How did your season go.....

[Mr. 16 gauge]

....or, if its still going on, how is it going?;)

My season here in MI finished up about 3 weeks ago; we have a two day "late season":rolleyes: that takes place the weekend after New Years, but I will be on call for the hospital that weekend, so I've put the boats and decoys up for the season.
I didn't do too bad.....put a few in the freezer for dinner, and got a couple of birds that I will use as taxidermy subjects (drake Greenwing teal and drake bufflehead). Learned that there are a lot of greedy S.O.B.s out there calling themselves 'sportsmen', but really they are just game hogs......I've decided that next year I'm not hunting the cornfields on the managed area I hunt, but rather will take the 'undesirable' areas in the marsh instead....did that this year and shot a bluebill at 15 yards and a drake mallard at 25......both had their wings cupped and commited and were very gratifying shots!

My home made decoys looked and worked great this past year, and I have a few ideas for some projects for next fall, including a new blind for my johnboat and a floating, portable dog stand that I can also use as a decoy transport.
I also need to find a way to quickly get my boat over a large dike (by myself).....lifting & dragging it over by myself is getting to be way to much of a chore!

Hope your season went (or is going) well........:)

[fabsroman]

Yep, way too many people out there that shoot more than they know what to do with. The shooting part is fun, but when the shooting stops they are left with a on of birds that they have no clue what to do with. It is a shame. If it wasn't for laws regulating it to some degree, there would be no birds or big game left.

Me, I haven't gotten out for a single day of waterfowl hunting this year. Hoping to get out for goose season some time in January, but who knows.

[buckhunter]

Fabs,

Your falling apart. Must be the kids and wife. Just kidding, ya gotta do what ya gotta do. I'm hoping to do a little late season goose here. Bow hunted all season this year. Didn't get the shotgun out once.

[fabsroman]

Fabs,

Your falling apart. Must be the kids and wife. Just kidding, ya gotta do what ya gotta do. I'm hoping to do a little late season goose here. Bow hunted all season this year. Didn't get the shotgun out once.

Nah, it was mostly the Lyme disease/reactive arthritis/I have no clue what you have problem that I was going through from August 29th to November 5th. I fell so far behind on work that I am now on vacation in Florida at my in-laws and ended up taking 5 client files with me to work on. I am hoping to be caught up by the time the new year starts.

Next year will be different, and I might even be able to get some fishing and shooting in after tax season. Might even be able to ride my bike down here by the end of the week.

[kt]

awful season, after a stellar september, things went dow hill, we lost the best farm in town because over the summer some knuckle heads 4 wheeled through the soy. had an issue with a neighboring landowner who doesnt apprecaite shotguns at 630 am. and got in an argument with a friend who has trouble being wrong, i normally have killed 40 some geese and 15 ducks by now, as i stand 20 geese, 0 ducks. on the bright side a decent new job is sucking up a lot of my time. happy new year kt

[fabsroman]

awful season, after a stellar september, things went dow hill, we lost the best farm in town because over the summer some knuckle heads 4 wheeled through the soy. had an issue with a neighboring landowner who doesnt apprecaite shotguns at 630 am. and got in an argument with a friend who has trouble being wrong, i normally have killed 40 some geese and 15 ducks by now, as i stand 20 geese, 0 ducks. on the bright side a decent new job is sucking up a lot of my time. happy new year kt

Unless hunting is your job, having a new job in this environmnt is a very good thing and something to really be happy with.

Your 20 geese are 20 more than I have killed. Haven't even pulled a trigger this year, and that might include the end of the 2008/2009 season in January and February this year. Kind of pathetic on my end, but life is great otherwise.

Happy New Year a day early.

[kt]

oh yeah i fogot to mention that the two farms we still have permission on we must walk every thing in thats a lot of fully body dekes if just to hide five blinds. ......And me and my girl broke up the second week of the late season!!!! she said it was her or the Super Thang call (jk). so i must start scouting.... not for geese. that is how bad this season is, so here i sit at work

[fabsroman]

It could always be worse. Maybe you need to be as sick as I was in September and October to understand that your life really isn't that bad right now. Nothing like thinking you might be dying based upon what the doctors are telling you, and wondering if your 2 1/2 year old and 5 month old will remember anything about you, or how your wife will get along without you. Trust me, I've walked decoy and layout blinds into wheat fields several times, and life could be a lot worse than that. I've also lost farms to development, and trust me, life can be a lot worse than that.

