Kayak wood duck hunt

                
                                 The front end of my kayak draped in camo netting and our decoys

I bought a kayak this summer and had really been enjoying it, so when a friend invited me to go wood duck hunting using our kayaks I jumped at the chance.  Any endeavor which has you in the great outdoors to watch the light come up in the sky is exciting to my way of thinking.  Throw in being out on the water and wingshooting, and I'm in!  It was my first wood duck hunt, so I was pretty excited to say the least.

We were at the lake well before first light on the first day of the early southern zone season (mid October).  The small Pa. Fish Commission lake in the Laurel Highlands once was full of flooded trees at one end.  Over time the trees died and rotted off at the water level with the stumps remaining just below the lake's surface.  This makes paddling in the dark somewhat of an adventure.  Get going a little too fast and you could run your bow up on one of the stumps and tip over -  dumping you, your gun, and all of your gear into the "drink".

As we paddled into our selected spot in the shallows of the lake, I was startled to hear someone whistle from the shore to let us know that spot was already taken!  We changed direction and were heading along the shore line when we found ourselves among someone else's decoys.  Backtracking a little bit we decided we had better get set up before it got light, so staked out a claim of our own between the other 2 parties.

I had visions of the old cartoon where a lone duck is winging peacefully across the dawn sky when all of a sudden hunters pop up everywhere and open up on him.  Fortunately, that was not the case.  When dawn arrived we could not see anyone else, though we could occasionally hear them call.  Their calling was not convincing enough to fool me, so I can't imagine it helped their case much with the ducks.

Being a wood duck rookie, I expected that birds would come in high, cup their wings and drop into the decoys, so I pulled in behind a tree that had fallen into the lake to achieve a little better "hide".  This proved to be a poor choice because soon a group of "woodies" came speeding in about 2 feet above the lake's surface.  Since we had hurriedly dropped our decoys in he dark, we didn't have a hole in the spread for the ducks to drop into, so they joined it at the right end, putting the fallen snag between me and them.  By the time that I saw them they were right in front of me with the snag complicating my view in the still dim light.  I pulled up my shotgun and fully expected they would  flare and give me a shot opportunity but, to my amazement, they landed!  Momentarily befuddled by this development, I quickly determined to flush them and try to get a shot as they took off,  but before I did anything they sped out keeping the snag between me and them.  I fired a shot just as I lost sight of my target duck against the hill on the other side of the lake.  There was no splash.  My partner said "You may have just "opened" the season!  I guess that's possible.  I might have fired the first shot of the region's 2011 duck season.  Maybe.  One thing is certain.  I missed!

After a while the wind really kicked up and the lake became very choppy so we decided to round up our decoys and go have some lunch.  The wind only increased as the day progressed, and when we returned there were whitecaps on the lake.  Hardly ideal kayak conditions, so we called it quits.

I definitely "bobbled" my first kayak wood duck hunt, but look forward to doing it again next year

The(sort of) Great Grouse Hunt

Well things got busy, and though I still haven't written about the last 2 topics that I promised were to follow, let alone my introduction to wood duck hunting,  I am already behind on reporting of my NW Pa. grouse hunting trip.

I'd love to say that I bagged a pile of grouse, but it just isn't so. I have had a good time, though, and encountered a very satisfying number of birds.  My first day, a Friday, was actually spent pheasant hunting.

Since I planned to start the trip from a base of operations in Ridgway and my friend Ben wasn't able to make it there until that evening, I decided to check out a Pheasants Forever Project near Shawmut, south of Ridgway, on the way up.  This is actually an addition to the already huge State Game Lands #44.  Along with PF, a number of local Sportsmen's organizations and a couple of companies added support.  Everyone is credited on the impressive sign in the first parking area that you see upon arrival.   As a PF member, I felt proud of their involvement.

