Are You ready

Yep. I got my new (to me) shotgun back from the gunsmith a month ago. Steam-bent to my exact measurements, no-snag-heel Pachmayr recoil pad installed, varnish removed and replaced with field-friendly hand-rubbed oil. I've been out shooting clays 4 times and it shoot where I'm looking - can't wait to put it to work. Mild winter and dry spring means lots of young birds out there - good to see. I've renewed my permission on all of my spots and got permission on one new one. My yellow lab Ruby's got some arthritis in her left elbow that will slow her down a bit, so I won't be pounding quite as much cover as I have in the past, but every second of it will be quality time. Hmmmm, let's see, what else? Oh, need to go and get my new upland pants hemmed - the wife claims that the double-fronts will break her sewing machine so she won't do it for me. Otherwise, one week from tomorrow, I will be hunting a farm along a beautiful little river in the morning - pushing along the alder rows along the edges of the field. In teh afternoon I will drive around and hunt a grown-over farm on the far side of the river to kick up an birds that we've pushed over there, or any that were hiding out there the whole time. Just me, a good buddy, and two lays - my 8 year old yellow bitch Ruby, and his 10 year old black dog Jake. I can not imagine a better use of a day off...
-Croc
 
We've been ready for a long time. Our area in Pa.that was considered our Grouse/Deer camp just got a huge increase in it's pheasant allocation and for the last few years they "farmers" have been seeing a lot of hold over birds. Then there is our traditional pheasant haunts, and I just got off the phone with an old friend and he is seeing more WILD birds than he ever has! So yea...were good and ready!!!
 
Me and the dogs are ready. I've been getting them on birds and I shot a few sporting clays over the summer. Will be doing a preserve hunt this week as a tune up and then taking a youth out for the state youth hunt in two weeks.
 
Yeah been training hard, scouting birds and crp, but a good preserve hunt is always good to get in. I'm from and live in Nebraska, but when my wifes Grandmother had cancer we went to Louisiana alot and since they only have quail down there I would go to hunting preserves. It was still fun and better than nothing. I never understood down there how they use dogs to duck hunt, because I would never put my lab in the waters down there to much danger.
 
We're having fun already!

Our grouse opener was Sept 15, but as I was still in training mode, didn't go. Got out with Max this past weekend after graduating from Rick's Bird School. Saturday was very windy and tough hunting conditions. Bumped a couple grouse and woodcock, but shot one timber doodle over a nice point. Sunday we shot our first limit of woodcock. A lot of leaves on the trees, but we had decent success. I'm really happy with the pup and he's excited, too.

Pretty funny, on the second woodcock, I broke a wing and the bird was quite alive. He hunts dead, then scents and finds it, bounding in and grabbing it. It lets out a squawk and then starts flapping it's wings, hitting the pup all about the face. He drops it, tries picking it up a couple times before sitting down and looking at me as if to say "WTF is that?!" I hope to get him on a lot of birds before tackling pheasants and wonder what he'll do when he gets his chance on one of them that aint quite dead yet.
 
Ready in the extremus. Potentially fatal trigger finger itchitis present.
 
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