Welcome to the team little guy.

Smith & Wesson Model 642
By Syd

It was the best selling firearm offered by Smith & Wesson in 2006. Tradition holds that the original design emerged from the creative mind of Col. Rex Applegate. Jim Supica, author of The Standard Catalog of Smith & Wesson, said that it was possibly the finest pocket revolver ever made. It is the Smith & Wesson Model 642 Airweight Centennial.

There are three basic form factors for the J-frame Smith & Wesson snubnoses. First, there is the standard exposed hammer Chiefs Special such as the Model 36. Second, there is the Bodyguard which has a shrouded hammer, but it can still be thumb cocked and fired single action. Third, there is the Centennial which is often called hammerless a misnomer because it actually has a hammer which is completely enclosed in the frame. Since the hammer is completely enclosed in the frame, the Centennial is double action only.

The Model 642 is the stainless Airweight version of the Centennial. The modern Airweights are produced in both blued and stainless steel finishes, but the stainless version is far more popular. They have aluminum alloy frames with stainless steel cylinders and barrels. Unloaded, the Airweight revolvers weigh about 15 ounces. The Airweights are still chambered in .38 Special rather than .357 Magnum, and they are rated for +p ammunition. The original model 42 was not rated for +p and +p is not recommended for them, although I have heard of a number of people using +p in the Model 42 without negative effects. The Airweight Models 442 (blued) and 642 (stainless) were brought to market in 1990, discontinued in 1993 and reintroduced in 1996 as the 642-1. As noted earlier, the Model 642 has been enormously successful.

Late night phone message

#1
I guess my question to you is if you gave a guy 2 more days with your car before he picked it up, and you already gave the downpayment with what the car is worth, wouldn't you drive the f'n piss out of it? Oh yea baby, you would. This (uninteligable) works great. I gotta go before I get a ticket.... hold on a minute....I'm passing a lady like....Hello.

#2
Turbos are screaming. I don't know if you can hear this or not. Turbos are screaming.

Wetlands for Tomorrow - You Made it Happen

Wetlands for Tomorrow - You Made it Happen

South Carolina hunters post dismal slay numbers too.

March 7th 2011. The Times and Democrat of South Carolina

Duck hunters finished the season on S.C. Department of Natural Resources public hunting lands, with a total harvest of 6,441 birds, an average of 2.4 birds per hunter, slightly higher than the average reported last year. A total of 2,711 hunters participated in these popular hunts at the 16 Wildlife Management Areas that recorded individual hunt data.

Wood ducks accounted for 38 percent of the harvest, followed by American green-winged teal, northern shoveler, blue-winged teal, gadwall and ring-necked ducks.

"Overall, the season for our waterfowl areas was excellent, with many areas reporting harvests at an all time high in terms of birds harvested per hunter," said Dean Harrigal, waterfowl program coordinator with the S.C. Department of Natural Resources (DNR). "The significant cold weather in early December pushed birds into the state and they stayed here for the duration of the season. Birds were pretty well distributed around the state making for good hunter success on our management areas."

Category II Area, Hickory Top Green Tree Reservoir in Clarendon County had the highest hunter participation and harvest of all areas with 880 hunters reporting harvesting 1,715 birds, predominately wood ducks.

On Category I Wildlife Management Areas (WMA), drawing only 917 hunters (on seven areas) harvested 3,637 birds with an average of 4.0 birds per hunter. American green-winged teal, blue-winged teal, northern shoveler and gadwall were top birds in the bag.

Sandy Beach in Berkley County led in average harvest for Category I Areas with an average of 5.1 birds per hunter, followed by Bear Island WMA in Colleton County with 4.4 birds per hunter, Santee Coastal Reserve in Charleston and Georgetown counties with 4.1 birds per hunter, Santee Delta in Georgetown County with 3.8, and Samworth Wildlife Management Area in Georgetown County with 3.5 birds per hunter.

"Teal are a mainstay of our Category I Wildlife Management Areas, especially along the coast," said Harrigal. "When teal are around we generally have good hunter success."

Top individual hunt units were The Cape of the Santee Coastal Reserve (5.0 birds per hunter), Bear Island East (4.7 birds per hunter), Springfield/ The Cut of Bear Island (4.5 birds per hunter), Santee Delta West (4.2 birds per hunter), and Murphy Island of Santee Coastal Reserve (4.1 birds per hunter).

