G, A, F, (octave lower) F, C

On my last day hunting in the great state of Idaho I dropped a big ole' tanker of a goose.  When I came home I knew I had to cook that thing up the right way, the way the former 'Expert' of years gone by showed me the last time we cooked a goose, on the Barbie Q.  Lots of daylight was left and I had some chores to do around the homestead so I started to shovel left over snow.  Then I started to think.  Where would I set the mini Webber so that I could have a good place for slow cooking the beast I had wrapped in bacon.  (Turkey bacon cause of my weakened heart)  I had an idea.

After much shoveling, and a thought that the Webber looked like a UFO, I created this.  It means something.  Dark side of the moon baby!  (for those of you that don't get this, watch some classic movies for Heston's sake)  This means something!
 

Done.

Late last night I had a vision.  More of a thought.  What is an unpopular dick like myself going to do tomorrow?  I don't have any good books to read. Being the last day of hunting I figured what the hell, I'll go slay some ducks and become the sole possessor of the coveted second place.  Second place is truly coveted because we all know the reality.  Awake with a small head tickle pack up the gear and head out.  I get in the truck turn on the radio and do you know what song was playing? No not "Susie Q" from CCR cause that would be real scary, but "Sunday Bloody Sunday."  An omen right?!  I arrive at the lot and it's packed, never seen it this packed, there was even a vagrant breaking into trucks, and police.  A pretty chilly walk with a stiffy in my fay.  Walk past a few guys setting up and get the exact place that I wanted.  Threw out my blocks, made a decent blind, and all the other morning rituals.   I'm feeling really good about making the effort to be there.  The stars are out and there is a terrific moon. Morning fly was sparse to say the least. A large flock of mallards (I have no idea but it sounds really good) fly down towards the Old New Spot and in passing they were greeted by a friendly round of sky busting with a round of expletives from said sky busters. Did I mention that a couple of Malakas set up across from me?  Every time they did their busting it would rain on me because they couldn't shoot in front of them they had to shoot at me.  That was the way the morning went.  Me sitting there watching these wankers shoot at everything that came close, including brants.  They finally picked up and left at an especially early time of 8:15, probably due to cold, out of ammo, or because they were lit up like a christmas tree.  They packed up their one duck that they blasted out of the sky about 150 yards out and made like the wind and left.  I think finally maybe I can now do some hunting.  Not really. A lone green head bastard flew through my spread and then some pintails.  With a lighter malfunction and a dry bottle I decide to call it a year.  Can I say it was a bad year?  Yeah I think so.  Congratulations to Clider.  Hopefully next season  Idaho can make it to Oregon so they could see what it's really like to hunt.

GBCH

Clider?

 

The Real Founders Tour 2013

The whole truth and nothing but the truth.  

I was greeted at the airport.  

Then we hunted.  

Then I was dropped off at the airport.

Add caption

I used to hunt with this guy
His name was Dallas
He threw a baseball 
Like a old man's phallas

One duck he slayed 
In all of our days
It was not a Greenie
And for that he pays

He's not a slayer
Nor a good payer
of the ducks we hope for
We sing a prayer

When they come in 
We hope we win
To cleanse their sin
And bring them in

Yet at the end
Clider pays in
And will cleanse our sins
For next years wins

GBCH

Everyone is wrong,

1. What is wind chill temperature? back

A. The wind chill temperature is how cold people and animals feel when outside. Windchill is based on the rate of heat loss from exposed skin caused by wind and cold. As the wind increases, it draws heat from the body, driving down skin temperature and eventually the internal body temperature. Therefore, the wind makes it FEEL much colder. If the temperature is 0 degrees Fahrenheit and the wind is blowing at 15 mph, the wind chill is -19 degrees Fahrenheit. At this wind chill temperature, exposed skin can freeze in 30 minutes. 

