Oct 14 started packing for duck hunting trip - Illinois Opener the 17th......and trained late in
the afternoon at the "Four Minute Hay Field" - Pounce ran the 3-Peat Blinds (with mallards)
note: five whistled the 1st (200 yards), lined the 2nd (180 yards) and two whistled the
3rd (125 yards) - big improvement
note: see Oct 8 journal entry for setup photo
Oct 15 day off - much to do for trip
Oct 16 left around noon and spent the day getting ready for the morning hunt - fourteen boats
along the camp shoreline and cars all over the place marked the soon to be be "zoo time", several boats left before sunset to get to their spot.......it will be below freezing tonight
Oct 17 I slept in a warm bed and left at 3 am, got to the spot I wanted and was setup just before shooting time - Daisy was "up first" and Pounce went out for an afternoon hunt.......the Spring Lake area was crammed with hunters and reminded me of why I don 't like to hunt on the weekends
note: only had one shot which was terrible for an opener = one greenwing teal and
Pounce got in another hunt practice run (nothing flying in the afternoon)
note: overall it was a good day spent on the river
Oct 18 didn't even go out to hunt this morning - packed and left camp before noon
note: spent the day watching the Bears give away a game and the Cubs
look a bit "befuddled"
Oct 19 scouted local area and found a bunch of geese...will wait until patterns are established and begin "working them"
note: going back to duck camp Thursday & Friday when "traffic" is way less
note: Kooly's weight loss issue has been corrected......."noticeably"
note: Pounce visibly demonstrated her first heat cycle
Oct 20 prepared for camp duck hunt worked & Pounce ran her hay field, 3-peat blinds.....threewhistled the 1st, lined the second and two whistled 3rd
note: being in heat didn't seem to impact her performance
Oct 21 worked all morning packing for camp, left around noon, got boat in the water before dark
and ready for Daisy's hunt Thursday morning (early)
Oct 22 hunted the south edge of a huge American Lotus bed in swimming water, knocked down a mallard early, but Daisy came up "empty" after a long search (which cost us several other chances) no bearings for or hunter.......frustrating and will be glad when a heavy frost kills them off....later in the morning, took the "camo" off the MIgrator to make it into a skull boat and managed to shoot eight coots (gizzards and hearts and excellent with breast meat requiring precise cooking)........afternoon, saw Kooly and I hunting the "pot hole",,,,,flushed up about 200 teal (which never came back and "fanned" on a two "zinging" "woodies" when at first caught looking in the other direction (needed running lights on the way back}
note: very long day, but worth every minute!
Oct 23 up and out early with a difficult row in the Migrator, had to find a narrow, 70 yard path
in the American Lotus in the dark, only been up the path once in daylight and afrer about 25 minutes of probing, finally found it.........cool blind spot that I once hunted Taffey out of eight years ago.....much easier to find then.........beautiful spot, but not many ducks flying
note: this challenging and interesting cool spot to hunt made it well worth the
time, water level dropped a few inches and had to push boat about
twenty yards before it float free with me in it......much better workout for a 75
year old hunter than being in gym
note: got everything loaded for the trip home just before the rain arrived
note: van making strange noises on the way home
Oct 24 day offfor all
Oct 25 day off for all dogs, but I spent day "piling" leaves with a leaf blower
Oct 26 this was the ideal day to finish leaves" = big yard, many trees and time before "rainy"
days and the next trip to duck camp(finished !!!!)
note: van had major issues in rear suspension.....almost $700 ....dang!
Oct 27 with Pounce in heat, took a few more days off - rain this afternoon, Lylah is home and sick.....therefore, "Grampa" is babysitting
Oct 28 late afternoon - cool with slight mist, but the dogs needed to "get out" Kooly & Daisy ran six, short singles in tandem with "send backs", Pounce ran three short triples using the Avery UltraLow dog hide - threw marks, walked back to the line, called Pounce to heel from the hide and "worked" each multiple......"refreshing" her hunting routine & expectations
note: perfectly steady and focused.......ready to work......fast and responsive with an
outstanding memory......the expectations are in place
note: planned to hunt the "Square Pond" in the morning.....however, freezing "temps"
and 30 mph winds pushed the hunt to Friday - still cool, but no wind
Oct 29 too cold, too windy - scouted this morning & afternoon, decided to throw a few marks into the Rock River - cold, windy & put on her neoprene vest - fun, short and exciting session
note: back in van and brakes were fading badly, with about the same distance to the
house as my mechanic, opted to avoid towing.......no issues, except pumping the
brake peddle, light went on, probably fluid issues....made it with leaking brake
line, son came with crate in his station wagon to transfer us home.......more
money into the rusty van.......arrgghh!