Hunt data was collected on six of the 25 Category II Wildlife Management Areas (open to the public on specific days). Hunters reported a harvest of 2,368 birds on these areas, the majority coming from Hickory Top Green Tree Reservoir. The average for 1,637 hunters was 1.4 birds per hunter. Wood ducks accounted for more than 89 percent of the bag.

Pack up the truck, we're headin' Down Under!

Duck hunters in South Australia will be able to take double the number of birds this season over last year.

The SA Government has increased bag limits and the length of the season.

It says more water has led to better breeding conditions.

The duck hunting season will run from February 19 until June 26.

A year earlier it did not open until the end of March.

South-east duck hunter Ron Hastings has welcomed the longer season.

"The reports are that there is prolific breeding of water fowl in the north of the state and in other parts of Australia with all the floods we've had and I think the date of February to June is quite adequate," he said.

"It's getting a bit back to the old days."

Valentines Day Couples

Images. MLK weekend 2011.

Last day of the '10 -'11 season.....

Today was the day I finally put away all my hunting gear for the season. Yep, the end. All the waders, extra shells, gloves and hats that had piled up in the garage had to go back into the shed, into the chest that holds all my gear for the summer. It's sad really, to know that I no longer will look forward to early mornings in the blind. No more dark drives to Anderson Lake. No more whistling wings in the pre-dawn darkness. The thrill of the hunt and the joy of a well placed shot. The End.

Last week I traveled to Portland for the last few days of the hunting season. I was able to spend some time with Co-Founder of the HOY7 Hunting Team and former "Expert" Fred G. Although the water was up well over the optimal levels for late season hunting we were able to have a great 3 days near our old spots on the banks of the mighty Columbia River. We walked great distances to find good spots to hunt and marveled at the ways our old spot has changed over the years. When it first began we were out in jeans and cotton layers, hoping for a shot at the elusive mallard. Now we are clad in comfy wool and camo gore-tex. Before the only ones busting through the brambles and fighting the shoreline were Mitch and the two of us. Now a gravel path leading out and a battle with others for the best spots awaits. Still, the basic reason we hunt has not changed.

So it was with great sadness that I put up all my gear today, knowing that a long 8 months of spring and summer stand between now and the time I buy my first box of shells for next year. Yet already the anticipation of next year looms large in my mind. Does it hold the first banded bird for the H7HT? Will we find newer and better places to hunt? Is this the year we take a trip to 'Limit Lake' or 58th & Federal? Who knows. That's the joy of being part of the HOy7 Hunting Team, the anticipation and the camaraderie of friends. That, and of course, shooting that French Canadian bastard Greenie.

GBCH

Cliffy Update

Hello all! Here´s a quick update. I made it 17,500 ft. when we noticed Maggie wasn´t looking so hot. She was very ill. While Blain and Steve pushed to camp 3, we descended down all the way to camp 1. It was very hard, and a long day. The next morning, Maggie still was very ill and I packed us up as we went to basecamp. She recovered well 2 days later and was able to make the 3 day hike out. I was very worried for her safe recovery, but she trooped through it. We are currently in Mendoza having a blast and taking in the sites as we wait for Steve and Blain to make their summit descent. Have to go, lots of people waiting for me to get off the computer. Talk to you all soon!

Find Waldo

Idaho: Day.... The end?

7 Degrees above zero when I left the house this morning to head out to Anderson Lake and as I drove I had no idea what to expect. Holiday work season and a protracted road closure prevented me from hunting for the last few weeks, bummer. I considered some factors while I drove through starry skies. The main one being weather or not there would be any open water to hunt. It's been cold here, real cold. Nothing to do but find out for myself.

After leaving the parking lot with my full pack (I briefly considered leaving most of my decoys in the truck) I could see the CdA river was covered in ice but looked clear by the inlet to Anderson. Being careful to avoid the cougar on the way I made it to the point to find a perfect water set up. The levels had dropped significantly from the last time I was out and the beaver dam had even tried to sneak back to its original spot. Light clouds were starting to move in as I set up in the pre-dawn darkness. My decoys looked great in the light breeze and had a nice swimming motion from the water leaving the lake trough the channel.