2. Can wind chill impact my car's radiator or exposed water pipe? back
A. The only effect wind chill has on inanimate objects, such as car radiators and water pipes, is to shorten the amount of time for the object to cool. The inanimate object will not cool below the actual air temperature. For example, if the temperature outside is -5 degrees Fahrenheit and the wind chill temperature is -31 degrees Fahrenheit, then your car's radiator will not drop lower than -5 degrees Fahrenheit.

Idaho: 1-14-14 The Last Day.

Today was the day Clider and I were supposed to be returning from Portland Town after Cili'n for the King.  We were unable to make the trip due to my poor choices in automobiles and mechanics.  I hate the XC 70. We did get the chance to have one last day at Anderson Lake and we made the best of it by leaving with just enough time to set up and watch the first ducks of the day spin over our heads as we settled in.  I was reaching for my bottle and gun while Clider was loading a shell.  They were majestic in flight and we marveled at not only their beauty, but the fact that they were actually there.  When they left we toasted the morning and the H7HT.  As we sat, they took off form the spot where our decoys were.  We never saw them land.  Greenie!

There were actually ducks flying and many geese around but none of them wanted to come and see our hastily put together blind and perfect decoy spread.  The spinner did not have a charge which was just fine and we had the jerk rig set and working.  We spoke of not calling but we just had to make the attempt and I, for one, think that it made the difference between them coming to us or the many geese sitting on the ice in the middle of the lake.  Of  course they chose the lake, but don't you feel like you're doing something when you're calling?  I do.  Clider had to take a walk.  I took a shot at passing geese, way far away, just to shooten my gun.  Of course I missed.

I always feel that Clider taking a walk is for the best.  I get to sit and wait for the ducks to be scared up and fly right into our spot.  I also get to take a nap, which is just what I did.  I woke to the sound of ducks but what happened is that I saw nothing anywhere and was worried that Clider had died on the ice.  A good 15 min. had passed and I had no idea where he and Peat were.  After a few minutes I saw them sneaking out onto the ice a good 1000 yards off and attempting to jump some fat bastard geese which then took off and flew in my direction.  Being that all the geese that had flown anywhere near 'The Tip' never came in I felt that I had nothing to look for.  I was wrong.

Leaning back, and being comfortable, I heard the geese come from my right.  They settled down right into the blocks 20 yards to my right and I had only a Black Cloud Close Range in the chamber.  Then 4 big ole bastards lofted down from the left and as the spun over my head I shot.  Wing shot fold.  Quick as a Benelli totin' machine I shotten again, this time with a 3" 2 shot shell and the big tanker was down right on the grassy knoll behind me.  I was up and after him in a flash.  He played dead but after I put my foot on his neck and smashed him into the mud he knew it was Bob D that had him.

Tomorrow I eat goose. (perhaps wrapped in bacon and on the grill just like the former Expert taught me.)
All in all it was a good last day on the hunt.  Heston blessed me with a final day Cil and it was good to hunt with the 'Expert' once again.  Fred G and I are tied for 2nd place and that is a good way to finish and knowing that the Oregon Chapter has at least a couple more chances to slay gives me hope that they will try.  And maybe they will even tell you aboot their exploits here on this very Blog.
GBCH.

Idaho, the last month or so...

Cold in the Idaho

It has been cold and nothing is flying, but the h7ht season goes to the bitter end.  Fred may have been right when he declared the Idaho season over.  I'm just going to sum up the last few weeks here, I know I've been out at least once a week, sometimes twice but it all kind of blends together now.

Otis and I arrived one morning in a spot that was holding ducks and gooses the day before, as we put out blocks another group of hunters setup across from us maybe 300 yards away.  Some divers came in but we didn't shoot because we were holding out for our limit of greenies.  After twenty minutes about thirty mallards came in and started landing in the spread, we both shot and both scored green headed bastards, Otis's was especially fat and mean looking.  After this we had some geese set up a couple of times and our neighbors would wait until the birds were committed and then shoot into the water to scare off our birds, real nice guys.

