Kaiser Tribute

For months now I've tried to finish this tribute to Kaiser. Overwhelmed and not sure exactly what I wanted to add and how I wanted to edited it, I started and deleted more than a few attempts. Then I just held off on completing it out of frustration. Last night I realized today would have been his birthday and decided I would complete it for this day. Not sure if this really how I wanted it to turn out but this is what I put together. Kaiser would have been 10 today.

In Memoriam

"KAISER"

Frank vom Desert Dancer
Son of Auzie vom Grousehafen and Enck vom Orion
February 10, 2008- November 10, 2017

Goodbye Sweet Boy.

Went Out. No Luck.

Finally we were able to make it out afield this season for some quail and duck hunting.  It proved fruitless though.  The first day I decided to check out an old quail spot that I've left alone for years due to the drought.  The area has completely changed, brush is now sparse and looks more gambels terrain than valley quail.  There were a number of jackrabbits which makes sense.

We gave up on the quail and started our way north.  With only a few hours of light, we checked some new areas.  We did find raft of mixed ducks in a pond but we were running out of light to make a stalk.  In the same area we did find at least five cow elk grazing which was nice to see.

The next day we were hard pressed to find any waterfowl.  After hours of searching we did find a trio of ringnecks.  I put a stalk on them and managed a shot after they took flight.  The shot managed to drop one to the water.  As it struggled swimming I decided to place an insurance shot at him before I sent the dog after him.  Once the spread hit though all the sudden he decided to muster all his strength and amazingly took flight.  Once I reloaded he was far out of range.  I eyed him as long as I could hoping he'd realize he should be dead but managed to fly out of sight miles away.  Seemed to epitomized the whole trip but it wasn't complete bust though as I was able to see my friend Dave before he moves away for retirement.  He was also kind enough to give me quite a bit of venison meat he managed this season.  So at least I came home with some quality game meat.

Getting Out Before It Closes

It's been too long since I've hunted the early dove season but this season I wanted to pursue them. Sunday night, while checking on some never-hunted-before (by me) fields, proved to be a bust.  Monday morning was better but the hope of shooting passing birds was quickly quashed when early on no birds in flight were in sight.  So we were required to go find them in the bush flushing them out.  We managed to find a few and only took a few and missed too many.

Recently I picked up a new Gopro Session, I'm working out all the bugs and figuring out the editing software.  Here is some of the footage from the weekend.  Hopefully videos will be much better from now on.

Vet Gives The Go Ahead

After Kaiser's bout with bloat in December I accepted the fact that the wingshooting season for us was over.  But after a visit to the vet, she had given us the all clear to begin normal life.  With only one week left in the season, I decided to bite the bullet and buy all the bird stamps.

We made it to the Eastern Sierras late afternoon on Tuesday.  I tried a small creek that usually produces but without any luck.  I then paid a visit to my old friend Dave who let me know that the LADWP had dried up some ponds and diverted it to a new location.  So we went to check it out only to find a pair of hunters leaving the area.  No birds in sight.

The next morning we hunted the river and managed to flush a pair of mallards too far out of range. Not long after I managed a shot at a drake ringneck only to miss.  Afterwards we decided to head to the Upper to do some fishing and found the river loaded with fishermen on every bend.  What the heck?  Why some many people midweek?  I didn't even want to bother so we checked out some nearby areas for duck but without any luck.  So we headed down the valley.  I was looking for some old ponds but ended up wasting time driving around.  I didn't really hunt the area last year as Jeff invited me to his duck club most weekends so my memory was bit hazing as to where these locations were exactly.  When I did find these areas they were void of ducks.  So I tried some parts of the river I knew usually held birds.  The Owens is getting harder and harder to jump shoot.  There simply is too much overgrowth.  You can barely get to the water anymore.  In a year or two a lot of the water will be inaccessible.  We did mange to see a covey of quail but they were in a residential area likely wild "pets" of the residents.

Thursday morning I decided we will head to the Upper and fish for a couple hours and hunt the rest of the day.  On the way up we saw a herd of 40 or more deer all does.  Geese lined the river but would have been impossible to hunt as there is no cover to conceal a stalk. Anyway I wanted to rest Kaiser somewhat as he is not in full hunting strength.  I did not want to push him too hard.