It's a good thing the decoys looked great, they would be the only thing I had to monitor. A couple divers swam by my spread, not even bothering to fly in, but that was it. No ducks anywhere at all. By the time my fingers started to freeze I packed up and headed home. A beautiful morning but it seems all the ducks have gone elsewhere. I'm guessing they all went to Portland, so that's where I'm going too. Stay tuned for the adventures of the HOY7 Hunting Team over MLK weekend. Yep, that's right. Killin' for the King is back and Bob D. would never let the team down for what has proven to be some of the best hunting PDX has to offer.
GBCH.

0.0

As my hunting season is officially over, I can now say that I averaged 0.0 birds per Cliffy. You want to know the embarrassing part......last year I averaged 0.0 birds per Cliffy. Unlike last year, this year I didn't even have to clean my gun because out of the 9 or so times I got to go out, I didn't even get a shot off. Not one. I think I have to blame it on the whickey consumption. I didn't even kill a bottle. Therefore, the only thing I'm left to believe is 'number of bottles killed=number of birds killed'. The hope of contributing in bringing the 'expert' title back Oregon is done. Sorry Fred, but this former 'expert' is on a downward spiral and I hope this doesn't roll into my next adventure.....climbing Aconcagua (22,841 ft.) in Argentina. I leave for the airport in an hour and will be back after the hunting season is over, so somebody, just somebody out there, please........kill one for me. GBCH, and may you watch over my flock of two other hunters as they finish out their season.

Look at my new Puppy!

Is what I would be saying right now if I had gone with Willy to get his puppy. This one is Pete, he belongs to Willy. There were 10 lab puppies found under a house here in Kellogg and brought to the animal shelter last week. I told Willy about them and convinced him it would be a good idea for him to get one and teach him to be a duck dog. Of course I was half kidding at the time and I knew full well that I am allergic to every Lab I come in contact with. Seems that I am not wheezy with long hair dogs of some varieties, but Labs, yep. I went to visit him today and brought Willy the latest issue of Gundog magazine. Puppy warming gift. Hopefully Pete will be able to accompany me in the future to retrieve all the Greenies I shoot. And when I shoot them, they don't fly away.
GBCH

Denied!

I left this morning at 4:30 am to go to my old spot at Anderson Lake.
The road was closed due to a massive sinkhole on Rt 3.
It happened about 3 weeks ago.
WTF?
It seems things happen slower here.
I drove home and went back to sleep.
GBCH.

A holiday tradition....

Greenie the Mallard
Was an evil nasty duck
With a filthy mouth and a downy coat
That we'd really like to pluck

Greenie the Mallard
Is a legend that they say
Came straight from Hell
Any hunter will tell
How he always gets away

There must have been some evil
In that little green head of his
For when you shoot right at his face
You always seem to miss

Greenie the Mallard
Is alive as he can be
Heston was overheard
Saying he's just a bird
But he confounds the H7HT

Greenie the Mallard
Knows Benelli's shoot deadly steel
So he flew real fast
And zoomed right on past
And opted out of that ordeal

Around from behind us
With a loud and scornful quack
Just out of range
He thinks it's a game
And our website he does hack.

Greenie the Mallard
Is off to parts unknown
If you see him pass
Get your gun and blast
before he makes it home

Bangitty Bang Bang
Bangitty Bang Bang
Look at Greenie fly

Bangitty Bang Bang
Bangitty Bang Bang
Tomorrow he will die!

Happy Holidays From the Hoy 7 Hunting Team

Day 5.10 Oregon Chapter

Too Much Time On My Hands, (and not enough blood)

Today I didn't even get up to go hunting, I just went, at 11:30 the night before that is. Drove out to Sauvies, me and the Audi crumblier with the heated seats and steering wheel, and found myself in a damn good spot, right next to the crapper. No seriously it's a good spot, you are only maybe 6-8 cars from the front of the line. Settle in and catch up on some well deserved sleep. The morning bell goes off and it's off to the shack to procure my spot on the island, where shall I go today? Being so far ahead in line I'll surely shall have my pick. Well you know what life was not that grand, there were a ton of reservations and when I did make it to the shack I saw Slim Pickins. I was able to secure Hunt 13, which you all know from reading the blog for so many years is a 100 yard walk with your own little end of a pond,