Otis and Peat getting away from our crappy neighbors

Another day we set up over the pass on Coeur d'Alene lake, tons of birds came in and sat about a 100 yards from our blind, refusing to come closer.  After a long wait we packed up and moved back over to Medimont, three more hours of nothing flying.  On the way back we stopped by Killarney to find over a hundred birds sitting on the edge of the channel.  We care fully snuck in and Peat scared them off.  We knew it was a waste of time but we sat down anyway, nothing had been flying all day.

About twenty minutes late the cloud of birds started working it's way towards us, we weren't hidden very well but we just sat there.  Another flock came into view, both were close fifty mallards each.  They circled and flared, over and over again.  It was loud, really loud.  They were right over our heads, forty or fifty birds had already landed 40 feet in front of us.  It was so overwhelming that it took a second for my brain to register that it was time to shoot.  The first two shots went through a dime sized hole between ducks, it seemed physically impossible to miss but I managed to do it.  The last shot was careful and slow, a nice big greenie.  Otis pulled down a hen.

We sat back down still shaking with excitement when they came back.  We had some great pass shot opportunities but we knew they wanted to land so we waited.  They landed out of range and we sent Peat out to scare them off again.  They came back a third time and all but one settled in out of range.  The first shot missed the second shot missed and the third shot, the third shot connected but by this time it was behind me and dropped into 12ft tall grass.  By a stroke of luck it happened to be lying next to the trail we came in on.  Birds want to be where they want to be, it took a lot of work to get them to leave.

I have gone alone quite a bit lately, I set out a spread but there is nobody to see it.  After and hour and a half or so I pack up and start hiking, along the river, along the sloughs and basically anywhere I know of that holds ducks.  Mallards, buffleheads, geese and a few goldeneyes are all that is left, so if I stumble across something it's usually a greenie as the hens seem to have pretty much vacated too.  Most of the time there is nothing but sometimes if I spend enough time walking the freezer will start to load up.  Peat gets restless if we don't get enough activity during the week, so jump shooting has become the name of the game lately.

Hiking with Peat yesterday

Yesterday the river reached a new low and I was unable to put the boat in anywhere.  Peat and I setup near the ramp at Mud Hole and waited, packed up at 8:30 and then hiked from 8:30-3:00. We got two gooses on the river, a greenie in the channel at the point, a goldeneye on the river near medimont and two bufflehead on killarney.  I snuck up on a goose at the end of the day on the river near killarney.  After stalking him down river for a ways I was finally close enough to jump him, but before I could move he died like the one Peat pulled out of the river last year.  He just laid his head down and gave up.  I stepped out from behind cover and sent Peat to bring him in.  The goose immediately came back to life and flew away, stuff like this happens a lot.  But I have figured out how to creep up on ducks pretty well, geese are nearly impossible, I think I just got lucky yesterday.

I am already excited for flocks of decoying birds next fall, I am putting meat in the freezer and it's more a lot more fun than grouse hunting but I really miss decoying birds.  There have been some misadventures in the boat,some falling on ice, frozen guns and Peat isn't super excited about submerging his naked butthole in freezing cold water, but I feel like I am starting to think like a duck.  I have had a great season  and am still hoping for some sort of ciling for the king trip.  Either way I am super pumped about next season and the boat blind, I have a list of places that I have explored this year and the blind is going to be the ticket.  Fred and Cliffy need to come up early enough to get out while everything is still holding water, together we will slay.  We may need to make a couple trips to get everything and everyone in but I think it's going to be awesome.

The bufflehead decoyed, the rest were hiking birds.

Easy money.

My Sweetie has been dog sitting, yes, that's a dog, for her brother and sister in law over in Coeur d'Alene.  I went over yesterday on my day off to keep her company and to test the waters of their Redwood style hot tub.  It was delightful. We had a nice fat cheeseburger and after a good soak drifted off to sleep but not before she told me about the turkeys that would wake us up in the morning.  See, her sister in law feeds the deer in her semi suburban back yard and I think most H7HT readers would agree that that's a recipe for disaster.  The deer have become so accustomed to being fed they no longer have any inhibitions to people.  My Sweetie, as per the arrangemet for dog sitting, has to feed the zoo as well and they have been eating from the bowl in her hand.  Bad for wild animals?  Bad for their instincts?  Bad for the neighbors?

