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Jack Cronkhite
11-12-2010, 11:59 PM
Warfarin has kicked in. Doc says don't change your lifestyle, just be careful to not cut yourself or inflict trauma to the old body. I took that as permission to get back to chasing roosters.

First off, I have to say I'm lucky to have an understanding wife. I had arranged with a friend to accompany me to see if we could find some roosters. No solo hunting for me for the rest of this season. He had to cancel. I thought about trying some other guys but it was last minute stuff. Kay said she would go along, provided it was not an early morning departure. That was no problem, as I have not headed out for the last couple years much before 10AM. As it turned out, she and I left home at 11:45 and arrived in pheasant country at 1:00.
First stop, the birds were there but left the hedge row long before I was close enough to consider shooting. Worked the area for a while but they had all cleared out, so I headed off to the creek, where most had gone. Saw lots of tracks and wing/tail scuffs in the snow but didn't flush anything. Spent about an hour there.
Second stop was isolated cover that is about 200 yards long and 40-50 yards wide at the widest point. Snow was deep, so I picked one side and CHARLIE and KYRA got interested. A flock of huns and a single sharptail departed from the opposite side and were a long ways out. CHARLIE continued into the general area they had left and got quite intense around a bit of brush. A nice rooster popped out and I wasted two shots. It carried on for half a mile and went across a creek, so I did not bother to see about another chance.
Third stop was a good long hike along a creek, railroad tracks with an old elevator and some stubble fields. A few hens here and there and a lovely rooster with a long tail, the kind that flaps behind as it takes off. He was over a hundred yards out in the field and flew to the opposite side of the creek. A few more hens. I'm on the return and getting within a quarter mile of the car and CHARLIE put a nice rooster out of rose bushes. Dropped it dead with the full choke barrel at 40 yards. A little further along, more birds but no shots and then another rooster out of the rose bushes and right at me. I used the mod barrel first and thought a pellet or two had connected. Followed that with the full choke and he wobbled. Flew about another 60/70 yards and dropped dead. Hit the ice of the creek and slid to the other bank. That wasn't great because the ice was way to thin for CHARLIE. Found a spot that had potential to get across but it was touch and go. I made the jump and broke through but just got a wet foot. Got the bird and came back to the "crossing". It was not the same jump from the opposite side. This time, I got wet to the waist. Quick change of clothes at the car and headed for home.
A nice rooster crossed the road in front of us and dropped into some brush along the creek bank. There was still lots of shooting light left. Kay thought we should leave him for another day. I was nice and toasty warm in the car and agreed. We got home about 6:30. Very enjoyable day for me and I'm sure Kay enjoyed music and reading while keeping an eye on me so she would know where to direct EMS ! Gotta love a girl like that!!
So, a new to me VH saw five shots today (2 1/2" #7 Gamebore "Pure Gold" from England) and collected two nice roosters.
The damascus GHE stayed cased today, as I wanted to try the "new" gun. Still prefer the GHE, it fits me nicely but today's roosters will taste just fine, regardless of which shootin' iron delivered the payload.

Cheers,
Jack

CHARLIE reacts to missing with both barrels, especially after such tough slogging.

calvin humburg
11-13-2010, 06:43 AM
Glad to here that Jack!

Dave Suponski
11-13-2010, 08:32 AM
Glad to see you are back at it Jack. Sounds like a good day!

Richard Flanders
11-13-2010, 10:40 AM
Good on you Jack. Look forward to many more stories from your direction.

james van blaricum
11-13-2010, 01:27 PM
Glad you were able to get out, Jack. I had to miss the opening of pheasant season in Kansas and a trip to South Dakoda because of a knee. I had a knee replaced two yr ago and it has never done very well, so I had them operate it again and clean up the knee cap. that was last month. Was doing real well and the incision pulled open and had to go back in and have it sutured again, Seems like the staples pulled out. So now I am back in rehab and everything is on hold. One does not realize how much you miss an event until you can't partisipate . Next year. JVB

Jack Cronkhite
11-13-2010, 01:36 PM
James: Here's hoping the knee works out for you and that you can double your hunting time next season to make up for this one.
Cheers,
Jack

Rich Anderson
11-13-2010, 08:22 PM
Jack good to hear your back in the field. Don't over due it just enjoy each hour your there. Better to take it slow and steady and be able to do it again.