Jeff had suggested a new streamer technique for the Upper that he used with great success in the past so I wanted to try it.  By 9am there were all ready four cars on the river.  I managed a spot on the river and tried my luck for two hours.  No success.  We headed down the valley in search of birds.

The old man asked to stop by a shop to get some beef jerky.  I said I can do better and took him to the Mahogany Smoked Meats.  After sampling a few we ended with the elk and wild boar jerky.  We started our way south stopping a few locations.  I managed to jump another pair.  After missing the first shot I carefully aimed at the second.  Clearly missing even more.  I completely stopped my swing and shot under him as he was raising.  Eventually we flushed another pair, I connected and saw the drake mallard fall on the opposite bank in the reeds.  I had to navigate a way for the dog and I to cross.  When we did we looked for the bird only to lose it.  I can't believe we lost it.  We looked for at least half an hour or more.  I marked it well but it either dove or somehow swam away while we were trying to cross the river.  The wingshooting season ends this Sunday and it is unlikely we'll head out again but at least Kaiser was able to do what he loves at least once this year. I think in the future I will forego cast and blast type trips.  For me it's too distracting, either focus on fishing or focus on hunting.

Rough Way to End The Year

It was a rough last few weeks of 2015 as Kaiser was taken to the emergency room in the middle of the night and operated on for bloat.  He has since recovered with the staples and Elizabethan collar removed but now is treated for heart arrhythmia.  Looks as though the hunting season is officially over.  It ended before it began.

Kaiser Is Finally On Facebook...

...If you care to befriend him.

More Hiking With A Gun

The hiking with a gun series continues but in this case I at least managed to take home a little meat.  After driving around looking for a few huntable fields we stumbled upon a few dove roosting on a tree.  I put a sneak on them and ended up idiotically flock shooting them as they flushed.  Singles and pairs would sporadically come in.  Miss after miss I finally connected with one.  We would drive around about without any success.  We never did see any pheasants.  I did speak with a pair of hunters that did see a rooster earlier in the day but before legal shooting time.  As it sucked I chose to head home and bypass the last day.  That's it for pheasants for this year.

Another Hunter But Seeking A Different Kind Of Game

Hoping For A Better Outing

Saturday afternoon I got a call from Jeff telling me how shitting the hunting was at the club.  Shocking, considering how much weather we have gotten.  Jeff theorized even with the rain, it's been a warm rain and it's not pushing the birds.  Despite the poor outing and with his wife away for the weekend, Jeff asked if I wanted to join him for a hunt today.   Without hesitation I agreed with the hopes of getting the bad taste out of my mouth from the past Owens trip.

Sunday hunts are late affairs for Jeff, so I met him around 10:30am.  Again we had the club to ourselves and Jeff expected the ducks to tucked away in the back ponds.  So as we approached our blind we would flush the birds but the plan would be for us not take a shot and would set up and wait for them to return.  After switching blinds, it would be hours before we would see any shootable bird.  The first bird was a lone drake gadwall that came over us, I shot first and missed with both barrels before Jeff nailed him blinding himself in the process.  Last night he sprayed his gun with WD40 as it jammed on him Saturday.  When he shot the oil sprayed all over his face.  After cleaning himself and flushing his eyes he was fine.  More time would pass before we finally had a drake mallard come within range but we both missed it.  Not long after an eclipse drake spoonie came within range and I took it.  Wounded, the duck was on the move, Kaiser and I gave chase.  Kaiser dove into the reeds to dig him out.  We got some flights but none were within range.

Final Day. Bust.

We headed north into higher elevation in search of a better outing than the previous day.  While we did see more birds, they were all located in ponds that were wide open.  Several ponds held 20 Canada geese, another 30 mallards, and another with a mix of divers and puddle ducks. Stalking them for a shot proved difficult.  Desperation lead us to flush the birds out of the ponds, and while they circled back, without any calls or dekes, we skybusted them like idiots.  Normally I wouldn't do this but I figured that since there were no other hunters around it really did no harm other than our wallets and pride.  Later in the day we moved south and managed to pass shoot a few ducks at last light but of course I couldn't hit shit.  The trip was a bust but that's how it goes sometimes.  It was nice to see some winter weather for a change.