quite nice really. Because of the short walk I had a lot of time to sit and wait until the killing bell goes off. It was then I felt a little irritated, I sat and thought " was I coerced into picking Hunt 13 so that the official in the booth may give a better blind to one of his buddies?" Because when I reached the shack I asked "hey where would you go? how about that Racetrack 6?' To which the dude replied, "Well I wouldn't take that Racetrack over a Hunt, and that Mud Hen is really far out there." "I would take Hunt 13, the water is up it looks good." Well in years past it seemed to me that Racetrack was always a solid spot, for god sake I've never hunted there because there are not any available ever. So now I'm thinking he's saving the spot for his buddy who decided to sleep in this morning and roll in at 6 am., or not maybe he's giving me good advice. The morning before cill time was awesome! birds whistling by at mach 7 just what you want to see and hear. Believe it or not but a Sauvies day turned into a Sauvies day, minus the bounty of scared shitless birds. Ducks were almost as scarce as the number of birds Cliffy has slayed all year, and the ones that did fly trough were Busted. The Ducks won this fight today, you see it's been raining here, a lot. Every farmers field is flooded and when I drove home I saw that every farmers fields were filled with ducks and geese, they didn't need our silly little ponds to hang out in, they could do it anywhere. So as the report read the next day, my man in the booth was putting me on some good info. Racetrack had zero birds that day and the Hunt unit Sky Busted 13.

Do I trust them now? Hell no! "Okay lets have number 1,2,5,and 8 up to the window please."

Brats & Ducks fresh off the grill.

Idaho: Day Ten.

The Pineapple express is in full effect and warm rain has been pelting the great state of Idaho for a week. The rain has melted most of our early season snowpack and the rivers are running full force. The CdA river which runs by my spot is now flowing into Anderson lake, refilling the lake with water and allowing me to set blocks out in my favorite area of the point again. This morning it proved fatal to this pair of mallards flying by.

When I arrived it was a full 45 minutes before shooting hours so I walked under a dry and dark sky. Not long after the decoys were set it started to rain again. The darkness combined with the noise of the rain made it impossible to see or hear the cougar approach so I stood with headlamp and Benelli at the ready. Nothing. The light started to come up and I noticed something different in the channel leading out to the lake. I knew the water was running in instead of out, and much higher than last week, but something was in the water. The Beaver dam that was 60 yards closer to the river had been pushed to just behind my spot. Right about that time the wind started kicking in in earnest. I actually had to move closer to the cover of the highwater shoreline in order to keep from being blown over. Gusts of 30 - 40 mph? I started looking for the tornado all the while knowing I was playing right into the cougars hands by sitting next to the river bank. Shit, where in Heston's sake was the sunrise.

Well, the sun did come up and some greenies were flying. These two came in fast and I took the hen on the way in (sorry) and the drake on the way out. I only fell through the ice once on the way out to retrieve them but it was only a foot deep and just my gloves and sleeves got soaked. The action had dried up, as it usually does now, not long after sunrise. I packed up and headed home and by now the beaver dam had traveled another 10 yards into the lake. I wonder where it will be next week? Stay tuned.
GBCH

And now a message from H7HT member, Jiggity Jeff.

I'm a dumb beaner, so post this to the site somehow. So, I decided it would be a great idea to head out the the Kansas state line for some quality waterfowl, pheasant, and coyote hunting. The first morning we went to the lake, there were 20,000 ducks, snow

s, and Canadians screaming their fat heads off on the lake. So we make a setup.
Problem 1- When your decoys freeze in place every 10 minutes, its pretty hard to get ducks to land in a morgue of duck corpses-A.K.A frozen ass decoys!!! Day 2- Got piss drunk with some local bait and tackle owner, and he told us how to get to this area. Good thing for drunk ass Kenney. We punished 4 geese from 65 yards out with little problems. It slowed down so my hungover ass to a nap in the reeds/my blind, and next thing you know a HUGE fucking possum was at my feet eyeballing my goose. I thought is was Satan himself. I was going to put a round in him, but my hunting license has minimal points left. So the the razor toothed motherfucker ran off snorting.

