Chestle
Well-known member
I got invited up to SD for a Family and Friends hunt on the 26th. Really, I think the invite was mostly to my dogs. 
We hunted a HUGE cattail patch, probably a half mile long and up to a quarter wide in some spots. 14 guns, about half walking and half blocking. I'm a walker; love to watch the dogs work. The conservative estimate is that we moved 500 birds; some guys said 700+. They were bunched up, very numerous and wild as wild can be. Nonetheless, with that many birds, some held in the 'tails for the dogs and both walkers and blockers got opportunities. We walked a couple of other places with weeds and food plots but there were few shots as the birds had their escape techniques down pat. Wild flushes were the order of the day and they split around blockers very well. That day ended with a limit of birds. My shooting was on that day and I went 3 for 3. Best part for me was that we had 6 young hunters, probably 12 to 17 years, on the hunt. They had never hunted behind dogs before so I usually positioned myself in their lineup and let the dogs work for them. They all got birds and one youngster got his first rooster with a nice retrieve. I just laid back and let them do the shooting as I had mine already.
The next four days were solo hunts, just me and the dogs. We hunted weeds, cattails, draws and food plots. Birds were still flushing wild but the dogs provided opportunities. Day 2 I was still hot and went 3 for four shots. Day three I still did OK but did not limit. I had the opportunities but I flat out missed my third chance....twice. Day four I definitely lost my shotgun mojo. I bagged 2 birds but flat out missed 3 others. The dogs were giving me that look. Day 5 was cut short. Stuff happening back at home with the 16 year old Lab and also the wife as well as potential bad weather on the route home. So I figured I'd give this one little slough about an hour and then pack and hit the road. Well, I missed 3 gimmes in about 45 minutes. It's embarrassing to tell it but I missed a pointed bird on a left/right crossing shot...twice...about 30 yards when I shot. That look from the dog. Went through the rest of the slough and right at the end a staggered double jumped. As I pulled on Bird 1, Bird 2 jumped and got in the flight path. Like a fool, I switched birds and promptly missed a 35 yard straight away....twice. At that point, I just headed for the truck.
Reflecting on day 4 and 5 shooting, I think there were a couple of factors. One, I'm no young stud anymore. The first three days of humping blown down snowy cover got me tired. I know my shotgun swing slowed some. Two, it was COLD. I started putting the hood up on my jacket, which of course pushed my face a bit off the stock, getting me looking down the left side of the rib. I did stow the hood the last day when I missed 3 times, so that wasn't all of it. The big thing as I reflect is FOCUS. I just was not zoning in on the bird. I think this again relates to being pretty worn down. Anyway, 10 birds in 5 days and really no excuse for not limiting all 5 days, spooky birds and all. Just really poor shooting the last two days.
Lastly, I ran into a deal on a Garmin Alpha 200i with two collars and this was my first use of those. I'll put that in the Guns and Gear section.
We hunted a HUGE cattail patch, probably a half mile long and up to a quarter wide in some spots. 14 guns, about half walking and half blocking. I'm a walker; love to watch the dogs work. The conservative estimate is that we moved 500 birds; some guys said 700+. They were bunched up, very numerous and wild as wild can be. Nonetheless, with that many birds, some held in the 'tails for the dogs and both walkers and blockers got opportunities. We walked a couple of other places with weeds and food plots but there were few shots as the birds had their escape techniques down pat. Wild flushes were the order of the day and they split around blockers very well. That day ended with a limit of birds. My shooting was on that day and I went 3 for 3. Best part for me was that we had 6 young hunters, probably 12 to 17 years, on the hunt. They had never hunted behind dogs before so I usually positioned myself in their lineup and let the dogs work for them. They all got birds and one youngster got his first rooster with a nice retrieve. I just laid back and let them do the shooting as I had mine already.The next four days were solo hunts, just me and the dogs. We hunted weeds, cattails, draws and food plots. Birds were still flushing wild but the dogs provided opportunities. Day 2 I was still hot and went 3 for four shots. Day three I still did OK but did not limit. I had the opportunities but I flat out missed my third chance....twice. Day four I definitely lost my shotgun mojo. I bagged 2 birds but flat out missed 3 others. The dogs were giving me that look. Day 5 was cut short. Stuff happening back at home with the 16 year old Lab and also the wife as well as potential bad weather on the route home. So I figured I'd give this one little slough about an hour and then pack and hit the road. Well, I missed 3 gimmes in about 45 minutes. It's embarrassing to tell it but I missed a pointed bird on a left/right crossing shot...twice...about 30 yards when I shot. That look from the dog. Went through the rest of the slough and right at the end a staggered double jumped. As I pulled on Bird 1, Bird 2 jumped and got in the flight path. Like a fool, I switched birds and promptly missed a 35 yard straight away....twice. At that point, I just headed for the truck.
Reflecting on day 4 and 5 shooting, I think there were a couple of factors. One, I'm no young stud anymore. The first three days of humping blown down snowy cover got me tired. I know my shotgun swing slowed some. Two, it was COLD. I started putting the hood up on my jacket, which of course pushed my face a bit off the stock, getting me looking down the left side of the rib. I did stow the hood the last day when I missed 3 times, so that wasn't all of it. The big thing as I reflect is FOCUS. I just was not zoning in on the bird. I think this again relates to being pretty worn down. Anyway, 10 birds in 5 days and really no excuse for not limiting all 5 days, spooky birds and all. Just really poor shooting the last two days.
Lastly, I ran into a deal on a Garmin Alpha 200i with two collars and this was my first use of those. I'll put that in the Guns and Gear section.
