Hunting...

Me Morgan and Mary headed out this morning to Big Slough Wilderness area for a little duck hunt this morning. Me and Morgan both scored a wood duck hen. I made the kill using my dad's old model 12 Winchester, one of the finest duck guns ever made. It's 50s or early 60s vintage best I remember. Along with the duck and two squirrels from Morgan's last hunt they are on the smoker now.

Mary's first real hunt carrying a gun. I have been lax with my youngest, Had usually guided all the other kids in some kind of hunting experience by now, but life changed on me and I have not had a chance to take her. She basically got a quick course last night with the single shot 20 gauges I hunted with as a child. The course consisted of orders to not shoot yourself or anyone else in the foot. I have had quite a few patients who did this. Not pretty.

Mary did fine on the hunt, really the hunting part was good. She slipped up on several bunches of wood ducks swimming in the big creek, but the lack of practice in shooting caused all misses. That's ok. If I had took all shots I could have bagged 3 to 5 ducks. I don't like gutting animals that well though.

Made me feel real good hunting with my kids today. Took away some of the stress of school this week. Morgan had found the ducks last week hunting with his buddies and it was kind of a continuation of an old Wallace thing, the introduction of Mary to creek jumping wood ducks. This is turning into a real good Thanksgiving.

Here she is looking down the Big Slough canoe trail. I don't know if you can make out the big log jam at the most distant point of the picture, but there was 8 to 10 ducks sitting on the water there. I think Mary has the makings of a good hog hunter. We saw lots of hog sign, she had many questions about hog, like will the shells we have kill one. No darling, the steel duck shot will only piss him off, do not shoot hog today.


Here is looking the other way, I got a shot at two ducks in flight here. Five minutes later Morgan walks up, he had spooked them and never saw them. I told him to keep stomping around out there, I am in a good place.

Here is a shot of a beaver pond. One of Morgan's college buddies called this spot beautiful. He should have seen it 25 or so years ago, it was an oak flat with open views, might have well been old growth never logged timber. I think the beavers messed it up, but being a wilderness area you gotta let nature take it's course. We have killed a few ducks here through the years. A real engineering feat, last time I walk around in this area, been a few years, it was a three stage dam system that was being used to cause this back up.

Driving home we spotted this. I am not sure this was national forest land. There was also a nice sturdy table and a stack of fire wood, someone's camp, I bet complete with women.

I know you are wondering, one hole or two?











Happy wedding anniversary to Rose and Juan. Check out pictures here:
http://www.pbase.com/wallace_6/wallace_photos