WOW it's been a while

So I'll have to start with the last of the goose hunts that didn't end up here. I had a field that always fills up late season and usually provides a great shoot. So I called Mike up and set up the hunt. We got to the field about daybreak and got set up, the first day took a while for the geese to fly but we eventually got our limit.

 Day 2: I believe we got there about the same time got the decoys set up, the only bad part about this day is the constant wind change. The really cool thing was all the ducks we saw and had land in the spread. I can only say WOW they were mostly mallards, but there were also pintails and wigeon flying and landing. Mike got some really great pics and video of the ducks, unfortunately, he has yet to get them to me. When I do get them they will go here:



Here's the hero pic of day 2:

Now here we are after all the snow's gone and goose season is just a memory. March had me finishing up the painting in the house and getting the carpets put in. So with all that I didn't get to start working on my boat until April and of course, Turkey season is in April.
I got drawn for the third year in a row on Mississinewa, which is really unheard of. Here's how my draw went: I had an idea of where I wanted to start this year. I wanted to chase the bird that gave me the slip last year.
So I set up on the first day at the end of a field that I knew the Tom frequented with his entourage. I heard 3 different gobbles the first morning and try as I may all I could do is listen as my target bird followed his lady friend through the woods across the road through the bush and out into the private field. So I gave it a couple hours before breaking down my set up and chasing the bird that I heard gobble across the river. I looked at the map and put together a game plan to find the bird that I had only heard that morning. Well, I found myself on the opposite side of the river on an island with only a walkway to get out there looking for the bird I had heard. After checking the upper field I found the bird on a lower field with 2 other birds. He was at least 300 yards from me just strutting to beat the band. So with only a half hour left before I had to be out of the field. I decided instead of putting a stalk on the bird and possibly buggering him out there. I was going to head for the house and get back here in the a.m. and set up on this Tom.
Day 2:
I get down to the field and set up in the very a.m. as the sun starts to come up and the forest starts to come alive I realize the bird I am hunting is gobbling on the other side of the road, at least 800 yards away. So it just became a waiting game with me waiting for the birds to hopefully come back to the island to spend the...BANG...BANG..... crap that was the shot that ended my bird's life... So for the rest of the day, I just tried to formulate a plan for the last day while setting up here and there for an hour or so apiece.
Day 3:
Day 3 started by me getting pulled over by one of Angola's finest because I didn't use a turn signal. After saying Hi and the nice officer wishing me luck I was back on the road with just a warning. I got off the freeway and stopped at the gas station just as I had the last 2 days (it's a 2-hour drive one way) to get gas. As I was leaving and getting back on the road I thought I had heard something hit the back of the car, I looked back and saw nothing. I got 3-5 miles down the road and realized I didn't have my wallet in the car, yep the thud was my wallet flying off the roof hitting the trunk and landing on the ground. So I turned around went back to the gas station and slowly drove in the middle lane until I found my wallet. Fortunately it was only 4 a.m. so there were hardly any cars on the road. So that was lucky #2 for the day, with my wallet back in the car I headed to Mississinewa.
I set up on the field to the right of the field I set up on the first day hoping to catch the birds passing through as they did day one. Well, I heard 4 different gobbles and only one was interested in me. I talked to the Tom for the better part of 2 hours before I realized he was across the creek and wasn't going to cross. So I packed up my gear and drove around to try and get closer and start the conversation all over again.
Well, on my way to the parking spot I saw one Tom in a field to my right and went passed another field to my left and saw 3 more birds one was in full strut. So I turned around drove a couple hundred yards to a different parking spot and started the long walk to get in position to start to work this Tom.
Well, I quickly learned that one of the birds with the strutter was a hen. There is very little chance to pull him away from her, and I only had 2 hours to make it happen, so I was forced into stalk mode again.