1 hour later, Jared with the SBE II punched a goose out at 100 yards and barely winged him. He landed in a totally inaccessible space so we were bummed. As we are in the heat of the air war against the shitty
FRENCH Canadian geese, a goose appears 20 yards away on our little trail just walking towards us. I couldn't fucking believe it! It was Jared's goose coming back to tell us to go get fucked, and 'I am still alive bitches!' Well, that ALMOST all ended when I put 3 rounds of Kent Fast Steel in his face from point blank range! Wait a minute, no it didn't! The fucker didn't even sit down, run, or squawk! I thought God was going to use this goose to kill me, for all the fucking geese I have folded over the years! My buddies jaw was just wide open, and my ego was crushed, but only for 5 seconds. I walked to him, he looked at me, I looked at him, and then I went American History X on his ass and stomped him out with 1 big boot to the base of the neck!!! He seized like an alcoholic who is drying out. I put him in my ring strap with the other 3, and headed back to the truck. He was dead right??? I LITERALLY had to fist fight this little cocksucker on the way to my truck. He heard geese overhead sqauking, and rose from the dead on the 3rd hour to beat my ass!!!! He was violently bitch slapping me in the face with his wing. I started to punch and elbow him until I almost broke 2 of my own ribs trying to elbow his head flat against my rib cage. It was a beautiful day.

The next day I folded a snow goose-1st one ever shot by me, and I was pumped! I spent a lot of the trip getting access to prime hunting out here for free. My farmer has warm water ponds the ducks will hit the rest of the year, numerous corn fields, and a shitload of pheasant and Whitetails. I decided to rename Canadian geese. They are FRENCH Canadian!!! They make a lot of noise for no reason. They step in their own shit, and moreover, they are just pussies!!!!!! I hit one with my Diesel yesterday and broke a fucking ball joint, and almost rolled my truck! Motherfuckers are in for beatdown by Jiggity!

P.S. Possums are some evil looking little fuckers, and I no longer shoot geese. I am just going to start punching them into submission!!!

I hate this crap.

A Pineapple Express is driven by a strong, southern branch of the Polar jetstream and is usually marked by the presence of a surface frontal boundary which is typically either slow or stationary, with waves of low pressure traveling along its axis. Each of these low pressure systems brings enhanced rainfall.

The conditions are often created by the Madden-Julian oscillation, an equatorial rainfall pattern which feeds its moisture into this pattern. They are also present during an El Niño episode.

The composition of moisture-laden air, atmospheric dynamics, and orographic enhancement resulting from the passage of this air over the mountain ranges of the western coast of North America causes some of the most torrential rains to occur in the region.

Where's This Now?

Dear Fred

Snow and ice continue to build in the north as a small clipper system moves
across the Great Lakes and towards the northeastern seaboard. As a second
storm moves in, freezing temperatures will slide into the deep south this
weekend bringing much needed rain and additional flights of ducks.

The migration continues to move at a rapid pace as the snow and freeze line
slides further south. While a number of hardy mallards remain in areas in
the north, the coming storms are expeted to move them south in grand fashion.


For the latest migration information, visit http://www.waterfowler.com today.

Idaho: Day Nine.

Ummmm...... Maybe we weren't the most concealed hunters ever. And maybe we didn't have the best blind set up. And maybe, just maybe, we didn't see many ducks after shooting time but we did watch several mallards fly into the spread in the early morning. As we watched the 22 mallards swim around the decoys we set I said " killing time is now". Unfortunately my voice went unheard from 10 yards in a whisper. Three sets of ducks flew in while I waited for Rocky and his Dad to shoot.

They never shot at those three sets of ducks that flew by. We didn't see more than two pairs after that and both Rocky and I missed the greeine circling behind us. We did however see a great sunrise and a stunning vista. A good time (well mostly good time) was had by all and we will try again.
GBCH

Todays Conversation

Time to bring back the "Expert" title to Oregon.

A photo from H7HT member Jenny X.

"This bear tried to steal my tree stand from me the other day. I walked up and saw him all happy and shit so I climbed up and said 'Yo bear, gets the hell out!' He was looking for a fight so I gave him a left-right-left, he's toothless. The bear says 'goddam you ruthless'. I guess he'll remember not to mess with the X."


So endeth the lesson of Jenny X

Oregon Chapter 5.7

What the Hell? WHY?