Despite the constant rain, I decided to hunt.  Sunny and I put several birds in the air out of range before she locked on a solid point beneath a small pine tree.  When I moved in to flush, a big ringneck shot away on the ground, tried unsuccessfully to take flight, then continued to run.  It never got far enough ahead of the dog that I could shoot and Sunny eventually caught it.  This was a big bird with beautiful very long tail, hooked beak and hard spurs.  Cleaning it showed that it had been wounded far back on its body on one side.  Later Sunny tried to flush a bird out of the woods to me, something she does with some regularity ( I've got witnesses, more about this under dog training - or not, later ), but the bird went a little wide of the mark just out of range.

We moved across route 219 to a second part of the game lands near Brandy Camp, and continued our soaking wet hunt.  Sunny had an exciting 45 minute point-relocate-run-point-relocate chase with a phantom bird which she eventually nailed down for a beautiful point and explosive flush,  as if materializing from nowhere.  I  shot the hen pheasant (legal here) with what I thought looked to be a solid hit and it fell into an evergreen tree, and started floundering down and around the tree.  I thought it was falling to the ground so didn't bother shooting it again, when suddenly it was sailing down into the deep valley past the tree.  We never located it, so ended the day getting a bird I didn't shoot, and shooting a bird I didn't get.

The next day we hunted grouse in the Allegheny National Forest.  Ben and I drove around a bit and looked at areas that had been recommended to me, until we agreed on a spot that looked good to both of us.  It was.  The rumors of good grouse numbers above Interstate 80 seem to be completely true.  We somehow managed to not bag any, despite several good opportunities.  Between a gun mis-fire, shooting a tree, a couple of plain old misses, and a bird that was hit but made a mid-air recovery, we came out of the woods with the same number of birds that we started with.  It was however, an enjoyable day, with Sunny having a few great points, and our enthusiasm definitely stoked.  We had high hopes for the next day, but a  sudden late October snowstorm that blew into the central part of the state overnight forced Ben's hand, and he had to leave before sun-up the next morning to get home and take care of  things.  Sunny and I were in no rush to get started that day but once we did we really got into birds.  We returned to the same general area as the day before.  The trees were bent with heavy wet melting snow which found its way down the back of my shirt with incredible frequency and precision.  It hit me that I was not really dressed properly for these conditions.  I'm not certain that you actually could be, unless maybe you had a blaze orange wetsuit!  Then we started flushing grouse in rapid succession.  I only had one really good shot opportunity, but it was all you could  hope for.  I missed it twice and am still second guessing myself about it.  Grouse flushed from under pines and from high in pines, audible but not visible.   I quit counting flushes at 7, 3 of which I saw.  In an hour and a half we were both soaked and shivering and retreated to the warmth and comfort of the vehicle.

We returned to the hotel soaked  for the 2nd time in 3 days and spread out every article of clothing and hunting gear to dry - again.

                                      
                                       Sunny chills at the Royal Inn, just south of Ridgway, Pa


When planning the trip, I thought it would be a good Idea to have a rest day in the middle, so figured a Sunday would force that and keep me from running the dog ragged.  As it turned out, with Saturday's hunt being so short, the dog and I were pretty well rested by Sunday morning, and had the whole "no hunting" day to kill.
We did some scouting, watched the Steelers, and packed to leave at first light.  My plan was to hit the Pheasants Forever project early, then head back north of Ridgway to hunt grouse in the afternoon.  We did manage to pick up a ringneck in the morning, but felt the pull of home pretty strongly after that, so continued south.  On the way home we stopped at a spot I know near East Brady for a short, unproductive hunt.

Things I learned


The Royal Inn near Boot Jack Summit is a dog friendly motel with a great restaurant.  It is only open for dinner, but it would be worth driving to Ridgway for the dinner alone!  Straub dark beer on tap and a good hot meal with a hunting buddy is a good way to end the day.

As I traveled around the ANF I was pleased to see signs crediting various hunter/conservationist groups for their habitat work.  It's always good to see that involvement.  Good for wildlife and good PR for the organizations as well.

I'd like to do this again next year if possible, but think I will pick a Monday through Friday stretch.  The Sunday lay-around really caused a loss of momentum, as well as adding to the expense of the trip.  I thought that I should nail down the dates to assure I'd actually go, and not let other considerations interfere, but in retrospect I should probably have watched the weather and adjusted accordingly.  I like hunting in the rain better than I thought I would, but it does take a lot out of you.

