First trip to ND with G grade

[Old and Reliable]

Great story, and yes I have seen two or three fezzants flush from under the dog's nose almost at once- and when that has occured, they were all hens are we were NOT on a preserve where they are legal- But a "report pair" and those tough angle shots, and two down dead roosters- I'd stand you to a double Bushmills on the rocks for that feat- darn fine dogwork too-

I received my Parker doubles pin last year for a double with my GHE 12 bore on incoming mallards- five came into the dekes, four greenheads and one hen, and using the Cabela's Classic non-tox loads ( no 4's) I shot twice and two greeheads dropped like rocks- that doesn't happen very often, and I have been an avid waterfowl hunter for 55 years and gainin'--

In our area, we have a 60 day duck season- 6 bird bag limit, of which four ducks can be mallards, but only ONE of that four can be a hen (or a black duck)- also we can take 3 wood ducks in that 6 bird limit, and or 2 pintails-
Opening day (Sat 9 Oct) I took a hen pintail, two hen woodies and a pair of greenheads (barely past eclipse coloring) but with a 12 bore M12-

Years ago woodies were protected. Now they are abundant, but here's the "rub"-- I only want to take greenhead mallards, not hens- but if I shoot woodies, I only want to take the hens and spare the colorful males. When I used to tie trout flies we prized both male woodies and tom turkeys for the feathers-

The pintail was the first I have taken in over 20 some years- the last two pintails were taken in MT- I also shot a shoveler on that trip, also a first- and my buddy said the locals called shovelers the "Jimmy Durante duck" because of the big schnoz-- go figure-

Besides the GHE 12 and one of my 12 bore M12's, I also use 12 bore LC Smiths for waterfowling (and pheasant) also with the Cabela's classic doubles shells- Expensive, but taking birds cleanly with any good double gun is as good as it gets (at least for me)--