2006 - 2007 2nd year of hunting

Page 6

Kansas Hunting Continued

Day 12, November 20, 2006

Blaze Finds a Friend

On this morning Steve left for Texas and I slept late due to too much Wild Turkey from "The Duck Blind" the night before. I loaded up and moved on to Glen Elder again to find a spot to set up my tent on the Wildlife Area. I started out on a Pheasant hunt, but with Bismuth, so I could jump the ducks again while I was out walking. After making a stalk and shooting a teal, I found I had just beat out another hunter Mark, and his 18 year old son Rory who had the same idea. They were from Colorado and in Kansas to Pheasant hunt. With them was another Vizsla. Small World! Ultimately we learned we had read each others posts and had exchanged an email or two before on the Yahoo group Vizslahunt. 

100s of Teal. 
 
Rory walking up for a look at them. 

I also learned this was Rory's last hunting trip before boot camp. I invited him to duck hunt with me that evening. I let him have pretty much most of the shots and there was a lot of shooting. I had some High Density BB left from my Goose hunt and tried on one group of Canada Geese that came over what I thought low enough, but no luck. Just after Sunset, the three of us stood on the mudflat and watched wave after wave of low flying teal fly by us. Thousands of them! Like Blackbirds all moving together only faster. It was a rush! I found my self yelling as one group wooshed by. What a blast!

 

Marks son sure looked to have fun, so I invited him to hunt again in the morning and he did. Mark showed later.  I stayed on the down side and had a blast watching Rory split the waves of teal, I picked a couple up when they flew wide around him and tried to land in my decoys. The lake was very low due to the drought and this was probably the muddiest duck hunt of my life, but man what fun. 

Day 13, November 21, 2006
Blockers beyond the Combines
After the duck hunt we ended up in the parking lot by my tent where the guys from Colorado offered me a sandwich that was most appreciated. Then someone drove up who was with the Combines working nearby. He told us they were pushing out a lot of Pheasant and invited us to come hunt in front of them as long as we did not shoot the Combines. 

Off we went. We staged at the corners as blockers waiting for the birds. I kept Blaze healed close. Most Birds too far out, or high, or too fast, but it was fun to hunt that way. Mark did pick one bird up. I shot one that hit the ground running. Blaze saw it and charged, but right at the spot she met up with the Rooster, a hen flew out, and a rabbit jumped out. It was too much confusion for her and ultimately that Rooster got away. 




Then we hunted the strips not cut by the combines. The three of us and two Vizslas hunting together. Found several hens and a couple Roosters this way. Got my last Pheasant of the trip just as we finished the day. 

Blaze now in her 12th day of hunting is worn out and this picture shows it. I was sure proud of her. 

I picked up camp and headed to Cheyenne Bottoms near Great Bend for my last day of hunting. 

Day 14, November 22, 2008

Thanksgiving Eve on the Marsh

I did not arrive at Cheyenne Bottoms until after dark on the 21st, so set up my one man tent in the designated camping area by the headlights of my truck and visited with some other hunters camping there. Having never been there before, unable to scout, and not wanted to mess up anyone else's hunt, I decided to sleep in. Maybe do a mid day snipe hunt while scouting and then an evening duck hunt. Cheyenne Bottoms was both suggested to me by an ex Kansas Game Warden on the Texas Hunting Forum and also the Kansas game warden that I visited with on this trip. I had no idea. This place was huge. I paddled for two or three hours into marsh without seeing another hunter. I did see thousands of Ducks. Every opening in the marsh I came to looked like this. 

I am sure it is not always like that, but as the Kansas Game Warden informed me, it was the week to be there. And being Thanksgiving eve, there were very few hunters. 

Those pictures above are from within a hunting area. You think that was something, see the refuge side. Those are geese out there. 



I went out in the kayak with Blaze and a few decoys for an evening hunt. Considering the numbers and kinds of different ducks, I had thought it fun to try and make each of my 5 ducks a different species. I could have easily done it, but watching that sun get lower and thinking about the 8 hour drive home ahead of me, I settled on a second "spoonie". Camera started acting up on me, too much dust, mud, and water exposure over the two weeks, but I did manage to get the lens to come out one last time for this picture of a pintail on top of the kayak. 




I finished my Hunting in Kansas with a slow paddle into the sunset, dog standing proud on my bow, parting hundreds of rafted ducks the entire way. 

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2005 - 2006 Hunting Season

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