SIT... STAY!

As I have mentioned in several posts of Waterfowl Gunner. I spend time in the summer with my Lab on exiting and entering the boat. I have done this since he was a pup of 5 months old. Every summer I have to retrain him as he seems reluctant to jump in the first time. This past summer, at age four, it only took three outings for him to be comfortable.

Knowing this, you can imagine my surprise when he leaped from the bow on opening day when the first duck was shot. Huh, I thought he finally has it. After four years of giving him the command to "fetch", followed by words of encouragement, I hated to scold him for "breaking" on the fall of the bird. When he returned I gave him a "good boy". He was as proud as a peacock! When the next bird went down he watch from his perch at the top of the ladder and let out his loud whine, almost a scream, counted to three and jumped in. The loud whine I had grown accustomed to over the years. What it means is that he REALLY wants that bird, but he isn't too fond of jumping in! He usually stops that after about 30 retrieves on the season. He is a funny dog, but he lives to hunt!

Gunner at the ready!

I was encouraged by the fact that even though he whined, he didn't need a second command or coaxing. By the time the first season was coming to a close the loud whine had stopped. He waited at his perch for his turn to retrieve. Occasionally when the ducks or geese are circling and the hunters are calling and chattering, Gunner gets all worked up. He whines and shakes with excitement.

On our Kansas trip we didn't have many birds circle. They came by and came in, or buzzed right on through. Gunner had 73 retrieves on our trip. If he was ever going to get used to getting in and out of a boat, this was his chance! As you might expect, he got used to it alright. So used to in fact that if we let birds land he would take matters into his own hands! We had three mallards coming into the "hole" of our spread, but there were 100 behind them all cupped. We decided to let the three land so we could attempt to decimate the incoming flock. Gunner glanced at me and bolted! I couldn't believe it. The look I got was something like, "Hey, I have seen you guys shoot! Who are you trying to kid? I got this!" This happened three times the last two days. I had to switch gears on my training. Instead of commanding him to leave the boat, now I have to command him to stay. It has been a challenge. He does fine with no birds around and no one calling. The hunting situation provides the excitement that creates the problem. So, I have taken him goose hunting as often as I can. We practice sit stay with his shock collar on. On a few occasions I have not shot at birds so I could focus my attention on Gunner. He is doing much better. The threat of the shock collar has not hurt either! If he moves I give him the tone and repeat "staaaay!"

Sit, Stay seems to be working. On a recent goose hunt, he held his stay nicely as we shot five birds.

A good day afield!

Most recently, being able to sit and stay may have saved his life. We were hunting next to a quarry that had only frozen over the day before. Matt shot a goose that landed on the ice and broke through. If Gunner were unable to restrain himself, it may have been fatal. Owning a Lab can be a challenge, but I couldn't imagine a more loyal or lovable dog!

What should you do in preparation for a duck trip? Take it from Ralphy!

I have had the pleasure of making the acquaintance of a duck hunter named Ralphy. Two weeks after our Kansas trip, Ralphy was not to be out done. He rounded up his posse and decided to head to Missouri. There are several hot spots in the great state of Missouri, not the least of which includes the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers. Grand Pass is a famous wildlife area and one of their target locations.

Ralphy decided he was going, so he got his truck tuned up two days before their scheduled departure. It wasn't running right. The truck was once a nice dual cab Ford 250 diesel. Now its a 2005 truck he uses to plow snow and spread salt in the winter. Mike and Ralphy were riding back from the Ford garage, and Mike noticed that the front end was shaking pretty badly. Mike suggested that the truck, although fairly reliable, was rusted out and did have 260,000 miles on it. Ralphy admitted he didn't know when he had the front end aligned and agreed to let Mike pull his boat. The other Mike on the trip planned tp pull his boat and followed them.

The next day Ralphy showed up in Mike's driveway pulling his boat loaded down with decoys and equipment to the point that it would remind one of a scene out of the "Beverly Hillbilly's". Mike with a look of astonishment said, "Well it looks like you got everything!". Ralphy proudly said, "Yep! I even dug around in my garage and found some pintail decoys." "How did you have time to put lines on them?", the obvious question. Ralphy, "I didn't. I just threw some weights in the bag and brought a roll of kite string that I found in my basement." Mike was ignoring that comment as he looked over the boat and trailer. He didn't remember Ralphy's trailer being so rusted out. Oh well, it was only 5 years old and Ohio road salt is hard on steel trailers.

