the great hunting story thread....

[jacksbuddy]

cwink, THAT is a story. Thanks.

[cwink]

cwink, THAT is a story. Thanks.

Thanks.. That one is a little bit of a downer.. Maybe this one will pick up old Gator's spirt a little more

Date: Nov 2010
Game: Duck/Deer
Location: BDDC and Old Pearl Game Mgt
Theme - Hayden's first Duck Hunt and

Jennifer was going out of town to aChristian Seminar Conference in Birmingham, so Mike, and I planned a Duck/Deer huntcombo for Saturday. We knew it might be a stretch to get Hayden and Jacob up and 3:30 AM drive 115 miles to the Delta for a duck hunt then turn around and drive 150 miles back down to the Old Pearl and deer hunt that afternoon, but we thought we would give it a try. So at 3:30 I wake Hayden up, get him dressed and head out the door to go get
Mike and Jacob, we load up their gear and leave for the BDDC
Mike and I joined this especially for the boys so that we would have somewhere
to take them that was safe, and fun and easy for us to get in and out of and would have
ducks to shoot. The BDDC fits that bill well. We arrive at 5:45 AM and get setup just
in time for the first flight of birds. Mike and Jacob were just going to roam around and
hunt while Hayden and I chose the layout blinds. About 10 minutes into the hunt I had
knocked down 2 birds and Hayden and began the walk around the pond to go find them.

While we were up looking for the ducks, I told Mike and Jacob to get in the blinds and
wait for the ducks to fly over, while we were there Mike and Jacob managed to knock
down a bird a piece and Mike took off on the walk to go find them. And I joined Jacob
and Hayden in the layout blinds. I knocked down 3 more birds and Hayden and I went to
look for Jacob's bird again, while Mike and Jacob stayed in the layout blinds trying to hit
some more birds while I started picking up and Hayden sat in the truck watching a DVD.
After getting up at 3:30 AM he was still going strong and never complained, except when
he got hungry and wanted to go to McDonanld' s.. We snapped a few pictures and headed
to Micky Ds. I ended up with 5 birds and Mike and Jacob got a Blue Bill a piece) It was a great way to start of Hayden and Duck Hunting. Next we headed back towards home. We stopped in Yazoo City at McDonanlds to eat and then back to Mike's house to swap out shotguns for rifles. Mike checked in at work, while I cleaned the birds, and Jacob got things organized and made sure that he got Hayden his Nintendo DS so that Hayden would not get bored in the deerstand. After
about 30 mintues we head to Old Pearl and arrive there at about 1:00. We pick our stands
and get ready while Hayden and Jacob play outside. At about 2:45 we load up the truck
and head for the stand. I am really concerned now that Hayden has been up for almost 12
hours with no sleep what so ever. I am just ready and waiting for the meltdown to come,
but we climb into the deerstand with the Nintendo DS, A portable DVD player and his
Leapster game. Well about 15 mins into the hunt the DS battery gives up and we are
dead in the water with it. I thought for sure the meltdown was coming now, but we
switched to the DVD player. That lasted about 20 mins before we had to switch to the
Leapster which also lasted about 20 mins at this point Hayden was getting restless, so I
decided to download a game for my phone., which took about 20 mins to download, and I
think that was the longest 20 mins of Hayden's life. Just as I got the game working and
got Hayden setteled down with the game I saw a small deer walk out into the plot. I was
a yearling and I was hoping the Doe would come out too .. Hayden saw the deer but didn't
pay to much attention to it, he was engrossed in the game. A few mins later, the Doe
walked out and I got the earmuffs on Hayden and just as I was putting my gun up,
Hayden hit the lock button on the phone and he was "determined" to get me to fix it. So I
am trying to get situated in the chair by sitting on my knees, trying to hold the gun out the
window and fix the game on the phone at the same time. They Doe knows we are there,
but can't make us out yet. So I get Hayden to sit, and try to get a good steady rest before
the doe decides to bolt, and BOOM, the gun slid down the window ledge so far that I
couldn't even tell if! hit the doe. Hayden asked if! got it, but I wasn't sure. The yearling
was still in the plot feeding, but there was no sign of the doe. I don't know if she jumped,
or just ran off cause I couldn't get the scope back on them quick enough to tell. We
watched the yearling feed for another 20 mins and I was hoping the doe would come back
out. When the yearling left we went down to look for signs but saw no blood, or hair or
any sign of a hit. By this time it was dark, and Hayden was a little nervous about being
in the woods in the dark. We headed back to the truck to pick up Mike and Jacob and
then back to camp. I left Hayden there with Mike and Jacob and I went back to look
again, but after an hour of searching still couldn't find any sign. I kick myself for rushing
that shot, taking that doe with Hayden in the stand with me would have completed a
duck/deer combo hunt that would have capped of a perfect day. We packed up and
headed into town to get something to eat and then back to the house. We arrived home
about 9:30 PM, 30 rnins after Jennifer got home. Hayden had been up since 3:30 AM
traveled over 300 miles and sat in for a duck and a deer hunt and never complained once,
I was so proud of him for hanging with me all day and never having the meltdown I
feared was coming. I hope this is the start to many more days in the field with him. As
Monday moring rolled around I was waking him for school and said, "Time to wake up
little hunting buddy" to which he promply responded "Ok, my missing shot hunting
buddy" Man he already has the good nature ribbing part of hunting down. I love that
little boy .

[grik]

Back before the days of leased duck holes and neoprene waders (at least for me), my Dad and I regularly hunted a flooded soybean field next to the Coldwater River behind The Tonk. Hiding was a bit of a problem as there was only sparse cover along a drainage ditch that cut through the middle of the field, but my Granddad had sewn together (literally) a fairly large section of cane that he had cut, which we used to fashion a blind covering our front and rear.

Dad and I scouted the field the day before and near dusk had decided to put out the decoys for the next morning’s hunt. Of note for this story is that the decoys had extra long strings from our past hunting exploits around the Island at Arkabutla.

We woke the next morning to be greeted by a stiff wind, cold temperature, and all-in-all perfect day for ducks. We get in the blind just before dawn and start hearing wings, but it’s still to early to see any ducks. At first light, my Dad whispers to me “There’s a duck swimming in the decoys.” “Well, shoot him,” I say. Dad peers through the cane and says “No, no that’s a decoy.” “Are you sure?” I reply. Dad continues to squint and says “No, it’s a duck, its swimming around the other decoys --- It just turned it’s head, it just turned it’s head!” “Shoot him, shoot him!!!” I yell. Dad hops up, from behind the blind, and in one smooth motion levels the shotgun and “Boom! . . . Boom!” “You get’em?” I ask. No answer. Then, after a pause, “Decoy” is the reply. “Well, at least he didn’t wink at you.” I tell him.

You probably had to be there or have heard my Dad tell the story to appreciate it – but its one of my favorites. I don’t remember if we killed any ducks that day. I just remember being out there with him ---- in a duck blind with my Dad are some of the fondest memories I have. At Dad’s funeral in 2007, “shooting the decoy” was one of the stories the preacher told. I miss him every day, but even more it seems around this time of year – he was my favorite duck hunting partner and my best friend.