I pushed the bad foot Friday, gimped around for two and half hours this am and am paying for it now in a big way:cuss:

Jack Cronkhite
11-13-2010, 08:30 PM
Good advice. Sure hope that foot heals up for you. Tough when one is addicted to the hunt. I think many here can relate to "gimping" around and paying for it later. The older we get the more we can succumb to something or other that lets us know we aren't kids any more. I was indeed taking it easy yesterday, right up until I had a dead rooster in a bad spot for retrieval. Not sure the Doc knew what my lifestyle included when he said I need not change anything. A dunk in the creek when all around is snow and thin ice is not quite the norm but I do believe in the game laws and had to make every effort to retrieve dead game.

Cheers,
Jack

Rich Anderson
11-13-2010, 08:58 PM
Your retrieval efforts are to be applauded. A dunk in the frozen creek is no fun and at least you had warm cloths back at the car. Many many years ago when I was in college I hunted waterfowl a lot. One day we broke ice to get out on Saginaw Bay. This is a draw type hunt so we were there at 5am.

Being 25 and bullet proof we had closed the bar the night befor and after a greasy breakfast decided we could make the draw so off we went. We were in a flodded corn field and after the decoys were set that undeniable urge came upon me. As I couldn't find the canoe and couldn't wait any longer I got up as far as I could on a mound and made do. The mound gave way and down I went along with my gun a Browning A5. After I found the canoe I stripped down and rung as much water out of my cloths as I could but it was useless and I couldn't stop chivering. I made my way back to the truck where I sat naked with the heat turned up full blast and kept it that way all the way back home a ride of over an hour:eek:

Jack Cronkhite
11-13-2010, 10:01 PM
I take along complete change and then some, including extra footwear and lots of socks and gloves. I have even started taking comfy slippers along for the drive home, whether or not my boots get wet. When we look back, we certainly felt invincible as young guys. When I was in my late teens, Dad and I were hunting the Bow River, south of Calgary, AB. We got lots of ducks in that spot. I dumped one near the river bank but in the water. I had waders on, so headed out to get it. I had the right angle on making my retrieve; however, the current shifted the bird a little further out. As it came by, I took an extra step and grabbed it but lost my footing. So.......... duck, Jack and the Savage 755A got dunked and the current caught me. The river is fairly shallow with boulders and gravel bottom and a current around 12mph. I played in the river as a little kid and kind of knew how to handle myself, but I had never been in at this spot, nor in the winter. I ended up bumping my way down stream and made it to the opposite bank about 150 yards across. I was drenched head to toe. I had read that a good response in such a situation is to strip and wring out the clothes and get back into them as quick as you can. So I did that. Dad thought I was a goner and all I thought was I'm just gonna get wet. He had to drive about 15 miles to be able to retrieve me, my duck and his auto loader. I kept walking and shivered a bit but, all in all, wringing out the clothes and continually moving warded off hypothermia. I still have that old autoloader. Dad mounted the duck for me but, over the years, it disappeared. The only specimen I still have is my first rooster taken on the wing. Would sure like another day afield with Dad but........so I take out his guns every once in a while and shoot a rooster for him and remember good times.
Cheers,
Jack

King Brown
11-14-2010, 08:21 PM
Chesterton said something like "All power comes from the direction and control of exuberance," Jack. I made the connection as I read of Jack and Kay finding a way to share their lives and the great outdoors in the looming winter of Saskatchewan.

I tagged along with my Dad in those covers when he was a BCATP pilot instructor at No. 4 Saskatoon in the first years of the war before he went overseas and was shot down in 1942 and became Goering's prisoner in Stalag Luft III.