Well the party met at Mikes and headed down the road. The guys were talking about how inexpensive their licenses were for being out of state. Ralphy announced that he hadn't done that yet so they would have to wait for him to stop in town and pick up a license. However, he did buy a new Mossberg 835 for the trip. "Oh? How does it shoot?", came a question from the back seat. "Oh, I haven't shot it yet!" The group began to see a trend developing about Ralphy's lack of preparation.

The anticipation of how well they would do on their hunt began to build only two hours down the road when suddenly a trailer tire blew out. So Mike pulled off the road, looked it over and said, "Hey Ralphy, where is your spare tire?" "Oh, I usually don't carry one. That is a wasted expense. We can go to a Walmart and buy a new one." So they did. They unhitched the boat, went to a local Walmart and bought s new tire. They were back on the road in just one hour.

The group had forgotten their misfortune when suddenly the trailer went crazy again. Only two hours after the blown tire, a bearing goes out on the trailer. The guys unhitched the boat and headed to a nearby Walmart. On the way, the other Mike said, "When was the last time you changed the bearings in your trailer?" I don't know, was the answer they all was feared, and heard. As it turned out, the Walmart had bearings! However, when they returned to the boat, they discovered that the only bearings they had were the wrong size. Well the group decided to sleep in the car and wait until the Advanced Auto opened in the morning. The other Mike decided to drive on. Bright and early at 7:00 AM the store opened, Ralphy bought some bearings, and by 8:00 the trip was underway!

Believe it or not, the group traveled one hour down the road and the other tire blew out! By this time the duck posse was ready to become a lynch mob! Luckily, just on the other side of Indianapolis there was another Walmart and they were able to replace the tire. You are not going to believe this, but the same tire they just replaced blew out 30 minutes down the road! "What the heck is going on!", Ralphy was beside himself. As it turns out, the fender well was coming loose from the frame and it rubbed the tire clear through! The boys now had to back track to the same Walmart and buy another tire. Ralphy had a plan. To prevent the tire from rubbing on the wheel well, he bought a smaller tire for that side! As Ralphy was changing the tire, again, Mike pointed out, "This tire probably couldn't rub on the wheel well unless it was wobbling. Did you replace the bearings on this side when you replaced the other ones?" "No, I didn't want to replace good bearings. I only bought bearings for one wheel."

In disbelief, the group headed down the road, again! They left home 24 hours ago, and essentially were 6 hours from home. They had a pretty good run going as they made it all the way to St Louis before the other bearings went out. They were able to get bearings and replace them without too much loss of time. When they finally reached their destination they were worn out. They caught up with Mike and spent the night in a motel.

The next day Mike had a spot picked out to hunt, so off they went for the boat ramp. I don't know what they were thinking, but after all that had transpired, I would be wondering what could go wrong next?! They backed Ralphy's boat down into the water, and what do you think happened? You guessed it! It wouldn't start! The bottom line is he had been having trouble with it so he had a friend of a friend look it three days before they left. He thought it was fixed. Instead of fixed, he had to have Mike tow him everywhere he went.

The good news is the six guys did shoot 41 ducks in three days. They did have fum and they had some success. Let's face it, breakdowns do happen. I have been broken down on the side of the road towing a boat before. It is no fun! I also have had boat motor trouble before, more than once, and it is not recommended! Some things, however, are preventable. Regular maintenance is important, and checking tires, bearings, motor efficiency, decoys, weapons and automobile maintenance before a trip is critical to having an enjoyable time. You can get things repaired that break down on the road, but as the Scout Motto says, ""Be Prepared"! It makes a trip so much more enjoyable and relaxing.

Kansas, My Return to the Central Flyway!

It was our first day in Kansas. We really did not have a clue where to hunt. There was so much good looking duck habitat that we were awe struck! It became immediately obvious that a scouting trip was necessary. So we headed out with a few hours of daylight left. We barely made our way 300 yards when we flushed a flock of more than 100 big ducks! "Looks like a good spot to me!" I shouted. We set up there and threw out a couple dozen fakes. Thirty minutes later we watched a big flock of teal land about a quarter mile away. I mumbled in astonishment, "We are going to need more decoys." We had a good evening, but the next day we were prepared!

Our first evening hunt

Knowing that we were hunting public water, we were up long before sunrise. We needed to get to that spot! We beat everyone to the water that morning. We made our way in the dark to "our spot". We set out two spreads of decoys, thirty pintails just to the west of us, and thirty mallards to the east of us with a hole in the middle as a landing zone. We also set up seven mojos. We were rewarded early and often. By eight o'clock we watched several flocks of redheads land in out dekes and fly off. We could not shoot any more of the beautiful divers. We saw large flocks that morning. In an hour and a half we were two ducks short of our three man limit. With a high wind warning in effect, we opted to avoid the coming 55 mile per hour winds and start picking up! What a day! In addition to the redheads, we shot widgeons, gadwalls, scaup, green wing teal, and a canvasback. Add the mallards from our first evening hunt and we harvested seven species! Not a bad start. We assumed that the forecast kept the other hunters home, and that is why we did not see anyone. 

