nbell
New member
My son is 9 years old, and this is going to be his first season hunting. My dog is 13, and has cancer pretty bad, this is going to be his last hunt. My emotions were pretty high for the weekend. Last weekend was a two day season for junior hunters, so I made the run 3 hours west to the Moses Lake area where there is some public land to try and get my two favorite boys some birds. The weather was ridiculous hot, but we gave it our best. We had quite a few birds moving through the morning, and my boy got to shoot at quite a few birds in the decoys, but wasn't able to knock anything out of the sky. Here they are in the middle of the day
About midday, I had noticed a lot of birds all going into the same hole 3-400 yards from where we were set up, so we picked up the decoys and moved over there. We immediately had birds working the decoys, but were landing way short on us. The boys got to be tired, so they decided to take a nap.
By the end of the day, he had some shooting in, but not birds to show for it. We did learn where the birds were going though, so I had very high hopes for the next day. The next morning, we got set up and ready to go.
There were a few birds milling around, and a couple tried to land in the decoys, but we had the same results as the day before. My son was starting to get frustrated that he wasn't hitting any birds. I kept telling him it was okay, and he would only get better as he hunted more. The hunting had died, and there were almost no birds moving in the heat. All of the sudden out of the corner of my eye I catch a group of 20 or so teal screaming towards the decoys just a few feet off the water. I told my son get ready, when I said get up and shoot, he jumped up and swung at the birds which appeared to be doing 200mph across the decoys. As soon as he shot, right out of the middle of the group one fell. He didn't even shoot again, all he could do was jump up and down with excitement. My poor old dog jumped in after the bird with just a broken wing. As the bird swam, I began to wonder if Toby was going to be able catch it, and if he did, if he would be able to make it back to shore. I started to run for the boat to go help my dog. Before I could get there, my son was shouting what a good dog he was. I hurried back to see the poor old guy trying to get out of the water as my son tried to help. Here they are with my sons first bird, and my dogs last.
Just a little hen green wing teal, and a routine retrieve, but probably will be the one I remember most from a spectacular dog who is going to be retired now, and probably gone in a month or two. On Monday, I took the little bird and my son up to the taxidermist to drop the bird off, as this will go down as one of the very best hunts I will ever be able to have.
About midday, I had noticed a lot of birds all going into the same hole 3-400 yards from where we were set up, so we picked up the decoys and moved over there. We immediately had birds working the decoys, but were landing way short on us. The boys got to be tired, so they decided to take a nap.
By the end of the day, he had some shooting in, but not birds to show for it. We did learn where the birds were going though, so I had very high hopes for the next day. The next morning, we got set up and ready to go.
There were a few birds milling around, and a couple tried to land in the decoys, but we had the same results as the day before. My son was starting to get frustrated that he wasn't hitting any birds. I kept telling him it was okay, and he would only get better as he hunted more. The hunting had died, and there were almost no birds moving in the heat. All of the sudden out of the corner of my eye I catch a group of 20 or so teal screaming towards the decoys just a few feet off the water. I told my son get ready, when I said get up and shoot, he jumped up and swung at the birds which appeared to be doing 200mph across the decoys. As soon as he shot, right out of the middle of the group one fell. He didn't even shoot again, all he could do was jump up and down with excitement. My poor old dog jumped in after the bird with just a broken wing. As the bird swam, I began to wonder if Toby was going to be able catch it, and if he did, if he would be able to make it back to shore. I started to run for the boat to go help my dog. Before I could get there, my son was shouting what a good dog he was. I hurried back to see the poor old guy trying to get out of the water as my son tried to help. Here they are with my sons first bird, and my dogs last.
Just a little hen green wing teal, and a routine retrieve, but probably will be the one I remember most from a spectacular dog who is going to be retired now, and probably gone in a month or two. On Monday, I took the little bird and my son up to the taxidermist to drop the bird off, as this will go down as one of the very best hunts I will ever be able to have.
It as summer so I couldn't take him hunting.
