Cackleburs
New member
After the Opener debacle I was ready to sell my gear and take up stamp collecting. Yesterday I had choice between cleaning gutters, raking lawn, or cleaning the kitchen floor. Well the weatherman told me to go hunting, so I did. I went back to western Kossuth. Light winds and with the time shift I could sleep a bit longer. Got to the spot with 5 minutes to spare. Started out hunting dry lake edge with catts. 7 minutes in and Maggie's (my 4yr Brit) bell quits. She's locked and as I step in, but the bird gets up behind me in a separate cattail clump. I turn and see it's low and a hen and then as it banks to the north and hits the low sun's rays it turns all kind of colorful. Missed call. Not a great start. I watch it land across the lake on a side hill, so we cross the dry lake. Fail to relocate. Continue to food plot on other side of hill. Work a fox-tail plot next to standing corn. Mag locks again and this time a legitimate hen rises... not an impostor. Take ten more steps and five birds flush wild. 2 hen and 3 roosters! Most too far except last and drop with one shot, but long anyway. fail to recover bird. I am discouraged. I look for 25 minutes with dog, but it's so dry. Not good. Push to the west hoping to corner it on field edge. Into 6-7' switch grass. Five minutes
Maggie locks. Rooster rises and this time I'm "Johnny 3-Shot." Clip it with first and stone it with 3rd. Maggie makes nice find in tall grass. Might be lost bird, but seemed too good of flyer. It's 9:00 a.m. Push a section north and west and get up one hen. Head back to first bird and look again, but no luck. Return to car and shack for a break and water dog. Replenish water bottles and snack and go back out. Hunt dry cattail slough to south and west. Maggie working 10 yards in and me on edge. Bell stops and instantly a big rooster rockets up between me and Maggie. He's so beautiful in the sun I almost don't shoulder the gun. I've lost birds here before. If they go west like they usually do I drop them in the middle of the almost impenetrable cattails. He goes south and ol' Johnny 3-shot goes to work and clips him with the first and anchors him with the third. I hear the thud and Maggie pulls him out of the base of a willow covered with canary grass. It's 10:00. I have a dilemma, I have three birds on the ground but only two in the pouch. My 1100's empty at this point and I have 200 unhunted acres to go. I put the gun on my shoulder without reloading and continue. Maggie puts on a show for the next hour and a half. All in all for the morning we put up 18-20 birds, about 50-50 hen/rooster ratio. I know I will regret the point/flushes I passed up on that return walk. It was just wonderful watching my little gal figure these birds out in the uber-dry conditions and even down wind. In my mind I had got my limit and was content to be a spectator. Besides I'm going back tomorrow.
Maggie locks. Rooster rises and this time I'm "Johnny 3-Shot." Clip it with first and stone it with 3rd. Maggie makes nice find in tall grass. Might be lost bird, but seemed too good of flyer. It's 9:00 a.m. Push a section north and west and get up one hen. Head back to first bird and look again, but no luck. Return to car and shack for a break and water dog. Replenish water bottles and snack and go back out. Hunt dry cattail slough to south and west. Maggie working 10 yards in and me on edge. Bell stops and instantly a big rooster rockets up between me and Maggie. He's so beautiful in the sun I almost don't shoulder the gun. I've lost birds here before. If they go west like they usually do I drop them in the middle of the almost impenetrable cattails. He goes south and ol' Johnny 3-shot goes to work and clips him with the first and anchors him with the third. I hear the thud and Maggie pulls him out of the base of a willow covered with canary grass. It's 10:00. I have a dilemma, I have three birds on the ground but only two in the pouch. My 1100's empty at this point and I have 200 unhunted acres to go. I put the gun on my shoulder without reloading and continue. Maggie puts on a show for the next hour and a half. All in all for the morning we put up 18-20 birds, about 50-50 hen/rooster ratio. I know I will regret the point/flushes I passed up on that return walk. It was just wonderful watching my little gal figure these birds out in the uber-dry conditions and even down wind. In my mind I had got my limit and was content to be a spectator. Besides I'm going back tomorrow.
