Sorry it took so long to get back to you all. I have a brand new litter up puppies (born yesterday) and they are a handful. Cute as can be though. Catahoula and Saint Dane. Gonna be giants.
It happened duck hunting several years ago. Was supposed to go with 3 other buddies. They were pretty new to hunting and I had been “mentoring” them on how to call, set out spreads, make blinds, etc. Well, you can’t mentor them if they don’t show up to go hunting.
So I show up to the spot where we were going to meet and wait until 45 minutes before first light. I’ve already driven 45 minutes to get there. I make the appropriate “get your @&$ out of bed” calls and no one answered. So I decided I’d go by myself. 4 full bags of duck decoys, 2 full bags of Canadian floaters, and about a mile walk. I hate when your buddies don’t show.
So anyways, I’m hunting a back water slew on public land. It’s always been a producer even if it’s not a secret. So I’m out there right after sun up. It’s not a perfect day, but after that walk in, I’m invested. Got all my decoys set out just how I want them. And the birds start flying in. I get 2 on the ground in minutes and then I see a guy walking over the hill with a shotgun, dog, and a small decoy bag.
He proceeds to look right at me, and put out his 6 decoys directly across the creek from me, about 70 yards. I’ve got out at least 60 ducks and a dozen Canadians. This particular place I've learned you need a lot of decoys. I’ve even shot snows and specs back there. Well, it’s public land. So I guess we’re hunting across from each other. Birds fly in, he calls, they bail. Birds fly over, he sky shoots, they bail. Birds fly into my spread, I shoot, they fall (obviously not all of them). Eventually it got to the point he would just walk around and shoot so the birds wouldn’t come into my spread. This dude was a real jerk.
So it’s about 10:00 now. I haven’t filled my limit. He hasn’t shot a bird. I’m ready to go home. Looking across the creek, I see he’s picking up his decoys (it’s about bloody time). Gets them all sacked up and turns to walk out of the water. Now, I haven’t said a word to this guy all morning. Not one. He then turns around, shoulders his shotgun, and proceeds to put two shots into my decoys and then points the gun at me. “This mother f...BOOM!!!”
I turned just as he shot. Pellets ripped through my parka, cut my hand, and one of them got me in the ear. You ever had your ear flicked real hard when it’s really cold outside? This felt like that. Just more localized. And just like that he turned and left. I’d have returned fire but he had a dog. And I’m not shooting a dog because of its owner. I called the game wardens. No answer. Then I called the sheriff. They said their deputies were on the other side of the county and to give them a description. They would get one there as soon as they could. I cursed and just hung up. I mean, what kind of description was I going to give? He looked like a duck hunter. Called my buddies again and low and behold they’re awake now. Well thanks a-holes. And “pawpaw” as they like to call me because I’m 9 years older than them, ripped them a new one about what happened. They haven’t no call/no showed since. And I always carry a few slugs when I go duck hunting now. SOB ruined 5 of my ducks and 2 of the Canadians. And I still had to pack everything up and walk back to my truck.
Anybody want to guess what was waiting on me at my truck? A game warden (anyone guess correctly?). As I’m walking up I asked if he had any missed calls from a particular number. I’m pissed and he knows it. He looked at his phone. “Yep. I sure do. Was that you?”
“Yeah. I called you because I just got shot down there by another hunter. Thanks for answering” as I showed him my hand. The walk back had only made the situation worse. It gave me time to think about all the things I wanted to do to that guy. And then seeing the person I needed just sitting in his truck. He then asked if I needed medical attention and ....what the guy looked like.....The day just sucked all around. We ended up talking awhile and it all worked out. I think he knew I needed to vent. And he genuinely felt bad. He was actually there to give me a warning about driving on a “No Access” road that wasn’t posted.
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I’ve been shot AT three times. But never drew blood.