Little Flying, But One Did !

[BilletHead]

A picture tells a thousand words sometimes. I had the pleasure of taking my Son out this morning. He is a great family man with little time to do much else. Up early when the rest were sleeping soundly. Got set up and not much going on. Three flocks of ducks high and going places. Heard the geese on roost ponds making noise but not flying off them. Finally seen a group of eight a long way off, again going places other than we were. Sun up pretty high peeking through the clouds. Had to get up and move a bit and wouldn't you know it a lone duck did a dive bomb and quickly flew out. Got hunkerd back down and told Matt fifteen more minutes as he and his family needed to get back home. No sooner than I said that a lone canada, way up and I mean way up was booking it North. I gave a call twice and that thing turned inside out and came our way, still up there. Another call and it cupped its wings coming almost straight down. As it closed the distance I said Matt its all yours. It was and down it hit the water. A retrieve as it floated to the bank with a grin back to the blinds. Thanks for a good morning my Son,

Marty

[duckydoty]

Glad you got some time hunting with your son. That makes for a grand goose.

We ended up with 2 greenheads a scaup and a golden eye. Back at it again in the morning. Hunting solo tomorrow.

[Bird Watcher]

Looks like fun, I love hunting with my Dad. He's definitely my #1 hunting buddy. Your hunt sounds a lot like mine yesterday.

[BilletHead]

Birdwatcher,

You speaking of your dad brings back some neat memories. How I miss my pop so much. Our family moved from So. California in the Winter of "77" I was a junior in high school. Both of my parents were from North west Missouri but me So Cal born. Dad had polio and wore braces on both legs. He could walk with them and a cane on flat ground. We had not hunted before. Kids in school talked of dove hunting. This we did the first years. We would get him off the road in fields in a lawn chair. I would walk the milo fields keeping them stirred and we would both get shots. When getting back to him he knew where each of his birds had fell. I was the bird dog without a nose but we managed to find them. Now we dicided to duck hunt. The pond where Matt and I were is the pond where dad and I hunted, or sorta hunted at that time:) we had an old jeep commando . We would drive down an old road, across a ditch and then up to this pond behind the dam. Dad would get out and lean againt the jeep as I would circle around and sneak up on any ducks maybe get a shot and hope they would fly over dad. We did not get much but had fun. We also got a bright idea to go to Schell Osage and try to get one of the ADA blinds. We got it two times. Back then they rented decoys, we did and we did not get any ducks but one goose someone sky blasted a long way off and it sailed into us. Getting teary eyed now. We would fish some on Truman. The ADA ramps were good too. Got him into the boat. We would fish when we could. Mom told me his best trip was when we made some jug lines. Mom said Dad thought he was good help as he could grab the jugs with his cane as we went after them. Dad has been gone about ten years now after a long battle with lukemia.

Thank you for jogging some memories and cherish each moment you have together. I wish I had done more with him,

Marty

[Bird Watcher]

Birdwatcher,

You speaking of your dad brings back some neat memories. How I miss my pop so much. Our family moved from So. California in the Winter of "77" I was a junior in high school. Both of my parents were from North west Missouri but me So Cal born. Dad had polio and wore braces on both legs. He could walk with them and a cane on flat ground. We had not hunted before. Kids in school talked of dove hunting. This we did the first years. We would get him off the road in fields in a lawn chair. I would walk the milo fields keeping them stirred and we would both get shots. When getting back to him he knew where each of his birds had fell. I was the bird dog without a nose but we managed to find them. Now we dicided to duck hunt. The pond where Matt and I were is the pond where dad and I hunted, or sorta hunted at that time:) we had an old jeep commando . We would drive down an old road, across a ditch and then up to this pond behind the dam. Dad would get out and lean againt the jeep as I would circle around and sneak up on any ducks maybe get a shot and hope they would fly over dad. We did not get much but had fun. We also got a bright idea to go to Schell Osage and try to get one of the ADA blinds. We got it two times. Back then they rented decoys, we did and we did not get any ducks but one goose someone sky blasted a long way off and it sailed into us. Getting teary eyed now. We would fish some on Truman. The ADA ramps were good too. Got him into the boat. We would fish when we could. Mom told me his best trip was when we made some jug lines. Mom said Dad thought he was good help as he could grab the jugs with his cane as we went after them. Dad has been gone about ten years now after a long battle with lukemia.

Thank you for jogging some memories and cherish each moment you have together. I wish I had done more with him,

Marty

Marty,

I hear ya. My ol man started dragging me along on fishing trips when I was 6 months old. He used to put me in one of those swings on the bank next to him while he was bank fishing or me made me a place to lay on some blankets under the console of the boat. Heck, I've even taken naps in the dry storage under the deck of his old bass boat.

One of my first memories of he and I is when I was about 5. He put me on his back "piggy back" style and wrapped a belt around both our chests, stuck my feet in his back pockets and took me frogging all night long.

Dad used to seem like a giant to me. I loved being his bird dog on rabbit and quail hunts until I was old enough to carry a gun myself.

Dad's getting a little long in the teeth now and it's hard for him to cover the ground we once did. He'll be 59 this February. He's got a bad hip and he's carrying around a little extra love around his waist, but the four wheeler gets him across the muddy cornfields and he has the back deck of the fishing boat staked out as his territory. He doesn't go as much as he used to and sometimes it seems like I'm dragging him out now where he used to drag me, but I'm thankful every time I get to spend a day outdoors with him.

I've thought many times that someday when he can't go, I'll probably stop going too. It just won't be the same without him.

Here's to good Dads who made sure we were able to get out and enjoy the outdoors. God bless em.

Thanks for causing me to stop a minute and relfect. Good hunting to you! When are we going to get some weather up North?

by

IMG-20110904-00239 by [url=http://www.flickr.com/people/23354935@N05/]

[BilletHead]

Priceless my friend. Yep here's to Dads for sure. Wondering myself about the cold weather. we are getting much needed rain here today and more tonight.. This might fill the ponds finally. I have a friend coming down from St. Louis to bum for three days next week. Need to find where the birds are without running them off the roost ponds and lakes and share my luck or lack of luck with him

Marty

Oh and good photos too. you look like a great team.

[Feathers and Fins]

Im saying thats what its about...