[buckhunter]

Fabs,

Glad your better. Lyme can be aweful.

[kt]

hey fabs, you have successfully made me feel like crap! of course i am kidding and i hope you are back to the field shortly
kt

[fabsroman]

hey fabs, you have successfully made me feel like crap! of course i am kidding and i hope you are back to the field shortly
kt

KT,

My intention wasn't to make you feel like crap. It was to make you realize that even though you have some bad stuff going on in your life right now, it really isn't that bad. I read a saying recently that went something like this:

If we all threw our troubles into a pile and had to take back somebody else's troubles as our own, we would quickly grab our own troubles back out of that pile.

As long as me, my wife, and my kids and the rest of my loved ones are breathing, it is a great day. It might be a stressful day, a day without hunting, fishing, shooting, or cycling, but a great day nonetheless.

I hope things start going better for you, and the best way for that to happen is to look at all the good things you have going on in your life.

Take care and I hope you get in some great hunting.

[fabsroman]

Fabs,

Glad your better. Lyme can be aweful.

As it stands right now, the doctors have no idea what I had. One thinks it was lyme, but all the tests came back negative for lyme. At one point, the blood work came back as a kidney problem, but then it came back as normal (i.e., just under the high level) a week later. Then, the rheumatologist thinks I might have had reactive arthritis, but there is no way to test for that. So, as it stands right now, I feel 99% compared to the 30% I was feeling at the end of September. The only thing that bothers me is my ankles and feet on occasion, but that is usually only when I have been going through sleep deprivation due to work, etc. Honestly, I'll take it and live with it with a big smile on my face if I never, ever, feel as bad as I did at the end of September.

[kt]

fabs, that was very insightful i must say. i will ponder that for a few
kt

[kt]

things looking up?
i have been trying this whole optimism thing on lately.

after 2 weeks of 15 degrees saturday was in the 40's. went out with some friends and just had no expectations. i sat where they told me to and didnt add my two sense anywhere (although the set up was backwards and the birds worked behind us.) none the less we smacked the canadas really hard. went out and got a big doe at night. it was a taste of the goodness that i miss in my hunting life.
kt

[fabsroman]

things looking up?
i have been trying this whole optimism thing on lately.

after 2 weeks of 15 degrees saturday was in the 40's. went out with some friends and just had no expectations. i sat where they told me to and didnt add my two sense anywhere (although the set up was backwards and the birds worked behind us.) none the less we smacked the canadas really hard. went out and got a big doe at night. it was a taste of the goodness that i miss in my hunting life.
kt

The bad times make the mediocre time feel great, and the good times feel wonderful.

Sometimes, it isn't a bad idea to set the decoys/blind up backwards. I have seen it done on TV hunting shows. Essentially, they are shooting the birds in the back when the birds are not looking right at them. So, the birds have no idea what is going on. It allows for some pretty easy shooting. Is that what you experienced KT.

By the way, great to hear you had a great time. Me, I think I am finally caught up with work and am going to head out next week for some hunting before I get too involved with tax season.

[kt]

well for u i assume tax season is a money makin season. yes the birds were clearing us 10 foot up and getting shot in the tail as they tried to land. i heard a guy say he did this on purpose one time to avoid bb's in the breast! the problem with this set up is it is hard to call birds and know what to say when they are locking up behind you. and craning your neck to see behind you sucks. i hope you slam em this weekend
kt

[fabsroman]

well for u i assume tax season is a money makin season. yes the birds were clearing us 10 foot up and getting shot in the tail as they tried to land. i heard a guy say he did this on purpose one time to avoid bb's in the breast! the problem with this set up is it is hard to call birds and know what to say when they are locking up behind you. and craning your neck to see behind you sucks. i hope you slam em this weekend
kt

It turned out to be too freaking nice today to hunt. So, I will try to get out when it gets a little colder. The geese weren't even moving today, so it was a good call not to hunt.

I have had the same issue with calling birds in a layout blind when they are behind me. Being skinny and small has its advantages. I was able to flip around on my belly in the blind and look at what the birds were doing. Not the most comfortable thing to do, but not too terrible either. Sometimes, you just have to make due.

Yeah, tax season is a money making time for me, but it is a crazy work time too with very little sleep. Such is life I guess.