I DON"T UNDERSTAND!! WHY!! We are the best, Yes? Look we get to Sauvies at about 12 am. How we got there I don't have a clue and neither does Cliffy, don't even bother asking. After a restful 5 hours of sleep in the most comfy truck we wake up to 50 cars in the reservation line, the most we have ever seen, EVER. Listen we are there for one reason and one reason only, to secure a spot on McNary Lake so we could take the boat out to our favorite spot out there. We secure the spot we want on a small island right before sunrise, one of the most spectacular I have ever seen. A few high fly byes. Then the war started, the war in Nam, loud and often shots taken from afar. I mean steel is flying somewhere, just not here. WHY? We are the best right? We pick the right spots, have the best technology, and stealth "we" are. Second guessing about everything ensues, but the bottom line is we saw no ducks that wanted any part of us. DO YOU REALIZE THAT THERE WERE OVER 600 DUCKS TAKEN THAT DAY!! 600.! My garbage man went hunting down on Summer lake and shot 58 ducks in a week...with no blocks! I went to Idaho and shot ...2. Not that I'm complaining cause I ain't, Bob and Paige were the best host and showed me a fanfuckintastic time. It's the only place I slayed this year for god sake. It was a most beautiful morning. Lisa is back at the doc's if anyone cares.

Idaho: Day Eight

So there I am, driving by the parking area for my spot on Anderson Lake to visit the softest paper products ever provided by a public entity, when I see another truck parked in my lot at 6am. It was gone by the time I returned but on the walk out two other headlights were headed to the same spot I was. I trudged through the snow a little faster and beat the other two there by maybe 30 seconds. "What's up guys?" I say. Knowing this was the only open water around I suggested we share the strip of water, them on their side and me on mine. Only one problem.

There were no ducks today. One group flew by as the other guys were setting up but after that, nothing. I pulled up my set after a couple hours and said goodbye. The other two young hunters thanked me for sharing my spot and I felt good that such harmony is still alive and well in the Brotherhood of Heston. Today's photo shows the two lads as white sheet covered dots between the trees. Not a bad idea given the snow cover. Could they be smarter than me, the 'Expert'? Doubtful. Tomorrow I take Rocky the bartender and his Dad out to this spot and I will definitely have more to report. I swear to Heston. Stay tuned.
GBCH

What's for dinner?

Elk tenderloin, breast of greenie with duck mole sauce, brown rice, caesar salad and some California red. My beard should grow 3 inches by tomorrow.

Idaho: Day Seven.

Honey Hole defined:
A duck hunting spot that is unuasually productive. Often times it can mean an area that has the only open water around when all other water is frozen over. Ducks will flock to this spot in large numbers when conditions are right.

Today I had the honey hole. My spot on Anderson Lake is a good one when the temperatures drop and water is frozen. The Coeur DeAlene river flows by on the other side and the changing water levels in the river keep this small stretch of the lake ice free. I wanted to scout the spot just to be sure because tomorrow I was supposed to take Bartender Rocky and his Dad out hunting for the first time. I was running a little late this morning (I want to thank the good people of the Coeur DeAlene scenic bikeway trail for having the softest paper products ever seen in a remote outhouse) and by the time I got set up in the blind it was 3 minutes till shooting time. Sets of mallards were buzzing my head, landing and taking off from the honey hole every few seconds.

The alarm sounded and the first greenie I could make out in the early light somehow eluded my 3" Black Cloud shell. Not to worry because seconds later the next greenie was not as lucky. I should not have retrieved him so quickly because ducks still wanted to land as I was out in the water and had I waited more would have fallen. Two more good shots presented themselves and I missed both. That's not to say that only a couple birds flew in but I was trying to take only the greenies, and identification was tough in the low light. I would say 50 to 60 ducks flew within gunning range making it the best day for possible shots this year. If I was the skybusting type I could have shot more ducks but here at the H7HT we fold'em when their feet are down. Just as fast as the morning was, the action dried up and only a couple more ducks flew in the next two hours.

All in all I'm pretty happy with my fat greenie today. Rocky the bartender called and said he would not be hunting tomorrow due to a torso injury sustained while snowboarding. Weak sauce. Perhaps I should head out again myself?
GBCH

