WaterfowlForum.Net

My best friend in the whole world Milo. He's 7.5 years old. There is still a lot of puppy in him because he's been pampered like a baby. Lord I pray that I can keep him in my life for another 8-10 years.

Appears to be enjoying a good life.

AB our dogs are almost the same age. Moose turns 7 this Sept, I hope they both are around for a long time to come!

Finally cornered the vet. Asked him, "how come you're not bringing this up?" and pointed to the missing fur at the base of his tail. Vet replied it's normal but only some dogs get it. What "it" is is a glandular thing. Nothing you can do about it.

Kenny the dum dum told me it was nerves and a sign that the dog was miserable. Thanks a lot Kenny.

Been working on his nails a lot lately. When a carpet-dog gets old their nails get fat and long. Been using a little grinder from miPets. He hates it.

lol ... the struggles ... my boys absolutely hate getting their nails clipped... it's worth the $18 I pay the vet to have them take care of it... I'm working on getting them back in shape for season..

My chocolate also has hair loss at the base of the tail and too I was told it was glandular...

When you're in the screen where you compose your post look at the bottom. There's an "upload attachment" button.
From there it's pretty easy to post a picture unless it's too large. If you post a picture on FB, copy it, then try again you'll find that FB downsizes the copy enough to where it fits. Clumsy but works.

If you got one of them bearded dogs it won't work.

DComeaux was kind enough to walk me through the hostless photo attachment process when Photobucket kicked the bucket, and I'm pretty sure this is a site that requires resizing my photos before attaching them. Which will sound more complicated than it is:

Right click on the photo in your file that you want to resize.

Choose/left click "open with" from the first drop-down and "paint" from the one that produces.

Near the left end of the paint toolbar choose/left click "resize".

Choose "pixels" at the top of the resize box and enter "1100" in appropriate "horizontal" or "vertical" box, depending on which way the photo is formated, and then hit "OK" at the bottom of the box.

Click the paint button (to the left of "home" on the tool bar) and choose "Save as" from that drop-down and then "jpeg picture" from the one it produces - which should return you to your file and let you choose a name for the re-sized photo. I just add "a" to its original one, and the smaller "a" version then appears next to the original in my file.

Clear as mud?

Another of the water dog.

Holy shit. Me without hair on my face.

Ricky
Spanish

Millet's getting big!

Nice looking pup AB!

Duck Engr wrote:Nice looking pup AB!

Thanks he's gotten large. Seen him exiting the boat yet?
Impressive for me. Milo sort of plops in.
Millet jumps.
I bought millet for $500 from a retired policeman from Elk Grove, Illinois..sweet people their dogs are just hunting dogs but made real nice puppies. I'm excited as heck about hunting Canada geese. Millet is built for that.
Ricky
Spanish (whisper it)

https://youtu.be/iLK8O8GShWE
I was so stoked . He'd been failing bad in shallows. The Lilly pad roots freaked him out badly.
Moved to deeper water and hazzah!
The preseason all I've done is rig 3 dozen Canada floaters.
I've scouted there for years. The geese roost on private ponds by where I pointed then come to the lake in mornings. Local conservation goose season Sept 1.

Good looking dog

Ricky Spanish wrote:Local conservation goose season Sept 1.

I've been seeing big flocks of geese. I think they nested really early this year and I think had good success. I think there will be geese around. Sometimes they leave the area in mid August. I'm just not sure the early nesting and the big flocks that seem locked in their patterns will be a good thing.

The nice thing about early goose is the young ones make you feel like you are an awesome caller. The young ones have no clue yet what might be in store for them. Hopefully, I can make it such that a few of them never ever figure it out.

SpinnerMan wrote:Good looking dog

Ricky Spanish wrote:Local conservation goose season Sept 1.

I've been seeing big flocks of geese. I think they nested really early this year and I think had good success. I think there will be geese around. Sometimes they leave the area in mid August. I'm just not sure the early nesting and the big flocks that seem locked in their patterns will be a good thing.

The nice thing about early goose is the young ones make you feel like you are an awesome caller. The young ones have no clue yet what might be in store for them. Hopefully, I can make it such that a few of them never ever figure it out.

They nested early here too. Not good success but rebounded and made lots of babies still. The mid-august departure you experience is the "molt migration". My guide pals explained it to me years ago. Your birds disappear to wisconsin then come back later. Be ready for it. blood goggles
Millet is a chunky dog his sire is very big. I have pics buried somewhere of the guy I got him from with Silas the sire.
Way down by the peach orchards.
The big black dog is Silas. The yellow is millets sister named ellie

Silas is really large. Part English bred and it shows..giant fat head and large chest. Muscular.
Best part is there is therapy dog in him . Likes to cuddle. Perfect for me
FF? no he FT'd me. Throw it...throw it... throw it... many many reps he's got me trained pretty good.

Ricky Spanish wrote:The mid-august departure you experience is the "molt migration".

We actually have two things going on.

