The Fat of the Season

[mobirdhunter]

The November weeks before the firearm deer season in Missouri can be some of the richest of the year. The rut is gearing up and sitting in a tree stand or on the ground can be an entertaining endeavor as bucks begin searching out does and chasing them before they come into estrus. Woodcock will often be found in the brushy low spots as they head South, and the duck season opens the first weekend of the month. For those of us who love hunting wild quail and pheasants, these first days of the season are days to probe for new coveys, check to be sure those perennial coveys are still in good shape, and explore a new farm or two before the gun hunters shut things down and we have to head to Iowa. If the weather is cool, these days before deer season can be the "fat" of the season.

Every season is different. Usually it is too warm for hunters and dogs to beat the thick early season cover. Not so this year as we have had record cold temperatures. We'll miss out on early duck hunting because of frozen water, and the flight woodcock are not to be found, but the several outings we've had, between sits in the tree waiting for the big one to wander by, have been productive.

We have found a covey or two on each of our several short outings so far this season in our local North Missouri haunts. With Cedar still out of action from her cancer surgery, Alder and the puppy, Aspen, are getting plenty of time. I wish Aspen could be braced again with Cedar, but his outings alone are also good for his development.

I started the season with my new "go-to" bird gun, a 30 inch DHE 20 that fits me like a well broken in pair of boots. I also christened a DHE 28 gauge that has high dimensions and shoots where I look. It's going to be hard to decide which gun to use -- a great problem to have.

Key to photos:

1. The little 00 framed 28 is stocked high and I've discovered it shoots where I look. It will be hard to choose between this little gun and my trusty DHE 20.
2. The first bird of the season: a wild Missouri Bob taken from a large covey on a 40 acre plot of ground no one bird hunts but us. The DHE 20 makes me a better shot than I am with its 30 inch tubes that keep swinging even when I have poor shooting form.
3. After lots of rain this past summer, the cover is great, and the birds seem to be willing to hold in the early season...which will surely not be the case in several weeks. This point by Alder was on a nice sized covey of young Missouri birds.

[Reggie B]

Great stuff! Is the 28 a recent addition? Sure looks like a nice one!! Nice problem to have. Enjoy your hunts!

[mobirdhunter]

Originally Posted by Reggie Bishop

Great stuff! Is the 28 a recent addition? Sure looks like a nice one!! Nice problem to have. Enjoy your hunts!

Thanks, Reggie. I've had the 28 for a while, but have only just brought it out to shoot this season. I almost wish I hadn't as I feel disloyal to the DHE 20 if I don't carry it.

[Dean Romig]

That's a sweet little 28 Garry!

It's a mite colder on this Nov. opener in Vermont than any opener I can remember but I'll survive just fine - I've sat out there when it was -12 several years ago and took a fine young buck. I'll be sitting on the ground in the starlight with the mercury at 0 or a couple of degrees below... waiting for shooting light. I've had a trail camera overlooking my 'hot spot' for almost two weeks. I'll get there on Friday afternoon and pull the SD card and slip a new one in its place. Back at camp I'll see what I have captured... I'll share the best pics here.

Incidentally, if you just can't bring yourself to be disloyal to the 20, just send the 28 this way. I can provide a loving, caring home for it.



.

[mobirdhunter]

Originally Posted by Dean Romig

That's a sweet little 28 Garry!

It's a mite colder on this Nov. opener in Vermont than any opener I can remember but I'll survive just fine - I've sat out there when it was -12 several years ago and took a fine young buck. I'll be sitting on the ground in the starlight with the mercury at 0 or a couple of degrees below... waiting for shooting light. I've had a trail camera overlooking my 'hot spot' for almost two weeks. I'll get there on Friday afternoon and pull the SD card and slip a new one in its place. Back at camp I'll see what I have captured... I'll share the best pics here.

Incidentally, if you just can't bring yourself to be disloyal to the 20, just send the 28 this way. I can provide a loving, caring home for it.
.

