I've been trying to get my boykin, Jesse, some actually hunt/retrieval time experience this year, but we've not had much luck. We don't have any really decent spots nearby, the weather has been uncooperative, and my shooting at the few birds we have had a chance at, has been less than stellar. Well, I was sure fate had once again stepped in to ruin our last day hunt. The place I'd planned to hunt up in Warren County became unavailable. I thought about going over to family land in Bladen County, but I was just too pooped after work yesterday to make the drive.
I'd scouted a beautiful beaver pond in the Croatan one afternoon last weekend. Not much sign of ducks, or of folks hunting it, but I just couldn't imagine such a beautiful waterhole not attracting some ducks. So, I made the decision to make a rather long walk in to this untested site.
We made it in with plenty of time to spare. I heard a few "honks" from some geese upstream. "Well, that was something unexpected" I though. We waited, but no ducks at shooting light. It was a good while before any ducks showed up, and when they did, they came and went before I had a chance to even get my gun up. After another long wait, I decided to walk over to a "pinch point" in the pond, where the land on either side was closest to each other. Suddenly, here came the geese. I missed the first batch, but dropped one in the second batch. It fell about 10 feet out in the water. Jesse went after it, but it was still splashing around, and he gave up and headed back to me. By the time he got back, the goose had died, so I sent Jesse back. He grabbed the goose by the wing, and hauled him to shore. Not a fantastic retrieve by any means, but he did his job and I am very proud of him.
Sorry folks. I've wasted over an hour trying to get the photo to post. Can't do it from my computer or a hosting site. Something has changed.
I'd scouted a beautiful beaver pond in the Croatan one afternoon last weekend. Not much sign of ducks, or of folks hunting it, but I just couldn't imagine such a beautiful waterhole not attracting some ducks. So, I made the decision to make a rather long walk in to this untested site.
We made it in with plenty of time to spare. I heard a few "honks" from some geese upstream. "Well, that was something unexpected" I though. We waited, but no ducks at shooting light. It was a good while before any ducks showed up, and when they did, they came and went before I had a chance to even get my gun up. After another long wait, I decided to walk over to a "pinch point" in the pond, where the land on either side was closest to each other. Suddenly, here came the geese. I missed the first batch, but dropped one in the second batch. It fell about 10 feet out in the water. Jesse went after it, but it was still splashing around, and he gave up and headed back to me. By the time he got back, the goose had died, so I sent Jesse back. He grabbed the goose by the wing, and hauled him to shore. Not a fantastic retrieve by any means, but he did his job and I am very proud of him.
Sorry folks. I've wasted over an hour trying to get the photo to post. Can't do it from my computer or a hosting site. Something has changed.
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