We have the molt migration. This is the unpaired adults and those that fail nesting. As you said, they head north to molt. They usually come back for the first cold snap. We can go from nothing to geese everywhere.

I actually saw the reverse molt migration a few years ago. My wife and I were out walking in the afternoon in early September and all the sudden mile high flocks of geese from the north appeared and when they got almost straight overhead, they started slowly gliding back and forth losing altitude very slowly and dropped in to lakes and ponds about a mile or less south of us.

The other thing we have is the big distribution shift after the young have fledged. It's not really a migration, but after the young can fly. They go from scattered all around to congregating. I was in Chicago one August and there were just tons of geese on the lake front. I think after they fledge they move to big water for the summer.

It wasn't unusual for us to go from geese with young of the year all over the place to none. I think more geese have stopped this fledge relocation out of the local area. It's definitely resulted in three years of really good September goose hunting. I had other years, especially when my dog was young, I'd hunt almost every day and not even see a goose most days. Some years they would reappear before the end of the season and we'd have a couple good days or right after and it would really piss you off to be fishing in the same spot you were goose hunting and have them all over the place.

It looks good so far. The young birds have been flying for quite some time. The flocks seem larger as well and I've been seeing them most places I go. Definitely have more optimism than normally at this point in August.

SpinnerMan wrote:

Ricky Spanish wrote:The mid-august departure you experience is the "molt migration".

We actually have two things going on.

We have the molt migration. This is the unpaired adults and those that fail nesting. As you said, they head north to molt. They usually come back for the first cold snap. We can go from nothing to geese everywhere.

I actually saw the reverse molt migration a few years ago. My wife and I were out walking in the afternoon in early September and all the sudden mile high flocks of geese from the north appeared and when they got almost straight overhead, they started slowly gliding back and forth losing altitude very slowly and dropped in to lakes and ponds about a mile or less south of us.

The other thing we have is the big distribution shift after the young have fledged. It's not really a migration, but after the young can fly. They go from scattered all around to congregating. I was in Chicago one August and there were just tons of geese on the lake front. I think after they fledge they move to big water for the summer.

It wasn't unusual for us to go from geese with young of the year all over the place to none. I think more geese have stopped this fledge relocation out of the local area. It's definitely resulted in three years of really good September goose hunting. I had other years, especially when my dog was young, I'd hunt almost every day and not even see a goose most days. Some years they would reappear before the end of the season and we'd have a couple good days or right after and it would really piss you off to be fishing in the same spot you were goose hunting and have them all over the place.

It looks good so far. The young birds have been flying for quite some time. The flocks seem larger as well and I've been seeing them most places I go. Definitely have more optimism than normally at this point in August.

they get on them ponds behind where we set up and fly over going down to the lake. I think ppl triggervthe flight when they leave to go to work or maybe a school bus kicks them up. Have to be ready I get one pass shot maybe they'll decoy. Odds ain't good

Ricky Spanish wrote:they get on them ponds behind where we set up and fly over going down to the lake. I think ppl triggervthe flight when they leave to go to work or maybe a school bus kicks them up. Have to be ready I get one pass shot maybe they'll decoy. Odds ain't good

I have had a lot of luck calling to geese that are roosting within earshot the last few years. I actually stumbled into this by accident. I will simply cold call. Just sound like geese sitting on the water. Even if I don't see or hear geese, but especially when I hear them roosted nearby. Lots and lots of calling. Not aggressive. Just what you hear when you list to a bunch of geese on the water before they head out.

I think the geese have not necessarily made up their mind where they are going first thing in the morning or maybe they just get curious, Whatever it is, I seem to have a much higher fraction of the geese head straight to me when they get up.

On occasion, I'll get a single sitting on the water that will start calling to me. So then we'll go with the back and forth calling. More or less just echoing back whatever the single goose says. One morning before work, I could hear a bunch of geese on the water. So I did what I described. Then I noticed a single call to me. So I stopped the flock noise and went to the one-on-one conversation. We went back and forth for a very long time. Then silence. About 5 minutes after that a single sailed right into the decoys. Back to the flock noise. About 15 minutes later, another single calls to me. One-on-one for 5 maybe 10 minutes. Then silence. Shortly there after, here comes another suicidal single. Third time, same thing. Unfortunately, I was out of time and had to go to work. I had my truck out in the field when a group of about 8-9 got up and made a beeline right for me. I thought they were going to land in the field with me and my truck.

I've had good luck, but you can't be embarrassed to call and call and call and ... Just basic flock noise. Do it for a few minutes, wait a bit, do it again, ... Even if you don't hear geese. I really think that explains my big increase in success relative to all the other guys in the area. The last 3 years, I've killed as many geese as all the other guys hunting in the area combined.

When I first started hunting ducks I was so clueless that I'd just call at empty skies and it worked sometimes.

