Montana/Canada 2016
- Thread starter ilovesprig
- Start date
Well done Steve. Way to over come the messy rain! We are experiencing the same conditions just North of you.
Get er done
Get er done
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John,
I'll call your 3 forky's and raise you with this magnificent 6x6.....lol.....Saw him bedded down in the tulies scouting this afternoon.
,
I'll call your 3 forky's and raise you with this magnificent 6x6.....lol.....Saw him bedded down in the tulies scouting this afternoon.
,
I call uncle. That is a dandy of a buck Steve! We saw a very respectable moose tonight (actually Jeff & Rob did) but were not able to get a photo.
Should be a good morning for us tomorrow. I hope you guys do well too.
Comedy of errors for us this morning, including getting stuck in the field at dark thirty, rain, and missing birds that landed in the decoys....lol..... Not nearly the amount of honkers we expected either.......Still got 8 honks.......Passed on ducks.
Still a fun time and Jacob & Mike show up tomorrow.
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Still a fun time and Jacob & Mike show up tomorrow.
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Well Jacob & Mike got here yesterday afternoon.......28 honkers last night and 25 honker & 5 specks this morning......I think they're spoiled......lol
Epic shoots and will be after honks & ducks tomorrow morning......
Ps.....Have I mentioned there's big bucks up here.....lol
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Epic shoots and will be after honks & ducks tomorrow morning......
Ps.....Have I mentioned there's big bucks up here.....lol
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No internet for the last couple of days, but the boys kept rolling along.......Friday we hunted a traditional spot for me that is called Wild Rose by the owner.....It never disappoints and it didn't this time.....32 large + a bunch of ducks.....With so many honkers taken, Jacob, Mike, and Ronnie decided they wanted to hunt ducks, specks, or the few snows we have in the area.....My 2nd license (6 day waterfowl licenses up here) was up, so I just watched.....Yesterday morning the specks & snows bombarded of barley field....End result was, 14 specks (1 short of a limit) and 5 snows.....For the afternoon, I had found a pea field that was loaded with pintail & mallards in the morning.....The guys got their duck shoot..... 24 mallards & pintail with 5 honkers mixed in.
Today was their final shoot and they were to be on their way to the Calgary airport by 12:00.....Hunted with a nephew of the owner of a property that I shot my 1st Canadian geese (including my 1st speck ever) on his property 16 years ago.....Not much flying, but did get 1 honker, 4 specks, and 2 mallards.....Nice easy hunt and a fitting end to our Canada trip.
Headed back to Montana tomorrow for their duck & pheasant openers.....Will also see if there's any deer or elk tags turned in as well.
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Today was their final shoot and they were to be on their way to the Calgary airport by 12:00.....Hunted with a nephew of the owner of a property that I shot my 1st Canadian geese (including my 1st speck ever) on his property 16 years ago.....Not much flying, but did get 1 honker, 4 specks, and 2 mallards.....Nice easy hunt and a fitting end to our Canada trip.
Headed back to Montana tomorrow for their duck & pheasant openers.....Will also see if there's any deer or elk tags turned in as well.
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Left Canada this morning for Montana after cleaning and putting away decoys, trailer, and birds. Not been a big fan of Ducks Unlimited for many years, but with so little water in Southern Alberta, this DU project was jammed with ducks.....No problems at the border is always nice......Saw a lot of Hungarian partridge in Alberta, but didn't have an upland game license.....When we hit Montana I did.....Just like chukar, but on flat ground......lol
Duck opener this Saturday and will try some trot fishing this week......Then next Saturday pheasant opener.
ps......86 degrees today.....Felt like SoCal......
pss.....Picture isn't good (phone), but this buck was in the 26" range.
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Duck opener this Saturday and will try some trot fishing this week......Then next Saturday pheasant opener.
ps......86 degrees today.....Felt like SoCal......
pss.....Picture isn't good (phone), but this buck was in the 26" range.
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Josh,
Believe it or not......I'm really looking forward to getting back home and to my home turf......
Hunting a place called Freezeout Lake WMA tomorrow for the Montana duck opener......We've been told it's a zoo.....3-400 folks and it's flat as a pancake & all free roam......Looked at it yesterday.......Was also told that Freezeout is known for it's swan hunting (permit only).....The one in the picture has a 90" wing span.....Wow!
ps.....Hope I get a spoonie....lol
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Believe it or not......I'm really looking forward to getting back home and to my home turf......
Hunting a place called Freezeout Lake WMA tomorrow for the Montana duck opener......We've been told it's a zoo.....3-400 folks and it's flat as a pancake & all free roam......Looked at it yesterday.......Was also told that Freezeout is known for it's swan hunting (permit only).....The one in the picture has a 90" wing span.....Wow!
ps.....Hope I get a spoonie....lol
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Tried setting up on a little island in Pond 1.....Not without a boat.....Yikes!.....Wister quality mud, but deeper.....
