Forecast Calls For Pain!

 

Harrison

 Mon Nov 12

35^°33^°

Snow Shower

Chance of snow:

40%

Wind:

SE at 3 mph

Tue Nov 13

38^°32^°

Showers

Chance of rain:

40%

Wind:

E at 3 mph

Wed Nov 14

40^°29^°

Partly Cloudy

Chance of rain:

20%

Wind:

ENE at 2 mph

Thu Nov 15

41^°33^°

Partly Cloudy

Chance of rain:

20%

Wind:

SE at 3 mph

Fri Nov 16

42^°34^°

Scattered Showers

Chance of rain:

40%

Wind:

SE at 4 mph

Sat Nov 17

47^°36^°

Showers

Chance of rain:

60%

Wind:

SE at 5 mph

Sun Nov 18

44^°34^°

Showers

Chance of rain:

60%

Wind:

SSE at 5 mph

Lore-Almost Time

Day Three Idaho - Oregon Chapters

Day three started of like every other hunting day.  Wake up super early with the super best alarm clock, big bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios, cup of java, pack up the truck and stop at the local Con Co for supplies and to see Jerry the fastest check out guy in the world.  This time was different.  It was time to fill the beast with go-go juice, thank Heston I brought my wallet.  Oh a quart of oil or two no problem.  I'm inside having a very intellectual conversation with Jerry, about the proper procedures to put down the mats when the floor is still wet.  A hour later when both tanks are filled I pay the man and step outside where Bob proclaims the truck won't start!  Yeah right I say not believing one word he is spewing and jump into the truck.  Well now Bob "DaMechanic" has the hood up and tapping stuff with his everything tool.  I look at it and say "dude your battery terminals are horribly dirty, clean those!"  No no he says, he thinks it's the battery, low he thinks it is.  Well it's now 4:30 am and it's time to take the long walk back to his house on the Trail of Coeur d'Alene, it's has now become a yearly ritual as Bobs mechanic will testify.  Half hour later we arrive at his house pick up Paige's car and head to Wal Mart to get a battery.  To make this story shorter here it is.  Install new battery, does not work, Einstein looks on WWW, I go to sleep, he can't fix it, walks across the street to mechanic, mechanic dude says clean terminals he does it starts.  Wait! didn't I say that?  Too late to hunt we walk the golf course and I kick his ass there too.  Naturally.

Packing

Packing for slaying trip to Idaho

• warm socks
• waders and boots
• 10 dollars for clider
• calls
• headlamp
• multi set of gloves
• 20 dollars for Bob DaFolder
• wallet

Idaho: Day 7

When it's Day 7 you know it's going to be good!

One

Of course I didn't know that coming in.  I thought I wasn't going to be hunting for a week but after some creative schedule manipulation with the boss I was headed out today.  The forecast was not at all promising being that it's been exceptionally warm here,I even had to cut my lawn today after hunting, but I headed out anyway. Good thing I did too. 

When I arrived at Anderson I thought I was making a mistake.  The wind was coming from the south, bringing with it those warm temps and making the decision to hunt our new blind seem foolish.  Wind from the south means it's at your back on the point, from the left at the new blind. I went anyway.  My logic was that I could at least try out the new $485,000 blind and fine-tune if necessary.  As the shooting bell rang and no ducks were overhead for the morning fly my logic seemed foolish and wasteful.  I had packed my decoy bag full up with the roto and all the blocks I could carry thinking that the 'Expert' had been slaying with big open water spreads and I should do my best to mimic him, he's the 'Expert' after all. The spread looked good but nothing wanted me.  Yet.

Two

Movement caught my eye and I realized a Greenie had landed in the blocks and was swimming with them out front.  I had to take my chance and jump him, which I did, and missed cleanly with two shots as he broke left with the wind. Knowing that I had not shouldered my gun properly and aimed right made me mad and I told myself not to be a dumbass again.  It didn't take long for another Greenie to come from the left into the wind and land in the blocks.  I hadn't seen this one come in either because the left side of the blind is tall and that's exactly where I was sitting to avoid being seen from the side. I jumped again and he took off peeling up and back but facing me with his big white belly.  Taking my time to aim I folded him cleanly with one shot and dropped him right in the middle of the deeks.  Bingo, $10 $10 $20.  He's a beautiful sight eh?.

