Okay, I've slacked a bit on my journal this year. I think I will finally be in the groove from now on. Last Friday (the 6th) I went out for an evening hunt at our blind with Larry and Hazzard. We pushed a bunch of wood ducks, mallards, and teal out when we set up. A few woodies came in at MACH 10, we managed to shoot 5 all night. The first one I shot, fell, and started swimming for a small clump of willows. I jumped out of the blind to get it, but couldn't. I followed the feather trail as long as I could, but I know that little guy just tucked up under a clump of grass and let me walk by him. The second one I shot made it safely into the blind. Then I shot a third one, dead as a doornail, folded up, flipped upside down, plopped in the water behind the willows across from the blind. I went to get it, but no duck could be found. Larry even helped me look for it, and we couldn't find a thing. I was pretty irritated at that point. Of course, as we were picking up the dekes, a flock of 15 or so buzzed in and landed in the thick stuff across the open water from the blind.
Saturday the 7th:
I went out to the CRM 9 blind with Larry and Hazzard. The weather was perfect for duck hunting, rain and wind at 10-15mph in the face. I wish it was from a different direction, but beggars can't be choosers. We downed one female woodie, and then Hazzard knocked a hen mallard out of the air. As he and I were looking for her, a flock of 8 decided to sit down in a different part of the wetland. We watched them land right on the upper side of berm. We knew that there was a small patch of open water there, that they were hanging in. So, Larry aborted the blind, and we all met up at the base of that berm. As we neared the top, I poked my head over to see all 8 mallards looking very confused at the situation. Without a count down, we stood up, and managed to collect 5 of the 8. Before we could even pick one up, the other three had circled back around to find out what happened to their friends. In the panic mode of reloading and aiming, we missed. Yup, we all missed! Oh well, gues you can't be too greedy, right? It's a good thing, because we were one hen shy of a limit of hens. Had we found the one Hazzard knocked down, we wouldn't have been able to shoot any more hens, and I think two of the remaining three were hens.
On the deer note.......................
I was really sick monday and tuesday, but by tuesday afternoonI felt good enough to go out. I managed to scout the big field I'd been glassing all summer, and I determined that the deer that used to be coming into that field are still coming to the edge, but rather than coming out, they are paralleling the edge until they get on the neighbors property. I found an area with a bunch of rubs where they are staging up. If I get the right wind, I will try to intercept that nice 2.5yr-3.5yr 8pt there. I also pulled my stand in the bottom of the field since they are no longer using that area. I then went to where I shot my nice 8 last year with my bow. I got in there and the wind was perfect, and the setup felt good. At about 6:15 a Doe followed up minutes later by her two fawns passed directly under my stand. All presenting shots from 40yds-5yds. The doe was young, I let her pass simply because it was hot out, and I have a busy week ahead of me and I didn't want to have to deal with processing it. I would have dealt with the hassle had it been a nice buck. The best news from that experience is that the doe used one crossing and the fawns used another, reassuring me that my stand location is still right on the money. The tenent of the land also cleared and area of the woods and put a driveway/parking lot along 300' of the stream, which means all the deer that crossed there, now have to work their way under my stand if they want to get across the property to the fields!
