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Post by Kt29 on Dec 3, 2007 20:44:45 GMT -5
Sunday Dec.2- Temps. were 5 below zero at sunrise. Makins of a slow day. Happened to turn on ESPN and watched some of the Stihl Timbersports series. Was nice to see Carson Bosworth doing so well in this series. Carson and his family were my neighbors all the years we lived in North Idaho. He comes from very good stock in this competion series. His dad Bob was very passionate about competing in logging events as well as his sister and mom. The only thing I half way learned how to do was the ax throw. The Bosworth's make most all of their own competion equipment including chopping axes and single buck saws. Carson's wife Tina is a past National Birling champ. It was great watching him grow up become the great competitor that he is. Today we had a nice break in the weather. Was nearly 30 degree above by sunrise with little wind. Had about an inch of snow last night. Needed to get the 6MM out to the rifle range to get it shooting well enough for some coyote hunting this winter. Man I'll be tickled when that new stock shows up for it. Loaded up and headed for the range abut 8:30. First shot out of the 6MM was high and right. I made a correction on the scope and brought it down first try to dead center and three inch high. Right where I like it. First three shot group was an amazing .65" Never expected that with the condition the old stock is in. Shot two more groups. Each group opened up about a half inch each as the barrel warmed up. Will take that anyday. Will be shooting a cold barrel anyway for coyote hunting. Also brought along a friends Ruger .270 to shoot. He thought the scope was going bad on it as it shot all over. I shot three three shot groups through it. Best I could do were inch and a half groups. His scope is working fine. The biggest problem with the gun is the lousy Ruger trigger. It must be a typical 8 or 10 lb. trigger. If he'd get the trigger worked on and shoot some good handloads, I'm sure this could be a sub MOA rifle. Was fun to shoot someone elses ammo up though. On the way back home, Dakota and I stopped at one of our favorite bird fields in this area. Got into birds right away. Wound up missing two birds and getting two. She was happy to be out again. When I got home, found that Dakota really needed a bath bad. Decided I'd try to use the Rapid Bath on her again. Tried it last month on her and you'd a thought I set her tail afire. Was alittel apprehensive how it would go. Got her into the tub and turned on the system. She was just as gentle as a lamb. No fuss or muss. What a relief. Sure love that Rapid Bath system. So easy and so quick, as long as the dog cooperates as she did today. Another great day on the Prairie. Doesn't look like that's going to hold very long though. Next 4 or five days look pretty bleak.
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Post by Kt29 on Dec 6, 2007 14:58:51 GMT -5
Had snow flurries all through the day yesterday and through the night. Only amounted to an inch and a half or so of snow. Today looked like it might be a good day to get out and chase some birds. Left the house at 10:00, temps around 10 above, and headed north a few miles over to Mike's ranch. After I parked the truck and got out it soon became quite evident that this was going to be a short hunt. The winds picked up from about zero to 25 MPH in no time. Dakota was just lovin it as she's been cooped up for a few days. The snow is a new experience for her also, and its fun just to watch her play in it. Took off walking with her. Didn't take long for the whistle to freeze up along with my fingers and cheeks. The wind was brutal. Even if I would have needed to use the e-collar I couldn't have operated it. Walked for 15 minutes and on the turnaround to head back, Dakota was into birds. First three up were hens. They were holding nicely. Next she was putting up roosters. By the time the fourth rooster got up, I finally had gotten my safe off just in time to make a long shot. Didn't make the greatest of shots, but Dakota was right there to bail out my poor shooting. Its always fun to see the bird come back with no tail feathers as this one did. She must have had a good chase. The CRP is so high, I don't get to see alot of what goes on when she's after a bird. That was enough for me. I unloaded and let her work more birds on the walk back to the truck. I think I could have survived a little longer out today if it hadn't been for the strong winds. Dakota wasn't, near ready yet to go home, but I was. Just haven't found anything that really works to keep my fingers warm and still be able to safely operate my shotgun under these conditions. Still it was time in the field and that's always a good thing.