Day 3.7 Oregon Chapter

Old Old Spot

Today was an eye opener. With the recent closure of the Old New Spot the Old Old Spot seems to be the place to go now when it's not a Sauvies day. It was not long ago when two young spry guys first adventured into the woods to make it their own. They had the area to themselves, they had their different spots for different type of conditions, if they needed a warm up walk they had their favorite routes they would take, basically they knew the lay of the land, every inch. With the recent influx of hunters that last bit of info is vital. We arrived today at about 5:30 greeted by about 10-12 trucks already in the parking lot. We already talked about the area we would like to hunt, cross Old Spot and head West through what we used to call "the ankle crushing rock liken to walking on the moon" walk. It's changed now, over the years the rocks seemed to have either worn down over time or have been sand covered. Cliffy didn't say it out loud but I knew he was thinking it, "how the hell does he know where he is going? He is like a spawning salmon going back to once he came from." I brought him through some short cuts I'll tell ya. Knowledge is power and the years of hiking the area gave me a lot. Sure enough when we wade our way out there it was ocupado. More knowledge ensued and I was able to put us onto a nice spot. I would like to report we saw the same thing I saw on Wednesday, but no such luck. A few ducks for the morning fly and that was it. A little rain but that's it, the conditions need to be much colder with some wind, we know that (as I sit here writing I know our comrade in Idaho has slayed this morning due to extreme weather, and his greatness of course). After our bottles went dry and with the visions of sitting on the couch watching the Fins play, we pack it up. It is all we have for now without a Sauvies Sky-Busting day. I did happen to get a great picture of Cliffy, while he thought I was not looking, practicing his shooting stance so when that day comes along to shoot his first duck, just shoot his gun for that matter, he will be ready. We are not the Navy but we are prepared.

Day 4.1 Oregon Chapter Part II

Walkin back to Lisa with nothing but smiles on my face, what I just experienced was truly amazing. Unfortunately the good lord Heston may have made it my last time a that I or anyone from the H7HT enjoy the New Old Spot. Remember the "new"parking spot? Well I guess it is illegal to park on the side of the highway. Here you see I was greeted with a warning of sorts. It's only an abandon vehicle tow warning and they give you 24 hours to remove vehicle. Or do they?

Klonapin is kicking in

Gun is by the door

Ducks will fall in the morning

Hunting the Elusive Yellow Jacket

Not long ago I decided to clean out the eaves of my cabin here in the great state of Idaho. I went in armed with a respirator and a headlamp and started pulling out the debris of generations past. Although I hoped to find a bar of pure silver or perhaps some krugerrands what I found was mostly old HS yearbooks and plumbing supplies. (Al, he's a plumber and he's into plumbing). After successfully clearing a path to the back of the eaves I pulled aside some insulation and an old dresser drawer and saw a massive yellow jacket nest and a lone YJ flying my way. It was fairly cold so his progress was slow at best. I crushed him. I looked back at the nest and saw a scene from WWII as a line of YJ's made their way down the side of the nest and, one by one, took flight in my direction. I got out as quick as possible.

Flash forward to a couple days ago. Temps in the single digits and a good day for killin'. I returned to the eves armed with a bucket and shovel. This is what I removed from the far corner. Nobody home except a couple of dead stragglers but as you can see, a fine nest with room for the whole family. Next up are some Greenies. Be ready.

Eat at Effies and Bust

Sorry for the delay on this one but I'm still having a heck of a time acquiring the original photos, so I am forced to use other peoples. While fishing southern Idaho this past year we drove past this place called Effie Burgers, I thought I recognized it from a popular TV show Man Vs Food. They are supposed to be famous for what else but their burgers. I thought awesome a good burger tonight would be great. Well we pull up front and walk in and immediately I know it's not that place. What the hell lets go we are starved. We sit down at a 6 stool bar and they have 3 more tables, a small hole it the wall. Waitress brings menus over and immediately we see that "damn these burgers are expensive." I'm thinking well they have to be really good and because it is a small town they have to make up the lack of business by charging more. Hamburger was $10.00, cheeseburger was $12.00, double cheeseburger was $14.00 and a Effie Burger with the works was $17.00!! There is a half burger for $7.00. They also serve Tots, Waffle, and Steak Fries as well as onion rings. Our guide "Steve" orders the half burger, he is cheap and old. Cliffy orders up a cheeseburger and I'm hungry so I order up a double cheeseburger. Sucker must have been written all over our faces, she could

see us coming a mile away. Pictured to the left is a single cheeseburger, could feed 3-4 people easy. Mine a double came on a 10" plate, could not see the plate, and when I inquired how much it weighed she replied "the burger weighs 2 pounds before cooking, then there is 12 slices of American cheese, pickles, onions, lettuce, the special sauce and the bun." While ordering she never once said "you guys must be real hungry cause that's a lot of food!" This is where the owners motto must be: Let the tourist order up all they want , it will make up for the lack of business. My next question is "has anyone ever finished one of these bad boys?" To she replied, "once, a local high school football kid." Bring me another beer in a mason jar I cried, IT'S ON! I take my sweatshirt off and roll up my sleeves, I portion the monster into 4 pieces to make it more manageable. Well, I would like to report that I finished the whole thing, I didn't, but I would have if they at least gave me a t-shirt or put my name on a wall or something. The dream died on the table 3 bites short. I must say though, the burger was fantastic, very fresh ingredients and a nice bun. Fries and onion rings were also very good. Beer in a frosted mason jar out of a chest freezer in the dining room. The service was what you would expect, a cute high school girl grossed out by some old man trying to outlive his youth. The next morning I gave birth to beautiful baby boy. The worst part was for the whole rest of the trip I had to listen to "Pat" our guide call me Hamburger.