Jack Cronkhite
11-14-2010, 10:23 PM
Thanks King. Having lived in married bliss for 40 years (well if I don't forget the next anniversary), we are pretty much an extension of each other. I did try to convert her to a hunter in our youth but to no avail, even after finding her a nice little .22/410. She enjoys eating but doesn't like dwelling on how the protein came to be in serving sizes on the plate. The dip in the creek was no surprise to her, she just shrugs that stuff off.

Here's a salute to your father. Hope some of the boys he trained took out a few over there. For those who may not know BCATP was the British Commonwealth Air Training Program and very active in Canada during WWII. Still can encounter some of the air combat shooting ranges and bombing targets on the prairies. Not a place to look for roosters, although they do frequent one of those locations I know - but then so does 70 year old unexploded ordinance :eek:

lee r moege
11-15-2010, 04:54 PM
Jack: I take it from the warfarin statement you must have had a little problem with the old "ticker"? I had an aortic dissection Memorial day weekend and am lucky to be alive! Things like that really wake you up to the enjoyment of life while you can. Money and work are necessary evils but aren't as important as taking one of the old doubles afield and enjoying God's creation in the company of loved ones. I went with my son, grandson, and four or their friends [all 45 years old and down] to Calvin Humberg's neck of the woods for the Kansas opener last weekend and had a blast even though most of the time I blocked and let the young bucks walk. The old man can still hit a rooster even if he can't walk the CRP grass. Glad you are at it!!!! Lee.

Jack Cronkhite
11-15-2010, 05:20 PM
Lee: Blood clot lodged in a lung. Caught before it got out of there where is could have caused a lot more grief. As it was, I spent a week in hospital to get the old bod back into fightin' form - well a walk with the dogs and "easy" habitat for roosters, which will likely happen again one day this week when the weather cooperates.
Cheers,
Jack

todd allen
11-17-2010, 03:43 AM
Thanks for sharing the memories.

Jack Cronkhite
11-20-2010, 01:04 AM
Would sure like another day afield with Dad but........so I take out his guns every once in a while and shoot a rooster for him and remember good times.
Cheers,
Jack

Not often one quotes oneself. Today was a bright, sunny day but cold (-20 Celsius). Decided to try a "tribute to Dad" day. It was short, left home with Kay at 1:30pm and arrived at a favorite spot around 2:45. Left around 6:00pm and back home by 7:30.

I took Dad's SKB XL900 12ga semi-auto (I did take the GHE but as back-up this time). CHARLIE and KYRA hopped out and had little patience for me fumbling with mittens to load three Winchester Super X long range 1 1/4 oz. #6 shot. (Apparently antique or vintage, but to me sort of new - purchased a case in the late 70's or early 80's and still have three boxes so how can they be antique). We wandered through some weeds and along a couple hedge rows. It was tough going. The snow wasn't particularly deep but it had a hard crust that broke through with every step. The other problem with snow is the bird tracks everywhere. I kept expecting birds to flush but canine noses kept telling me that I needn't be tensed and at the ready. We finished that spot without seeing a bird. Next was to drop onto the creek right at the bridge as the snow was not deep there, like it was at most other access points. Today, I was able to walk on water with the creek being frozen solid. CHARLIE was getting birdy through the cat tails. I could see the air fill with fluff from time to time and I picked up my pace, as best I could without ice skates. The ice maker for a hockey rink could not have done better than mother nature had. The creek was like glass and the co-efficient of friction for my boot soles was zero I'd guess. CHARLIE was about 15 yards ahead of me and KYRA was beside me and decided she better join CHARLIE. As she raced to catch up with her pack mate, the rooster flushed. SKB shouldered, trigger pulled, rooster down, CHARLIE right on it and KYRA closing fast. CHARLIE told KYRA in no uncertain terms that she had no claim to this one. CHARLIE then picked up the rooster and for the first time did not just drop it to say here it is, come and get it if you want it. Nope, this time CHARLIE and rooster were putting distance between us. I called her. She stopped and looked at me and then almost came back to me. She dropped the rooster about ten feet away and made sure once again that KYRA knew to keep her distance - nothing fierce, just one of those "get your attention" growls. I guess that's progress. Maybe she'll eventually do a full retrieve but I really don't care, as long as the birds are not lost and she has definitely taken care of that. Now, if one could read the future, even the next couple hours, I would have headed to the car, loaded up and come home around 4:00pm as all that happened for the next two hours was a lot of hiking and two hens spotted. But hey, it was a fine time anyway.
So, this was Dad's rooster and the next time out will be back to Parkers as both starter and back-up.

