Round 5: Earnin' it.

stovepipe · Posted: Wed Dec 14, 2011 9:15 am Post subject: Re: Round 5: Earnin' it.

No worries bud...Mornin' Les!

moose2 · Posted: Wed Dec 14, 2011 12:03 pm Post subject: Re: Round 5: Earnin' it.

stovepipe wrote:

Several more hours and even more miles I’ve one option left and I’m about to pack it in. Time to hit the sand washes and look for tracks- that are usually going the wrong way and are cold. I find a vein of zillions of little toes that look like ant’s marching. I take it and see where it leads. It peters out and there’s nothing. I try some more calls but I’m getting no reply’s, it’s been quiet all day.

So I cruise the ridges of the banks of this wash in the thick stuff hoping to find a straggler. As I’m shimmying around and ducking the arm of a Joshua a quail flushes- and I’ve got the Benelli in my left hand, straddling a something or other and keeping balance with my right arm on the edge of this wash.

The bird flushes like a bolt and is 8’ up and a perfect straight-away and….my tiny little Benelli never misses those- ever. POP!, Down she goes, over the horizon and into the sand wash.

I fly out of the hole I’m in and over the side- no cripple here. She’s smack in the center, perfect recovery on a bed of soft sand. One bird, one shot, all day. Glad I made it count.

I can’t describe it- there’s something about taking a bird on the wing that’s doing 40 miles per hour at 15 or 20 yards, and, recovering it. It’s addicting. It’s a feeling like no other. I get it each and every time I hold a bird in my hand, feel it’s heft and it’s plumage, study it’s features and give thanks. And, they’re darn good eating too!

So- that’s it. 9 hours, lots of shoe leather, one bird. Was it worth it?

Yes.

You're an amazing hunter Stovey. Besides that, your stories are just so much fun to read. You really should write a book. Most enjoyable. Was it worth the one bird? Most definitely. The tougher the hunt, the more memorable it is. Hope we get to read a few more stories this year. Smile

stovepipe · Posted: Wed Dec 14, 2011 12:59 pm Post subject: Re: Round 5: Earnin' it.

Thanks Mr. Moose! Very kind of you to say so sir!