No time to BLOG 2

No time to Blog but look at the HUNDERS!

The Team

JB and Willie holding their Coc...male pheasants!

The first few days

Well, we made it! We made the drive to the land of corn and in the dog trailer were Scooby and Jesse and yes, the camo is a fake. The dive was pretty easy except for the 2 hours it took us to get out of Atlanta. We spent the night somewhere in Illinois and were up early Friday to finish the trip to Nebraska. But, enough of travelling. Opening day was very exciting. We had Scooby, Bubba and Jesse in the field. Scooby ranged out a bit but also flushed a few birds which was a great step for him. We did "lose" Scooby twice on opening day. The problem is that we were hunting huge fields of native grass and Scooby would follow a scent and before he knew it, he was lost and I couldn't find him and he couldn't see me. The first time he was lost, I went back to a field to look for him and finally he came busting out of the native grass and he was as happy to be found as I was to find him. The second field we were in, Scooby flushed 2 birds but both were hens...you can't shoot hens. We did shoot a roosted and let the dogs retrieve it. Scooby got a hold of it and wouldn't let it go. He finally did. We ended the day hunting another HUGE field and we lost Scooby again although before we lost him, he flushed a few birds.
Sunday was Scooby's day. In our first field, Scooby flushed a covey of quail. He started to understand what he was doing. The second field, Scooby put it all together. We drove a grass field and Scooby was pretty hot throughout the field. We neared the end of the field and Scooby was very hot...all of the sudden, Scooby locked on point...a hard point. He held the point and we flushed another hen. Scooby pointed and flushed a cover of quail in the next field and I shot a quail and he retrieved it. I was a great day for Scooby!

Dog Trailer

Here is the only picture that came through un-corrupted from your email JB. It is a good one though. You did an outstanding job. JB has painted the wheels since this picture was taken. I still don't know how JB did it and he won't give up his secret...this is a professional paint job!

Scooby - Wing on a string - "Scoob-tube"

Hi all...here is Scooby with his wing on a string training. I hope all this training pays off! He understands "Whoa" and "easy" so if we can catch him on point, we should be able to slow him down. It will be interesting seeing him get into the dog trailer!

Itinerary

The old dog proposed the following itineray for the week! Feel free to comment!

Friday, Oct. 24:
Arrive at Greenglade. Unload. Later (mid-afternoon) proceed to Lincoln to pick up beer, ice, etc. and to get steaks for later. 5 PM, happy hour at Greenglade. Cook steaks. Eat.

Saturday, Oct. 25:
Up early. Feed dogs and troops. Proceed to Wahoo. Hunt.

Sunday, Oct. 26:
Same as Oct. 25, except hunt in different areas.

Monday, Oct. 27:
Ditto Oct. 26. 7:30 PM, turkey fry feed at bar in Lincoln.

Tuesday, Oct. 28:
Recover from turkey fry feed. Hunt.

Almost time to hund!

enjoy...

Scooby Passed the Final Test

Well, maybe I should say he passed the final pre-hunting test. I went to my friends house who has about 50 acres over in Grayson and got Scooby about 200 yards away (per the gun dog book). On my signal, my buddy shot off the first round. That turned Scooby's head. I gave him a treat and called him a good boy and asked him "where's the bird?". We moved about 40 yards closer, I made him sit for round two. This time he looked up but was more interested in the horse muffins. The closer we got, the more rounds we shot off and Scooby was uninterested in the noise and more interested in the kids, a new place and a bunch of new smells. So Nate held Scooby on the leash while we shot skeet for 30 minutes. Scooby was not phased by the noise. I am excited that he passed this test. We're going to try to do it again before we leave on the trip. It was nice shooting the old model 12 again. My buddy noted that it really kicks compared to his over and under. I told him that "hopefully" my shoulder would be black and blue after the trip.
My shooting skill are about the same. I hit about 60-70% which is not bad with the full choke gun. Once again, when I let them get out a bit, my percentages go up. Nate was 1 for 2...excellent for his first 2 shots with a shotgun! He shot my buddy's son's 20 guage pump. All that BB gun training has paid off!

Soccer Wisdom

You know Soccer has been a big part of our lives for the last 10 or so years and we have traveled the eastern half of this nation from New Jersey, to Florida, Dallas, North and South Carolina.... We've met many nice folks and had great coaches (for the most part). I have taken a ton of advice from parents and coaches about soccer related issues and learned (and taught) many life lessons. So what the heck does soccer wisdom have to do with hunting? It's really very simple...Boots! Many soccer coaches call cleats "boots". They call the field the "pitch" and and 1-0 would be 1-"nil". Back to boots...One coach we had for several years would not let any of his players wear new boots until HE broke them in. He'd take their new boots home with him and he'd basically bend them in every direction possible, flatten the heals, bend the soles in half in both directions...quite a task. Soccer girl never had blisters after he started coaching her...we would break in 2 sets of cleats a year following the coaches instructions. For the last 2 days, I've been bending and flattening and distorting ONE of my LL Bean boots. I just put them on and guess what...one is basically broken in and the other is not!

