A little back-story is appropriate: Justin, Caleb, and I (Adam) have been hunting together hard all year in SoDak and Nebraska. There’s a fair share of friendly ribbing over guns (Benelli SBEII, Ruger Red Label, and Citori 525) and more than enough one-liners regarding dogs – Justin seems to think his 38 lbs of Brittany is more dog than anyone could ever use, and both him and I agree that Caleb needs to invest in a REAL dog and retire his good-for-nothing lab. Of course, Caleb jumps at the chance to call our pointing breeds run-offs and points out nearly every less-than-perfect retrieve. Ultimately though, all three of the dogs have their own strengths and weaknesses and truth be told, I’d hunter over that good for nothing lab and feeble-minded Brittany any day, and if you get enough drinks in either of Caleb or Justin and they’d admit the same about Cash. Together, the three of us and those three dogs don’t miss many birds.
Lilly has a nose and legs that NEVER stop and she’s not afraid to show either of them off:
Bella is a hard charger with a nack for running roosters and a retrieve most pointer guys would kill for:
And of course Cash holds his own and then some, carrying out his duties with the youthful exuberance of an 8 month old pup:
The first day’s hunt was an overwhelming success. I was off coaching at a High School wrestling tourney while my colleagues laid waste to a four-man limit in less than three hours:
This bird never escaped the barrage coming from these gunners – Our dear friend Bekah, who owned the land was on her first hunt – She was going to kill this bird but failed to load the shotgun – Justin shouldered her burden admirably:
Turns out even an Oregonian and a Red Label can kill birds:
A few obligatory hero shots from day one:
Following a long day or wrestling/killing roosters, we set out for day two. Justin and I have kept pretty good track of our rooster tallies and coming into the last hunt of the season we were in a dead heat at 68 solo roosters apiece and couple dozen we’ve tag-teamed. Caleb I’m sure would tell us both that he had us beat, but his failure to keep track eliminates him for the race for Supreme Rooster Killer of 2008-09. Anyway – we were both deadset on coming out victorious. On to the hunt:
Bekah is a good friend for taking us all along – goofy looking, but a good friend:
Off we went to pillage Bekah’s enviable rooster population. Caleb set out on a side hill with Bella:
It didn’t take long for Lilly to stone a rooster and Justin to sneak ahead to 69:
Cash answered with a nice point that Caleb and Justin were oblivious to without the help of the camera girl – Caleb recovered to take care of business:
As usual, Caleb spends the majority of his time formulating crappy plans and bossing us all around:
I evened things up close to noon with a kill and had a shot to pull ahead with this bird. Our camera girl caught the moment perfectly as the rooster tipped sideways in the air, appearing to start a death dive. Unfortunately, he recovered and cruised away to keep us knotted at 69 apiece:
Bekah soon stoned her very first rooster over Cash – a proud moment for everyone:
The day drew to a close with Justin killing his 70th rooster of the season over another nice Lilly point. I failed to get off another shot and graciously bowed out with the final season totals standing at Justin: 70 Adam: 69 Caleb: Undeclared (probably in the neighborhood of 60-70 and Bekah: 1. *Author’s Note: Justin cheated midway through the season and killed a handful of released birds on a canned hunt, but I’m over it (Mostly)*
As the season drew the end, we all gathered for one last hero shot:
Ultimately, the season was an overwhelming success and one to look back on. For now, we spend our time drinking beer and reliving the hunts repetitively, waiting for the snow geese to get here and then for next August!
*Special Thanks to our lovely camera girl - Courtney (Justin's girlfriend) for her diligent recordificating of the hunts*
**Justin cheated**
But I'm sure its just a camera aspect thing.