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Post by Kt29 on Dec 10, 2007 20:01:40 GMT -5
After days of -5 to -15 degree mornings it was great to have one this morning at 16 above. Since it was so nice, just had to go out, if for nothing else just to give Dakota a run. Headed north a few miles and hunted a quarter section field. As usual, by the time we got out their, the winds were back up to 20 MPH or so. With the wind blowing across the snow, it was still pretty chilly out. We hunted for an hour and a half today. Today the birds were spread out through the field, which made it pretty nice to hunt the singles. Dakota put up 10 roosters and about 20 hens. Managed to get two roosters, made two really great misses, and had two of them that just wouldn't get high enough to safely shoot at. When they get up with the wind, alot of the time they will just stay down on the deck. Some of the roosters just plain flushed wildly ahead of us. All in all it was a very good day to work her. She just loves the cool temps. As season will be winding down, will try to get her out as much as possible. The first bird I downed, turned out to be a interesting retrieve for Dakota. The first part of the hunt my fingers numbed up right away when we swung into the wind. When the first bird got up that I shot, I again had a hard time getting the safe off, which resulted in a poor hit on the bird. That bird came down right at the junction of a road and right into the inlet of a 36" culvert. When Dakota got their I could see her looking around for it but she couldn't find it. When I got there, I figured it must have run out the end of the culvert. We went to the other side of the culvert and started looking around for it. As the ditches had been mowed and it was next to a pasture, we would have seen it if it was running out the otherside. But nothing. I started looking closer at the culvert and seen that both sides of the fill around it had considerale erosion that went quite aways back in along the culvert. Also these areas were blown full of tumbleweeds. After about five minutes of looking here and there, I saw Dakota get down and crawl into the erroded opening next to the culvert. She must have gone in three feet or so. And then, wouldn't ya know it, she came backing out with that rooster by the tail. That puppy dog is something else. It was pretty amazing to get that bird. She sure earned her puppy chow today. That made my whole day. Inspite of my less than stellar shooting today, it was another fun hunt on the prairie and a retrieve I'll always remember of hers.
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Post by Kt29 on Dec 12, 2007 17:31:57 GMT -5
Got out this afternoon after some birds but couldn't down anything. Like every outing though, always a memorable and fun time. Just after we got started hunting, it started snowing heavily. Birds were purdy scattered and Dakota was putting up alot of hens. Alot of the birds were also flushing wildly ahead of us. She did but up to very shootable roosters. One I didn't shoot at cause I was doing something else and one I just plain missed. I suspect my shooting is suffering alittle from wearing the extra layers of cloths. Not mounting my shotgun very well because of the extra layers. Once I looked over at Dakota and she was rolling on something. I called her off and walked over their to see what it was. It was an old frozen skunk someone must have shot a while back. I was sure glad it was frozen. She didn't pick up any noticeable stink from it. We came off one small ridge and dropped down into a small draw. Dakota got what appeared to be really birdy. Up three nice does stood about fifty feet away. They took off running. I called Dakota to leave them and she obeyed very well. After it had been snowing for awhile, Dakota suddenly came running over to me, stopped about 10 feet away, and gave me the evil eye. Couldn't figure out what the deal was. Then it dawned on me. I was starting to look like a snowman and she didn't recognize me. I talked to her alittle and called her over to pet her, then things were good again. Hope the snow hangs around for awhile. Really enjoy hunting in it.
