The Worst Days are the Best Days
 

Today here in Southwest Ohio we are in the path of a pretty fierce winter storm. They’re calling for over 6 inches of snow which is not at all normal for us. Of course we had to go duck hunting! Ducks flew well ahead of the impending snow fall. Here’s my griffon, Dunkle who made the long, cold retrieves.

Oh, Boy!! You used your "snow day" wisely. Thanks for sharing it with us.

That's an awesome pic. I'm envious of the Goldeneye. That is on my want list of waterfowl to have mounted if I ever shoot a nice drake. The 21 did you well on this hunt.

What did you feed your 21 on this hunt?

I use bismuth shells from Salt Creek ammo. They are a Parker Pages sponsor and very good with customer questions. I do have some leftover Boss bismuth in 3" also.
I use #4 in the first barrel and #2 in the second.

The Goldies show up later usually in January. I guess the extreme cold moved them earlier this year. They are fairly easy to identify because their wings make a very distinctive whistling sound when they fly. They are sometimes very hard to bring to hand due to diving if crippled. They are very hardy ducks and equally beautiful. A fairly large duck with a very cool head shape. Generally I find them in larger bodies of water but I know folks that have taken them on ponds.

Rick, we lived in Minford Ohio while I was on assignment at Rocky Flats. Lived on 5 acres on top of Rose's mountain. I could and did walk out the back door and hunt grouse and woodcock all day long. Great country and great people there. Now in Eastern Mass where wild bird hunting is slim to none. Have to settle for stocked birds.

Yeah, Milford is in the area that used to hold good numbers of grouse in Ohio. I have a good friend from Wheelersburg. Biggest grouse I’ve ever seen and shot was in Rardin, Ohio. Not far from where you were. It’s on my wall.

I’ve got an Eider trip planned to Massachusetts in January. From what I can tell, the state is not overly firearm friendly.