Tuesday am Ducks

After watching the Steelers win last night, we got up this am ready to whack some ducks. The spot where we saw the most ducks yesterday (which is the same spot we used to shoot 2 limits last year) was under 2' of water when we got there. This didn't prevent us from using it, it just made it more difficult/challenging. We set a dozen decoys, with 3 on a jerk string and were set up and ready about 15 min. before shooting time arrived. Just before legal shooting time, Maggie acted very 'un-Maggie like' and twice broke off-of her retriever stand and chased 2 different groups of ducks that landed within a few yards of our seats, thus scaring them away. Watching that behavior, I don't know how we degenerated from GMHR to this, so fast... She was disciplined the first time & severely disciplined the second time. I hope we will not see a repeat of this behavior, because to further escalate any punishment would mean that she'll be hurt or drowned. Needless to say, I was not happy. Other than that, she had a good day. As the morning quickly dawned (high sky, 50 degrees, 10+mph wind), it became quickly apparent that there wasn't going to be much flying today. When Dan needed to go back to dry land to get his sunglasses, I had some birds come in & I shot a drake Gadwall and a drake BW Teal & Mag picked them up as a single mark, and a nice blind that terminated into a 'hunt-em-up' in the cattails on the shore (about 100 yards from me). She did a great job on both birds. While we were separated, Dan shot1 drake BW Teal that expired close enough for him to get himself. After reuniting, we decided to pull the decoys and jump shoot the back part of the wetland complex before heading to the truck. During that time Dan shot a triple on flushing BW Teal. Mag and I were across the marsh and she later picked up a drake and a hen of those 3. The 3rd bird was hit, but swam away before Dan could get another shot on it to finish it.
This would also be a good time to note that our "cripple gun" (my pheasant gun outfitted with Trulock EF Turkey Chokes and #7 steel shot) is working well. Its only limitation is that we are only able to use it when hunting on dry land and have a place to set it down when not in use. Also, our decoys are fantastic! Anyone who is looking for the best & most durable decoys you've ever seen should call Jamie Milsaps at Decoyflocker.com. I'll try to grab a couple close-up pics later in the week... These are fully-flocked, foam-filled life size decoys that look so close to the real thing you have to be careful not to shoot them!

We got our ducks cleaned, ate some lunch, and are now headed out to scout some pheasant spots and hopefully kill some birds for Winnie and Jax.