Swamp Collie heads North

[Anatidae]

When I die, I want to come-back as a dog with great hunting opportunities.......

Photos from Saskatchewan trip this year.......


Blind time with my handler


Long sessions with multiple retrieves


The easy hunts in good weather - plenty o' ducks


The praise I get when I do 'good'


I'm gonna be sore tomorrow - these things are huge!


Now ya talkin' - definately going to sleep good, tonight. How 'bout a beer?


Having first choice of places to take a nap after the hunt


Man, this stuff is GREAT!


Did I mention I like snow?


Finally.......something besides bumpers and those nasty pen-raised excuses for ducks, back home


Shuttle service to and from the field


Enough pictures already......there's fresh duck poop everywhere if I can just get away from these folks long enough


Soaking-up the sun and dreaming about tomorrow's hunt while 'my people' pick-up the decoys


Earning a legitimate spot on 'The Team'


The sights and sounds of wings overhead


Looking back on all the great days in the field - wishing I coulda shared this with 'Sprig'.......she'd be proud of me, now.

Looking forward to next year - 'Topbrass' Bundle of Joy' (B.J.)

[missed mallards]

Anatidae, she's looking good! From the looks of it, the "handler" has done a fantastic job!

"Having first choice of places to take a nap after the hunt" That pic made me bust out laughing.

[Anatidae]

Yeah, that's a classic shot - she knows when she's done 'good'. Thanks for the comments.

Happy Hunting!

[CF]

Awesome pics...looks like fun was had by all!

[goosebruce]

Randy, your a lucky man. And it aint just cause you get a month in canada to start the season off. travis

[msbigdawg1234]

She is looking good and doing a fine job ...ya'll should be proud

[GulfCoast]

Randy: Those are awesome!

Mark

[mfalkner]

Ditto what Mark said. I love the rollin-in-the-snow pics, but you can see pride and happiness all over that pup. Great job.

[Anatidae]

Thanks, guys - we are truely 'blessed'........and yes, BJ is an expressive little dog.......it's 'Da PLUME!' (the way she holds her tail). Sometimes, that's all you see (Da Plume).......but you can't mistake it for anything else but pure joy. She lives-up to her registered name and we do everything we can (short of absolutely spoiling her rotten) to keep her spirits positive.

Again, Thanks for the responses. 'Hope to see everyone, soon.

Happy Hunting! 'Da PLUME!'

[T-Bone]

Good Stuff!!!

[BAY KINGFISHER]

Great picts!!! Your pup is going to get bored this year in MS...lol. What do yall do with all the meat? I am jealous of your trip every year!!! One day Ill make it up there...one day!!

[Anatidae]

Meat: You're allowed to posess/bring-back 24 ducks and 24 dark geese (apiece). We only brought-back 38 honkers (total) even though we killed more......because that's more than we can use. Made spaghetti out of half a ground honker breast last night and it really wasn't too bad.

You have to leave one wing attached for identification - so when we clean birds up there, we remove the breast (including breast bone) leaving one wing attached, put the breast part in a zip-Lok bag and put a rubber band around the breast and wing (wing - outside of the bag). There are 2 chest-type deep freezers in the house we rent. Easiest thing to do is put your cooler in the bottom of the freezer and add your birds to it every hunt. That way you can pack it tight. If you leave the cooler lid open inside the freezer, the birds will freeze pretty quick. We had 4 coolers - one with Anne's 19 honkers - one with Anne's 24 ducks - one with 13 honkers - and one with 24 ducks, 6 honkers, a hun, and a spruce grouse. Each cooler has a possession tag in a zip-lok bag that says what's in that cooler. Usually when the USBP agents lift the lids and sees how the birds are packaged and labeled, they don't even check'em. We just fill-out the USFWS form for Importation of Game ahead of time, and hand it to them at US Customs upon return.

The birds stay frozen during the trip home (depending on outside average temperatures during the trip) - in fact, half the first-few honkers we killed were still frozen 2 days after we got back. That gives you a little time to package what's thawing-out and catch-up on other post-trip stuff, like sleep.

Anne de-bones the birds - I bag'em and run'em through the food-saver - then they go in plastic Wal-Mart bags labeled '2010 Ducks' or '2010 Geese' - then to the freezer. 38 honker breasts (76 'halves') takes-up 3-1/2 Wal-Mart bags. One half a goose breast feeds 2 people.....so that's 76 meals. After a while, it's like anything else - you get tired of it......thus the reason we brought-home 38 instead of the allowed 48 geese. 48 duck breasts takes-up one bag. Any birds left-over from previous years gets donated to friends, HRC gatherings, etc.

If you fly home, you can only get one 24 qt cooler on the plane - it holds about 6 honkers and 24 ducks. Anything else will have to be 'shipped' back home - little more involved. That's the benefit of driving 35 hours (one way) and taking everything you need - and bringing it back with you (especially the dog)

Short answer: - we eat what we kill.

[BAY KINGFISHER]

Thats cool!! I would hate to have to give away all them grain fed mallards!! Like I said, I look forward to hearing about your trip every year. Yall should seriously pen a "how to guide" for freelancing Canada; once you make your final trip up, of course. You wouldnt want to give up all your secrets now!! Glad you had another fun, succesful, "safe" trip, to the north country!!

[Anatidae]

These were some of the fattest ducks in the best shape we've seen up there in the last 7 years........



BTW - We also make 24 qts of duck gumbo at a time........and eat gumbo once or twice a week.

Re: Guide to freelancing Canada - Thanks, (that's flattering) but I think I'd rather pass-on the tradition and the secrets to close friends and acquaintances (like-minded) the old-fashioned way - by sharing the trip and experiences with them, whenever they get to the point in their lives/careers they can go with us. Otherwise, I'm happy to answer general questions for those who wish to make the trip on their own, one day.

Thanks again for the nice comments.

You're right - our pup may not get the fast-pace action of SK back here in Mississippi - but I really can't see her ever getting bored with hunting. She takes after Anne - they're both 'eat-up' with it. 'Can't say the same for myself, at times.

[Duck Chaser]

Awesome pics Randy! I'm sure proud of the red rocket. She is living the good life, no doubt. Look forward to coming over for the full show.. btw, forgot to tell you Sunday that I really appreciate the "got our limits again today" voicemails, during the trip.