This started out with a 75 yard crawl on my hands and knees all the while keeping a tree with a clump of crap at the base between me and 2 of the birds. I had lost track of the third bird. When I got to the fencerow I realized that there were more holes in the crap cover than I had originally thought, and the hen ended up spotting me and running to the end of the field. I can only assume the Tom followed cause I no longer saw either bird in the field. I thought the hunt was over, so I stood up and walked slowly and kinda quietly to get to a spot to see through to the end of the field. Holy crap there's a strutter still in the field, I saw the tip of his fan over the crap in the fencerow, so back into stalk mode. I crouch walked slow and picked my footfalls very carefully for another 75 yards or so. Finally I got up to were I thought if I see him I can make the shot, I only had a very small hold in the bulldozed crap to see through and he walked right into it. So I put the red dot of my newly fashioned "Frankengun" on his head and squeezed the trigger.
Can't stop the flop.  

He was a 2 year old with 3/4" spurs and the first bird I have shot with a double beard. The main beard is 9" the second beard unfortunately has only 3 hairs and only one was 9", so even though he technically had 2 beards it's tough to count it. Getting this Tom with only an hour to spare was my lucky #3.
All my lucky helped me all day.

I played 3 tickets apiece on the Mega and Powerball since my luck should've run the rest of the day. I haven't checked 'em yet but am sure they are winners and as I type this I am sure I am a Millionare. Don't worry though I won't forget about all you little people.

By the way, the boat is done enough to be fishable and I had it out this week for a shake out cruise on an area lake, and everything actually worked like it was supposed to. We didn't catch a fish but that really wasn't the objective for the day. Although it sure would've been nice.

I'll check my tickets next week after work, I'll be wearing my lucky hat. 😎

still sick

Even though I've been sick for the last couple weeks I did finish my turkey/coyote gun.

From this:

To this:

had to name it

Pretty happy with the new gun, I haven't shot it yet but it should be a great gun. I put a 20" barrel on it I got off of eBay, switched the stock out to a Blackhawk recoil reducing stock and got the block laser engraved with the name. The only bad thing is I had to scale back my ammo from 3 1/2 to 3" rounds, the new stock won't handle the 3 1/2" rounds. Fortunately, Winchester's new turkey rounds should make up any difference that I may have lost with the downsizing.

Quick and sad

Went out coyote hunting yesterday, we hunted hard all day. We saw owls, hawks, deers, many trees and alot of snow. We didn't however, see any coyotes until the very last stand. I had a coyote come in @ around 100' got coyote fever and pulled the shot. So one shot no coyote for me, this far I am 1 for 3 as far as coyotes go. Missing happens but I should be putting more fur down with all the opportunities I have been granted this year. 😡😡😡

I am alive and have been getting out.

Alright, so I have been out a handful of times since my last post. For those who don't know I have been going through a rather tough year, which left me in a new house that I am doing some work on that takes up alot of my time.
Anyway, on to the good stuff, I have been chasing geese and coyotes over the last couple months and have had some luck.
The first hunt was back in November with myself and Mike. We hunted a field of corn half picked and half standing- which makes for a great hunt. The geese don't have any problems with cruising right over the top of the corn and landing within feet of it. If anything it could be said they fly and land too close, at least that's what I'm going with. We should've had limit, we certainly had the geese.

 It was pretty nasty but the better excuse was the geese were too close.
The next hunt was the next day and was in a field that we would've hunted this day if I couldn't get permission. So having two good fields and two days to hunt them found me in the other field the following day. Unfortunately, Mike couldn't make it and Sean was busy so I was solo. The day was pretty warm and uneventful until it got closer to sunset, then the fun started. I had ducks and geese landing in the decoys. Of course, that didn't last long with me shooting at them, it's amazing how quickly they figure out where the bad spot to land is. The bad news was they all pretty much came at the same time, so once the shooting started I had to make it count.