Dean, your deer set-up sounds idyllic and I wish you an enjoyable sit (whether you get the "big one" of not). Retired life is pretty sweet, eh? The simple pleasures close to home are worth more than any amount of money. I'm looking forward to your pictures from the trail camera -- and your hunt.

As for the 28, I'm sure you would shoot it better than I and it might like you better. It's like when the dog gives you a dirty look when you miss an easy shot over one of their nice points. Fortunately, my dogs...and my guns...have learned to tolerate my shooting.

[6pt-Sika]

Originally Posted by Dean Romig

That's a sweet little 28 Garry!

It's a mite colder on this Nov. opener in Vermont than any opener I can remember but I'll survive just fine - I've sat out there when it was -12 several years ago and took a fine young buck. I'll be sitting on the ground in the starlight with the mercury at 0 or a couple of degrees below... waiting for shooting light. I've had a trail camera overlooking my 'hot spot' for almost two weeks. I'll get there on Friday afternoon and pull the SD card and slip a new one in its place. Back at camp I'll see what I have captured... I'll share the best pics here.

Incidentally, if you just can't bring yourself to be disloyal to the 20, just send the 28 this way. I can provide a loving, caring home for it.



.

Our Firearms deer opener is this coming Saturday the 16th and it supposed to be below freezing . I went out with the ML this am (the 13th) and it was about 20 F . I was situated in my TreeLounge at 6 AM with legal shooting time about 06:18 . And I gotta say by 09:15 I’d had enough . The cold itself wasn’t so bad , but the constant wind/breeze was finally a deer killer as it went to the bone .

[mobirdhunter]

Looks like there will be more than one PGCA member waiting for sunrise this coming Saturday. Our firearms season also opens then, and we are expecting a warm-up with the low to be near 20 degrees in the morning, followed by temperatures rising to about 40. There is almost always wind to deal with here on the edge of the prairie, and there are times, like yesterday, when it will just about blow you out of the tree. A pop-up blind can help, but I always feel that I can't see well enough out of one.

Good luck to everyone greeting sunrise this Saturday in pursuit of venison!

[6pt-Sika]

Originally Posted by Garry L Gordon

Looks like there will be more than one PGCA member waiting for sunrise this coming Saturday. Our firearms season also opens then, and we are expecting a warm-up with the low to be near 20 degrees in the morning, followed by temperatures rising to about 40. There is almost always wind to deal with here on the edge of the prairie, and there are times, like yesterday, when it will just about blow you out of the tree. A pop-up blind can help, but I always feel that I can't see well enough out of one.

Good luck to everyone greeting sunrise this Saturday in pursuit of venison!

When I “set up office” Saturday morning it looks like I’ll be carrying along a Mannlicher Schoenauer MC carbine in 30-06 loaded with five different handloads that all hit same POI at 50 and 100 yards three different 150 grain bullets and two with 165’s . I’ll also be carrying my new to me Parker Grade 1 10 gauge 2 frame with its factory original 26” Damascus barrels with 00000 buck (I cast) in the right barrel and a slug I’ve made using a Moose Molds .715”-535 grain HB in the left barrel this thing is actually made for muzzleloaders but seems to do pretty well in a shotgun application . If it’s within 30 yards the shotgun gets the nod and beyond the rifle gives its service . I’ll not be in a TreeLounge but rather a Trophy Whitetail stand , they’re easier to do my two Gun thing .

[6pt-Sika]

The Moose Molds “minnie balls” I’m making shotgun slugs from . I have both .685” and .715” versions with the capacity to make HB and SB out of both . They’re supposedly 585 grains as a HB . I usually fill the HB version with hot melt glue to keep the plastic wad from migrating up into the cavity during flight . I’ll use the HB version in my Grade 1 10 gauge Saturday in the left barrel .

[Dean Romig]

P.S., I really like the nose of the comb on your 28 - it's just like the nose on my VHE 28 No. 211216

.