Date: 9/12
Time: afternoon, met at 4:30
Location: Big 4
Cloud Cover: rain cells in the area
Wind Direction and Velocity: easterly
Temperature: hot early on, but cells kept breeze cooler than usual for this time of year
Moon phase: 18% waning
Special Notes:Waterfowl Activity: Not as hot and heavy as hoped, but birds were moving some from the time we got there until they hit their last at 7:15. Slowed nearer LLST.
Waterfowl Responsiveness: Some plainly remembered the morning crew, too many were put off by the activities of six casual hunters in relative open and enough eventually bought in. Momma call lost a lot of its charm to crowd control, so I'm guessing the steady beat's mesmerizing effect more important than memories of Mom's commands.
Hunters: 6, much the same crew I've been hunting on opening weekend afternoons for a decade or so: Mike, John, Wayne, Lance, Ryan and Bruce.
Guns:Malfunctions:Dog(s): After showing stellar manners this morning, Marsh was a mess! Broke like someone else's mutt. Time and again.
And got balky about leaving the search for a bird that beat him in the deep tractor ruts. Seemed the more I fussed, the worse he got. So I made up with him, and we got along much better.
Special Equipment: Standard and teal spinners
Curses: The guys shot just like they usually do, meaning way the hey too many long fly-offs for the dog and not filling out before mosquito time for me.
Kudos: Good guys and a fine time.
Birds By Species: 36 bw teal. (I had to be sleep typing when I opined that I'd be better about tracking sex ratio on the afternoon hunt than the mornings.)
Photo Ops: Our gang, Glen, Mike, Bruce(?), Lance, John and Ryan:
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Lagniappe: Mike was among the callers checking on us while I was tarping our roof (DComeaux was another), and I'd told him we were lucky and still had a roof to tarp, while others, like Chereaux's oldest daughter's family were left with slabs. When we settled up post hunt, there was also an envelope for that daughter's family.