Educated II
They say you never stop learning and when you do, you die. I might have just made that up, hard to say at this stage in life. But yes I too was educated by those rainbow aviators on Friday. Hen Hen was kind enough to not say who he was hunting with when he got an o-for, it was I. I brought him to all of my best spots, best that is in November. How time and weather change our hunting luck. We stopped at our first morning hunt high cover around a corn circle. Ten steps in we hear an old boy cackling at us from the corn, for-teller of things to come. We walk the dogs sniff nothing, we walk somemore, more no sniffs. We might have been hunting the winter wheat or as EP Man says from the road. Long walks no birds. Finally driving we spy great cover....only to see it is posted "Hunting by Permission Only" 72 hours in advance, is that 3 or 4 days? Our luck. We drive somemore stop at what looks like pheasent heaven and sure enough one flies over our truck. Then the fields on both side erupt with birds, we have landed in thier winter hide out. So the next few hours are spent searching for the owners of this prime land. The first owner leases his land for $100 per guy, tempting but I only have $9 bucks. After hunting down the owners adjacent to the prime land we get our permission to hunt. The sun is setting and we are in anticipation of seeing birds a plenty on this "privite" land. We approach down wind two tired dogs, two anqish men. The dogs pick up sent right away and the birds are running, with us and dogs right behind. About 100 yards into the field it turns to "stickers, sand burrs, goatheads" whatever name you may go by, but it is brutal for the dogs I only have front boots on my pup and they slow down. Only to see the birds flush 100 yards away to safer climes. We finish the field and another watching from a distance as many many birds flush far ahead and Hen Hen's average of two birds per day melt away with the setting sun. So I to learned a bit this weekend:
The early season spots do not necissarily translate to late season success.
Search and secure privite land before you hunt, saving time and setting up the better spots.
Carry your dogs boots in you jacket.
And God does not always pay attention to your hunting plea's.
Evergreen
