Hunting Adventures in 2008

I've not posted any pictures of hunting trips this year. I'll try not to bore you. It has been a great duck hunting season so far. Kolbe has really become a great hunting dog. Last year was his first full season of hunting and he did pretty well. Pretty well meaning after a duck was in the water I would have to throw a rock at the bird for him to see it, he would see the splash and go get the bird. Fast-forward to this year; Kolbe usually sees and sometimes hears the ducks well before I do. After we have a duck on the water I send him off. He knows what to do. Several times this year we had a duck land in the tall grass and we could not find them. After giving up we would send Kolbe in and he would smell them out. I did not mean for this to become a "my dog is awesome" post but he his.

I took this picture this morning (12-28-08). Thought it looked really good.
Kolbe watching some ducks in the distance.

Good bunch of ducks!!


Kolbe sporting our bounty!!!


This was taken on December 27, 2008. That is Brandon walking. A storm came through wild and fast and we had to walk out in the rain. I stopped to take a few pictures. This one came out really cool.
This was the calm before the storm.
Brandon
Aaron, Austin, and I in the pit blind in Quinlan.

Another cool sunrise.

It is hard to describe the alure of duck hunting. You have to get up earlier than most farmers. You hike long distances carrying your gun, decoys, and other gear just to wait, watch, and hopefully shoot some ducks. Why??? I don't have a good answer for you. I know that it is not shooting ducks. It is not "getting away from it all". It is not because I don't have anything else to do, Lord knows I have more than enough to fill 2 peoples plates. I think that it has something to do with the adventure of it all. I like getting up early, throwing on 4 layers of clothes, loading the truck, driving out to "the spot", hiking with 10-40 lbs on my back, wading out in the water to throw out the decoys, setting up a blind, and then waiting. I like the time between being ready for the ducks to come in and sunrise. I like talking with my buddies, being able to hear ducks whizzing by but not being able to see them. I like watching Kolbe search the dark horizon for flying birds. I'm sure that this all seems a little bit silly. I know that it is. I can't wait untill Joss and Trip are old enough that I can take take them with me. I hope that I can teach them an appreciation for the things that I love about hunting. Before I end this post I have to extend a big thank you to Keri for putting up with my crazy antics. I know she thinks that I am like a little boy playing fort. She is so good about trying to understand my crazy habits.