Good morning guys, back from a five day solo trip. Did this last January as well, taking advantage of the extended season (& retirement). Last year's trip started with 3" of fresh snow, perfect! This trip featured no snow, except some residual drifting........enough in certain cases to show tracks. The first two days were cold, but calm. Temps around 0 to start, and warmed up to a balmy 15-20 degrees. Those temps suit me fine, and considered ideal to me...............being a sweat hog
The birds were jumpy due to the calm conditions, but put in enough miles to limit both days. The next three days saw the warmer temps, and wind. Winds the first of these three days was ridiculous.........20-25 sustained and gusts to +40. The goods news was closer flushes, and boy were they gone in a hurry catching the wind. That had to be one of the windiest days hunting out there. Instead of drifting snow, it was dust. I was covered by days end. Winds still blew to finish up the trip, but much more manageable. I was able to hunt without gloves one day, which was really nice. One of the highlights of this trip was Pop finding a winged rooster in a critter hole. She couldn't reach in far enough and grab the bird, so I put to put my arm in and pulled it out. What a memory! (gate pic) She made some great cripple retrieves, and found some tight sitting roosters in thick cattails. Pure pleasure watching her in action. We were able to limit every day. Only heard a few shots one day, didn't see any hunters, and there were no hunters at the hotel. It was extremely dry, so bought some Bag Balm to apply to Pop's pads. It definitely helped.
Very enjoyable trip, saw quite a few birds, and would put the rooster/hen numbers at around 50/50.
The birds were jumpy due to the calm conditions, but put in enough miles to limit both days. The next three days saw the warmer temps, and wind. Winds the first of these three days was ridiculous.........20-25 sustained and gusts to +40. The goods news was closer flushes, and boy were they gone in a hurry catching the wind. That had to be one of the windiest days hunting out there. Instead of drifting snow, it was dust. I was covered by days end. Winds still blew to finish up the trip, but much more manageable. I was able to hunt without gloves one day, which was really nice. One of the highlights of this trip was Pop finding a winged rooster in a critter hole. She couldn't reach in far enough and grab the bird, so I put to put my arm in and pulled it out. What a memory! (gate pic) She made some great cripple retrieves, and found some tight sitting roosters in thick cattails. Pure pleasure watching her in action. We were able to limit every day. Only heard a few shots one day, didn't see any hunters, and there were no hunters at the hotel. It was extremely dry, so bought some Bag Balm to apply to Pop's pads. It definitely helped.Very enjoyable trip, saw quite a few birds, and would put the rooster/hen numbers at around 50/50.