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Post by Kt29 on Dec 16, 2007 12:26:16 GMT -5
Yesterday my buddy Russ stopped by along with his two labs and picked me up and we headed six miles north over to Dale's farmstead. Unbelievable day, with clear skies and temps above freezing and no wind. If felt like summer. As Russ has been pretty busy all fall, we haven't had much time to hunt together this year. Russ had just come back from Missouri where he attended his son's graduation from AIT. He said he was fortunate to miss all the bad weather on the way back. We stopped in at Dale's alittle to talk with him. He told us their had been alot of birds in the CRP. Dale's farmstead is classic prairie. Lieing in and about the tree rows surronding the farm are the finally resting spots of literally hundreds and hundreds of old pieces of farm machinery. Just about every imaginable old johnnie popper, combines, plows, mowers, thrashers, trucks and cars that one can think of. There are pieces of old equipment that I have no clue what they were for. Much of the equipment is from the horsedrawn era and alot of it still looks as though it could go to work today. What a tour back in time just to see it all. On our way over to one of the fields to hunt, we met Dale's brother Allan along the road. We talked with Allan for awhile as it is always nice to see him too. He told us we should go over to his place and hunt also if we wanted too. When we parked at the field we were going to hunt, it became obvious that things may be tough. Across the road, the harvested sunflower field was already full of feeding pheasant with more flying in as we watched. The beautiful weather had obviously stirred them to go out and feed early. We turned the dogs loose and headed into the CRP. And as we figured, finding birds was pretty tough. Dakota and I put up a few hens and that was it. Russ and his dogs managed to find a couple of straggler roosters which Russ brought down. After a hour and a half we packed up and headed home. We all had hunted hard and the dogs had a very good workout. Russ needed to go early anyway as he had promised his daughter he would string the outside Chrismas lights today and the chances of having another warm day like this to put them up weren't very good. But it was nice to be out of the below zero temps for at least a little while. A slow day in the field for sure, but just a great day to be out, and it was great to see all the labs running together again.
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Post by Kt29 on Dec 17, 2007 15:25:58 GMT -5
Our spell of warm weather continued today. Decided I'd try to get out alittle earlier for a bird, since they have been leaving a lot earlier with this warm weather to feed. Drove down south a ways to a field I haven't hunted in a couple of years. Dakota and I walked west along the edge of the CRP field which was adjacent to a stubble field. On this side of the field found five roosters that were feeding out in the stubble. No chance to get close enough for a shot. Swung back around through the CRP and walked a small swale that had a little heavier cover in it. Had one rooster flush wildly ahead of us. Dakota than put up a nice rooster that I missed. To make the miss alittle worse, I made the rookie mistake of trying to reload right away after a shot. Sure enough, up came another rooster, and me with my barrel broke open. No chance at that nice close bird. In another 100', Dakota put up one more rooster which I managed to hit. She made another nice retrieve. That was it for finding birds this morning in this field. Sure is nice to have the break from below zero weather. Looks like the next couple of days will be nice also. Think I'll milk this nice weather for all its worth.
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Post by Kt29 on Dec 18, 2007 18:49:48 GMT -5
Just another absolutely beautiful day on the prairie this afternoon. Temps. near 40 degrees, skies clear, and little wind. Tomorrow also looks like another good day, but probably the last for awhile. Dakota and I headed out after lunch to a spot just alittle SW of the house. The small tree row along the west side of the field was full of birds when we got there. Could see them running everywheres. We went in one side of the trees, and the birds as expected all few out the other side. This, at least got them scattered out into the section of field we were hunting. We hunted very hard to find the scattered birds. Found lots of hens that held very well. Most of the roosters were pretty wild and flushed wildly well ahead of us. Did have two roosters that held well. Dakota put both up very nicely. First one I missed very nicely and second I made a good shot on. Getting any birds really doesn't matter anymore this time of year. We have plenty. Getting out on days like this though is treasured. The birds this time of year are now in prime condition. Just a great day to be out.
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Post by Kt29 on Dec 21, 2007 15:20:56 GMT -5
Back to more winter like weather today. Temp. 19 degrees, light snow and winds 35 MPH straight out of the North. Made a trip to town this morning to stock up on groceries. Already one wreck on the highway this morning. Snow and Christmas travelers just not a good mix. Yesterday, though, was the all calm before the storm. Absolutely beautiful for anytime of year, 53 degrees, sun and light wind. Went NW a few miles to one of my favorite bird spots. How great it was to be out again and not have to wear gloves and long underwear, if only for this one day. Birds were everywhere this afternoon. Guess they knew the upcoming weather as well as the weatherman, probably more so. Didn't take long for Dakota to get me into a flock of birds. The first nice rooster up I took and Dakota made another great retrieve. That was enough birds for me, so unloaded the 20 and just let Dakota work birds for the next hour or so. Great to see the puppy dog having so much fun. Going to be a big letdown for her when bird season is over. Drove by Mike's farm on the way home. Where maybe a hundred roosters or so feeding alongside the road. What a great site. Thought Dakota was going to break the window out of the pickup from wagging her tail so hard as she watched them as we drove by. Mike does an awful lot for wildlife on his property, and he lets people hunt it if only they ask. Bird season rapidly coming to an end. Looks like longjohns and gloves the rest of the way.
