Friday, September 16, 2011

The year's first dove shoot (and a new wing shot and retriever in the family)

Not much of a post, tonight, I suppose...and I promise the next one won't involve hunting (fingers crossed)....but I wanted to mention that our seasons began in earnest last weekend and it seemed fitting to mention a little about it.

Archery season opened and while my oldest and I were present and accounted for early Saturday morning, the deer were not cooperative in the slightest. But if you have ever been very still in the woods as night turns to day, you know how rewarding it is to hear the owls begin to hush up as the daylight grows while the crows and other day critters begin their shifts and make the day all noisy. It was a fine morning.

We took a bit of a break and then the afternoon brought the first dove shoot of the year. Now, while deer hunting is mostly a solitary and quiet affair, a good dove shoot involves quite a few folks heading into an open field and doing a fair amount of socializing while spotting birds and yelling 'heads up' directions to the other hunters as the birds come in. It's a remarkably loud and fun way to expend a whole pile of gunpowder at some very fast-flying birds. I ought to mention that despite the number of hunters and guns, it's a very organized endeavor with some basic rules to keep everyone safe.

Our younger boy came along and this year was promoted to full gun-bearing hunter as opposed to previous years when he came along for the ride, mostly, and to gain some experience. We also had Lilla, the new Boykin, along to see what she could do. The boy was equipped with a single shot 20 gauge and minimal experience with moving targets. Lilla brought a nose and some serious energy.

One thing to note about doves is that they seem to have magic in their flying. Some come through straight and slow and make you shoot way too far ahead of them....some come through at what seems like 100 miles an hour and manage to execute 90 degree turns just as you pull the trigger at a point in the air where the bird no longer is. I dare say more shotshells are spent on doves, per bird, than any other game animal.

But it was a good shoot with more than enough doves to miss and still allow most folks to get their limits. I was especially proud of my little man who collected 8 birds with that single shot. That's no mean feat for a first-timer. And as for Lilla, she did a fine job of retrieving birds and finding a few in some mighty thick cover that otherwise would have been lost. I have to say, I'm loving these spaniels.

Heres a portrait of the crew at the end of the day....hot, tired, and very happy.

 And I'll do my best to make the next post about mass transit issues, the decline of print media, or something other than hunting.

Have a great weekend!

Bloodhound