One amazing side effect is the turkeys.  I walked the dog (the Lab) so that she could sleep in this morning  and I heard the turkeys up on the hillside.  When she went out to feed the deer a line of turkeys, 25 to 30 deep, came along for the buffet.  They yielded to the deer but not by much and ate like little piggys.  I watched in amazement as dinner for the next 3 years chomped away just feet from me.  I was standing outside on the deck and they had no fear.  A slingshot and some triple BB would have done the job and I wondered if Clider would have gone into epileptic shock.  Being 'The Expert' he would have been able to easily hand catch a turkey, thus adding to his legend as the Rambo of the H7HT.  I have included these pictures to prove what irresponsible game management can get you. 
GBCH

Not shown, the other 10 deer, including a 4 point buck.

Oregon Update

Mucho apologies about the lack of posting on my end this past month,  but thought I'd give y'all an update for those interested:

Well moving, working and house shopping has dominated most of my time though I have made it out a few times.  Let's revisit December shall we.  We had  a very cold December.  Water would splash up on the  blocks bills and freeze, wet gloves would freeze.  I even got mud in the buckles on my pack and guess what....it froze too!  It may have not have been as cold as Idaho, but it was damn cold for the Oregon Chapter.  The first day, Fred and I attempted to wade out to the island but we both ran into quicksand.  Ya, quicksand!  Fred got stuck while in the water but was able to sit down and wiggle his way out.  I was stuck on dry land with one leg buried almost up to my thigh. It was probably a funny sight trying to watch Fred pull me out with a stick from the distance, but I assure you it was no fun.  Finally, after Fred's suggestion, I layed on my stomach and was able to push my way out with my free leg.  We hunted from the mainland that day and took no shots.  The next time we went out, we also hunted from the mainland.  Fred built a stellar blind and the closest we even came to seeing a duck was on our hike out looking at a man wearing U of O swag.  Though he looked tasty and easy to clean, we kept walking.

Then there was Friday, first hunt of the New Year.  I took the day off from work and headed out to Sauvies with my 9 fingertips.  I got in line 3 hours before shooting time.  Though I was back....way back in line, I felt optimistic with it being the New Year and all.  I felt like I was going to get on the board.  When Finally getting into the check in station, I took the last blind...Mudhen 7.  As I remember, this blind sucked.  Lots of weeds in the water and no place for ducks to lock in, but I took it anyways as I knew where it was in the dark and there was only 30 min to shooting time.  To my suprise, water was way up.  The blind was surrounded by it and the weeds were under it.  Things were starting to look up.  I busted out Leroy and looked everywhere for his pull string with no luck so I went just straight decoy.  Gun shots started ringing just as I was finishing up my spread and loading my gun in the foggy haze.  10 minutes into the hunt a big fat greenie came in.  I'm talking a big fat greenie too, not a little skinny one, more like Fred's goose.  When his feet came down and he showed me his man boobs, I raised my weapon, put my bead on him and took a moment to enjoy my first pre-kill of the season.  I clicked my safety into the 'CIL' position, I uh I uh I uh clicked my safety.......c'mon safety, click into the 'CIL' position!  Nope, greenie was gone and I was stuck with a gun that had a jammed safety.  I spent the next 20 min of prime time getting my safety unjammed.  Then the skybusting started to come alive.  There were lots of ducks moving all morning up until 10:30 when I left, but I just couldn't take it anymore.  The guy next to me was taking 60 yard shots, the guy across from him was taking 60 yard shots and the guy across from me was shooting at birds on the water 50 yards out.  No duck wanted to stick around and choose a spread to land in.