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Post by Kt29 on Dec 24, 2007 19:00:20 GMT -5
40 degrees out today. No snow on the ground at all. Doesn't look like it will be a white Christmas this year. Dakota and I took off the morning to look for a bird and get alittle excersise before this evenings festivities. Found a few birds and got one nice rooster and a nice walk.
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Post by Kt29 on Dec 28, 2007 9:47:14 GMT -5
Another really nice day yesterday for December. Got out in the afternoon alittle. Temps. 25 degrees with little wind. Headed back up north a few miles again. Dakota worked pretty hard this afternoon again. She put up quite a few hens and two shootable roosters which I managed to hit. Shooting has sure improved since its warmed up and I haven't had to wear all the extra layers of clothing. On the way home stopped off at Earl and Donna's to give them the birds. They enjoy fresh pheasant but don't get out to hunt anymore.
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Post by Kt29 on Jan 5, 2008 13:28:45 GMT -5
Finally made it out yesterday to chase a few birds. In the early afternoon, finally completed the flooring project for the bathrooms. What an agonizing week, never want to do that again. Went north a few miles to one of my favorite spots. It was, to say the least, a very beautiful day on the prairie. Record temps. of 55 degrees, clear blue skies and no wind. This had to be the nicest day, since sometime last September. When we got to the field we were going to hunt, we were greeted by a herd of nine whitetails that were bedded down in the CRP. What a great sight. About the first fifteen minutes of the hunt, Dakota was totally ampt up. She was so happy to get out again. She finally settled in and we covered alot of ground this afternoon. I do believe the birds were also enjoying this record setting day, only somewheres else. I imagine most of them were spending the day out in the stubble fields feeding most of the day. Dakota did put up a few birds. We managed one rooster and one hun out of a flock of four she put up. Hunted hard till dark. It was just to nice to go home. Sunday is the last day of bird season. Seems like season went very fast, to fast. What a great day to be out.
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Post by Kt29 on Jan 7, 2008 12:25:40 GMT -5
Sunday was the last day of bird season. Left home at 0900 with Dakota and headed over to Russ's. Left Russ's about 10:00 along with his labs Mattie and Kirby. Headed SE about 20 miles to some pretty good bird areas. Just like last Friday, the weather was absolutely beautiful. Fifty some degrees, clear blue skies, and very little wind. What a superb day on the prairies. As like last Friday, the birds also were enjoying this weather, most were spending the day feeding and loaving in the stubble fields. Russ and I worked the dogs pretty hard and eventually found a few birds that were still in the CRP. Russ got two nice birds and I also managed to get two. We also put up two whitetail bucks that were bedded down. One was really nice. About mid-afternoon, we decided that we had enough birds and really needed to get back home and celebrate this nice weather and the great hunting season we had. Got back to Russ's and started up the outdoor fireplace on the patio, rigged up the TV, turned on the Tenn.-SD playoff game, broke out the Ashtons and the cold ones and enjoyed the rest of the afternoon. It was as good as it gets.