The next day it was pintails! We had multiple big flocks of sprigs swooping in. It was quite a spectacle for some boys from Ohio! We see a few pins and usually shoot one or two, but we never see big flocks like that. Day two also brought mallards, ring necks, goldeneye, a few shovelers and a ruddy duck. We were shocked that we still did not see any other hunters! In Ohio, if you are shooting ducks, you get company and plenty of it! We limited, but not until 10:00. When we got to the ramp we met a local guy and his sons. He was belly aching about how there were no birds yet! They shot 14 ducks and were complaining! They asked where we were from. We said that we made the trip from Ohio. He looked at us in disbelief, "Don't you have ducks in Ohio? What are you guys doing all the way out here!" We explained that we had a terrible first season and our season wasn't open right then anyway.

A couple bull pins and a nice baldpate

On day three there were trucks and trucks with boat trailers in the parking areas. Oh no! We thought! Here come the hoards! We knew it was only a matter of time. Oh well, maybe no one took our spot. We did hear some shots that day, but we could see no one. There was no interference, nobody shooting when ducks were cupped up working our blocks. It was great! There is so much room it is unbelievable! This day brought Spoonies! Hundreds of them! My two companions each shot very nicely plumed drakes, both were stuffed.

At the risk of sounding redundant, just let me say that we did well every day. We collected 13 species of ducks. We hunted rivers, fields, lakes, swamps and all were productive!

Our last day in Kansas

Our merry band of waterfowlers managed to collect 95 ducks, 3 mergansers and a goose in 5 and a half days. We also managed to wear out two Labrador Retrievers.

Gunner (top) and his dad

Not too shabby! The Central Flyway comes through again! I would like to express a special thank you to all the Kansas residents we met. They were kind, friendly and helpful. One gentleman even shared with us the location of his favorite spot. Now that is friendly! To all of you who are unfamiliar with Kansas, I highly recommend Cheyenne Bottoms Wildlife Area! It's the bomb!

The Texas Duck Circus

My buddy Greg was on his way out the door to go see a movie when he glanced at the calendar. Oh my! Bill's plane is landing today, as in right now!" he yelled. Out the door he went and off the airport. I gathered my gun case and luggage from the baggage claim area and headed outside. I was there for only seconds when my friend pulled up and said, "Ready to go?" Totally in the dark about how close I came to spending hours at the airport, I jumped in and said, "Now that's service!"

We had just enough time that evening to make the trip from San Antonio to Three Rivers, Texas. We gathered our tools of the trade, hooked up the boat and made the 80 mile excursion to Choke Canyon Resevoir. We only had about an hour and a half to hunt. I asked Greg if he thought we had enough time. He was rather cocky in his response that we had more than enough! He was right. It was unreal. We had our limit in 45 minutes! This included the circus of the revolving ducks!

At one point we were shooting ducks so fast that Greg's yellow lab, Gator, had a difficult time keeping up with the retrieves! Greg made the comment that we should be over half way to our limit. I reached down to grab more shells just in time to see Gator drop a gadwall in the bottom of the boat. Gator then ran out the back of the 17 foot jon boat and jumped in after another bird. At the same time the feathered Houdini, with a broken wing, ran out the front of the boat! I quickly surveyed the duck pile, and to my surprise only found five ducks! I loaded my gun in time to finish off the escapee! Gator was able to retrieve two other "would be" escape artists. What a circus! I learned to pay closer attention after that! After all, Gator was busy enough retrieving our birds without having to do it twice! He was happy as could be. He loved every second of it as any good retriever would!

We added five different species to the duck pile that evening. I was impressed, but more impressed as we harvested 11 species total in three days! That just does not happen in Ohio!

I made four trips to Texas to hunt ducks and was never disappointed! I brought back a beautifully plumed blue wing teal that we will never see in an Ohio autumn. The taxidermist also mounted a Ross's goose, and the best gadwall drake that I have ever seen! We shot our limit of ducks each day the first three years. The last trip was slower, but the last day we were there, the flights arrived. We harvested a three man limit in two and a half hours. I vowed that I would return to the Central Flyway, if not to Texas!