Next up:  The kayak wood duck hunt

Southwest Game Farm, planning the Great Grouse Hunt, support the cause

Southwest Game Farm

It poured down rain Saturday so my plan for a 2 hour dog conditioning run went out the window.  As disappointing as that was, it freed my time to take advantage of the open house at The Pennsylvania Game Commission Southwest Game Farm near New Bethlehem.  I've driven past this facility several times, so was familiar with the location and more than a little curious about it.

While most of the "pheasant belt" has always been in the midwest, Pennsylvania was once one of the country's top ringneck pheasant states, somewhat unique for its eastern location.  That all changed in the mid- 70's when a perfect storm of sprawl, pesticides (some of which are now illegal), earlier hay mowing which often destroyed hen and nest in one swoop, clean farming, and a "predator boom" among other factors, came together to practically eliminate wild ringneck pheasants in our state.   Avian predator populations blossomed under federal protection (rightfully so, I think) and mammalian predator populations soared as public taste turned against wearing fur (the "all natural" outerwear ?) in favor of manufactured synthetics.

There may have been other factors as well.  Whatever happened, they are pretty much gone.  Pheasant hunting in Pa. is almost totally supported today by the PGC stocking program.  They have been at it a long time, and are very good at it.  The birds that they currently release are beautiful, robust, and challenging to hunt.

The tour was interesting.  The eggs are laid in nesting boxes in the large pens that cover the farm.  They are then gathered, hundreds at a time, by farm personnel, washed, and held in cold storage until a full batch is gathered to fill the large incubators (21 days) then into a temperature controlled hatching cabinet, where hundreds of eggs become hundreds of chicks.  For the 1st four weeks of their lives these chicks are under the watchful care of PGC workers in temperature controlled shelter, with gradually increasing "yard time".  By 5 weeks they are pretty much free of their high tech start and living outdoors on their  own.  Though prevented from leaving the premises and protected (mostly) from predation by fencing and overhead netting, they are free to fly and forage at will within those limits.  I was impressed by the cover and food plots in the flight pens, as shown in this photo.


 Occasional predation does occur.  Our tour guide mentioned a mink getting into a pen and killing 57 birds in one night, seemingly for the thrill of it, as they weren't eaten.  Raccoons are also a problem.

While there I also had the pleasure of meeting Ryan Toth, who recently returned to the area after completing his military service which took him to Germany, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar.  Check out Leatherwoodoutdoors on Youtube.com, a video venture that he and his hunting and fishing buddies are involved in.
They are obviously great deer hunters, and serious "shed" hunters as well.  The"Archery Eve" dinner at their camp, the subject of one of their videos, sounds like a great time.

There were more than 30,000 pheasants at the SW game farm yesterday, an impressive number of birds.  Unfortunately that is approximately how many pheasants were lost when the Susquehanna River flooded 2 other PGC Game farms in central Pa. recently.  Sad to see that much work, and that many beautiful birds lost.

Pa.'s pheasant stocking program is not without its critics.   Some people say that they aren't a native species, so don't really belong here, something which I never seem to hear about the brown trout, which isn't either.  Others claim that stocking is a waste of license money.  Again, I never hear that when the state dumps some big non-native trout into a favorite Pa. stream.  That being said, It's hard to argue the fact that the money spent raising and releasing pheasants  over the years hasn't resulted in a tangible wild breeding population and could have added substantially to the State Game Lands System, or other use.

Still, on a nice fall day, when the dog points and I see and hear that powerful flush and "Ert-Ert-Ert" cackle, I'm really glad they do it, and do it so well.


