Snow Day!

[zaconb]

[Crazy_Farmer]

Nice pictures, looks like a nice little coloured teal in there too.

[martyonthewater]

nice brace of birds for sure, good size on the pheasants as well

[Dano]

Looking good, Rick, is this it for pheasants at your club?
There was more snow today but Maddy and I hit the pheasant club I joined. We went out late yesterday and didn't flush a bird although Maddy was able to dig a wounded cock out of the blackberry thicket for another member.
Today we were the only ones out there. Maddy was acting birdy as we moved up a ditch lined with blackberries and a mix of hardhack and grass. She ran up ahead but I spotted a cock move it's head 10 yards from me and called her back. A quick flush and an easy shot at a bird paralleling the hedgerow and flying away. Next I spotted a hen, she was in a thicket and I could just see her brown back above the snow. Maybe it was wounded or dead, I thought. Maddy doubled back on it and the hen booked it for a thicket. It wasn't in there long as Maddy went in full speed. The bird rose fast and I was waiting for it to clear the branches as it was too close to shoot. Wouldn't you know it, the bird landed on a branch and peared down at my dog as she ran around the tree 15 feet below. Maddy was all excited and yipping away, I contemplated throwing a snowball at the bird but decided to leave the area and try elsewhere for another bird and if I didn't find one, I would return and hopefully the hen would be on the ground again.
The snow was really coming down as we worked our way up another grown over ditch. Maddy hit the brakes and sniffed around the edge of a blackberry thicket before she slowly entered. Then I could see her progress as she sped up and the snow fell off the blackberry vines. A large cock busted out from within the tangle of blackberries and crossed right to left about 20 yards in front of me, I hit it a little too far back with the first shot but it folded hard on my second. I've been shooting my SKB DU autoloader for upland and was using it again today. Really like this gun but I have a new Ithaca/SKB 500 overunder I bought off gunnuttz site and wished I had it today as I had brought it out last week and yesterday and still haven't fired it! Maybe next week I can take a shot with it, it's never been fired although it's over 25 years old!
Here's a picture of Maddy:

[Tanya]

Great pics, thanks for sharin'.

The weather did make for some good duck hunting for sure.

[Ian F.]

Rick, rick, rick....

Time for you to sign up for remedial field photography school...

Ian