Bird Hunting 2018-2019

[John-Boy]

Would someone please take me bird hunting?

Sure. We're going to go trap shooting first, though. Personal thing.

See you next weekend. Do you need a list of local hostelries?

You mean to see if I'm gonna go Cheney on you?

I like trap shooting, though I haven't been in at least 10 years (maybe I, kidding myself and I didn't really like it that much... but I think I did). I don't have a fancy gun. I can do some etching with a Dremel on my 870 if that will help me fit in.

[John-Boy]

Would someone please take me bird hunting?

Sorry no can do...today is the last day of Grouse season here.

Currently duck, goose, dove, and woodcock season in the Free State. Come over and show me the ropes.

[sweetandsour]

Good morning this morning but I could not hit the side of a barn. Lacy did well though. I took this video of one retrieve, and when she's almost to the blind my grandson sees ducks out front and blows his call. At the sound of the call Lacy turns to look, and suddenly the ducks are there, my grandson shoots and drops one while I'm dropping my phone and scrambling to get my gun to my shoulder. Fun morning, and now I have ducks for the Thanksgiving grill.

https://youtu.be/DflyqaDm08g

[Bloodhound]

Good morning this morning but I could not hit the side of a barn. Lacy did well though. I took this video of one retrieve, and when she's almost to the blind my grandson sees ducks out front and blows his call. At the sound of the call Lacy turns to look, and suddenly the ducks are there, my grandson shoots and drops one while I'm dropping my phone and scrambling to get my gun to my shoulder. Fun morning, and now I have ducks for the Thanksgiving grill.

https://youtu.be/DflyqaDm08g

Looks like a good morning for sure! I feel the same way about kids hunting as FredS feels about them fishing...

[hugodrax]

Would someone please take me bird hunting?

Sure. We're going to go trap shooting first, though. Personal thing.

See you next weekend. Do you need a list of local hostelries?

You mean to see if I'm gonna go Cheney on you?

I like trap shooting, though I haven't been in at least 10 years (maybe I, kidding myself and I didn't really like it that much... but I think I did). I don't have a fancy gun. I can do some etching with a Dremel on my 870 if that will help me fit in.

I wouldnt put it like that, but yes, that's the general gist. Familiarizing yourself with the equipment is how I'd have said it.

I hunt with a Baikal 20 gauge that makes your 870 look like the fine piece of technology it actually is.

[FredS]

Good morning this morning but I could not hit the side of a barn. Lacy did well though. I took this video of one retrieve, and when she's almost to the blind my grandson sees ducks out front and blows his call. At the sound of the call Lacy turns to look, and suddenly the ducks are there, my grandson shoots and drops one while I'm dropping my phone and scrambling to get my gun to my shoulder. Fun morning, and now I have ducks for the Thanksgiving grill.

https://youtu.be/DflyqaDm08g

Looks like a good morning for sure! I feel the same way about kids hunting as FredS feels about them fishing...

Two things:

1. I suppose I just like seeing kids in the outdoors as participants rather than observers. We lose a lot to other pursuits (often about the time they start noticing the opposite sex) but seeing a teenager go out on their own - without dad or an uncle or grandfather - is even better than seeing them alongside their mentors. And when they start swinging by to pick up the old man like Tim and Jim's grandsons do and like Gabriel's girl no doubt will, well that's just about the best thing ever.

B. I watched S&S's video before reading his post and was gobsmacked that the dog dropped the bird so she could turn to mark others as they were shot. I watched it 3 times to make sure I saw what I thought I saw. I've never worked over a dog that smart.

4. The 870 is the finest filed gun every made. I've owned many, but my favorite was a gift from my pops on my 16th birthday. 41 years later and it's works as well as ever. It's never, not once jammed or given me a problem. And I'm talking over hundreds of waterfowl hunts. Upland hunting is genteel compared to the mud and ice and just general slop that is Midwestern water fowling. It's a 20ga so it's not great for long range pheasants or high flying late-season geese, but I've always had a difficult time leaving it home.

[Thunktank]

Speaking of 870s I have two of them, one youth 20 gauge and one 12 gauge express. The express is smooth, not as smooth as the Remington 31, but then again nothing else is. Anyway, I asked Son1 on Saturday which shotgun he wanted to carry quail hunting. He replied that he wanted to take the 12 gauge 870. I reminded him that it was heavier than the 20 and 16 gauges I have and that we would be climbing a mountain and the Browning 16 gauge was ambidextrous, considering that he’s left handed. It didn’t matter to him, he said the 870 shoots better for him. I couldn’t argue with him on that point.