Soccer rules!

Counting down!

Tomorrow, it will be 2 weeks until we leave for the hunt and everything is coming together nicely. Can you believe this blog started in July! The dog trailer is 99% ready to go...good job JB. My LL Bean boots should arrive today or tomorrow. The T shirts will be done by the end of this week or the first of next week. I bought my license on-line last week and printed it...it looks good. Scooby had another walk in the field and did well although I learned to keep him on a leash until I am ready to go. He wandered a bit and didn't want to come back...he went straight for the field. Scooby hated to ride in the car until the first time I took him to the field. Now every time I open the car door he wants to go with me. He is also retrieving very well now. He is beginning to use his nose a little better and is finding the dummy by smell instead of sight. I still need to gun check him. He isn't to Duke's level yet...I would hide Duke's eyes and throw the ball anywhere in the back yard and he would go find it. Scooby needs an area to search in for now. I am going to buy some new shells this week for the trip...I don't know all about shells but I got field load, 7-1/2's, high velocity for $5.23 a box at Walmart. Since I have the full choke barrel, I don't think it matters having 6's or 7-1/2's. I could be wrong. You over and under guys are a different story. I got a box of 410 shells on my first visit (the short ones) in case we happen upon a wounded bird in the ditch and we have to put out of it's misery. Pulled the guns out of the cases and they are clean and shiny as I left them! I need some blaze orange...I'll ask Rah Rah if he has a bandanna of that color. The count down continues!

Trailer-Boy is Da Bomb!

Well, I've seen it! OMG (for you old dogs, OMG = Oh My God)! It is SICK (previously defined)! It looks like it just came off the dog trailer showroom floor. I was a bit worried about the camo paint when it came down to painting day (I was actually worried about JB going crazy with his paint gun). I was worried that it would look like billy-bob's pick-up truck headed to the huntin camp. The pattern is very complicated. You have got to see it. Amazing is all that I can say! It looks like it was painted at Fort Benning. JB may need to be commissioned after that paint job. He said he free handed it...I find that hard to believe but I'll take him at his word (he's a liar...I bet he had it painted at his buddy's shop). Willy, bring the correct paperwork and medals/bars/leaves to elevate JB to the appropriate level. You will really be impressed! Seems that every one's digital cameras are in the shop or out of batteries. I'll blog a pic as soon as we get a good one.

ALL HAIL TRAILER BOY! HE BE DA MAN!

We Have Clergy!

Team Members! We now have clergy attending the hunt. After months of scouting, meetings and praying, we finally have clergy attending the hunt. Our Nun, Sister T (not to be confused with Mr. T) will be there to bless the fields prior to the hunt! She will be leaving the convent on the 24th to meet up with the Colonel and the old dog in Omaha. This is our good fortune as she will be able to bless the Colonel's honey hole prior to the opening day hunt. Sister T has this to say to the team: "Now then, please take your gear, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field and hunt game for me," Genesis 27:3

Shirts and bloggage...ramblings

Lars and I are meeting with the shirt guy on Monday. Everyone is sending checks so we will be good to go with the shirts prior to the hunt. Thanks to everyone for the quick response.
As I look forward to this years hunt, I am also looking forward to future hunts. I can't wait to bring my boys on their first hunt. Just thinking about that chokes me up as I'm sure it did to you old dogs. I may be blubbering when they get their first bird! I guess it's that Greek-Irish blood. The thing about being Greek-Irish is that you'll fight anyone who really pisses you off, but then you want to drink with them afterwards (as if they are your best friend)...discuss the wounds etc...I think that's also the hockey player in me. I look forward to coming up with 2009 USOPHT tee shirt. Maybe next year, I'll look into something...more formal...a sweatshirt...mock turtle neck...a polo..embroytery...finding time is the key! I look forward to seeing how Scooby and Bubba develop over the next few years. I look forward to blogging during the hunt this year so that everyone who couldn't make it (Timmy, Hugh, Nun, Lindsey...Willy's favorite) can still be a part of the experience, if only in a small way. Plus, family members can check out the days events. I hope I'm not too tired to type. You have GOT to love technology. Just today, I "Skyped" soccer girl in her dorm room while she prepared to travel to Colorado Springs and El Paso...yea, she made the travel team! Freshman, Division 1...gotta love it. Anyway, "Skype" www.skype.com is an Internet based communications program with text and video. Her laptop has a built in camera so I just ping her and she pops right up. We talk back and forth with video. It is SICK (for you old dogs, sick = cool). What makes it great is it is FREE...if you have an Internet connection and a camera, that's all you need. Actually, I don't have a camera at work (on order) so I can see her but she can't see me (we have a camera at home). Just the fact that I can set-up a blog, for free, and post all of this non-sence is amazing. Ok, back on track...I look forward to seeing the farm. Nicole was 3 the last time we were there...yikes..15 years ago. I can imagine things have changes. Now that we are getting Cisco-ized, I'm back to 4 weeks of vacation. It will be nice to have more than 2 weeks. Finally, the base coat for the camo paint is on and we're having a bit of trouble laying out the pattern. Any suggestions?