It's Monday and the BHE got wet and muddy.
Okay, two days ago the birds started showing up in great numbers and were headed to our refuge. The very far northern rice fields on the west side of the ranch started filling with ducks and geese. Yesterday the weatherman promised a nice storm and we confirmed it by watching the barometric pressure start to fall. Although my hunting buddy advised against it, I slinked out to the opposite end of the ranch with binoculars at 4:30 PM to bird watch. Just had to see if these ducks and geese were moving around the blinds and needed to know which blind we should shoot in the morning. Okay, blind #2.
Well, the place was just lousy with ducks and geese and last evening the commotion they unleashed attracted additional high fliers....and they came in as well. Can't call Bill quick enough and tell him of my sightings. He responds with an updated weather report calling for increasing winds and rain through the night and next morning. IT IS ON! We are like two kids on Christmas eve CONVINCED we are both going to score in the morning.
1:00 AM big wind. 2:00 AM getting stronger. 3:00 AM the furniture blows off the front porch. 3:30 AM get up and put ear plugs in for some sleep. Finally...thank God, the alarm goes off and I'm up....cooking coffee and breakfast. Bill gets here and we get dressed, talking and hurrying, and spilling sh*t everywhere. We are on the quad motoring out to the blind and start to notice something very wrong. Our ball caps haven't blown off yet. Sometimes we forget our duck headgear and leave the boot room with our caps still on. No problem, the wind blows 'em off and we remember to change. Not today.
The wind started to fizzle and we then noticed some very light sections of sky opening up. Drat! Another midnight squall that clears out at shoot time. We trudged onward, set out for the blind, and got ready for....yep, less wind and more sky. Nothing for the first five minutes. Not even a bird in the area. Twenty minutes later....still nothing flying...but wait, the wind starts back up. Okay we are NOT dead yet.
The wind really starts to hit high gear and all of a sudden the refuge explodes sending birds all over the place. We shoot about 3/4 mile from our 'closed zone' and can see the birds moving our way. Closer, closer, closer....
The pictures below show what two very excited old farts accomplished in 30 minutes. It was like opening our Christmas presents this morning. We got out quickly, as sunshine was breaking out and more birds were heading towards the refuge. Bill left before the wife could get him to pose; I complied with her wishes.
Thursday is another storm. We'll try for some pictures of the birds grinding. The BHE did well with RST 6's. Got a bit wet and muddy, but Rem® Oil did the trick on the sticky safety. Big ups to Tom Bria for advising me last week on shot selection. Suggested swapping out 6's for 4's to help with the closer in ducks. 4's are just too tight inside 35 yds.
Pictures:
#1 is looking north to the refuge;
#2 Sprig and Mallard limit;
#3 Dirty BHE;
#4 Old gun rack and Chiweenie;
#5 Chocolate and Green;
#6 Curious Chiweenie. Hope you enjoy.
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12-17-2012, 10:39 PM
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