Set up this morning at a friend’s development of home sites which includes a nice man-made lake (Google Earth shot). Been here every crow season at one point or another. It’s an easy set up (yellow star), as a blind isn’t needed due to the nice clump of pines and bushes that provide pretty good cover (shameless selfie). It seems there had been a big party on Thursday and there was a lot of debris and food left around—perfect for our scavenger pals!
The day went well: 8 shots, 4 down. Plus two extra shots; one for a walker (bird # 1 laid there for > 2 hours (!) and then decided to hike around the island a ways. Nope. And one tree-hugger bandit that crash-landed in an oak, 20 yards off, requiring a second shot into the branches to shut him down. In hindsight, I should have let him thrash about and fall to the ground; then later, I wouldn’t have had to use the hot stick to knock him out of the tree. Speaking of trees, I had one come straight in squawking, took his load of 7 1/2s with his momentum carrying him into a branch directly above me, potentially serving as another decoy. Cool. Also, speaking of cool, #4 decided to imitate a cormorant and “dove” into the lake; fortunately right at the edge. On the crows’ side, I was skunked twice by bandits in the stealth mode that came in real low while I was looking the other way. Stuff happens. A good morning at the lake! Oh yes, I'll be here (at the GE photo's south east corner) next Tuesday for Fall Turkey opening day.
OA, so good to see that old beater "canoe paddle" M12 in action! Thanks for sharing the hunt with us as well. And yes...hope you bag your tom right off so that you can continue to challenge the crows!
Ted
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Life's tough... It's even tougher if you're stupid. John Wayne
Excellent hunt and report. Gotta love the easy set ups.
How long do you think you'll be able to hunt there before houses start popping up?
So who is the hunting partner? Girl from church?
You bad man!
As for this development, dunno. He's been working at it for several years and it might be a year or two before all the infrastructure is in and individuals begin to build. There are some primo lots there on this little lake. Plus, he's dug one three times this size on the north end of this property and is emplacing an underwater towing rig on the lake's bed--sort of a water ski rig without the boat. About half a section in total, with a creek running through it from N to S. I will miss the crow, turkey, and deer hunting spot, fur shur.
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"Arms are the only true badges of liberty. The possession of arms is the distinction of a free man from a slave." -- Andrew Fletcher 1698