SpinnerMan wrote:

Ricky Spanish wrote:they get on them ponds behind where we set up and fly over going down to the lake. I think ppl triggervthe flight when they leave to go to work or maybe a school bus kicks them up. Have to be ready I get one pass shot maybe they'll decoy. Odds ain't good

I have had a lot of luck calling to geese that are roosting within earshot the last few years. I actually stumbled into this by accident. I will simply cold call. Just sound like geese sitting on the water. Even if I don't see or hear geese, but especially when I hear them roosted nearby. Lots and lots of calling. Not aggressive. Just what you hear when you list to a bunch of geese on the water before they head out.

I think the geese have not necessarily made up their mind where they are going first thing in the morning or maybe they just get curious, Whatever it is, I seem to have a much higher fraction of the geese head straight to me when they get up.

On occasion, I'll get a single sitting on the water that will start calling to me. So then we'll go with the back and forth calling. More or less just echoing back whatever the single goose says. One morning before work, I could hear a bunch of geese on the water. So I did what I described. Then I noticed a single call to me. So I stopped the flock noise and went to the one-on-one conversation. We went back and forth for a very long time. Then silence. About 5 minutes after that a single sailed right into the decoys. Back to the flock noise. About 15 minutes later, another single calls to me. One-on-one for 5 maybe 10 minutes. Then silence. Shortly there after, here comes another suicidal single. Third time, same thing. Unfortunately, I was out of time and had to go to work. I had my truck out in the field when a group of about 8-9 got up and made a beeline right for me. I thought they were going to land in the field with me and my truck.

I've had good luck, but you can't be embarrassed to call and call and call and ... Just basic flock noise. Do it for a few minutes, wait a bit, do it again, ... Even if you don't hear geese. I really think that explains my big increase in success relative to all the other guys in the area. The last 3 years, I've killed as many geese as all the other guys hunting in the area combined.

if you'd want to sit and hunt again I'd be ok with it. Not any guarantees but ill.communicate what's going on down this way..
Never know I might get into the geese I know the where to set up part

I'd like to get out with you again.

Not sure I will be able to during early season. My truck is in the shop for the second weekend in a row and fourth time this summer

70k miles and it's a POS. Probably buying a new truck this week.

That and other things I don't think I have ever been so far behind. Taking a whole day to go hunting would be stressful because I would be thinking about all I need to do. Then again it might just be the foul mood I am inover my POS truck.

Get my new truck, get caught up, and maybe I will feel like I can relax and enjoy a day off. If not in September, maybe later in the year

SpinnerMan wrote:I'd like to get out with you again.

Not sure I will be able to during early season. My truck is in the shop for the second weekend in a row and fourth time this summer

70k miles and it's a POS. Probably buying a new truck this week.

That and other things I don't think I have ever been so far behind. Taking a whole day to go hunting would be stressful because I would be thinking about all I need to do. Then again it might just be the foul mood I am inover my POS truck.

Get my new truck, get caught up, and maybe I will feel like I can relax and enjoy a day off. If not in September, maybe later in the year

rats. I'm stressing over the Alabama shindig a little truck-wise...hoping nothing breaks. I've driven further.on junkier wheels.
Pushing sucks.
I remember praying all the way home once or twice in the explorer..throw a dog and boat into the equation and stress increases..

That's the problem with the newer vehicles. If the computer decides you aren't going anywhere, you are not going anywhere.

It's some wiring/electrical problem. It can literally just decide when I turn the key, absolutely nothing is going to happen.

So far, after awhile, it will decide I can go now.

I'm done with it. I just need to get it patched up enough I can get rid of the damn thing and get a new one and start over again. I expected to have this truck for another 10 years. Didn't quite make it.

SpinnerMan wrote:That's the problem with the newer vehicles. If the computer decides you aren't going anywhere, you are not going anywhere.

It's some wiring/electrical problem. It can literally just decide when I turn the key, absolutely nothing is going to happen.

So far, after awhile, it will decide I can go now.

I'm done with it. I just need to get it patched up enough I can get rid of the damn thing and get a new one and start over again. I expected to have this truck for another 10 years. Didn't quite make it.

When the pedal hits the metal and the rubber hits the road do you think a government will accept that a chip in your device says NO! WE WILL NOT COMPLY THE compliance CHIP IS BROKEN!

Hey @SpinnerMan. Did your geese just disappear? Mine did.
It got hot as hell and the storm came and they're gone.

Ricky Spanish wrote:Hey @SpinnerMan. Did your geese just disappear? Mine did.
It got hot as hell and the storm came and they're gone.

I am pretty sure they are still around. Just sitting in the heat. I saw a small group in small back yard sitting under there tree in the shade That really looked out of place.

SpinnerMan wrote:

Ricky Spanish wrote:Hey @SpinnerMan. Did your geese just disappear? Mine did.
It got hot as hell and the storm came and they're gone.

I am pretty sure they are still around. Just sitting in the heat. I saw a small group in small back yard sitting under there tree in the shade That really looked out of place.

We had ducks and geese both under trees segregated .
Racists.
Hey save that picture I keep losing it. Dog on log.
I stumbled back into here and found it.
Milo is getting slow and old his rear legs are getting weak.
Arthritis. He keeps chugging along.
Millet is hell on the poor old dog.