Tales of Ducks and Dogs

Dawn broke Saturday morning gray, cloudy and cold. There was a light rain and a 20mph wind out of the northeast. It could not have been a more perfect morning. The first weekend in October is one of my favorite weekends of the year as, you guessed it, today is the opening of waterfowl in North Dakota!

Opening morning 2022!

Our group for the morning included my friend Bob, Dylan, Chris and two of his sons Gavin and Chase. It was a great morning. The only thing that would have made it better was if Dakota was there with me. But it would not have been fair to Dakota to bring her on this trip. She would have been in the camper 23 out of 24 hours a day as I worked all day for the past two weeks. As much as I wanted to bring her and as much as she would have loved getting out hunting, I just could not do that to her. So, she stayed home with Barb and Zoey.

In my mind, two things make duck hunting special and memorable. One is hunting with good friends, just spending the morning watching the sunrise, the ducks fly, laughing at the easy misses and if you are lucky making a good shot on a duck or two. The other is doing the same thing with your 4-legged companions and seeing the excitement in their eyes as they wait for their next retrieve.

We did have three dogs with us on this morning, so it was not like we were lacking dogs. Chris brought Remy, a 10-year veteran of the field. He is the boss dog and does not take any sass from anyone. That dog is relentless when hunting ducks or pheasants.

Dylan brought Nova. Probably the most energetic dog I have ever seen. That dog is all go and never slows down often getting to the birds before the other dogs are even ½ way there.

 

Bob’s dog Ember is the youngest of the group at 2 ½ years old. Her desire to please is second to none. The excitement in her eyes as she looks at Bob will just melt your heart.

Grandpa Bob and Chase

The addition of Gavin and Chase this year made it special for Chris and Bob. Chris, because it is the first year he has brought his kids into the field with him. And Bob, well, because he is the grandpa and was hunting with his grandchildren for the first time. Hunting with two small kids adds a different dynamic to the hunt. Not quite as quiet and a lot more movement for the birds to pick up on. They were good though, no whining, just excited chatter as the ducks flew overhead.

I went and walked short way off and hunted the pothole above by myself and let the father/son combinations enjoy their first hunt together. While I sat there, I thought about the hunting dogs I have had over the years. Dakota, Bailey, Packer and Jake. A Labrador Retriever, a Golden Retriever, a Chesapeake Bay Retriever and a Springer Spaniel. All good dogs in their own right but all vastly different. Jake, my first hunting dog was more of a family dog. We were young when we got him. I did not have the knowledge or patience to properly train him. Although I hunted with him, he was not very good and was mostly just a family dog.

Jake, my dad and sister Becky probably early 90's

Packer, the Chessy, was probably the best hunting dog we have owned. Also, the cheapest at a mere $30 from a roadside stand. He was stubborn and bullheaded but man, could that dog retrieve. He was a one-man dog, did not listen to other people and was not kind to any other dogs in the group. I think all my friends sighed a sigh of relief when he finally passed in 2007.

Packer

Bailey was a sweetheart who loved to retrieve and used to look at me the way Ember looks at Bob. She passed away in ’14 shortly after we hit the road fulltime.

Bailey

Then there is Dakota. A special soul who loves hunting but would rather be doing it with Barb or just being anywhere Barb is, only tolerating hunting with me. I mean, who could blame her!

Dakota, wet, bloody and all smiles!

Last but not least we cannot forget Daisy who never actually got out hunting but for a Puggle she was quite the water retriever! As most of you know, we lost Daisy in January of '21 and still miss her every day. 

Ms. Daisy Mae

But back to this year.....I got skunked my first hour despite having the new hunting jacket Barb bought me and my new shotgun. That’s right, I bought myself a new Beretta A400 just before coming on this trip!

We grouped up an hour or so later and all hunted together. The ducks started cooperating and I went 4 birds for my first 5 shots with my new gun. I think I am going to like this gun! We ended the morning 2 short of 24 bird limit with 18 gadwall, one pintail, one widgeon, and a teal. A great start to the 2022 hunting season!  

Gavin

The next 5 mornings resulted in 5 different views of the sunrise. Some beautiful, some drab but all very special. Well, except for the morning that was 21°. It was beautiful but man, I am not ready for this! 

The lights of Douglas in the background

As I was walking in, I saw this frosty spider web that was just begging to have its picture taken.

It was just Bob, Ember and I most days. Each season we get together is special, having been friends over 40 years I cannot think of one hunting season we did not hunt together. Overall, it was a great first week filled with reminiscing of past hunts with friends and family, some of which are no longer with us.  God willing, we will continue to hunt together for many more.

But it was not all fun and games this week. After the morning hunts it was back to the grind getting things done around the farm. With all the crops in we focused on other chores. Like cleaning out a couple of grain bins. Don’t tell Barb, but I learned how to operate a vacuum cleaner this week. A really large vacuum cleaner.

This grain vac hooks up to the PTO on the tractor which creates a suction and transfers the grain into a truck or cart. You do not want to get anything in front of this thing, it will suck up hats, gloves, anything you put in front of it!

I spent another afternoon moving bales scattered throughout the field and stacking them in one location so they are ready for the semi-trucks to pick them up. So next time you see a field with hundreds of bales scattered throughout it, remember someone has to pick them up one by one and get them ready for transport.

It was little disconcerting moving bales right across from a missile where they are doing maintenance with heavy security. 

I also spent two afternoons digging stumps with the Bobcat and a stump bucket. This is back breaking work as the Bobcat bucks and jumps while trying to uproot these stumps.

I did have some time to fill two 5-gallon buckets of apples in the hopes of apple pies and crisps when I get home. 

Barb told me to bring her something, I cannot wait to see the look of surprise on her face when I present her with 10 gallons of apples!

Speaking of Barb, I only received a couple of pictures from her this week. The first was of the new stools that arrived, and she put together.

I think they look great and will open up that side of the counter compared to the old ones!

Then there were these two pictures of Zoey. Well, there is ½ of Dakota in that one picture. Zoey is always the picture hog, but Dakota does not mind as she really doesn’t like to get her picture taken.

 Barb did get this picture of Dakota when she went out after the squirrel or as we call it in our house “The S.Q.” Because if you say the whole word all hell breaks loose, and the dogs run for the door knowing they need to protect all mankind from the bushy-tailed little rodent. We also have to spell out W.A.L.K. If you say the word the dogs excitedly run for the door, and you are then committed to take them for a walk.

Tomorrow is the start of a new season. We will still continue to duck hunt but then after breakfast we hit the fields in search of the elusive ring-neck pheasant! So many memories to make, so little time!