Happy Thanksgiving

From all of us on the Hoy 7 Hunting Team to you

Have a Safe and Happy Thanksgiving

Day 4.1 Oregon Chapter Part I

What a morning. It was everything it was supposed to be and more. Before you all start worrying about your precious duck totals, let me tell you y'all safe, for what I experienced today was better than slaying. Cold this morning I tell ya, my fingers are still tingling with frost bite. Arrive at the Old New Spot this morning at about 6:15, remember it ain't no Sauvies no need to get there early and wait in line. Pull up to the "new" parking area, got the whole place to myself. Put a few shells in the gun just in case the cougar is awake and waiting for me. Hike out with our good pal TJ, break out to the water and experience what Bob did a few weeks ago, a hundred geese jump and scare the crap out of me, a sound that will ring in my head for a long time. I drop some blocks, water is perfect up but still able to walk out a good ways due to the new sandbar. Smoke and a drink to start the day, hunker down in some grass, 10 minutes to the bell. I'm checking out the blocks and notice that there is a little diver duck swimming around the blocks happy and content, kind of reminded me of the submarine duck in Idaho. So I had that going for me, then 3 mallards join the party swimming down the shore line and float on in. My 9 blocks are now 13 and very realistic. Actually with a little wind from the east 3 of my blocks were swimming in unison and looked very realistic. Then it started. It sounded like jet planes flying over my head and all around me. Set after set of mallards and pintails flying in and out of my spread at mac speed. This is what we always dreamed of the Old New Spot to be. No shots were taken just a little to far out and they seemed a little weary. I started to count in my head the number of sets and ducks I saw so I may report to my comrades just what a spectacle it was, but I could not keep up.

The cold weather from the north is doing it's job, pushing many ducks. Some time passes it's quite, then it happens a Mass Migration. Severe weather will occasionally trigger a mass migration of waterfowl also known as a Grand Passage. In early November 1995, millions of migrating ducks and geese jammed radar systems and grounded flights in Omaha, Nebraska, and Kansas City, Missouri, following a severe blizzard in the Prairie Pothole Region to the north. As Larry Reid recently wrote in WF Mag "The waterfowl term "Grand Passage" had been credited to internationally know waterfowl biologist Frank Bellrose. According to Bellrose, each fall, usually in November, a mass migration of waterfowl occurred during a 3 day period. He concluded that the Grand Passage was based on three factors: advancing winter weather, food availability and the birds' physical status." And then it happened. About 200 mallards came from the northwest at a very high altitude, and suddenly flew through my spread. It was an amazing sight, but proved to be only

an appetizer for what I would witness for the next hour. Throughout the next hour bunches of mallards and pintails, numbering from 50-200, continuously coming in, flying around me, landing and jumping, jumping and landing, just not around me. They would fly into those small ponds on the other side, and just over the trees towards the Columbia. In all the years I've hunted, I had never seen this many ducks. I sat there flabbergasted unable to pull my trigger or even get my gun off my lap. I could only imagine the look on my face. When I did take a shot it was undirected. I could have just kept pulling my trigger like Warren taught me and ducks would have rained from the sky. But I could not even do that. When it was over I was exhausted. Time to wade my way across and try to find this mass of ducks. I bring may bag of shells and leave everything else and head to the other side. Being stealth was almost impossible, the combination of my frozen waders and frozen grasses around the small ponds. But I think even if I do scare them up there are so many that some would have to fly my way. Nothing! Where the hell did they all go? I am stymied. Hundreds of ducks gone. I make it back and settle in for the rest of the morning. During the next hour and half a few stragglers, I'm cold, time to pack it up. It wasn't the usual pack up when you see a greenie fly over or into your spread, no I look down to the Old Spot and jumping and landing are mucho patos.