Planning the Great Grouse Hunt


When I decided to plan a NW Pa. grouse hunt I sent out inquiries to several State Forest and Allegheny National Forest offices asking for info on what might be good areas to try.  I already had a few areas in mind based on casual inquiries of anyone who would listen and happenstance encounters with forest service workers, other hunters, and with actual grouse.  My formal inquiries to professional forestry personnel resulted in a variety of responses ranging from extremely helpful (marked up maps, specific area recommendations) to relatively generic ( "grouse are everywhere in the forest", "they like brushy areas").  When the recommendations reinforced something that I had previously seen or heard, I considered that a double hit and marked it on a map.  The same goes for specific or emphatic recommendations - mark the map!  Some of the areas have good enough reputations and/or memorable enough names that I don't expect to be alone there, others are just a dot on a map that I'm not even sure how to get to - those are especially compelling to me.  That done, I've started looking for dog friendly motels to work from.

One of the most helpful responses was from a woman who identified herself only as "Mary".  She said she is an avid grouse hunter and an active member of The Ruffed Grouse Society, and she closed by saying that she hoped that I was also an active member.

 Turns out I am.  Well, - a member anyways, depends on your definition of active.

I have been a member a few times and let my membership lapse a few times.  I'm currently a member at least partially because my wife Peggy and her sister took part in a "becoming an outdoor woman" event.  Peggy had also completed her hunter safety course.  Either of these qualified them for free admission to the RGS Neshannock Creek Chapter Banquet.  Can't beat free.  My paid admission re-upped my membership.
I left a few bucks behind, and didn't win anything, increasing the value of my "donations".  I heartily endorse Mary's approach.  Not necessarily specific to RGS, but if you love the outdoors, and are passionate about hunting or fishing or just "the great outdoors, whatever, put your money where your mouth(or heart) is.
There are plenty of great, active, and influential organizations working on our behalf and I believe that if you want to see things get better, or at least get worse a little more slowly, you should support their efforts.  One of the things that makes me proud of hunters and fishermen is that they have historically "put their money where their mouth is" for wildlife conservation.  Keep that alive.  Ducks Unlimited, Trout Unlimited, Ruffed Grouse Society, Pheasants Forever, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, there is no shortage of organizations that work on behalf of the things we cherish.  Write a check to join the one that means the most to you. Participate in their activities and efforts if you can, but at least join.  Not a joiner?  No problem, I've got a solution for you -

                                                        BUY A DUCK STAMP!

   I can't say it much better than the caption.  5.2 million acres.  $15 at the post office (call ahead, not always avail. at all locations).  Get yours now.  The ducks, rails, ospreys, muskrats, eagles, herons, red winged blackbirds, frogs, pheasants, deer, foxes, and turtles will thank you.  Duck Hunters are required to buy these.  I believe that anyone who hunts anything, bird-watches, hikes, or just cares about preserving wild things and open spaces ought to.

Check back - The well trained dog (or not) and shooting (at) grouse coming soon

The Great 2011 Pa. GrouseHunt

I'm trying a little harder than usual this year to get my dog and myself in shape for the upcoming season.  The reason is that I'd like to go on a week long bird hunting trip, not to South Dakota ,Wisconsin or Minnesota, but to the NW corner of good old Pa.  For the last few years I have been hearing about good to great grouse hunting in northwestern and north central Pennsylvania.  Despite good intentions, I have not gotten up there to check it out.  I've decided that this year will be different.  Rather than hope that I can find the time and motivation to get up there at some point, I plan to schedule a trip just as I would if I were heading to the west or midwest.  I've heard rumors that  the Fall season has been better than the later Winter season, so we want to be ready ahead of time to take advantage of that.

 This proposed trip, which I'm calling The Great 2011Grouse Hunt, was inspired by the not-so-great 2010 grouse hunt which took place in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.  My wife's sister's husband (does that make him my brother-in-law?) Zane and I went to the U.P.  for a week last year with our dogs, theoretically to shoot the some of the thousands of ruffed grouse that live there.  We managed to synchronize our trip so perfectly with "the most powerful storm to hit the Great Lakes since the one that sank The Edmund Fitzgerald" that we arrived and left there on the same day that it did.  We left western Pa. with a forecast of a week of good weather for the Upper Peninsula, but arrived as all hell broke loose.  I have no doubt that the U.P. is a sportsman's paradise because during the 3 hours or so of reasonable weather of our week there I saw wild pheasants in the roadside ditches (remember them?  remember that?) wild turkeys, ducks, geese, ruffed grouse, woodcock, and a whitetail buck whose torso more closely resembled a rodeo bull than any deer I've ever seen.  The rest of the time I mostly saw rain going sideways, huge waves in Lake Michigan, and lights blinking off as trees took out power lines.  I came home mostly wishing I could recover the time and money that I had left there.  NW Pa. may have less grouse, but I can easily cut my losses and head home if things don't go well, plus use a lot less gasoline, and I'm sure, still have a lot of fun.

