Thread: Game bird diary for all

2 and a half days of ducky wheather predictred for this weekend down south
''about freakin time''

Getting excited been prepping the gear all afternoon for our first pilgrimage of the season for me and the boy down to Ellesmere tomorrow, feels like a 2nd opening, even the dog scored a larger feed now all we need is find a mai mai with a roof and hope all the birds don't bugger off to flooded paddocks

Absolute rubbish in the swamp yesterday. Nothing flying. Odd banging going on saw a pair of teal. No flight or anything don't even think we heard the geese flying.

theres ducky and theres taking the piss huey.
to wet and a most useless of all winds a strong easterly wtf.
i knew all this moaning about low hydro lakes was gonna come back and bite us inthe e arse.
stay safe ashvagas,ers and you timaruvians .
selwyn hutters hopee it all works out ok
rakaias up and dirty but not as high as ive seen it yeeeeeeet

@Sparrow ...did you make it home safely????

Empty bag this weekend. A couple came in pitch black as I was getting out tonight. Moon didnt show either.

Yep. @Micky Duck we made it home safe cheers.
Spent til just after lunchtime getting smashed on the big lake, the boy did well but everything was a bit bigger and further than he was used to with the wee gun, we left with me getting a hen Mallard and a Swan, then back north an hour to our posi for the arvo, where connected with a couple , phew pressure was off so I took a couple more and we ended with 5 mallards and a swan for the day, not epic but plenty for us , Gypsy the dog was a ledgend hi Mum I’m home !

great to hear you made it home safe,you have been in my thoughts all day when saw weather unfolding .
neat the wee tacker managed a couple of birds...them days on big water stick in the memory for years.

Another retrieve for Bo

you getting "the look" black n blue chook on stilts has never been favourite retrieve of any of my dogs...almost as oily as a magpie or starling....

see where he,,s holding it
back behind the wings where if alive it couldnt nip him.
clever and experience

Opening morning with my old Brittany, still going hard (as he can)

Here is the back story to this bird.
I drove into this skid site in the forest, eyed it up for a bit, got out of the car and had a short look about without letting the dog out.
Just as I open the door and start to get back into the vehicle, this rooster lets out a crow.
Right you f...er lets see where you are!

I open the back and let Charlie out, the rooster jumps up.
Waay waay out and at the top of the hill, he starts to fly up and over the top instead of down. It must be 55m away at least. So I give him a tap from my tightest choke ( modified ) and send a load of 6's towards him. He folds a wing and goes down!!

We have to get up there pronto, I send Charlie out but he didnt see the bird go down and is seeking in way to close. I send him up, but its that steep he keeps turning back.

Nothing for it, I have to get up there myself, I know its wounded but not dead. It could be running down the far side of the hill for all I know.
Its bloody steep (worth mentioning again). I use the shotgun butt as a climbing stick (yeah its unloaded) untill I reach the ridge line.

By now Charlie is along side me and starting to get out in front a bit seeking, I give him encouragement, and as we near the spot I dropped the bird he locks up hard!
When he does this I know the bird is REAL CLOSE, as I gain ground toward him the rooster jumps and trys to head down hill. Each time he jumps the broken wing prevents him from flying and he goes to ground again.

This makes it real hard for the dog to pin him down, sometimes Charlie overshoots the spot and tumbles farther down the hill (did I mention how steep it was?) And as he scrambles back to where the bird has gone to ground, the rooster leaps again!
Finally, near the bottom of the hill we have just been up, Charlie finally pins him, gets a good grip and proudly marches toward me. The rooster in his mouth blinking as I take him from the dog.

I grip his clawed feet and hold him behind the head. A gentle stretch, a flutter of wings, then I feel his neck click and he goes limp.
Its all over, a great effort on every ones part.

The sun is shinning on a clear crisp May morning and I lay Mr Rooster down to admire him. His plummage is magnificent and glows in the morning light, I dont often take momento pictures but this one is well deserved, who knows it could be Charlies last season, hell it could be mine.

As I write this I got up to check what chokes I have in the gun, they have been there for many many years, as I bring the gun into the room to get a bit more light into the subject, Charlie looks up from where he lies near the fire, stands and gives a stretch, as if to say
I'm ready boss, are you? Then as I take it back to the the safe he settles back down onto his spot and dreams of birds as his feet twitch in memory.

Few around tonight

2nd to last day Taupo limit