Unfortunately, I came down with a bug by Saturday evening, complete with a fever. We rescheduled for Friday. At least he has time off this week. I may sneak out on Wednesday too just because I’m just going stir crazy for not getting out.

[sweetandsour]

Good morning this morning but I could not hit the side of a barn. Lacy did well though. I took this video of one retrieve, and when she's almost to the blind my grandson sees ducks out front and blows his call. At the sound of the call Lacy turns to look, and suddenly the ducks are there, my grandson shoots and drops one while I'm dropping my phone and scrambling to get my gun to my shoulder. Fun morning, and now I have ducks for the Thanksgiving grill.

https://youtu.be/DflyqaDm08g

Looks like a good morning for sure! I feel the same way about kids hunting as FredS feels about them fishing...

Two things:

1. I suppose I just like seeing kids in the outdoors as participants rather than observers. We lose a lot to other pursuits (often about the time they start noticing the opposite sex) but seeing a teenager go out on their own - without dad or an uncle or grandfather - is even better than seeing them alongside their mentors. And when they start swinging by to pick up the old man like Tim and Jim's grandsons do and like Gabriel's girl no doubt will, well that's just about the best thing ever.

B. I watched S&S's video before reading his post and was gobsmacked that the dog dropped the bird so she could turn to mark others as they were shot. I watched it 3 times to make sure I saw what I thought I saw. I've never worked over a dog that smart.

4. The 870 is the finest filed gun every made. I've owned many, but my favorite was a gift from my pops on my 16th birthday. 41 years later and it's works as well as ever. It's never, not once jammed or given me a problem. And I'm talking over hundreds of waterfowl hunts. Upland hunting is genteel compared to the mud and ice and just general slop that is Midwestern water fowling. It's a 20ga so it's not great for long range pheasants or high flying late-season geese, but I've always had a difficult time leaving it home.

Thanks guys. That's my grandson's pup, 1-1/2 yr old, and she's figuring things out very quickly. She loves the marsh and water, and ducks, and already watches the sky for them.
It really was a magical morning. Misty, with occasional rain, but not enough rain to put my pipe out. In the pre-shooting time dark and fog, nutrea rat screams we're more spooky than usual. With the low ceiling, we could hear geese flying overhead but couldn't see them in the fog. We somehow resisted the urge to fire up through the fog at the sounds, and somehow hope to hit the lottery by suddenly seeing a goose fall through the fog and hit the water with a gigantic splash. At one point we even had a hummingbird buzzing around the blind. At around 9 the fog had lifted and we could see heavy rain coming across the marsh headed our way, so we picked up and headed back in, getting back to the boat ramp before the bottom dropped out.
Some brunch of bacon, eggs, rolls and coffee, and ducks to clean and a couple of chores, and then hit the sun room couch. I'm just now waking up, in time to clean up for dinner. Monday, Monday, so good to me.

[JimVH]

From Texas Parks and Wildlife FB page. Just a cool pic.

Happy Thanksgiving.

[durangopipe]

From Texas Parks and Wildlife FB page. Just a cool pic.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Yes, Happy Thanksgiving to all and theirs.

Love your video, Tim.

Your photo reminds me of a few years ago in Kansas, Jim, when there seemed to be wild turkeys everywhere when we were hunting pheasant and quail.

Some of the dogs actually pointed them, and they’d flush like an Apollo moon launch startling the crap out of you. Weirdest bird hunt I’d ever been on. And strangely, it was only that one year.

Regarding the 870 ...

I hunted with a 12ga. fixed choke Wingmaster for most of my early days. Hunted everything with it. It had a modified choke. Much later, when they became available, I bought a light contour barrel with screw in chokes for it. I loved that gun. It was slicker than snot and easily cycled as fast as any autoloader.

I would imagine that in America more birds have been taken and more clays broken with an 870 over the years than any other shotgun.

Every now and then I look longingly at an 870 in 410 (I haven’t owned a 410 since I was a kid). But my gun safe is almost as embarrassing as my pipe cabinet and I’ve so far been able to resist the urge.

[Thunktank]

I took Son1 and the dogs walking with shotguns today. Didn’t see a thing, but it was a good day anyway.

[sweetandsour]

Went on a snipe hunt with my oldest grandson and his retriever this afternoon. We walked about 2 miles according to fitbit.



