Last weekend I hunted with CamoManJ and using Capt. Justin Cortez as our guide. We hunted again this morning. I will admit to having to choose my shots carefully because I am not using a howitzer, but my trusty 16ga. Last weekend we got some Pintail drakes and a couple hens. This morning we got a slew of species, I can't remember all of them. Teal, Shovelers, Pintail, Mottled, Mallard, and even a Snow Goose. The Snow really made my day. Nobody else seemed interested and I hammered it with one shot. Federal 15/16oz #4. It crumpled both wings broken. However the wait up til the actual shooting was almost unbearable. I have become acclimated to the south Texas weather and when it is in the upper 30s-lower 40s and raining it sucks! We had such a great time that we booked for tomorrow morning too! One of the Pintails was especially nice and I am going to have it mounted by Eric Schmidt of aliveagainrecreations.com. Eric does birds exclusively and a damn fine job! Hope for a great report tomorrow as well. As soon as I have pictures I'll post. Hopefully CamoManJ will chime in with his experiences too.


Andy

Thanks for the report...good luck to you all tomorrow.

P.S. Birds for taxidermy...try not to hold them by the neck or the beak. Your taxidermist will thank you...also, do not ring the neck of the birds that you are planning on mounting.

27 Nov 2010
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It was much colder this morning! I still managed to hold my own with my diminutive 16ga. I seem to be an attractant for hens. Today I switched chokes to skeet for shooting over deeks. I scratched down 3 pintail hens but lost one in the sawgrass--even the dog couldn't find it and it was definitely dead! I also got an immature Gadwall drake. I really need to get to a sporting clays range and get some professional help to break the bad habits I have developed. I believe I could have taken a lot more birds. I will continue to shoot a 16 however. Today I was using 1oz of #6 at 1150fps-HeviShot Classic Doubles. It worked just fine.

I'll let CamoManJ tell ya'll about the Hooded Merganser drake and the Buffle Head drake he successfully brought down. Pictures as soon as I can figure out how to get them from Facebook and my phone.

Andy

Where are you hunting? I don't see the location listed in your posts. It sounds like you guys have been enjoying your hunts quite a bit. Do you have any pictures you can post up?

We have been huntinh the Mission river and the puddles between it and the bay near Bayside,Texas. Working on pictures..........

Its Brian, your tag along from the last few days! I really enjoyed hunting with you guys. Great species list we took, I hunted A LOT down here last year and this was probably the most diverse species list I have ever been part of!

I forgot to throw in a fun little story for drewhenrytnt and CamoManJ and I suppose other bird dog owners out there. Our hunt on Friday morning was great success for my young Golden Retriever, Colt. He did everything I could ask of him, finding and retrieving birds in all terrains. I was quite proud of him, and decided to take him along on our Saturday hunt. The first bird down, and he walked halfway out to the pond turned around and proceeded to walk back without the bird and a who cares attitude. As any other waterfowl dog owner would, I got pretty upset with him. When we got back to the house that afternoon, we noticed his tail wouldn't move, and he was in A LOT of pain! I took him to the vet thinking he had a broken tail, thank god, it was only a bad sprain. HOWEVER this explains his lack of desire and motivation Saturday. I can pinpoint the injury to the morning when he slipped in the boat and landed on his back/ tail. Now, long story short, Colt is on Meds/ Bedrest for two weeks! Luckily thats how long the split is!! He will be back for round two!

Heck yeah, this weekend's hunt w/ Capt Cortez & company was my best duck hunting experience by far! The diverse species that we bagged & missed was awesome. Granted, we worked hard making this hunt a success; getting up @ 1:30 am, braving the elements Friday morning, the long marshy muddy hike to the pond that was brutal, trying to stay warm in the rain & wind while soaking wet & waiting over 2 hours until LST...this was a hell of a hunt. We shot 8 species of ducks on Friday, I was a happy hunter. Andy made a hell of a shot on a suprise snow goose, that looked like it hit a brick wall & helicoptered it's way down to the final splash. The next morning, we hunted a smaller pond in much more comfortable conditions & a shorter hike in a not-so-hardcore environment. This hunt was a trophy hunt for me, I got #3 & #5 of my favorite fowl on my list to have mounted one day for the wall: Bufflehead & Hooded Merganser drakes that were in full plummage and were very mature & beautiful birds. Eric @ Alive Again Recreations gets the honor of preserving these magnificant trophies, I can't wait to enjoy the final results on my wall. Captain Justin Cortez has my repeat business, my upmost recommendation & I'll try out the fishing w/ him in the spring/summer.

Brian, it was an absolute pleasure to have hunted w/ you & Colt. I'm glad you tagged along w/ us & hope you join us again. As for Colt, I hadn't noticed his injury, I was puzzled as to why he turned around in the middle of that long retrieve & why he wanted to lay down, rather than sit on his sore tail. If it makes Colt feel better, I'm also very sore & tired from this weekend's hunt as well.

Next is Sandhill Crane Hunting...

BTW, we're working on posting pictures...stayed tuned.

Poor Dog!

I suffered a brocken tailbone several years ago from a hard fall on a frozen pond. Now I know why Colt didn't want to sit in the boat.

Brian, it was great hunting with you. We hope to get out a few more times before the end of the season. Now you know how to find us, don't be a stranger.

Now if I can just get you and J to come to a Hoot & Shoot.........

Andy

ps We also saw a Cinnamon Teal on the pond! I was changing blasted choke tubes and couldn't get a shot. Almost makes me wish I had one of those UGLY polychokes!

AB