Right as I'm done texting off a picture to my teammates showing my first bird of the year another set comes in from the left, I aim correctly and shoot the next Greenie.  Folded.  Now I'm feeling invincible and I take the second shot at the hen he came in with.  I winged her and she fell 40 yards out, alive but not able to fly. Shit!  Now I'm running out through the shallows trying to get to her but she's still faster than me and my last shell is all I have to try to take her as she swims away.  I hit her but she's still going farther and farther out until I can wade no farther.  Shit!  So now back at the blind with the 2nd Greenie in the bag I load up and go looking thinking the wind and current will bring her back in.  1/2 hour later with no hen I'm back in the blind feeling stupid.  Greedy and stupid.  I only shoot Greenies for Heston's sake!

Three

After a while I realize Lord Heston will not send me any more shots today.  I have been wasteful and my Grandfather, likely grouse hunting with Heston, is mad.  So I go looking again, this time both sides of the shoreline hoping the wind has pushed her back in, but no luck.  I return to the blind with thoughts of pulling up when the 3rd Greenie comes in.  I shoot.  He drops, but not dead.  I dump my bag on the ground and grab a handful of shells and race out into the water.  It takes some time but I finally make the kill and bring my third of the day in.  Praise Heston.  At that point I give another 1/2 hour and watch the sun break through the clouds, pack my decoys and give one final look for the hen, still nothing.  My bag is heavy on the way out and my happiness at this awesome day, though tempered by remorse for the hen, is large.  Back to the cabin to clean my first ducks of the year.  Who wants dinner tomorrow?


GBCH.

Correction:

Late this morning I was having a dream I was a journalist embedded with a special military team that was sent to kill a ruthless Asian Dictator somewhere in Italy.  I spoke Italian and had connections with the Mafia that helped us escape.  Needless to say I woke up feeling pretty good aboot myself.

As I'm having my bowl of Crispy Wheats and Raisins my phone goes off with this picture.  Redhead.  I'm going to work to count gloves and transfer inventory and Clider is out padding his lead.  Heston! 

Actually I'm happy for him, just not too happy.
GBCH

Correction.

I was informed by the 'Expert' this morning that, in fact, he shot TWO hen mallards on his last outing.
My sincere apologies go out to the rest of us trying to catch up.

Have A Coot...Don't Shoot

 

Idaho: Day 6

Lots to talk about today so let's get started.
First off, Willy.  He will now be known only as Clider, navigator for the Iceman and hater of Goose.  More importantly though, he is the 'Expert' and has been padding his lead by folding again.  This time a Hen Mallard and 600 Coots bringing his total to 2.  The mudhens count for a big fat nothing so don't be fooled by his picture, they are just like lake veal, confined to boxes and nailed to the water until someone comes along and hits them over the head.  Just to give you an idea of how hard they are to find and shoot you should know the limit is 25 a day.  Mmmm, nasty.  My next chance to hunt will be with Cilder way away in 9 days.  Hopefully he will share some of his wisdom and 'Expertness' with me and maybe I will get a chance to shoot a duck.

Peat and 1/5th limit of Coots

So you have likely guessed by now that I did not shoot a duck today.  My alarm went off precisely at 4am and I hit my mental snooze bar to sleep in another few minutes. When I finally woke at 5am I was in such a hurry to get out to the lake and set up that I forgot to bring a chair.  Actually I remembered about 20 minutes into the ride so I quickly changed plans.  I figured that the spot where we had the blind last year would be a good choice, not only because I could hunker down on the hard edge of the water but also because that kind of look was exactly what the 'Expert' did last weekend, and we all know how that turned out.  I set my blocks right at shooting time and pushed myself back into the grasses lining the shoreline.  I was set, and lookin' good.  The water was perfectly still so I thrashed my feet to make ripples flow into my decoys making them come alive against the rest of the lake.  Sweet.

That's how hidden it is!

Nothing flying.  Not only was it warm still and foggy, as the fog broke I saw the full moon just slipping below the horizon.  Perfect conditions for nothing.  I had maybe 4 or 5 ducks come anywhere near me all the while on Thompson Lake behind me the party was on.  Happy Greenies in their little protected area sitting in the sun and having no need to move anywhere at all. As I looked around I made a decision.  I saw the perfect area to make a blind.  Now I was planning to wait until Fred G. showed up to build our Anderson blind but this spot was too perfect. 5 yards off the water and covered from all angles.  I took out a Personal Line of Credit for $485,000 and built the pappy of all concealed killing spaces.  It's so good I may never find it again!  The best part is that none of the material I removed was used to make the blind which means it will match the surroundings perfectly all season.  It was well worth the $ and I took the remaining dough and filled my gas tank and had some Doritios.
There you have it.  Day 6.
GBCH

The future of the H7HT

Forgot I had these pictures of my nephews, Ben Elli DaFolder and Win Chester DaFolder.  As you can see they are young 'Experts' already.  Notice how they are practicing leading the ducks, albeit in different directions, with bow and arrow no less!  We do have some work to do with Ben's choice of footwear for the duck blind but you can see these two are clearly the direction of the future.  Way to go boys!

