The Fat of the Season
 

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.

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.

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.



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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

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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.

Garry it occured to me that it is the dogs and people we are with not the bag that really matters. I thought of that while taking a late afternoon break on a stump in Maine. I had spent the day with my sons and granddaughter hunting grouse and woodcock. We had a few birds and a lot more empty shells but also a perfect October day and each others company. The dogs are not critical, we just think they are.

Daniel, I could not imagine it said any better. To be out, regardless of the bag, is what makes for memories. Those late afternoon breaks can be the times we see things most clearly. (BTW, you are so right about the dogs. They just like going with us, and never a grudge was held by a bird dog of mine.)

Coincidentally, mine is in the 200XXX range. Not my favorite engraving years, but the guns are well made and balanced as per the Parker magic formula.

Garry,
Thanks for sharing the nice pictures and story. I have such great memories as a young man growing up hunting. I remember my mom saying I would never get a girlfriend, he likes the woods to much:) Now I am getting those memories again, its much more relaxing this year because I am getting more used to having a hunting dog. Next in line is grandkids, I can't wait.

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 .

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!

Will shooting my new to me 20 DHE with 30 inch tubes choked .04,.12 this afternoon.


Will be shooting my new to me 20 DHE with 30 inch tubes choked .04 and .12 this afternoon.Doing walk up ( pheasants and Huns ) after the 1000 bird tower shoots held this past weekend at Prairie Wildlife. My dog picked up at the tower shoots adding 95 to her total. Made this hunt last year and it was outstanding.












hoting my new me 20 DHE with 30 inch tubes choked .04 and .12. this afternoon. Do a walk up hunt be

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 .

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 .

Gosh, I wish we could use buckshot here in the Show-Me State. I’d put the rifle away and still hunt the brush.

Bear in mind I hoist a rifle and a shotgun up the tree ! Not very practical in most applications but the way I hunt I can make it work .

Hunted a farm about 2 hours Southwest of us today, probably our last Missouri bird hunt until after the firearms deer season. Beautiful day -- upper 30s, relatively light winds, and good ground moisture for scenting. We found a large covey almost within the shadow of the truck, but in stuff so tall and thick I could not get a shot. Alder was persistent and the beeper let me know she was busy and thorough in the heavy cover. She pointed several singles which the DHE 20 did its job on like it has since I first blooded it last year. After lunch in the truck (a bit too cold to sit on the tailgate unfortunately--one of my favorite parts of hunting) we took Aspen out for the afternoon. He roaded a running covey for about a hundred yards before the birds went up wild, but within range of the left barrel. He finished out the afternoon early with another find and two retrieves.

Heading back to the truck we cut across a bean field and stopped at a large cement and rock slab that we'd seen from a distance every time we've hunted this farm, but never investigated. Apparently there are old graves in this field and this structure was created to preserve the site. No other indication of a homestead or evidence of more graves -- just two marble markers for young children. It was a sobering moment as we paused at these grave markers. The history of the land and the human connection with it is written in many ways.

We'll prepare for Saturday's deer opener tomorrow, and I may sit the afternoon with the bow in case a buck decides to show himself.

Best of luck to my fellow PGCA hunter colleagues!

Photo Key:

1. Alder pointed this single (she's just in front of me hidden by the heavy cover). Elaine managed to get the point, flush, and shot in a "live" photo from which this picture was lifted. You can see the bird just at the end of the gun barrel.
2. Aspen roading a running covey. I was pleased with the progress he showed today. The cover was very heavy, but he hit it with enthusiasm and found the two birds I shot for him. Elaine worked hard at cleaning out all of the debris he picked up in his eyes. Alder was bloody from her tour of duty. Tough on the dogs, but quail are where you find them.
3. This slab is at the crest of a rise in a good sized bean field. We've walked by it many times over the years thinking it was part of a foundation for an old grain silo. By happenstance we walked to it and discovered the two gravestones of children from the mid-19th Century.
4. Sobering evidence of the harsh life in the early days of life on the prairie. We frequently collect more than just birds on our hunts.

My office this morning :whistle:

Sorry to say I didn't seal the deal with my Grade 1 top lever 26" 10 gauge . Did in the poor unsuspecting critter with the Mannlicher Schoenauer MC Carbine in 30-06 shooting a Hornady 130 SST pushed with IMR3031 .

Bizarre antler formation.... he prolly won’t taste good... :rotf:





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Craig, a nice day at your office! (and a nice buck). My "office" provided what I believe will be my last deer. I may go sit in the office next year...and not take a gun. Now, if Missouri ever changed its regulations and permitted buckshot, I might reconsider.

Keep shooting those Virginia deer!

What a Buck!

Very nice ! That buck would cost me $600 cuz I’d put him on the wall :cool: I’m planning to go to a different office Monday morning . And I think I’m going to take my four frame 34” 10 gauge hammer with 0000 and of all things my Ruger #1H in 416 REM Mag shooting my Speer 350 grain handloads . I killed a very wide 6 point with the other 416 Rem Mag I had that was built on a Mark X Mauser action , but in the two times I’ve owned this Ruger I’ve never killed anything with it . So I’ll try and knock off a deer and then send it down the road . My #1H 375 H&H Mag is about as heavy of a heavy hitter as I need to keep around .

Boy, I'd leave the rifle at home if I had that 34 inch 10 gauge (and could use it on deer)...but you obviously know how to take those VA deer.

BTW, I still subscribe to VA Wildlife and read of the seriously diminishing numbers of deer hunters in the Old Dominion. Times change...and not always for the best. Enjoy your next day at the office.