Let's revisit my season so far real quick- had my gun knocked into a river by dogs, got stuck in quicksand, mud in pack buckles that froze, man wearing U of O swag starting to look tasty, 9 fingertips, can't find Leroys pull string, jammed safety that cost me the biggest/fattest greenie since ancient Rome and 0.0 ducks per Cliffy.  I hope for some new mojo in time for CIL'in for the King.

Follow me to the last "C.F.T.K"

http://h7ht.blogspot.com/search?updated-min=2011-01-01T00:00:00-08:00&updated-max=2011-01-25T21:00:00-08:00&max-results=50&start=219&by-date=false

The Money Shot.

Clider receives thousands of member dollars for being 'The Expert'. Dec 11th 2013.

Biathalon, Bob DaFolder style.

A Holiday Tradition.

Benellis ring

Are ducks listening?

On the lake

Ice is glistening

We’re ready to slay

Ducks die today

Hunting in H7HT land

The long walk out

Cold and delightful

Decoys set

And insightful

Today they bring in

Ducks and their kin

Hunting in H7HT land

In the blind we can toast Lord Heston

He will bring us many ducks to slay

When we clink bottles and say bless them

We hope that they’ll come right in today

Later on

By our own hands

We will call

And they will come land

The feet will come down

We’ll chamber a round

Hunting in H7HT land

When they hit the water we won’t shiver

A dog will have to go in and retrieve

If he knocks your gun into the river

Then Cliffy will tell us just believe

Many ducks are our big dream

As you know we’re the best team

We continue to slay

Almost every day

Hunting in H7HT land

Idaho 12-23-18

Sometimes you have to give the gift of solitude, that's just what I did today.  I took the day for myself and headed to 'The Point' alone and with the intention of having some time to contemplate life and my position in it.  With the holidays coming up there will be lots of work and precious little time with the things that matter.  First and foremost is quality time with my Sweetie closely followed with time not spent with the masses of people that want me to perform in a occupational way.  Eat it customers!  I also did not tell Clider I was going, sorry friend but sometimes you just can't enjoy yourself when The Expert hand catches banded ducks while you wait patiently in the blind for something to fly in. Plus, the man just had a full week of vacation spent hunting.  (of course you wouldn't know, there have been no posts, right?)  So when I woke this morning and the rain was pouring down on my roof, I knew that I must go.

The f250 and I powered through the downpour and when we arrived at Anderson the rain let up enough to set a fine minimalist spread of decoys in the open water of the channel.  I had time to sip a little wikki and listen to a lone duck pass over me in the dark, it's wings whistling in the predawn darkness. Lately the ducks have been few and far between owing to the massive Canadian cold front that moved through during the Founders Tour.  I am becoming certain that it took every duck within the Pacific Northwest with it to points south.  Remember, if you lived in the water with temps in the single digits it would make you head to Cabo too.

Thought?

This being the case, I saw nothing.  Literally nothing.  No ducks flying, no ducks sitting on the water, no ducks anywhere.  I took a walk to the other side of the channel and looked for them in the puddle where The Expert has slayed before, and nothing.  Even when I pulled up just a couple hours later no ducks buzzed my spread or taunted me with their presence, an occurrence that seems to always happen.  Form this I can only believe that it may be over, just like when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor.

Now, before you think that I didn't have a good time today, just remember why I went out today.  I had a good 4 hours of time sitting in nature listening to the creatures of the lake wake up on one of the shortest days of the year.  I saw a white tailed hawk hunting for things for a solid 15 min before I moved and scared him off and a hen pheasant took off and landed twice during my walk.  The weather changed from rain to calm to rain again and the light of the day switched at least 3 times from start to finish.  The semi warm temps and rain made me think of my days in Oregon hunting the Mighty Columbia and made me excited for the possibility of Clider and I heading West for the ever popular 'Killing for the King' weekend.  All in all a great day.
Then I came home and took a nap.
GBCH

Idaho 12-18-13

Otherwise known as 'The day I realized I was never going to be the "Expert" ever again.'

