Well, Ol' Doc really screwed up this time. First time ever in my life. Well, first time on Wednesday, at least. 4 AM, darker than the Tunnel of Love, two military ammo cans in my car, one full of ammo and one full of tools. In a hurry and grabbed the wrong one. Got to the shooting area, pulled out my shotgun [at least I didn't forget it], opened the ammo can..... You know the feeling when you reach for your wallet or phone and it's gone? Same deal. I thought of jumping into the All American canal and drowning myself but Steve, very generously, told me he had plenty of ammo and gave me a box. Turned out he was fibbing and just being generous and all he had for himself was one box. The doves showed up in mass and plenty of pigeons and I hadn't held a shotgun in my hands for over 3 years and boy, did it show!! The shells Steve gave me must have been manufacturing defects because they all went BANG but based upon the effects the shells had on the doves there apparently wasn't any shot in them.
Great hunt, though, with two great guys, plenty of interesting conversation, very nostalgic for me since I went to high school in El Centro a thousand years ago and haven't been back since. The area has really changed. Even showed Steve and Phil the neighborhood I lived in which made it obvious to them why I left and never went back. I will definitely go back for the doves and pigeons but not until I put in some range time or shooting time beforehand and triple check the ammo can.
If you can get down there, go. It's really worth the drive. And don't forget the ammo.
By the way, I didn't tell my wife about my screw-up because I don't want to reinforce her belief that I am losing it.