With that in mind we headed out early this a.m. to a State Game Lands an hour and a half away for some field time.  Sunny really got into the swing of things with points on a woodcock and a holdover pheasant (more on them later) and even ripped her ear to make it all seem like actual battle conditions.  The ear injury was not bad, but it served to remind me to get out the small canine first aid kit that I carry in my hunting vest and get it in order, replacing used up and outdated stuff.

This seems like a good time to talk about looking out for the dog.

A few things that work for me.

Sunny is my first bird dog.  I'm learning as I go along.  She'll be 8 years old next month.   After buying and trying a number of dog specific products with varied success, I have started carrying New Skin Liquid Bandage.  This is available at the local drug store and works on both dog and hunter.  It is basically a flexible super glue with an antiseptic built in.  It is inexpensive, comes in a very small bottle with applicator and dries pretty quickly.  My vet suggested it when Sunny had a hard to heal tail wound.  It worked great.  Not sure why I didn't think of it myself.

This photo shows the protective vest that she wears in the early season when the cover is thick an full of burrs.  I've tried a number of these things and this is far and away the most successful on my dog.  Some very inexpensive ones lasted only part of a hunt before being rejected for chafing the dogs "armpits"(legpits?), getting twisted around, coming apart, you name it.  A more expensive one seemed like the ticket until Sunny got trussed up in it and became a 3 legged dog temporarily, a frightening sight in the woods, as I thought she had broken a leg. Due to it's design I had to cut a strap to free her, so we were back in the market again.  This one is from Lion Country Supply and is their own LCS brand.  It is called the Bird Dog Armor Vest.  It does not seem to interfere with her mobility at all, lasted through a whole season in good shape and has spared Sunny from a lot of abuse. It also makes it easier to see her in the snowy woods.   It is inexpensive.  I'd imagine that different vests would work better on different dogs due to variation in build and gait, but would advise skipping the "cheapies" that everyone seems to sell.

The third product is called Glycocharge, made by Annamaet.  This is a powder that is mixed with water and given to the dog at the end of a long hard hunt.  It helps them replenish the glycogen lost from muscles during strenuous exercise.  That's the claim anyhow.  I don't know about glycogen, but do know it works.   Sunny used to be stiff and beat the day after a hard hunt (and she makes every one of them a hard hunt!), but this stuff is very effective in helping her bounce back.  I put the pre-measured amount of powder into individual quart size zip lock bags that I call Glyco Bombs, and keep them in my gear bag.  At the end of the hunt I pour in a pint of water, shake it up to mix and pour it in her bowl.  She loves it and the difference in recovery is amazing.  This is also available from Lion Country Supply, as well as other gundog supply companies I imagine.

Coming soon -  Planning the trip, shooting, dog training(or not!).  Check back!

First Post - Grand opening!

Welcome to Western Pa. Bird Hunting!

My intention is for this to be part hunting log, part editorial on hunting and conservation, part forum for the exchange of information and advice on what works and what doesn't, and a dose of my opinions on related matters.  I hope that it may be enjoyable and helpful, and that some readers (once there are some readers!) will see fit to offer helpful information as well.  My opinions are meant to be just that - I don't claim to be an expert on anything

So...here goes.