Idaho: Day 5

The SS Rocky Concordia

As I pulled in the parking lot and was packing up I heard another truck pull into the lot next to me.  Lo and behold, Rocky the bartender was here to slay too.  He had brought along his tiny boat and although it would not take me it certainly did take my stuff out to The Point.  My walk was light and easy.  After the extra time getting ready we had very little time to set before the bell for shooting time rang so we only threw out a couple decoys and the spinner and waited for the inevitable morning fly.  Nothing much happened.  I think the majority of the storm front that had been in the area before had moved through.  The wind was nonexistent and the temp was up.  Birds had no reason to fly.

That didn't stop Rocky from pasting a coot sitting on the water that had drifted into our spread.  I explained the finer points of jump shooting and that maybe it's not too sporting to shoot things on the water.  I think he got it.  He planned to eat the coot, mmmmm nasty.

A couple big birds flew about after we put out the rest of the decoys but good shots were hard to find.  I did have one deuce that spun around from the left and gave me a nice belly shot at what I think was a teal or maybe a gadwall.  I took the shot remembering the words of Fred G about 'shotening' my gun and missed a little on purpose.  Greenie is my target, everyone else is small potatoes.  Just look at how he spent his summer, karate lessons?  He's like a ninja duck for Heston's sake.  I will get him.
GBCH

My Summer Vacation

I took Karate lessons

That's right I was there for this debauchery

I had a bunch of kids, but I don't care

Oh shit! how'd this one get in there, delete, delete!

Man I barely remember this night, ended up in a prison in BC

, swear we never crossed swords

hanging with lefty Lew E

Crazy Am I?

What's going on beyotches?  Why am I so happy you ask?  Come on look at the fine tail I'm hanging with.  You're lucky I'm way too tired to be doing any flying these days.  I'm still up here in Canada EH?  I'm sure my friends are showing you all a good time, good time doing NOTHING!  HA!  My Uncle Lew E., said he saw your pathetic asses there in da ho,  swam right past you in your boat, which looks good by the way he skyped me some pictures, and you didn't even see him. I'll see you at the end of January, I was listening to OPB on the internet and they say record dry spell this winter, so I'm going to let all the fat asses go first and then fly first class all the way to Cabo.  Until then I quack in your general direction.

ps.  yo mr. white what's up with the hiring of all these new guns and dogs?  i pess on your dawgs.

Oregon Day Three

Day three could not be more perfect, rain, wind, dry warm gear, and the whole place to myself.  I'm at the Old spot out on New Island and I have great water and an awesome blind.  My best buddy is too hunting by himself today out in Idaho on the Point.  With technology today it's as if we are hunting together.  We are able to stay in constant contact; what's your weather?  what's flying? how's the spread? and have you seen Greenie yet today? are often the topics of conversation.  Also the givens.

I'm also wearing some new gear which makes all the difference in the folding world.  A new pair of Columbia omni-tech wader pants, new and improved water proof gloves that are actually warm, and a fresh pair of waders.  Life is pretty good when you add in everything else.

Morning bell sounds and the day now officially starts.  Well this awesome morning turns into typical beginning of the year Old Spot hunting. Not much to report except the dozen teals who flew through my spread and landed in the middle of it.  With a pull of my trigger I could of had my limit they were so close together.  But being the beginning of the season and only down by one, teal are not on the menu as of yet. When I need a little padding at the end of the year I'll enjoy some nice teal taco.  It was a quiet enjoyable morning all and all.  A nice hike in the woods with no cougar, place to myself, and a nice spot to boot.  Wonder how my team mates morning went?

Why Is this Man Going Crazy?

HOW?...

How do you not take this guy with you?  You 

know he wants to go!

It is better to have shotten your gun and miss

Than to never have shotten your gun at all.

-Fred G.