Holy Heston.  Today Clider and I went out to Anderson Lake to get the boat ready for winterization.  He had planned to take us out to Anderson from the parking lot boat ramp, and maybe later, down to lake CdA for some shooting of the elusive bastard, Greenie.  It's been a while since we have seen that fat punk in our spread of ducks and geese and we thought that today would be a good time to trick him into the spit of water that has formed over the point of Anderson.  The river was iced over from the ramp and we realized that the boat would have to wait for another day.  We had to make the short walk out and decided on 'The Tip' rather than 'The Point' because of the water level and the chances of good shooting lanes.  When we got there the water was open and Clider went about setting the blocks while I made up a couple small blinds on the grassy bank along the river.  Of course while we were working, the only flying ducks of the morning spun overhead.

We settled in and after what seemed like a non duck forever Clider decided to take a walk to keep Peat from shivering into a seizure.  (Remember that whenever Clider takes a walk on Anderson he seems to shoot ducks.)  I stayed tucked away in the blind to take advantage of the dozens of mallards he would surely scare up in the process of walking the channel. I had mentioned that should he see some ducks to blow his call to let me know that there were ducks in the air and then I could shoot them.  He did not have his calls.  Soon after I heard a very human "quack quack" and looked up to see a lone henny rocketing down the channel.  I didn't shoot and she spun off towards the big waters of lake CdA.  Not long after I saw a lone henny, perhaps the same one, coming back from the direction of the big lake.  Not wanting another repeat of minutes before I took my fist shot with a solid lead that was too far.  The next shot was errant as well and the third and final shot was over my shoulder and too far away to make a difference.  She was gone. 

At that point I drank for missing and figured that my best chance for a duck was gone.  I was correct.

Minutes later I see Clider walking along the near-side river bank back to the blind.  As he gets closer I first see the smile on his face and then realize he's got something in his hands.  Turns out that he's got a pair, greenie AND henny, of mallards in his clutch.  Both alive and both HAND CAUGHT by Clider.  They were hiding in a hole in the river bank that he had been walking. He reached into the hole and pulled out the henny and then saw the drake behind her, pulling him out as well. (this picture is them feeling secure and happy)  I marveled at his ability as he released them into the air after wishing them well. He figured that they deserved to live and set them free.  The greenie went first and flew only feet before landing in the channel and swimming away towards the river.  The henny flew even less and made a ruckus as she, and he, obviously wounded, swam away.  We conferred and Peat was dispatched to retrieve.

Again.

Peat was away and into the icy water swimming after her and after a stellar retrieve, including being beat in the face and head by henny wings, brought her in. (Here's where the shit goes down by the way.)  When Clider gets the henny in hand he realizes that it's a banded bird!  Yup, another banded bird!  Hand caught!  He goes after the drake and Peat brings him in too.  So now Clider has just added to his totals another greenie and a banded henny.......all without firing a single shot.

How do you compete with that?

Ladies and Gentleman I give you "The Expert"
Damn straight!

Idaho Founders Tour Day 1 & 2

It has been a long week since the days of the Idaho Founders Tour and the time is right to reflect on what happened to the two founding members of the H7HT.  I, Bob DaFolder,  picked up the legendary Fred G. at the airport in Spocompton for what could only be considered the next great week of hunting in my home state.  He had traveled later in the year than usual to take advantage of the colder temps and better hunting that comes with them.  A massive front of arctic air had been pushing down from Canada for the last two days and it always brings with it mucho patos and the chance for perfect slaying conditions.  We left the airport and headed to, where else, Anderson for some late day action.

When we arrived there was a light sheen of ice to the left of 'The Point' and open water as far as the eye could see in front.  We set a fairly minimal spread of decoys and waited for the fat banded mallards to drop in, it was in the 20's.  No ducks came close but we did have a chance to witness a light storm of grapple pass over our heads and in the course of minutes, change the landscape of clear ice to the left into a white blanket of purity.  We pulled up soon after and headed back to the cabin with good thoughts about the coming days hunt.  That night we ate and drank and talked of the stellar slaying that was to come in the following days.