The East Side For the First Time This Season

Weather is predicted to reach us by the end of the week and with that in mind we decided to hit the river in attempt to jump a few waterfowl.  We had only little more than two hours to work with and while we attempted some old and new areas none could be found.  While heading back to the SUV we did flush a few quail and with No.5 Bismuth I took a few shots at them.  I managed to nail one but even after a gallant attempt to retrieve it we ran out of light before surrendering him to the wild.  The setting sun forced us to town for a French meal where we met a nice couple from Turlock who managed a nice 3x3 Buck earlier today.  Tomorrow we try again.

The Rain Didn't Quite Bring In The Birds As We Hoped

At around 9:30 this morning Jeff called me to ask if I wanted to meet him at the club to hunt in the afternoon.  Without  hesitation I agreed so I hastily got my stuff and packed the truck.  Having shot as much as we did the last outing, I chose to bring my Winchester Model 12 so I could save money by shooting steel.  Jeff hunted yesterday and he said it was rather poor.  He and his regular hunting buddy managed 7 birds of wigeons, scaups, ringneck, gadwall and spoonies.  He said it was tough getting those birds.  The rain came and with it our hopes for a great hunt.  When I arrived just before noon, birds were working all around. 

The entire club was empty and we had it all to ourselves.  So Jeff could work the birds and we could hunt them properly without someone skybusting them.  Early we had a lot of promise as flocks and flocks of spoonies came in.  Despite having them within range we passed on shooting them waiting in favor for the good ducks to show.  The occasional mallard, wigeon came into our pond but not within shooting range.  The weather began to improve and was not as foul as we hoped and the flocks of birds slowed. 

We waited for hours and with the club all to ourselves, Jeff suggested we moved to a nearby tule island.  I walked over there to recon it to make sure we could stand on dry land.  When I was making my way over I flushed a pair of mallards behind me. Jeff expertly took both of them with two shots.  I walked back with Kaiser to get the retrieve.  These mallards were big, Jeff estimated them 3 or 4 years old.  The chest of the drake was grey suggesting an mature bird.  After we made our way to the island we had a few flights fly over.  I couldn't hit jack with the pump.   After shooting empty on a spoonie Jeff dispatched it after seeing I was dry.  After that it was pretty much over and we called it quits saving enough legal shooting time to see if we could jump a duck or two on the way back to the trucks.

Last Hunt Video Day 2.

Video From The Last Hunt

I finally downloaded, edited (poorly), then uploaded the video from our last hunt.

Not Like The Day Before

After staying a night in the biggest shithole motel I've ever slept in, it was time for another day afield.  Sunday's hunt was much different than the previous day's epic duck hunt.  I knew the hunt would be difficult without a group of hunters or dogs to pressure the birds. Despite that I choose to give it a try in the hopes of getting a rooster to rise.  Early in the hunt we managed to flush up two hen pheasants but to have them only fly into a posted field.

One or the first things I noticed this year was a lot more fields were posted this year.  Some of my favorites were now off limits.  Also several fields were barren and were now dirt pits not sure if that is the result of our drought or the farmer's economic conditions nevertheless it was disheartening. But with the Santa Ana winds picking up I was caught up in some massive dust storms for a while so I drove out of those areas.

I drove around looking for new fields.  Kaiser managed to scent a bird in a large alfalfa field that ran on him.  I saw the track it left and we worked the field as thoroughly as possible but the wily bird out ran us.  I'm confident that had we had a number of hunters with us, we could have flushed the little bastard.  While driving around I found a duck club loaded with quality ducks.  Of course it was off limits to me but it was impressive to see the number of mallards, pintails,  among other waterfowl.

Hunting, as I predicted, was tough.  I only managed to flush two hen pheasants that flew into a posted field.  While I saw a number of doves while driving, I only had a minimal number of shots at them.  I did take two for the day. So at least I wasn't skunked on this trip.