Day Two Oregon

We are the best, right?  We can make shinola out of shit, can't we?  Turn lemons into margaritas, right?  

Perfect conditions when I woke this morning, rain, cold, and wind.  Lisa was waiting for me with great anticipation.  The girl I tell you does not show her age what so ever, I mean so what if the fan for the heat makes a loud noise and the driver side wiper fell off on the highway.  Did I mention it was raining?   She could not wait to get back to her task at hand, take note Waylon and Peat.  

Make it to the parking lot to find one lone truck with a camo dog carrier in the back, great I though another mutt running around with its head cut off.  Make the hike out and make it to the Old Spot by 6am.  The guy with the dog is in my spot so I'm now in search of usable water.  Being the best, you would have thought that because my waders leaked last time out I would have ditched them and used one of my three new pairs sitting fresh in boxes.  No being the Yankee that I am I thought I could get one more use out of them and what the hell it's not that cold today and there is not a lot of water, right?  Well in search of usable water I had to cross some waist high stuff and my boot filled up immediately, filled.  My only option was to cut a bunch of fresh brush and make a huge pile and sit in the middle of it.  With that done I set out my blocks in 3 inches of water and wait.  It's raining pretty good now and the wind is whipping.  Sitting there I'm questioning myself, my expertise, and what drove me to get out of my warm bed.  Just then Bob hits me with a text, "How's it going EH?"  It's him that drove me, that gave me the strength to sit there with a frozen foot and with the wind and rain smacking me in the face. With his encouragement I withstood the elements.  

The morning fly was dryer than my boot that was not swamped.  A single then a cloud of mallards so far up that they wanted nothing to do with a bush sitting on the side of a river sticking out like a sore thumb, surrounded by blocks in three inches of water.  I was pathetic and I knew it.  A set of pintails fly through at mach speed and they hit the guys spread across from me, where I should be, and he folds one of them.  Then with a whistle his dog retrieved it, that was nice to see.  By now it's pouring and the wind just blew my pile of brush away from around me. I'm better than this I think to myself, I'm smart enough to know that today is not my day, I have not won but I have not lost either.  I know that there is a fresh pair of waders back home and Wednesday morning the water will be up.  Bags are packed gun is cleaned.

Idaho: Day 4

Day 4 was the first time hunting alo...... Oh my Heston whose puppy is that!?  Is this your puppy!?  This isn't my puppy!  Where did this.... He looks good alright! Yeh?

Man that's one good lookin puppy.  Anyway,  all due respect to Peat, Day 4.  Hunting alone, so for certain I had a cougar shell loaded up and ready to go, just in case the cougar was waiting for me. I somehow escaped again.  When I got to the point on Anderson I put out as many blocks as I could carry knowing full well the 'Expert' believes in mass.  Who am I to disagree?  So with 22 blocks and the mojo spinner out I waited for morning fly while ducks called each-other and flew off in the distance.  Shooting time was close at hand and I spoke to the other Founder, Fred G, by text.  He was hunting too.

Right away a lone mallard (or other big duck, it was still dark) passed from the right.  I took the shot and missed.  Then the small ducks started to fly in and taunt me with their grace.  I passed on the divers and other small ducks waiting for the elusive mallard.  It took some time before a set of two flew in from the right, passed high in front and then flew in again.  Two shots rang out from the Benelli right at the lead greenie....

two from my bent gun

all I could carry

A lone feather floated down into the spot where I had taken the shot.  It looked graceful in its abstract path towards my beautiful decoy spread as I thought to myself about the missed opportunity I just had given up.  No greenie for me today.  Of course, divers landed in the spread, then more came in from the left.  Then even more swam in from the front and all had a nice party in the water just out in my blocks.  I thought they made great living decoys for greenies that may want to fly in but none did.  I waited for another hour before I decided to do a $50,000 remodel on the blind.  New shrubbery and grasses now make the blind look perfect.  See if you can pick it out in the picture.  No.  Of course you can't.  Neither will the ducks in two days.



GBCH  

Time......

To submit suggestions for Mr. William Bartlet's new name as it relates to the H7HT.  Put your suggestion in the comment section below and the Founders will chose based on our genius in all things H7HT.  Good luck!

The 'Expert" slays again!

Today, while working at my post I received this text picture from Willy, the 'Expert'.  Seems that he has been doing some extracurricular work on the side as a deer hunter too.  Is there anything this man can't slay?  I can only hope that Peat retrieved the deer while it was floating in the water.  Meat for everyone!