I must say this was the worst opener that I've ever had. I checked 13 spots along with scouting the rice in Garwood Friday morning, rode 6 hours and only saw a few teal. For once I was a little worried, but knowing there were still teal staying deep in the rice still gave me hope to at least get a few birds.

Saturday was tough, took a while for the birds to get moving and when they finally did they were already so spooked that it was tough to even get em to swing into range. Had 7 shooters, 5 adults and 2 kids and we ended with just 14 birds. Wasn't terrible, but sure wasn't like a normal opener. Didn't get a chance to get a group with my camera.



Something had to change. Headed further south outside of El Campo to a spot that has some skinny water and is a little further away from the big concentration of hunters in Garwood. I had 4 of the same guys along for this hunt along with Mark's wife Carla, who just came along to enjoy the show.

Changed decoy patterns, added a few more mojos, and let mother nature do the rest. We didn't see many birds, but the ones we did see came right to the decoys feet down. We finished our 24 bird limit at 7:15am. I hopped on the 4 wheeler and zoomed back to my truck to get my camera, only to find the game warden waiting at the gate. We shook hands and introduced ourselves then I gave him a ride back to the blind. Everybody was legal then we took a few pics. I'm really glad I got to take out the same guys two days in a row, second chances sometimes pay off. Needless to say everybody was pleased with the weekend.

Have some more parties this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. The teal should pick up this week and hopefully things will get back to normal. I gotta say, it's kinda nice to be able to get 6 birds now.

Nice

Looks like a good weekend...

Sweet

Nice.

That beard is serious business

Well done!!! Hope that all is well with ya.
Year 2 for the beard now?

Thanks, you too.

Yep, 2nd year.

I love the bottom pic with bird dog staring at the teal. Awesome!