Man what a good time we had. This was as much for us mods to get together and see each other FTF rather than through the keyboard. The stories and laughing in the blind and back at the cabin definately made this one of my favorite GTG/Hunts of the year. JJ, Kent Outdoors was the perfect host for this and I hope we can get more of the other mods together for one for of these next time.

Day one with Kellygunner as our guide. I'm really not used to this kind of hunting. I asked if I could hike around the pond 20 times, then lay in the mud on the other side, and cover myself with grass so I would be at home as if I were on a public land hunt, but I was denied. Farthest to closest. Kellygunner, Treebass, Dave Speer, me.

The Pond we hunted. This was just outside Hagerman and in the flight path of ducks leaving the refuge.



Yes this is Kelly carring a Ringer and hanging his head in shame due to us shooting it. Just kidding. From the only set of ringers that came in and I will say Treebass refused to shoot at them. I'm not a purist myself, Ringers come in, Ringers dies and will go in my Kubys Sausage. We did make Treebass finish them for us, so he had to claim one afterall.

Sharing stories after the first hunt.



We mostly shot Gadwall, but also Widgeon, and a couple Ringers as noted.

And the Cabin we stayed in. Much nicer than most anything I am used to. Treebass may have some pictures from the inside.



No reason to fix something that ain't broke, so day two we hunted the same blind. This time with JJ.



Shoes! I don't know about these guys I hunted with. Just don't seem right for a duck hunt. But then I was in cowboy boots.





Bo coming in with a Gadwall.



And another. We had Brandy the first day. Bo is a bit more agressive. Brandy is a little more "another day at the office.



Look at all that millet.

looks like a good time...hope Rick posts up pictures of the inside of the cabin, that thing looks nice

Wow, fantastic stories with the pics! Looks like y'all fellas had a great time. Thanks for sharing

Dave or Bigfoot? At the cleaning station.



I don't have a group picture from Day two. One of the other mods can post that one. I wish I had more pictures. It is hard sometimes to hunt and take pictures at the same time. Someone with the right camera would have been able to take some amazing incoming duck pictures. They were decoying right in front of the blind sometimes.

thats for sure bigfoot

great pics John, I'll get some up in a bit, I do have some of the interior as well.

We had a great crew, Sniper John, Dave and I with Kelly and JJ showing us how its done North Texas Style, they did a fantastic job on getting us on birds!

I've never had so many birds try to land in the blind with me. I thought for sure that I was going to have to go "hand to hand" with several before Kelly said "take em".

Yea, about those dang divers....I wasn't even going to do a cleanup until Kelly told me TWICE to shoot that cripple

The dog work was great to watch as always, and both were a joy to be around. Great stories in and out of the blind, and I havent laughed so hard in a long time.

Overall a great relaxing, fun filled trip, got to meet a couple more THF'ers as well. I can't wait till next year!

Thanks again JJ and Kelly, I really had a great time

Sorry I missed the GTG.....

you missed a great time



mine were clean untill JJ kept throwing ducks at me

I have to say, and not that we did not laugh any less with Kelly, JJ is quite the story teller. I too have not laughed so much in a long time as I did on those mornings. Thanks to JJ and Kelly from me too. Not to forget our hog guy who was a barrel of laughs too.

yea, ol Josh was fun talking to, and the birthing story was a HOOT!!

How do I sign up for this moderator gig?

Thanks guys! This was the most fun I've had with a group in a long time. I was just wondering if treebass is alright after whacking the blind?

Kelly

was wondering when that might come up My head is ok, but dangit if I wasnt about to kick Josh in the boys for what he did on the pig hunt...

Ok, here are some pics

Dave making me hold the dang divers





Some dog work



Wish I had a video of poor Bo. He brings in a grey and starts hacking, so we are watching, like, are you ok, then he hacks up a single feather!!! I mean, we watched the single feather hit the ground!! Then he continued for a couple more hacks and coughed up a couple more.

A little cleaning action, learned how to breast them out and leave the wings on. Dave was a machine, tearing up the birds in no time flat. I had to stand back so I wouldn’t get splattered




JJ taking care of our fellow THFer's



Dave gone wild

the cabin was great, had everything you needed for a couple days



Here is the patio complete with a grill



Living room



Kitchen



Room with bunk beds



Loft air bed ( I slept here, very comfortable)



Master bedroom

I wonder why those ducks flared? Maybe it was because we were harassing deckhand on the phone and "hand talkin!"




Kelly looks to see if we have finally got the elusive banded ringneck.



Ropin near a Refuge.



You got to match your Crocs to your gun.

rockin the crocs and shorts this weekend as well in the deer stand

What a FANTASTIC time we had with each other, and JJ and Kelly from Kent Outdoors.

At one point, someone told a story that ended up with one of those three minute laughs. I don't remember what it was now, but the kind of thing that once you are done completely laughing it comes back to you in waves again and again.

It was a lot of fun to blow off steam with John and Rick.

And the ducks! On Saturday, we had at least two flights of birds bank so close to the blind we could've used a baseball bat It was pretty.

On Sunday, it was tough hunting, guys, instead of making 10-15 yard shots, we were having to reach out to 25-35 yards. What a blast.

JJ and Kelly were great guides... I've been with a lot of fishing guides and only a few duck hunting guides so far. The thing about a great guide is you will have a good time even if the birds or fish are few and far between. While we did not have the problem, it was easy to see that these guys have the personality to make every hunt a fun time.

Pottsboro is a long ways from Austin, but it was well worth the drive and I can't wait to do it again someday!

Tree bass wish that diamond plate was not so ruff on ya, sorry about that it has already been fixed.....

so Dave does know how to clean birds? He's been telling me all year he cant do it and I've been cleaning 'em for him

That diamond plate kicked my old arse in short time But it was great meeting you, and we are looking forward to the next trip



You wouldn't believe how fast it was done. I sttod back so I wouldn't get splattered with, well you get it