Day 2:  we woke to fresh snow on the ground and temps in the high teens, in a word, perfect.  The Swedish truck took us unflinchingly to 'The Blind' at Anderson.  After a short walk out we realized that the sub-zero temperatures the past few days had created an icy layer on the lake this far down but that didn't worry us a bit.  We broke up a nice couple holes in the water and set out the spinner and a couple geese in addition to the mallard blocks we had in tow.  Almost immediately a fat lone goose, coming straight in and locked up, settled in a scant 10 yards away.  I questioned Fred G's logic in not shooting him but he explained that he would have many more chances to shoot a fat goose and did not want to spend his first day cleaning the chunky bastard.  I agreed to not ever talking about the missed chance to shoot a goose that perfectly set up and coming in.  Apparently it's not binding.

At some point, and this is where it gets hazy, we both shot a greenie.  I do remember that I shot one first, thereby winning a bet, and we headed home to clean our first of what would be many greenies of the trip.  We were a little concerned about the weather that seemed to be getting colder as the day wore on but figured that the 'Arctic Blast' would be nothing but a good thing.  The following day we were to hunt with current "Expert" and boat owner Clider, and no doubt he would be putting us on some ducks.
More to come.  Stay tuned......

Le Chucker

Le Chucker filmed this on Halloween while
dressed as Michael from the movie Halloween.
The man refers to him as "you should  hate this man."
 Enjoy!

Dear Idaho Chapter......

With you now is Co-Founder, former Expert, the One and Only......Fred G.  With the unfortunate circumstances, I could not join you this week as my honey and I are closing on our first home.  Though this home has come between us all, I hope its roof will someday cover us for hunting adventures and drying our waders in Oregon in the future.  I hope this move will be swift as I could also be using my time off to try and put a dent in Cliders lead and bring hope to Oregons validity as a duck slaying destination.

Idaho Chapter- Please take care of Fred and don't shoot over his head (he hates that).  If he doesn't shoot a duck, please shoot a duck so he can remember what it's like to see one drop.  Please take video of Peat retrieving a duck so Waylon knows that this is what he's meant to do instead of getting into it with other dogs and knocking my gun in a muddy river.  And most importantly, don't forget to tilt the whikey to the dead homeys.  Heston be with you.

Thanksgiving in Idaho

I have many things to be thankful for, being Expert chief among them.

My lady friend is out of town and everyone is doing family stuff, it seems like a good time to go slaying.  I’m going for an afternoon hunt, the walk in area at Killarney has been loading up in the afternoon lately. 

I headed out with Peat and a small bag of blocks around 1:00, upon getting to the dike all seemed quiet.  Once I got about halfway out I dropped my pack and went to stealth mode.  I crept up to the same spot Otis had shotten his mallard last weekend.  They were back, I took my time and when they jumped I was ready, greenie in the bag.  This was already better than my Thanksgiving hunt last year when the only bird that I saw became an NR. 

I set out my spread and found some cover with Peat.  We were only about 15 feet from the blocks and in some pretty tall reeds.  The only water was about a foot wide and 3 inches deep, but it ran for a quarter mile or so.  Mallards kept decoying in but either Peat flared them by adjusting himself when they got close or they landed with some obstacle between them and me.  I’d move and they would land right where I had been.  I moved a dozen or more times, I sure could use some help here, if I had someone else we could have split up this spot into two zones of death.

I was able to talk one more greenie into going home with me just before sunset, Peat has been getting much better with all this practice.  I’ve got a treat ready for him right when he comes back and he’s starting to pick up the big birds by the body now.  I know training is more important than ever, with three members in the same place this week he’ll need all his strength to haul in piles of double banded greenies.

I cleaned my birds and headed over to a Drew and Trisha’s place for the second Beast Feast.  Drew has some experience cooking French dishes so I dropped off some ducks the night before and he pulled out some elk back straps for the feast.  It is beyond my feeble words to describe exactly what we ate but everything was fantastic.