It's September and I'm starting to get ready for the upcoming grouse and pheasant seasons.  Foremost in my mind right now is that my dog Sunny is not in shape to hunt, so we've got to get on that.  I live in the suburbs about 10 miles east of Pittsburgh and, to the best of my knowledge, there is no place really close to me where a dog is allowed to run off leash.  This makes it a real challenge to get the miles on that she needs.  We recently discovered a place about 25 minutes away, Duff Park in Murrysville.  It has great trails, but work schedules and high temperatures have kept our 1 hour jaunts to a pretty sporadic level, and of course, an occasional hour jog is not going to get her, or me, in grouse hunting shape.  Last Saturday I hit The State Game Lands near New Bethlehem for a morning 2 hour run (she runs, I hike). We'll try to do this as much as possible before the season starts (Dog training on the SGLs is prohibited once the youth pheasant season starts Oct. 8) gradually increasing the duration.  I wear my hunting boots to start getting used to them, so as to avoid early season blisters.

Now might be a good time for a word or two about boots (see how this is going to work?).  In the last few years, I've had 3 hunts cut short by boots, and in 2 cases they weren't even my boots.  Hunting time is too hard to come by to have days cut short by equipment failure or malfunction.

In the first case my friend Ben showed up on a cold, soaking wet morning wearing a pair of work boots.  I remember him saying "these are really work boots, but I put a little waterproofing on them" or something to that effect, as I got the dog ready.  Soon his feet were soaked and freezing, but when the dog got excited and was obviously on a pheasant, well, you know, all of a sudden it didn't matter.  We were hunting a spot on the Fayette-Somerset County line.  Whichever side of the line we were on, Sunny obviously decided the bird should be flushed on the other side so,  instead of pointing it she chased it into the next county and flushed it out of site and gun range.  when we heard its distant cackle and flush, we lost our enthusiasm, and Ben headed for the truck heater to warm his feet and dry his socks. It's hard to care about hunting when you feel like you're sloshing barefoot through field after field of ice water.

Boot failure #2 happened last winter on a late season hunt.  Brother John climbed aboard, threw his stuff in the back and said something about not knowing where his hunting boots were so he wore his work boots (both of these guys work on roads).  He was OK on level snowy ground but when we headed up a steep brushy hill (you know, like, where the birds hide) he slipped and fell repeatedly.  Once we crested the hill and started down the other side he slipped, fell hard, hurt his back, and lost his glasses in the snow.  Amazingly enough, he found the glasses.  Mini lesson - you wear glasses, carry spares.  I mean that.  Avoid a disaster, carry spares.

The 3rd was a result of my own bad decision making.  Due to wet swampy conditions I decided at the last minute to wear a pair of high rubber boots instead of my regular leather boots.  I had worn these boots hunting before, but always with heavy socks to make for a comfortable slip free fit.  I had only my lighter socks that worked with my leather boots.  The heel slipped a little, but I pressed on.  An hour and a half later I quit with a painful blister.  I got back to the car in pain with a large raw blister that prevented me from hunting anymore that day and for the next several as well.


1) Upland boots should have Gore-tex (or equivalent)  - I guess the patent on Gore-tex has run out or something like that and there are now competitive products that are similar on the market.  As far as I know they all work the same, and probably alI work just fine.  A breathable waterproof membrane should be mentioned in the specs (that's what Gore-tex is) or you'll get wet. I  don't care who makes them, what they cost, or how luxurious they are, or what you put on them, waterproof leather boots existed only in advertising hype before Gore invented his Tex, and I think that's still true.


2) Real upland boots have a traction sole. A smooth oil resistant sole is of no value in the fields and woods.  You need something with enough bite to climb and grip, but not so deep as to pick up mud.

3) Your boots and socks should work together.  The combination should be tested and broken in before you take the day off and drive 2 hours to get to your favorite spot.  Not doing so can ruin, or at least significantly shorten your day in the field.

4) You don't need or want insulation for bird hunting.  Boots with Thinsulate in 600 -1200 gram range are the greatest for sitting still in the winter deer hunting.  I learned this while sitting with my teeth chattering one year while my friend Ben stood warm and comfortable.  One difference was my 200 gram upland boots vs his 800 gram big game model.  Guess you could say the right boot was on the other guys foot that day.
For bird hunting you want uninsulated boots for walking climbing, etc.  You won't get cold feet.  If you do walk faster.  Uninsulated gore-tex hunting boots can be a challenge to find.  200 gram is OK, more is not so good.

Please check back, I'll be writing more soon.