 I did drop another goose that I had to go get after this pic was taken, so that made 2 geese and 2 ducks.
So as many of you were aware we had a cold snap the last couple weeks. With that came the geese moving out, and the idea of coyote hunting took priority. So Sean and I headed to Salamonie to try our luck. Luck was with us when it came to seeing the coyotes. As far as shooting went, well there were some issues.
The first coyote came in on our 2nd stand and I was the one shooting.When he entered the field it looked as though he was going to stop at any moment so I didn't feel the need to try and stop him. Unfortunately, he kept a steady lope across the field, I launched the first round when he was around a hundred out. Miss. When my call switched over to pup in distress he checked up around 150. Miss. Then it was off to the races again before he got out of the field I threw one more at him. Miss. Then the unbelievable remorse started, from my experience on these public properties if you see one coyote a season it's been a really good season. So to just have blown my first and in my mind only encounter this year was devastating.
After a few more stands and kicking myself the whole time we got to a spot that I always call but have never seen a yote at. After the 11 min mark, I saw movement across the grass swale and had a coyote heading my way. Sean was to my left and I didn't think he could see the coyote headed down the trail in my direction. So I waited until he was clear of the scrub tree line and squeezed the trigger on the dog stopping him in his tracks. That's when I noticed the other 2 coyotes that were behind him. Well, the shot wasn't perfect so he was yelping and the caller had switched to pup in distress, and I was hoping Sean would be able to get one of the other yotes as they head for the hills. After it was all said and done I asked him what had happened, he said he hadn't racked his first round in forcefully enough. So he had actually been hunting all day with a gun that wouldn't fire. I thought that was kinda funny, he not so much.
Anyway, for the day I saw 4 which I have never seen that many in a day, with 3 on one stand is just awesome. One got to ride in the truck, in the back of course.

It was a pretty big dog and a very long haul I was a little warm.
This week, the warm temps had returned, so it was back to the fields for some geese. I had a field that had around 300 geese in it. So since the next day was going to be warm (30's) and foggy I thought I would have some time to get some errands done in town before I had to be set up for the first flock. Boy was I wrong by the time I got to my field at 10:30 and it was already covered in geese. So I switched from a decoyed shoot to a pass shoot in a matter of seconds. I parked the truck grabbed my sled, gun, shells, and clothes and walked across a different field I have permission on. I found a good spot on the edge of the field to put the sled down and lay in it to wait for an unsuspecting flock to fly within range. It took a couple hours but that very thing finally happened with 4 birds flying in range. After 3 shots I had 2 geese down, and I was pretty happy with that considering the other 296 geese flew to the North and South after the shots were fired. So I picked up the close goose, pulled the sled with the gear and goose to the path and walked up to retrieve the other goose. I got up to him and started back, when I got halfway back there were at least another 75 geese that took flight. I knelt on the path and waited for an opportunity at my limit goose. One goose got too close and joined his buddies on the ride home in the bed of the truck.

So there you have it, all caught up as of this week. Since I only have the bedrooms and baths to paint and I'm getting settled into the new house, there should be a more steady supply of stories coming your way.
Looks like next week is going to be a little colder so back to chasing the coyotes, and maybe a bonus afternoon goose hunt if I'm lucky.

a forgotten hunt and yesterdays hunt

I just saw these pics of an early season goose hunt this year. We weren't out that long and only had the one goose come in, but Mike grounded it.

When you only get one goose you're required to spread him out to make it look larger. 😉

Yesterday was the beginning of fall turkey season, so I packed up my gear and headed to my buddies place for a morning hunt. After only hearing a hen yelp twice from sunup until 11 am I decided to head home, get some lunch and put up a boob light.

After I had lunch I installed the light and left for my hunting spot around 2pm. I put out my one decoy, set up my chair and promptly started to snooze in the midday sun. I opened my eyes to see a turkey rounding the far corner of the path, only to watch him turn around and go back the way he came. A couple of putts from my mouth call brought him back out and into the danger zone. One shot rang out and the bird disappeared, I got up started running down the path, tripped over the log that lay across the path, did a barrel roll got back to my feet only to watch a turkey fly away. I felt a little sick until I got to where the bird was lying dead on the path. So I gathered up my prize and the rest of my gear and headed to my car.

 This was last years jake, notice the 3 shorter tail feathers. He had 3/4" spurs a 7 1/2" beard and weighed around 20 pounds. This is the bird that I'll cut up and cook the parts instead of putting the whole bird into roast. I already have my spring bird froze for Thanksgiving.