My youngest brother, Jack, bought his two boys new 12 ga Artymatics for Christmas this year, and they were chomping at the bit to break'em in. I found a decent number of Bluebills a few days before, and figured it would be a good experience for them. Met Jack and the boys on the causeway Friday morning around 8:00 a.m., and they had already cut sufficient cane to build 2 boat blinds. Loaded up and launched, me with his youngest, Bay, and Jack with his eldest, Jackson. Made it to the area in question to find that the birds were still present, so we split up and set up a blind on either end of where the birds were sitting. Action was fast, and it was fun to watch the youngsters knocking them out of the sky. Both of his boys (9 and 11), have killed their limits in the dove field on more than one occasion, and it was enjoyable to watch them shoot their new Franchi autos at the speedy birds. A couple of hours later, and we picked up our limit of Bluebills and Jackson killed a Gadwall to top it off. Headed back to the launch mid-afternoon, with 12 Bluebills and 1 Gadwall...........and two happy boys!!!!!!
Saturday morning, Dustin (my stepson), and I hunted a little blue hole that I had seen some Mottles and Gadwalls in the week before. Cut enough cane for a good hide, threw out 15 decoys, and waited for LST. Had a pair of birds over the decoys just after shooting time, and Dustin hammered one of them, and crippled the second...........while I pulled the trigger and heard the "infamous" empty click.......ugh!!!! I love my Benelli, but apparently, did not seat the shell in the chamber hard enough when loading, and paid the price for it. Had another pair of birds (Mottles), fly over the decoys but kept going and landed 100 yds away......grrrrrr...... we should've shot when we had the opportunity. Saw a few more birds working the area, but could not get any of them to commit, and can only wonder if they haven't already been educated by somebody else. Once the sun was up and things slowed down, we eased out to get Dustin's bird, and damn if it wasn't a stud Greenhead!!!! Sat in the blind for another hour, and as it started sprinkling, decided to bug out before the big storm hit. Made it back to the landing and had just pulled the boat out, when the bottom fell out of the sky..............very fortunate timing for us
"It ain't what you don't know that gets you in trouble. It's what you know for sure, that just ain't so"
Mark Twain
