Now that I have had a few days to reflect on the waterfowl season and examine my records the season wasn’t nearly as poor as I thought. While the last month and a half was difficult with very little in the way of migrating birds it did still offer hunting for some well educated local waterfowl. What made things a little disappointing was the fact that leading up to the season all reports were pointing towards an epic season. Duck numbers were at an all time high and it was just a matter of waiting for the migration. Well the weather never came and the migration stalled leaving us with a less than stellar end of the season. Piper and I made up for some of the waterfowl shortfall with some upland bird hunts. To be honest, if given a chance, Piper would spend all her time in the upland fields quartering to her hearts content but more often or not we find ourselves in a waterfowl situation where she is asked to sit still and scan the skies. She happily performs her job but deep down I know she would much rather be searching for big roosters.
So, as I look back over a season that culminated with Piper reaching 250 retrieves (hen pintail above) on the last bird of the last hunt, I have little to complain about. Piper far exceed my expectations for her first season in the field and I’m filled with excitement thinking of what lies ahead. We’ll start training again very soon with a few new members as part of our training group. All the pups will be similar in age and ability so it will be fun watching them all develop into even more competent gun dogs. The 2013-14 season is truely going to be “epic” with or without a great migration!
250 retrieves is pretty darned epic from young Piper! Along with your lovely photos, keep us posted.
Had a great year, there is no question about that. Our numbers were helped because of a few tower shoots that Piper served as a “pick up” dog on. 40-50 retrieves per outing, a Boykin’s dream!