Double Limits Menagerie

Day One.  It seems that any plan I make, it only ends up being altered.  I had planned on hitting the Sierra earlier in the week only to have that canceled.  So rather then head north I decided to head south for the weekend and chase pheasants.  On Thursday Jeff called and let me know his regular hunting partner cancelled on him and asked if I wanted to sub for him.  In a heartbeat I answered in the affirmative.  Jeff had ran his dogs on Tuesday at the club and saw an abundance of big ducks.  The northern arctic freeze had pushed the birds down and Jeff predicted a good day.

Not an uncommon sight for the spectacular day

At 3am my alarm went off and I packed up the shotguns and headed to the duck club to meet Jeff.  Unlike our last outing Jeff would have to draw a new blind for this time around since he didn't like the blind he was assigned to for this round.  Luckily he drew number one and chose blind 15, one of the best of day's vacant blinds available.

In the darkness of night while heading to the blind, we could hear the variety of ducks teasing us within the various ponds, pintails, wigeons and mallards before legal shoot time.  We sat patiently as quality ducks flew overhead teasing us as we waited for the buzzard to inform that we could begin hunting.  By 5:56 am Jeff began skillfully calling them in. The first birds to fly by were shovelers and we let them pass, waiting for the quality birds that Jeff was so confident would eventually pass.

Our first pintail

It wasn't long before we had birds falling from the sky.  Jeff was dead on with his Beretta auto taking the first bird, a greenwing teal.  Jeff had several before down before I finally connected with my first bird, a hen spoonie.  My first several misses were caused by my over thinking each shot; I was trying to calculate the lead rather than letting it come naturally.  Once I finally shut the brain off I was connecting with some regularity including my first pintail, a drake in eclipse plumage

Jeff readying himself for a shot

Time in a blind is often spent waiting staring at the sky with a brief moments of action which was the case the last time Jeff invited me to his club.  Usually the only thing to pass the time is excellent conversation but on this day it was not the case.  In fact most of our conversations were abruptly cut off with someone interrupting to point out birds flying by.  For the first several hours it seemed nonstop.  Jeff hooked many and got them to commit to landing in the spread but was ultimately foiled by our neighboring blinds that foolishly skybusted birds.  I thought duck clubs had a better class of hunters than refuge hunters but I guess this is not the case.  Naturally this type of nonsense inflames Jeff and rightfully so, most of the birds the neighboring blinds had taken were because Jeff managed to get he birds to commit and work the area.

I expelled more shot than I care to admit.  Shooting Bismuth, Hevi Shot Classic Double, and Tungsten Matrix, at an average of $3.00 let's just say it was an expensive day.  I actually feared I might run out before we reached our limits.  That would not be the case though thanks mostly due to Jeff's dead aim.  On the advice of Jeff he suggested I ditch the side by side in favor of a gun that can shoot steel.  I agree and if he invites me again, I'll take my Model 12. Financially speaking I think this is prudent especially if we have another day like this one.  I'll keep the Merkel Model 8 for jumpshooting.

We managed our limits and had a just about ever species in our bag.  Three mallards (two of which were drakes), one drake pintail, three greenwings (two drakes), one drake cinnamon teal, one hen bufflehead, one hen spoonie, one hen ringneck, one hen gadwall and two hen wigeon.  It was quite a day and I am truly appreciative of Jeff's generosity and not to mention his patience with Kaiser.   while my drahthaar is an outstanding upland dog, a decent jump shooting dog, he is unfortunately an annoying blind dog.  He simpy wants to run.  Sitting and patience are not his forte at least when it comes to hearing gunfire or birds in the air.

We limited out at around noon.  Since I was already packed for pheasants and my drive already cut in half I decided to continue the day looking for roosters.  I drove down and had about 2 hours of light to work with.  I tried a few new fields but had no luck in finding any.  I headed toward town for some burgers at In-N-Out before looking for a motel to rest up for the next day.

Duck Club Invitation

I've never hunted a private duck club before so I was excited when I received an invitation to hunt The Little Ramona Duck Club from my new hunting buddy Jeff.  I met Jeff on an online forum when I posted a picture of one of my past hunting trips and he inquired about my Merkel Model 8.  He had thought it was a Sauer, a gun that he had once owned in the past.  This struck a conversation regarding fine doubles and we became fast friends.  He asked if I would like to join him at his club and I jumped on the opportunity.