It was pretty sloppy wet pasture, which lent itself to hard walking and difficult-to-find downed birds. The retriever really came in handy, and we lost no birds. This is my first snipe of the season.



And just in case anyone wanted something to scare roaches, rats or other varmits, here's a pic of an old man in old clothes and weathered hat, and an old Beretta gun, with a limit of 8 snipe. He's pretty tired, but it was a good hunt and a great afternoon.

[sweetandsour]

A few days ago, here's Lacy (1-1/2 yrs old) bringing a teal into the blind. She's an awesome pup.



And, it isn't every day one bags a goldeneye. (Yes, that's a smiling mallard laying beside it.)

[FredS]

No cats though?

[sweetandsour]

No cats though?

Uh, sorry, no cats. ???

[FredS]

No cats though?

Uh, sorry, no cats. ???

I s'pect you're wise enough to stay the heck out of the theology room so my post makes no sense. There's currently a thread there about the ethicacy of eating meat. I wondered - in jest? - if it was OK to kill and eat cats.

[Bloodhound]

Tim
Great pics and thanks for sharing. The pup looks like she is having the time of her life. The old guy looks pretty happy too.

I am getting the itch to go chase ditch chickens, but that will have to wait for the end of Jan. I have a goose hunt set for Jan 12th.

I have to add to the 870 comments too...Not many guns better than the old Wingmasters. The quality control has really dropped off in the recent history.

My son-in-law has had to return his 870 Express 2 times. The last time, about 2 months ago, the service shop gunsmith said he just went through it and replaced the "stamped pot metal parts" with new old stock parts and he believed that the gun would now, "run forever...like an 870 was supposed to". The son-in-law was very pleased to get it back and better than it was new. I was going to find him a nice older Wingmaster, but my daughter wanted it to be a brand new gun, Christmas gift, so we went to a Walmart and bought him a new 12ga 870 Express.

[sweetandsour]

No cats though?

Uh, sorry, no cats. ???

I s'pect you're wise enough to stay the heck out of the theology room so my post makes no sense. There's currently a thread there about the ethicacy of eating meat. I wondered - in jest? - if it was OK to kill and eat cats.

Thanks for the info. In fact I was telling my wife just last night that when I don't get posts, typically it's because it's a reference to threads that I haven't looked at. In that regard, initially, I thought perhaps it was a reference to Goose demanding equal posts for cats, as for dogs.
Anyway, wrt cats, personally I think it's perfectly acceptable to kill feral cats, but I wouldn't eat one unless it was dire circumstances, etc. (Feral = not in a house.).

[John-Boy]

No cats though?

Uh, sorry, no cats. ???

I s'pect you're wise enough to stay the heck out of the theology room so my post makes no sense. There's currently a thread there about the ethicacy of eating meat. I wondered - in jest? - if it was OK to kill and eat cats.

Thanks for the info. In fact I was telling my wife just last night that when I don't get posts, typically it's because it's a reference to threads that I haven't looked at. In that regard, initially, I thought perhaps it was a reference to Goose demanding equal posts for cats, as for dogs.
Anyway, wrt cats, personally I think it's perfectly acceptable to kill feral cats, but I wouldn't eat one unless it was dire circumstances, etc. (Feral = not in a house.).

And to be clear, FredS, yes, as long as it's in jest, it's fine to kill and eat cats.

[sweetandsour]

Tim
Great pics and thanks for sharing. The pup looks like she is having the time of her life. The old guy looks pretty happy too.

I am getting the itch to go chase ditch chickens, but that will have to wait for the end of Jan. I have a goose hunt set for Jan 12th.

I have to add to the 870 comments too...Not many guns better than the old Wingmasters. The quality control has really dropped off in the recent history.

My son-in-law has had to return his 870 Express 2 times. The last time, about 2 months ago, the service shop gunsmith said he just went through it and replaced the "stamped pot metal parts" with new old stock parts and he believed that the gun would now, "run forever...like an 870 was supposed to". The son-in-law was very pleased to get it back and better than it was new. I was going to find him a nice older Wingmaster, but my daughter wanted it to be a brand new gun, Christmas gift, so we went to a Walmart and bought him a new 12ga 870 Express.

Scott, where is your goose hunt? I presume you're after Canada Geese? Or are the snow geese still up there in January?

WRT the "Express 870s", especially since ~2000, I've considered them as doorbusters, in every sense of the word. Wingmasters, especially the older ones, are definitely a cut above. My Wingmaster is from early 90s and has had no issues, with rough treatment. A great gun.