minter and by that time they're all on the coast so that's usually why you don't notice them in the summer or fall.....just another brown duck!

Great bird marc, perfect candidate for the wall.

[Muleycatcher]

Beautiful looking duck congrats!

[riflebuilder]

We used to shoot pinies in southern Ab but the season opns later now and most have gone south before we get the chance to get the drop on them. I head back to AB each fall to hunt with my brother and cousins for ducks geese and phesants. that is a great pinnie there mark congrats.

[Peace Country]

What a nice bird do you guys have lots of Pintails that look like that bird or is that not normal. I hunt in the Peace river region of ALberta and have lots and lots of birds but the Pintails dont look like that.
Great job.

[dutchie]

That bird IMO is like a 5-6pt mulie!

The sprig was way bigger then the pictures show a healthy 4-5" long. I have shot about 8 fully mature pintails and Marc's definatly trumped ANY that I have shot.

There is a reason that bird is 30 years in the making... it was literally that beautiful.There was a greenish sheen on the side of the head that I am not sure if the picture captured... that was the first time I had ever seen that.

In the Peace and Alberta you will not get a pintail that looks like that because you are at the beggining of the migration...

They will fill out a little more in the next few weeks before mating and then they will shed all that beauty and just become another duck.

Dutchie

[Elkhound]

Marc mount it like that pic you sent me....absolutely gorgeous

[Marc]

bet I know who wont be mounting that one!


Jeez I wonder why, I can't believe he charges people for this crap. If anyone is thinking of getting a bird mounted send me a PM and I'll tell you who did this fine work so you don't have to be disappointed as well. This was a big 3 curl drake ruined that eventually I'll have to get another one mounted as this one is only good for hanging a hat on or coat.

When confronted and asked what happened he said that this is as good as he can do. What a wast of money.

http://i683.photobucket.com/albums/vv191/huntingbc/closeup.jpg

[longshot]

My dad got a HUGE 3 curl drake back in Dec. 06' and we got it done somewhere on the west side of Vancouver island. The guy did an AMAZING job! It's in a flying posistion and is absolutey gorgeous.

If i get around to it i'll take a pic of it for you guys. Can't remember for the life of me who the taxidermist was though. I'll ask my mom.

Longshot jr.

[300win]

nice birds Marc, reminds me of my prairie days ,good to see your doing well!!!