After about three hours sleep I awoke in the morning to meet Jeff personally for the first time near the entrance of the club.  After a few pleasantries and war stories we made our way to the blind (14).  Half way to there Jeff realized he forgotten the duck stamp in his car.  So we unpacked the gear once we made it to the blind and raced back to the car to get it and raced back before legal shooting time.

Only a handful of club members showed up today which meant most blinds were available but this blind was one of the more sought after ones.  The club assigns blinds for two weeks after that you move 5 blinds away.  Jeff hunted last week on the opener and managed a handful of teal and spoonies.  He did clean up the algae from his decoy spread the day before to ensure a landing spot for the birds.  When he returned again today he was disappointed to see the algae return covering the all his previous week's labor.  This meant birds would unlikely land in the spread making calling somewhat useless and also meant we'd be pass shooting for the most part.  Had he know the pond was covered in green stuff he would have taken another blind.

The morning was slow with the occasional flyby by a teal but with the low light and speed at which they came in there were no shots fired.  Eventually we'd see spoonies fly but none in shooting distance.  Typically Jeff doesn't take shovelers and lets them pass.  Since he figured not many "good" birds were around we'd take them.  Not long did one buzz through our pond.  We both fired and it fell from a lung shot.  Since it was before 7:30 and it fell beyond our pond, club rules didn't allow us to go get it at this point.  So we marked it and would go fetch it when we were allowed.  Of course this did not go well with Kaiser as he it made him whine even more.  Kaiser is not much of a blind dog.  He never was trained to sit patiently (not that he would even had I trained him to) while hunting.  He simply is too impatient and wants to run and hunt.  I warned Jeff about it and asked whether I should leave him home but he assured me that he didn't mind.  Not knowing Jeff, I was still slightly uneasy and not sure if he was just being polite I really didn't want to tick the guy off on our first meeting.  Especially since I wanted to be invited back!  I brought Kaiser though figuring he will be annoying but if we had a cripple or bird in the tules he would make up for it.  That is exactly what happened when the time came when we could leave our blind.  We worked the area we though the bird fell and after about twenty minutes of searching Kaiser the hen shoveler our of the cattails.

Hours would pass with no action.  Jeff seemed annoyed and apologized trying to reassure me but that was not needed.  I was hunting for free and in a place I have no access to, not to mention I didn't have to endure the tedious process of the "sweat line."  I was all good. If it's slow, it's slow. Nothing we can do about so I just enjoyed the company.  Jeff and I have a lot in common and we think alike so time goes fast when conversation is easy.  Eventually Jeff saw a flock of geese in the distance and he followed them down into a nearby pond.  So we loaded our heaviest loads and headed there to jump shoot them.  Jeff misjudged their landing.  They landed on a closer pond than he thought. So he had me stay put as he would back track around the brush and try and drive them to me.  When he got to them they flew the opposite direction so he took them and nailed three all specklebellys.  There were small Canadas among them but Jeff managed to avoid them shooting the king of geese instead.  I saw one drop and saw another one cripple which Jeff gave a follow up when he reloaded.  Kaiser and I walked around to help with the retrieve.  Jeff had already picked up one and let me know they were specks and Kaiser picked up the one I saw fall.  Jeff let me know he hit a third bird and couldn't find it.  So Kaiser was tasked to find him.  Eventually Kaiser found him and gave chase as the bird tried to lift off.  Finally he caught up to it and brought the bird to me.  As it was in the high 80s we were sweating and returned to our blind.  After a quick rest in the shade of the blind we called it a day at 11.  All in all it was a good day.  Kaiser got his first taste and retrieve on geese.  The king of geese no less so I was happy even though I didn't get to pull the trigger on them but that's okay.  Thanks Jeff.  We really enjoyed ourselves and thanks for putting up with my annoying dog. 

