1-31-16
Warm with a decent wind this morning. Started things out with some cloud cover but it would clear out pretty quickly. Would hear some quacks four minutes before legal followed by some early shots. Shooting time arrives and a single circles high and heads to the right. Sixty seconds later a bird that made it into the decoys would get swatted. Another circles high. A flock of eight moves to the left and goes behind the blind a minute later. Two minutes later a lone teal gets shot in the decoys. A couple more minutes pass and two gadwalls come in from the right and get shot. One is on the water and one flies back to the right hurt. Two more minutes go by and three redheads crash right up against the decoys. Gave them some time to make some space and took out all three. About ten minutes later another single moves through high to the left. Eight minutes later two gadwalls land far out. They would hang out for a few minutes before jumping and heading out. A minute later a single moves to the right. About five minutes later decide it's a good time to get out to check on the birds. Could only find five of the six birds that were supposed to be on the water. Nine minutes later two come in from the right and one gets dropped as the other flies back the way it came and met up with three others that were circling. Seven minutes later two more would come in and get shot at only to fly away out front. Seven minutes later a single teal would come in with a gadwall circling high behind it. Teal gets shot. Another seven minutes pass and two more come over and circle back the way they came. Search again for the mysterious missing bird to no avail. Three circle to the right about fifteen minutes later. About an hour later while messing around on the call three come over high from the right. They circle a few times before doing a wide circle out front and to the right then vanishing. Half an hour later a single moves to the right. Fifteen minutes later my favorite harrier spooks up some birds to the right. Flock of seven and a pair flee. The pair circles back as the seven come our way. The lone widgeon of the group drops in and gets taken out as the remaining high six fly behind the blind. The harrier flies by with a meal nine minutes later. A few minutes later a buzzard dang near takes my head off. Not sure if it was wanting the birds or to land on the blind. Four minutes later a falcon catches a meal out front. Three minutes later two gadwalls sail in and get taken out. Roughly an hour later a bird moves to the right. Decide to take some unneeded items to the truck and check the back pond ten minutes later. Nothing doing. Ran into a snake on the way back about thirty minutes later. Twenty minutes later three gadwalls would come in from the right. Two would get taken out to put a seal on the season. The third bird would land near the north shore and hang out for a few minutes before bugging out.
The sunrise...
Whipple with a redhead...
Whipple retrieving a spoonie...
She about passed up this redhead...
Warm with a decent wind this morning. Started things out with some cloud cover but it would clear out pretty quickly. Would hear some quacks four minutes before legal followed by some early shots. Shooting time arrives and a single circles high and heads to the right. Sixty seconds later a bird that made it into the decoys would get swatted. Another circles high. A flock of eight moves to the left and goes behind the blind a minute later. Two minutes later a lone teal gets shot in the decoys. A couple more minutes pass and two gadwalls come in from the right and get shot. One is on the water and one flies back to the right hurt. Two more minutes go by and three redheads crash right up against the decoys. Gave them some time to make some space and took out all three. About ten minutes later another single moves through high to the left. Eight minutes later two gadwalls land far out. They would hang out for a few minutes before jumping and heading out. A minute later a single moves to the right. About five minutes later decide it's a good time to get out to check on the birds. Could only find five of the six birds that were supposed to be on the water. Nine minutes later two come in from the right and one gets dropped as the other flies back the way it came and met up with three others that were circling. Seven minutes later two more would come in and get shot at only to fly away out front. Seven minutes later a single teal would come in with a gadwall circling high behind it. Teal gets shot. Another seven minutes pass and two more come over and circle back the way they came. Search again for the mysterious missing bird to no avail. Three circle to the right about fifteen minutes later. About an hour later while messing around on the call three come over high from the right. They circle a few times before doing a wide circle out front and to the right then vanishing. Half an hour later a single moves to the right. Fifteen minutes later my favorite harrier spooks up some birds to the right. Flock of seven and a pair flee. The pair circles back as the seven come our way. The lone widgeon of the group drops in and gets taken out as the remaining high six fly behind the blind. The harrier flies by with a meal nine minutes later. A few minutes later a buzzard dang near takes my head off. Not sure if it was wanting the birds or to land on the blind. Four minutes later a falcon catches a meal out front. Three minutes later two gadwalls sail in and get taken out. Roughly an hour later a bird moves to the right. Decide to take some unneeded items to the truck and check the back pond ten minutes later. Nothing doing. Ran into a snake on the way back about thirty minutes later. Twenty minutes later three gadwalls would come in from the right. Two would get taken out to put a seal on the season. The third bird would land near the north shore and hang out for a few minutes before bugging out.
The sunrise...
Whipple with a redhead...
Whipple retrieving a spoonie...
She about passed up this redhead...
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