2nd choice was 150 yds from the highway in Pond 3.....Hey, if I'm not going to get anything, I might as well have a short walk.....
When we were done Ronnie & I went looking for sharp-tailed grouse (bucket list bird).....Met a guy yesterday that said he had some on his prop, so we went & checked it out.....3/4's of the way down a 1/2 mile fence line Trigger flushes a 5 pack of huns.....Too far ahead....As we get to the end, I see him flush a single sharpie on the other side of the edge row. At about the same time, the 5 pack of huns flush backwards.....A quick shot and I bag one.....Trigger is totally out of gas (80 degrees) and doesn't find it.....Fortunately, Ronnie's dog Spade comes to the rescue.....Hoping for the best tomorrow morning, but will be after those sharpies for sure afterwards.....Benton Lake NWR opens tomorrow for upland.....
ps.....Actually had a pair of gaddies come in & land in the decoys.....Despite being near the road, more birds were feeding here than anywhere else....
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2nd choice was 150 yds from the highway in Pond 3.....Hey, if I'm not going to get anything, I might as well have a short walk.....
When we were done Ronnie & I went looking for sharp-tailed grouse (bucket list bird).....Met a guy yesterday that said he had some on his prop, so we went & checked it out.....3/4's of the way down a 1/2 mile fence line Trigger flushes a 5 pack of huns.....Too far ahead....As we get to the end, I see him flush a single sharpie on the other side of the edge row. At about the same time, the 5 pack of huns flush backwards.....A quick shot and I bag one.....Trigger is totally out of gas (80 degrees) and doesn't find it.....Fortunately, Ronnie's dog Spade comes to the rescue.....Hoping for the best tomorrow morning, but will be after those sharpies for sure afterwards.....Benton Lake NWR opens tomorrow for upland.....
ps.....Actually had a pair of gaddies come in & land in the decoys.....Despite being near the road, more birds were feeding here than anywhere else....
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Today was Montana's waterfowl opener......I set-up about a 100 yds from the main highway that cuts the wildlife area......Ronnie decided that it was too close to the road, so he put out his decoys out on a point of tulies out in the main pond yesterday.....As daybreak started and about 5 minutes before sunrise I have 2 mallards, 2 gadwalls, and a greenwing come into the decoys.....Hey, maybe this will be better than I thought.....Right at shoot time (6:58 am), the 1st shots went off.....My birds had swam out and were gone with the 1st volleys.....Soon I heard a shot to my left (I assumed it was Ronnie), but no dog going to get the bird.....Hmmmm.....As it starts getting lighter, I see 3 guys in the tulies about a 100 yds from me.....I can see Ronnies spinner, but now there's 3 dozen decoys, instead of a Ron's 1 dozen.....After a couple of more shots, I realize these guys are sitting in his decoys.....DHWW.....I finally talk to Ron and he says they didn't know any better and were nice kids......They thought someone had just left some decoys out....So they put there's right in amongst his.....lol.....They finally picked up and Ron was able to get a couple of birds, including his 1st blue-winger.
Early on I had 3 single ducks come in.....2 GW, and a gaddy.....Bagged all 3.....Then at about 10:00 am, it really died and we decided to go get breakfast in the town of Fairfield (great breakfast too....lol).....When I get back in the blind at about noon, I have a single gaddy come right in.....#4.....30 minutes later another gaddy decoys.....#5.....20 minutes go by and a single blue-wing (assuming they're blue-wing this far north) jets in.....#6.....Ronnie decided he's had enough and starts back to the truck.....Just about the time he gets to the truck, another gaddy commits suicide.....#7.
Canada is a fabulous place and every waterfowler should try to go there someday. But toughing it out, sitting, waiting, and the solitude of a marsh has a special place in my duck hunting life.....This was one of those days in Big Sky Country.
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Early on I had 3 single ducks come in.....2 GW, and a gaddy.....Bagged all 3.....Then at about 10:00 am, it really died and we decided to go get breakfast in the town of Fairfield (great breakfast too....lol).....When I get back in the blind at about noon, I have a single gaddy come right in.....#4.....30 minutes later another gaddy decoys.....#5.....20 minutes go by and a single blue-wing (assuming they're blue-wing this far north) jets in.....#6.....Ronnie decided he's had enough and starts back to the truck.....Just about the time he gets to the truck, another gaddy commits suicide.....#7.
Canada is a fabulous place and every waterfowler should try to go there someday. But toughing it out, sitting, waiting, and the solitude of a marsh has a special place in my duck hunting life.....This was one of those days in Big Sky Country.
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I've taken 100's of pictures on this month long trip.....But, I think I got the best one this evening......Is that mourning dove on the fence beautiful or what?......lol
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