Few birds from last weekend

[mtmiller]

Well, I haven't chased birds in a couple weeks and Axl was not happy about it, so I hit the road Thursday afternoon for a long weekend. Friday morning sucked. I have a feeling someone has been using my secret spot. Flushed birds out in the dark and they never came back. I did shoot one mallard drake, but pretty slow morning.

In the afternoon I decided I had better try to get a swan on the ground (or water, as the case may be). I threw out a couple decoys and took a little nap on the shore. Suddenly I am awakened by some noisy swans that have already entered the kill zone. I wanted to shoot one locked up, but sleep screwed that one up. I snapped a couple photos before deciding I might at well shoot one of these guys.

Two juveniles on the right side of the picture.
http://www.hunttalk.com/forums/gallery/files/5/2/7/P1140864.JPG

It was a good swan, but I have killed one bigger, so I will wait at least one more year for a mountable swan.
http://www.hunttalk.com/forums/gallery/files/5/2/7/P1140931.JPG

This guy sailed quite a ways, so I did the retrieving with the boat. Not sure if Ax was happy or not with that decision. :D
http://www.hunttalk.com/forums/gallery/files/5/2/7/P1140833.JPG

Saturday was a better duck day as I went to a new location. I picked up two readheads right away (limit is two) and so I was then waiting for a canvasback to make it a great "diver" day. I did take a few mallards while I was waiting though. ;)
http://www.hunttalk.com/forums/gallery/files/5/2/7/P1150055.JPG

I finally gave up on the cans and shot this green-wing drake from a group of about a dozen birds. Picking out drakes in a teal flight is not easy for me, so I was pretty happy with this sixth duck.
http://www.hunttalk.com/forums/gallery/files/5/2/7/P1150089.JPG

Thankfully I was back in the good graces on Axl.
http://www.hunttalk.com/forums/gallery/files/5/2/7/P1150127.JPG

Saturday night was a little rough, so I slept through a lot of birds this morning. Flights were pretty poor and I only picked up 4 ducks, but they were all drakes and I passed on a few hens. Guess you can't fill everyday. :D
http://www.hunttalk.com/forums/gallery/files/5/2/7/P1150230.JPG

Now that Ax is happy, I think next weekend will be doe hunt time. :D

[Kusko]

Love the pictures. Hey, shooting swans is a blast and they really taste good. We are allowed 3 per year up here. My friend has one mounted and it looks awesome. They are very spendy to get stuffed. What do you use for decoys? Do you call at all? Just curious.

[fabsroman]

That is awesome. If I were in your shoes, I would sum that weekend up as a success.

Are you guys allowed to hunt on Sundays? If so, I am really jealous. We only get a couple Sundays a year and that is for deer only.

We aren't allowed to kill swans in Maryland, but I have had them in the decoys twice in my life. It seems like a 10 gauge would be the minimum for those birds and the best round would probably be an anti-aircraft gun.

I cannot wait to try my luck on the ducks this year. I am even thinking about getting a duck boat this year. I'll have to work on the wife with that one.

[kt]

man what a great variety, if im lucky this weekend i might see a variety including mallards and the ever secretive canada goose! oooooh and ahhhhh
kt

[mtmiller]

Thanks guys.

Kusko, yes, I was using decoys. I have never seen a swan call, but would be interested if you know about them. Here is Axl swimming past the decoys I used.

http://www.hunttalk.com/forums/gallery/files/5/2/7/P1150036.JPG

I had already killed my swan at this point, but used the swans for confidence decoys. They also have worked well for bringing in can in the past. That is it there are any cans around. I didn't see many on this trip.

Yeh, I would love to have one hanging from the ceiling, but as you mentioned, not cheap. Maybe next year as I still have to scrape together some $$ for a bear that is still at the taxidermist.

[fabsroman]

Yeah, it sucks shooting nice animals and then having to make the decision whether or not to take them to the taxidermist knowing what the bill is going to be.

One year, I shot a duck I really wanted to mount and then a couple of weeks later, shot my first antlered buck. The duck was my first ever trip to the taxidermist. Imagine my shock when I added up what the duck and deer mount were going to cost that year. The following year, my soon to be wife and I were looking at buying a home together and I shot another decent buck. Nothing about hunting, shooting, or fishing is cheap, except maybe the stories from friends.