sm
member
...many years ago...
I awoke in wee hours hours of New Year's Day to the sound of the wind howling, and bits of sleet mixed with rain. Gear was already in the front room, I dressed, grabbed the gear, and coffee to go, headed out. Yep, gonna be a great day for ducks in flooded timber.
" I'd figure I'd see you this morning, you are either nuts or crazy to head out this morning" . "I'm both" I replied to the lady at the 24/7 stop. She bagged my usual " bakers dozen" meaning six glazed donuts and 8 cinnamon twists...I was spoiled...I usually ate one while she bagged the other 13.
My buddy and host lived not far so I just put my gear in his vehicle when I arrived, and walked in like I always do. I heard them before I saw them. Skittering and barking two retrievers s-l-i-d-i-n-g on freshly done hardwood floors. The 'daddy' was a seasoned fella, the little guy had the pedigree, and hard-headedness of the daddy. Though he had done better at trials than obedience school he needed the experience. I respect a man's dogs , but for some reason I attract dogs, they warm up to me, they mind me. So my buddy gives commands, they look at him like he is nuts...I mean they know they are going hunting...no need for formalities,the dogs give that "its just Steve...lets just go" look. Wife keeps a handover her mouth to muffle a laugh, Buddy is kinda ticked " aw hell you tell 'em". I give the command and these two fellas sit and do their impersonation of perfect little choir boys. The daughter, a toddler comes in to give me a hug and snag a donut or two, the dogs won't even budge to go to her as they normally do, they are not even looking up at the donuts. I give the command they go to the toddler, whom promptly shares the donuts. My buddy is shaking his head, wife is laughing and I'm reminded how he hates the thought I can do that, but he is the one that has all that money tied up in obedience school.
Daughter is gonna stay behind with the housekeeper, and the three of us head out. Now the sleet is slacking up but now we have snow, big flakes coming down and hard. We arrive and the farm hand has the cabin all warm and toasty. Outboards are warmed up we get into hip boots while he loads up the flat bottom boats with our gear.
We head out winding our way to a spot in flooded timber, I'm with the farm hand and the younger pup, he really doesn't know what to think of the snow. It is coming down really heavy. We secure the boats he wades off to do the calling, we three are going to sit on the floating bench. We can hear the ducks but we are early for shooting time. Coffee, small talk, enjoying the site. We are dressed well, still we are covered in snow, snow is in the trees, the young pup seems to be listening to his sire about snow and retrieving.
Guns uncased, the dogs perk up,they know what is coming, the shells are loaded , the farm hard plays his music on that call. We are absolutley covered in greenheads, they keep coming in- we are in awe. Now we have hunted enough together to know the zones of fire and etiquette. Buddy takes left, wife center and me the right. One of us usually doesn't shoot because even tho' the wife can handle a shotgun, she does not shoot as much as we guys do. Of course we compete she does not.
We communicate in silence, some folks its a " take 'em" -nope we just know. Three shooters swiftly mount guns to face, and the snick of safety's off sounds like one, we each have a greenhead,picked to shoot, the dogs are on platform...snick. Safety's on, guns lowered and we just look at one another. The dogs figure we have gone plum crazy. Here comes the Farm hand. We make room on the bench for him ,the thermos's of coffee, the camera and video. We unload and case up the guns, toss old wool blankets kept in the bench seat,over us and the dogs.
We sat for two hours in the snow just taking pictures and videos. Listening to sounds and taking in all the sites. I had the young pup crawl up in my lap, he is taking this all in, he is beginning to understand what hunting is all about.
Back at the cabin we get warmed up , wipe off the guns and feed the dogs. There is indoor plumbing but I teach the pup how to write his name in the snow. I get him to retrieve snowballs. Little fella just curled up in my lap on the drive home in 6 inches of snow and took a nap. From that day on ,that dog had a habit of going nuts when it snowed, he made umpteem trips 'outside" just to write his name in the snow. When he slept he didn't "chase rabbits" in his sleep he was watching them ducks in the snow.
Those pictures were awesome, when the video was replayed the dogs were front and center, people whom viewed the tape never criticized us for not taking a shot. It was understood. Everyone agreed that had to be the best hunt ever. One of the best hunts in a persons lifetime. It was for me.
