well its getting down to only weeks till opening day so the decoys are on the lawn for a check over and the callers have come out to get our ear in again. the kids and I have been quaking and sqauking outside and its good to be in the country as the odd duck comes past. well last night the dog was out with us and couldnt work out what the blue blases was going on, the ducks were circling us and Dad wasnt shooting them
then I made some dummy shells and was swinging the pump action to get in the swing of things and pumping out shells that was too much for the dog he was even trying to retrieve the empty shells. then tonight we were out doors and I had the shotty and my daughter was having a quack or two ,I picked up the caller to show her the speed of calling and were calling some distant birds when a pair swooped down from behind us with wings cupped and were only 10yrds up when hello thats 3 people and a dog on that lawn I dropped the caller and swept up the shotty and went click at them, made me feel real good but didnt help the poor dog.
we then went around to the other side of the section and patterned our redneck adaptor and the dog was over the fence so quick before he realised oops Im not allowed over the fence. to give him credit he stopped within 3 meters and came back. poor wee fella is going to be a nervous wreck before opening day.

Maybe you need to set some retrievable decoys out there mate...give the dawg something to do.

Cheers, Vince

Actually the poor dog is wondering how he got hooked up with such a lousy shot LOL

I had a beagle for 12 years. Around August I would take out the pump 12 and get ready for the rabbit season in September. As soon as he saw the gun he would get all excited and head for the door. When he noticed I wasn't following he would come back and look at me wag his tail, sometimes jump up and then go back for the door. After mid-August it was legal to start taking him into the woods for conditioning. He would fly out of his truck kennel and be gone like a rocket. I would just mosy along listening to him chase rabbits alll day. No dog now and while I still hunt the bunnies it isn't the same.

Elvis, you're lucky he still didn't learn how to shoot that gun himself...

Aloy the looks he gave me were deadly enough.
Mac we used to let the dogs out in the first gully when chasing wallabies to get it out of the system, they would then calm down and work properly.
the first few ducks of opening day are hard on everyones nerves and the dog watches them floating around while the first rush is going on before the first retrieves. not long to wait now but the old nerves are still there.

Hey Elvis. Just gettin ready for that opener can be alot of fun in itself. Sounds like everyone is pretty ready now that ya stirred the pot some.

ELvis, your story reminds me of the black lab I had 25 years ago. Anytime I pulled a gun out of the safe, she was ripped and ready to hunt asap. And anytime I walked out the back door with shotgun in hand, she made a bee-line for the pick-up truck waiting to get to our hunting spot.

When I told her NO, she would look at me and tilt her head as if the word "no to hunting during off season" wasn't in her book.

She lived to be a ripe old age of 13 years and 8 months and was a great family dog with little ones around. Back then the camera tech was not as it is today and didn't feel like lugging a full size vhs camcorder out hunting with me, but with todays pocket size camera I sure would have filled up an album or 2.

where would we be without our faithful canine companions aye???
probably stripped off to our jocks getting lumps in our throuts as wee tip toed out into cold water for the ducks we shoot (been there done that).