UPDATE: On the eat heartily front this rooster cubed and fast fried in the wok. A few veggies and some quinoa boiled in pheasant broth made for a meal. Dessert? Banana/chocolate/nut muffins - a team effort between Kay and I.
Cheers,
Jack

David Hamilton
11-20-2010, 02:58 PM
I had a hell of a time with Warfarin. Couldn't keep it even. Either not therapeutic or at the edge of bleeding through my pores. There are some alternates and a new drug not yet on the market. Fortunately I am past that phase of atrial fib, at least for the present and can get by with aspirin. I will be shooting Pheasants next Saturday but, alas, released birds including pigeons. Better than nothing and about all we can expect in this part of the country. I need some of those GameBore #7s in 2 1/2" for my DH with 32" barrels and 2 5/8" chambers. David

Jack Cronkhite
11-20-2010, 04:35 PM
David: Still working on stabilizing level. Since leaving the confines of a cozy hospital bed with 3 square meals a day plus an evening snack and heavy doses of W and another unpronounceable injection to the belly, my levels have dropped to almost the same as any Joe on the street. So each week, after a blood test, the doc wonders what the hell I do and increases the W dose. If he doesn't know, I sure don't (well I do know what I do but not why my body is practically rejecting this drug). All that said, I'm a fatalist. What will be, will be. Que sera, sera. Predestined (not totally sure on that). So whenever my time runs out, it is on with the next adventure or........... Until then I hope to exercise the dogs, myself and a few old shotguns until my own fitness level won't allow. Gotta keep moving and stop taking icy dips in the creek.
Cheers,
Jack

Francis Morin
11-21-2010, 09:49 AM
When I was about 14 we had a "dropper" a Brit-Setter mix. Specks was a bird finding magnet as long as you were hitting birds- but if you missed a few, she shut down. My boyhood pal and I went out on the opener, all day drizzle- we were soaked. About 4:00 PM she locked up on a huge rooster and I went in over her point and it got airborne- wingspan like a B-29, water spraying from its feathers-and I pumped out two hurried shots from my 20 M12 and never cut a feather- she turned and gave me a look like I'll never forget-

First week of our duck season, on the river near home and early Oct- I had the 12 M12 and steel No 4's- took two hen woodies (we are allowed 3 wood ducks/day( and then my first pintail ever in our flyway. I hope to shoot as they are flying upriver so they will (in theory) float back down to me. This one got by me in the current, I went after it and tripped over a rock I guess- Boom right face down into the drink- water inside my chest waders and the M12 got a bath-but i GOT THE DUCK.

Jack, we both know we owe it to the game we shoot to retrieve and try to shoot for a clean kill-best wishes for the new(er) VH 12..:bigbye:

David Hamilton
11-21-2010, 02:40 PM
Jack, Those shots in the belly, There was an amusing moment-- I had to take those shots several times a day and just before going into the hospital I was invited for a "last meal" at an asian joint. On arriving at the shopping center where the restaurant was located I remembered that I needed one of those bruising shots. So- I reclined my car seat and asked my wife to administer it. We parked under a streetlight for better visibility. Me with my belt undone and fly open, shirt pulled up and wife leaning over when one of our friends walked by. Glad it wasn't a policeman. David