You Won't See Us Out There

Today is September First and for the wingshooter for most of the US means opening day for doves.  I did not partake.  Don't get me wrong I love being out in the field with my dog with my double barrel in hand but some of my previous outings have left me with a bad taste in my mouth.  First every numbnut with a shotgun and a hunting license is out here.  That means crowds.  While most hunters are good people there are a subset in our group that are complete idiots.  I've seen a moron shoot a dove and when it landed 5 yards in front of him, instead of going to retrieve the bird he shot it again blowing it to Smithereens laughing the whole time.  On another instance my father once took a pellet to the face from an idiot shooting low birds.  Luckily nothing happen other than a scare but he could have easily lost an eye or worse.  Fucking idiots.  Another reason is it's hot.  Africa hot.  That's not only hard on myself but it's grueling on the dog.  Also the heat brings out the rattlesnakes and that's the last thing I want to deal with.  I could always leave the dog home but I don't want to hunt without him.  So we'll see if I pass up this first dove season again or if I go out.  It's unlikely but if I do go out it will not be on a weekend when all the crowds go out or it will be because I was invited on private property and won't have to deal with the scum.  For now though the side by sides are staying in the cabinet.

Sweatlinin' It

With less than an hour of sleep, I woke up at 1:30am this morning getting ready to head out once again to San Jacinto.  This time though Ed and I would sweatline it in the hopes we'd be able to get drawn for a blind from one of the no shows.  Ed arrived and we were on the road by 2am.

In about an hour we made it to the wildlife area and waited for another hour until all the reservations were processed.  This being the second to last weekend of the season, more than usual number of reservation holders showed up.  I believe 37 out of the 50 reserved blinds showed, a greater average than normal.  We waited for an hour or so for those guys to be processed and hoped we'd be drawn for the remaining 13 empty blinds.

We didn't make the cut unfortunately but Ed's buddy Min did and choose blind W12.  Ed and I would have to hope for a early refill draw.  Name after name was called.  Finally we were called.  20th of maybe 30 or so.  So we wouldn't be expecting a blind anytime soon.  By this time it was 5:30am so I returned to the Rover and slept in the front seat for another hour or so.  When I woke around 7, I figured hunters wouldn't be leaving their blinds for at least another hour or more and suggested we head back into town and get a bite to eat.  We headed to Harry's Café for a less than impressive but adequate gut busting breakfast.  Chicken fried steak and eggs for me, enough calories to hold me over for a week.

After finishing our meals, we headed back to the office.  D1 had been refilled and A1 was now available.  No one ahead of us seemed to want it.  Refill number 19, the guy ahead of us debated whether he wanted it.  Since this blind is deep and really only shoots well in the morning and without a dog he choose to pass.  Ed and I debated whether we wanted it or not.  I figured we should take it.  Being very close to the end of the refill order, any "good" blind would be taken once it became available.  So we'd be waiting for a long time.  The mentality of both of us was it's better to be miserable at the blind with a slim chance at birds than waiting at the office being miserable with no chance at all for birds.

As we made our way to the same blind we hunted last timed, Ed who started a few minutes ahead of me saw three teal fly into the brush in the corner.  After we dropped our stuff at the blind we made our way to jump shoot these teal.  Ed would make his way at the other edge and I'd send the dog in to flush the birds out.  The birds flushed out.  At first it was just coots.  Then within the coots the three teals flew out.  Since I was staring directly in the sun and with coots among them it didn't register until too late that those were the birds we wanted!  Once it dawned on me they we out of range.  What a fool.   That proved to be our only chance for the next hours and we gave up at noon.  At the parking lot,  I let Kaiser run around and he ended up finding a dead hen spoonie, either thrown away from a hunter or a bird that managed to fly away a hunter's gun before expiring. 

Arriving at the office, we saw Min waiting to refill at another blind.  As we chatted, he let us know he managed only a hen greenwing teal.  Others began filtering in from their blinds and from what we saw they only had a teal or spoonie as they entered to report.  Looks like most everyone was having a rough time so we weren't the only ones.  We debated on whether to stay and re-refill but at 15th in line we chose against it.  It was too brutal.  With little to no birds flying and with temps around 80, knowing when to quit is valuable characteristic trait.  This was Ed's last hurray for the year.  For me, with one weekend left in the season I'll try to make it out to the Sierras for one last attempt to get this bad taste in my mouth.