I awoke in wee hours hours of New Year's Day to the sound of the wind howling, and bits of sleet mixed with rain. Gear was already in the front room, I dressed, grabbed the gear, and coffee to go, headed out. Yep, gonna be a great day for ducks in flooded timber.
" I'd figure I'd see you this morning, you are either nuts or crazy to head out this morning" . "I'm both" I replied to the lady at the 24/7 stop. She bagged my usual " bakers dozen" meaning six glazed donuts and 8 cinnamon twists...I was spoiled...I usually ate one while she bagged the other 13.
My buddy and host lived not far so I just put my gear in his vehicle when I arrived, and walked in like I always do. I heard them before I saw them. Skittering and barking two retrievers s-l-i-d-i-n-g on freshly done hardwood floors. The 'daddy' was a seasoned fella, the little guy had the pedigree, and hard-headedness of the daddy. Though he had done better at trials than obedience school he needed the experience. I respect a man's dogs , but for some reason I attract dogs, they warm up to me, they mind me. So my buddy gives commands, they look at him like he is nuts...I mean they know they are going hunting...no need for formalities,the dogs give that "its just Steve...lets just go" look. Wife keeps a handover her mouth to muffle a laugh, Buddy is kinda ticked " aw hell you tell 'em". I give the command and these two fellas sit and do their impersonation of perfect little choir boys. The daughter, a toddler comes in to give me a hug and snag a donut or two, the dogs won't even budge to go to her as they normally do, they are not even looking up at the donuts. I give the command they go to the toddler, whom promptly shares the donuts. My buddy is shaking his head, wife is laughing and I'm reminded how he hates the thought I can do that, but he is the one that has all that money tied up in obedience school.
Daughter is gonna stay behind with the housekeeper, and the three of us head out. Now the sleet is slacking up but now we have snow, big flakes coming down and hard. We arrive and the farm hand has the cabin all warm and toasty. Outboards are warmed up we get into hip boots while he loads up the flat bottom boats with our gear.
We head out winding our way to a spot in flooded timber, I'm with the farm hand and the younger pup, he really doesn't know what to think of the snow. It is coming down really heavy. We secure the boats he wades off to do the calling, we three are going to sit on the floating bench. We can hear the ducks but we are early for shooting time. Coffee, small talk, enjoying the site. We are dressed well, still we are covered in snow, snow is in the trees, the young pup seems to be listening to his sire about snow and retrieving.
Guns uncased, the dogs perk up,they know what is coming, the shells are loaded , the farm hard plays his music on that call. We are absolutley covered in greenheads, they keep coming in- we are in awe. Now we have hunted enough together to know the zones of fire and etiquette. Buddy takes left, wife center and me the right. One of us usually doesn't shoot because even tho' the wife can handle a shotgun, she does not shoot as much as we guys do. Of course we compete she does not.
We communicate in silence, some folks its a " take 'em" -nope we just know. Three shooters swiftly mount guns to face, and the snick of safety's off sounds like one, we each have a greenhead,picked to shoot, the dogs are on platform...snick. Safety's on, guns lowered and we just look at one another. The dogs figure we have gone plum crazy. Here comes the Farm hand. We make room on the bench for him ,the thermos's of coffee, the camera and video. We unload and case up the guns, toss old wool blankets kept in the bench seat,over us and the dogs.
We sat for two hours in the snow just taking pictures and videos. Listening to sounds and taking in all the sites. I had the young pup crawl up in my lap, he is taking this all in, he is beginning to understand what hunting is all about.
Back at the cabin we get warmed up , wipe off the guns and feed the dogs. There is indoor plumbing but I teach the pup how to write his name in the snow. I get him to retrieve snowballs. Little fella just curled up in my lap on the drive home in 6 inches of snow and took a nap. From that day on ,that dog had a habit of going nuts when it snowed, he made umpteem trips 'outside" just to write his name in the snow. When he slept he didn't "chase rabbits" in his sleep he was watching them ducks in the snow.
Those pictures were awesome, when the video was replayed the dogs were front and center, people whom viewed the tape never criticized us for not taking a shot. It was understood. Everyone agreed that had to be the best hunt ever. One of the best hunts in a persons lifetime. It was for me.