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Post by Kt29 on Jan 14, 2008 19:37:10 GMT -5
Been awhile since I've been able to get out. Dakota and I sure missing bird season now that's its over. Jan still down in Yuma till next week. Nearly done overhaulin the bathrooms. Ran out of molding today, so I thought rather than go after some more, will head out to the field. Loaded up Dakota, along with the .223 and .22 H&R pistol and headed out to the range to shoot alittle. Another beautiful today. Temp. 37 with clear skies and winds about 15 out of SW. When I got to the range Bernie was out shooting one of his new toys. He had a new Marlin CB in .357 Magnum. to go along with his 38-55 and his long range 45 cal. that he uses for the 1000 yard shoots. He was shooting that .357 pretty darn good offhand at 100 yard metal targets. Pretty cool to hear the ping at the end of a shot. So we got to talking alittle, finally Bernie says, "lets shoot at the 200 yd. target. I told him his was nuts, not with that .357. Well he shot anyways and ping. Than he hands the rifle over to me to try. Now I have a hard enough time shooting using a rest much less offhand with a peep sight and a .357 Magnum at 200 yards. What the heck, pulled the trigger and ping. Unbelievable is all I can say. I only shot it once. I could never see that happening again. This lever action stuff could be something I might want to look into. Have shot the Marlin CB in 38-55 and it is to much fun. Wish Marlin still made them. They are pretty darn expensive anymore if you can find one at all. Well finally got to shooting the .223. Mostly I wanted to get it zeroed back to 300 yards for prairie dogs. Had changed scopes and never had a chance to shoot with this scope at 300 yards, only at a hundred. Put five rounds thru it and it was obviously a inch and a half low, so raised it up two clicks and put five more rounds thru it and had it right where I wanted it. Bernie shot it a few times also, and was pretty impressed at how accurate this Savage was a 300 yards. For a factory gun, it is just plain Super. After we were done shooting, headed a few miles down to a prairie dog town to see if any dogs where out. There were a few out today. So stopped and set up to shoot a few. Tried leaving Dakota out, but she would not stay next to me. Those barking dogs really got to her. Had to put her back into the truck. Shot eight dogs than quit as what I really wanted to do was to spend alittle time calling coyotes today, just to see how Dakota would react, as I would like to be able to take her along when I go out after them. Set up over a nice little draw next to the prairie dog town. I'm sure Dakota is really confused at this point as all she has ever done is look for pheasants and chase rabbits. Finally got her to sit for a little and started calling. Wouldn't ya know it, first thing a rabbit right below us takes off running. She started after it, but I got her to come back without chasing it. Started calling in ernest, and than she was gone over the hill looking for whatever. Finally had to go after her and get her to come back. I'm sure that sound of the call was driving her nuts. After I got her back and sat her down, she stayed nicely the next half hour or so we spent. Never called in a coyote. No big surprise their, but it was a nice end to the afternoon. Still on the fence if I really should be taking Dakota along on coyotes. She will be 11 months old tomorrow. She has so much energy, I need to get her out to burn off some off it. Was contemplating last night working with her to be a Dock Dog. I'm thinking that would be alot of fun. Have to check into it alittle more. Only real problem would be that we are so far from anywheres that actually finding a close enough place to complete at could be pretty expensive. Still got all winter to mull it over. Well was sure nice to get out today. Nasty tomorrow. Predicting some snow and 50 MPH winds.
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Post by Kt29 on Jan 20, 2008 10:35:05 GMT -5
Temp. is a -11 degrees this morning. I seriously doubt there will be any outdoor activities today. Yesterday though I broke a promise I made last year. Bob called me up, lets go to the gun show in Mandan he says. I really didn't want to go, but Bob being my brother-in-law and a nice guy, I couldn't say no. I packed up the dogs and headed out early Saturday morning. Jan still down in Yuma. She may not want to come back when she finds out how cold it is here. Went to the gun show with Bob. Same old stuff and alot of new stuff. Lotsa guns I'd like to have, but all pretty expensive. Anymore gun shows seem kinda like going to car shows anymore. Not really going to buy anything, just to look at all the cool old stuff that ya really like but odds are you will never own. I'm really not going to anymore gun shows.
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Post by Kt29 on Jan 24, 2008 17:37:56 GMT -5
Finally a break in our coldspell. Weather warmed up to 30 degrees today. A nice break from the below zero we've had for last week or so. Have about an inch of fresh snow on the ground. Called up Pat this morning to see if it was OK to come out and call coyotes. Pat had no problem with that. Loaded up and took the short drive out to his ranch and scouted out a few locations to call from. Found several areas with new dog tracks where they had been crossing the creek. Weather looks favorable the next few days to get out. Also finished my new feather decoy today. Anxious to see if it really works. If all goes well will try to get out the next few days to see if I have any luck calling anything in.
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