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Nebraska bird hunting sucks
Ok, now that we have that little fib out of the way to throw off the internet scouters, let me tell you about yet another amazing day on the Nebraska public lands.
In short, Haidar and I both limited out on teal once again, this time by 7AM. We were done so quickly that we had to come up with an alternate plan for the rest of the morning. More on that in a bit...
We also brought his brother-in-law along, Anmar (who, if you recall, is the guy I went turkey hunting with back in the Spring), for his first-ever teal hunt. He struggled a good bit, only bagging 2 birds entire the morning, but he has also never shot at any bird this fast and is working with a brand new Stoeger M3500. He has some pretty significant mechanics issues we'll have to iron out, most notably his propensity to keep his face off of the stock when swinging on a moving target. It's absolutely killing his accuracy, as the barrel is looking somewhere totally different than he's intending to point it. He was pretty flustered by the end, but we encouraged him and promised to get him to a skeet range for discipline training as soon as possible. He knows he has work to do, but overall he had fun.
After Anmar headed home, Haidar and I broke out our over/under upland guns and some steel #7 shot to work the nearby mudflats in search of snipe. I had never hunted these fast, jinky birds before, but Haidar had promised me for some time that he would show me how to hunt them. I found out quickly why the term "sniper" carries their call. They are a true test of wing shooting skill.
Ironically enough, I killed my very first bird with one shot. It took significantly more than that to bag the other two that I would kill a bit later. We closed out with 9 snipe total + one unlucky dove that flushed from the nearby grass during our walk. Sadly for him, he's in season right now. All in all, snipe hunting was WAY more fun than I anticipated - like a waterfowl/upland combo hunt chasing what is actually a migratory webless game bird.
It goes without saying that this was, once again, a helluva hunt. That's two teal limits in two hunts for me (three in a row for Haidar since he also went out yesterday and limited out solo), plus an opening day dove limit. The best part is that all of this was on public land. The bird hunting here is so good, it's easy to forget that the state is 90%-privately owned! These little public gems are just that well-managed that they are absolutely worth visiting. I you haven't tried wingshooting here, you're missing out!
In short, Haidar and I both limited out on teal once again, this time by 7AM. We were done so quickly that we had to come up with an alternate plan for the rest of the morning. More on that in a bit...
We also brought his brother-in-law along, Anmar (who, if you recall, is the guy I went turkey hunting with back in the Spring), for his first-ever teal hunt. He struggled a good bit, only bagging 2 birds entire the morning, but he has also never shot at any bird this fast and is working with a brand new Stoeger M3500. He has some pretty significant mechanics issues we'll have to iron out, most notably his propensity to keep his face off of the stock when swinging on a moving target. It's absolutely killing his accuracy, as the barrel is looking somewhere totally different than he's intending to point it. He was pretty flustered by the end, but we encouraged him and promised to get him to a skeet range for discipline training as soon as possible. He knows he has work to do, but overall he had fun.
After Anmar headed home, Haidar and I broke out our over/under upland guns and some steel #7 shot to work the nearby mudflats in search of snipe. I had never hunted these fast, jinky birds before, but Haidar had promised me for some time that he would show me how to hunt them. I found out quickly why the term "sniper" carries their call. They are a true test of wing shooting skill.
Ironically enough, I killed my very first bird with one shot. It took significantly more than that to bag the other two that I would kill a bit later. We closed out with 9 snipe total + one unlucky dove that flushed from the nearby grass during our walk. Sadly for him, he's in season right now. All in all, snipe hunting was WAY more fun than I anticipated - like a waterfowl/upland combo hunt chasing what is actually a migratory webless game bird.
It goes without saying that this was, once again, a helluva hunt. That's two teal limits in two hunts for me (three in a row for Haidar since he also went out yesterday and limited out solo), plus an opening day dove limit. The best part is that all of this was on public land. The bird hunting here is so good, it's easy to forget that the state is 90%-privately owned! These little public gems are just that well-managed that they are absolutely worth visiting. I you haven't tried wingshooting here, you're missing out!
Accuracy: because white space between bullet holes drives me insane.
Replies
It looks like good exercise.
Hah! Teal. Slow. Right. Yeah, he definitely has never seen a teal with the can lit and snapping side to side on it's way to land. A novice hunter doesn't stand a chance.
And a dozen of them flying in a mob...... doesn't increase the odds of connecting...
It's times like that when you realize that telling a noobie to "pick just one bird" is futile. They're gonna shoot right in the center of the flock and miss everything.
Quail...not easy......are easy compared to these.
Mike
N454casull
Jerry
Never had an issue with my dogs retrieving anything but doves...too many loose feathers I suspect...my old lab would pick them up by a wingtip to bring them in. With my current dog however, it's an even bet whether he will retrieve it or swallow it....
Wait...you referring to the turkey hunt in Montana that may have involved a stranger pocketing another stranger's poo rags?
I didn't bring my dog on this hunt because the water is just too deep for him in the teal hole, but I do wonder if he would've retrieved a snipe. He absolutely HATES retrieving doves and will spit them out just a few yards after picking one up.
And woodcock...yeah, not the best tasting bird. They eat a ton of worms and taste accordingly.
Wow. I think you just channeled my dad. Possibly word for word, as best I recall.
Mike
N454casull
That's the dumbest thing I ever heard. They're freaking swamp rockets!
How many shells have I wasted on them? I've killed a few, but when they come through you better not blink. And it's not so much they're fast, they're quick, I mean quick to turn and whip around. Put a north wind on their tail and they're a blurrrr.
Son that's somebody with nothing to do with his time but keep me in trouble with mom.
Man early, you need to try it. But go shoot some skeet first, lots of skeet.
Son that's somebody with nothing to do with his time but keep me in trouble with mom.