Bird Hunting 2018

Upland and Duck Hunting 2018

In between bow hunts I kept busy with getting the dogs out for some bird hunting action. I have a hard time balancing between deer hunting and bird hunting, mainly because I feel guilty when I am sitting in a tree stand and I knew my dogs are at home, staring out the window, wondering, "why are we not hunting birds right now?" 

I also find that when you spend too much time in a tree stand you can burn yourself out really quickly. I think that getting the dogs out and getting some action really helps my drive and recharges my batteries to get back to stand sitting, (also the extra exercise doesn't hurt). I don't hunt birds for the sake of shooting birds, that's really just a product of letting the dogs work. I get more enjoyment seeing my dogs point, remain steady, and then give me a retrieve, (supposing that I've actually hit my target.) Watching my dogs behavior after they have done what they have been genetically bred to do is the reason I hang up my bow and pick up my over under.

VT Trip

Second annual Northeast Kingdom trip did not produce anything. We had a limited amount of flushes. We didn't see any woodcock at all, which was disappointing. We went the 3rd week of October but a cold front came through and it felt more like January. The weather was cold and rainy and there was snow on the ground. We saw grouse flush, but didn't come close to hitting any. The last day we tried a different spot close to the house where we were staying. We found an open area with a beaver pond in the middle that held a few ducks. My dad had his waterfowl license and some steel shot so he switched over and we let his spring spaniel flush them off the pond. Luckily the flew back towards us and my Dad took one down. We let his springer, Ruby, get the retrieve. It worked out rather nicely. While we were congratulating Ruby on her bird, Piper flushed a grouse out of a pine tree into the open. I took two shots and thought I may have hit something but we searched the area it went down with negative results. It was nice to have a little action to end our trip though.

Pheasant and Quail

Luna and Piper using teamwork to hit the bag limit on 2 roosters

Back home in south eastern MA I ran the dogs in tandem at a couple of WMA's that stock pheasant, and one that stocks quail. The Francis Crane WMA in Falmouth is a huge area of cleared fields and trails that are perfect for upland hunting. The other is in Plymouth, in the Myles Standish State Forest. They also stock quail. Piper does not hold tight enough to use her for quail hunting but Luna is very cautious and we usually limit out every time we go, with plenty of empty shell casings in my vest pocket as well.

Pictured above was a day in Myles Standish that I was most proud of. Early in the morning Luna slammed on point and I found a rooster that I would dub a non performer. Piper honored for a moment when I told her to whoa, but then broke once she saw me try kicking the bird into flight, as I would during a training session with a pigeon. The bird took off by did not go far enough. I shot at the bird and it slammed to the ground as Piper was top of it to retrieve. The second bird Piper flushed originally but relocated it and had a beautiful point about 10 feet from the rooster downwind. She held steady and Luna honored as I yelled whoa. I flushed the bird, shot it (a little too close as feathers exploded everywhere) and Piper retrieved it to hand perfectly. It was a great way to end the day.

Luna with one of her roosters of the year

Luna and a Bobwhite

Ducks

Male bufflehead and a female eider

I was only able to get out duck hunting twice, but was successful each outing. I never hunted them in the early season, but waited until after January and did coastal flyway only. The first trip I shot a bufflehead and a female eider, (my first ever sea duck). The last day of the season I shot a hooded merganser as the sun was setting. Piper did an excellent job retrieving all the birds. As she gets older I think she's going to be my go to waterfowl dog and Luna is going to be my ace for upland, but we'll see how it plays out. They started hunting well together this year so I don't mind running them together on pheasant.

Piper's last retrieve of the season was a beautiful one

Fishing 2018

Fishing 2018

This season had its ups and downs, but overall it was successful. I fished mainly from my small 16' center console and my buddies 21' on commercial days. I did a charter trip on the Emma Jack out of S Yarmouth for a tournament and came in 3rd place with the striper on the scale pictured below.

I had by far one of the best days I've ever experienced in Cape Cod Bay in August. I worked a midnight shift and towed my boat to work with me. When I got out of work I made my way to the ramp but did not get far before the skies opened up on me. I had to wait until the rolling thunder storm passed. As I made my way towards the east end of the canal the skies opened up again. I did my best to keep from getting struck by lightning and wound up snagging a few macks with the sabiki. On my way to meet up with a buddy on another boat the calm waters exploded all around me. I was set up with a small white top water plug for schoolies. This plug was not prepared for the thrashing it was about to take. 

For about 2 hours as the tide went high and slack their was a feed like I've never seen. I caught fish on everything I through at them. Live lining macks, tube and worm, but my personal favorite, top water plugs. I kept the biggest fish of the day, ( I now regret the fact that I did this and would have rather put it back). I brought it to Powderhorn Outfitters because I thought it would get me a state pin. Unfortunately it didn't make the 40 lb cut and wound up somewhere in the 36 lb class.

On my buddy's commercial boat most nights/days were fishless. But we managed the get one day where we hit the limit. The season never closed due to the quota never being met. A gloomy look at the overfished fishery. Overall many small fish were around, as long as they are given the chance to grow, and regulations change, the fishery should bounce back.