note: "did leaves" for entire yard on the 25th.....FULL again.....and next week it's
already November
Oct 30 no sunrise hunt with Pounce.....van at the mechanics......can't hunt 'til Monday...dang!
Oct 29th - afternoon, telephoto "scouting report" (about 300 geese & 3 mallards)
Pounce retrieving across Thorson Pond
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Oct 10 Pounce trained at the Roscoe Riverside Park DTA and ran a full setup of the Kwick "Pivot" Casting Drill..........forgot the e-collar again, but it made no difference.....did super
note: non-verbal casts with a specific difference in each cast alternating angles and
pivot rotations (alternating left and right)......went back to the place board to
receive her and make sure she was directly facing every cast (different skill
and need to make the focus of this drill singular).....indirectly, she is learning
to face me squarely with many casts creating an "automatic reflex" goal
note: Kooly & Daisy had the day off
KwickLabs - Featuring Pounce - October
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Oct 9 started adding all training of Kooly & Daisy to Pounce's journal = less work (easier to keep track of entries).......started trying fit a vest to Pounce a few weeks ago and the Avery boater's vest medium was too big and the small too tight.......bought a Hodgeman 3mm off Ebay and it fits nicely (after trimming out around the front legs......Pounce was OK with it (at ease with it on) and needed to get her conditioned to one before it gets colder....today was perfect (low 60's)
and went to Thorson Pond - ran the 100 yard old pattern blind first, next did several short bumpers from the pond ------- she was "amped" and comfortable.....then ran two cold blinds across the pond into the tree line......water entry has improved a great deal the lasts month and we finished with five "reviews" of Hillmann's "power cast" - drive was very high and she wanted more.......but we quit with a short game of "snatch the flying bumpers out of the air"
note: Pounce's off lead OB continues to improve and after hunting season in the
"dead of our midwest winter" we will "do" a couple of AKC OB classes, today it
was inadvertently tested.....forgot her e-collar & didn't miss it.......cool!
note: Kooly and Daisy did several stand alone/send back singles in the grassy area
to keep then physically "sharp" for hunting season
note: had three "visitors" in the pond during training and they would not leave
Oct 12 day off from training
Oct 13 vet appointment (11:30 am) for Daisy and a weight check for Kooly.....trained early
Pounce ran three "walking singles" around Thorson Pond using a mallard (solid on sits with
a remote, verbal release).....finished with a few Hillmann power casts.......the new vest fits well and after today, she is "good to go" on full duck hunts (this weekend)
straight on (centered) handler two stations to the left handler two stations to the right
Oct 31 "permission granted" to hunt Saturday morning.....however, a cold rain was forecast and
hunting in the rain is not one of my favorites.....changed mind several times, but the scouting
report was difficult to ignore......five minutes from the house was the deciding factor. Setup 10 minutes after shooting time, loaded gun and almost immediately a widely spread bunch of mallards just blasted in from the west........Right away Pounce had a drake and hen to retrieve.
Then.....nothing but the wind, rain and cold began to remind me of how I hate hunting in this "stuff". However, the two mallards kept quacking, "quit your complaining". About one miserable hour went by when the geese started moving. However, in this weather they were more interested in finding corn than loafing in the pond. Time continued to plod along as the rain relentlessly kept pecking away at my morale.....Finally, a small family of geese semi-committed to the pond low enough for me to "kind of drop" Pounce's first goose. It sailed a couple of hundred yards up into the corn......we got it. Of course this turn in good fortune served only to pressure the idea of "sticking it out a bit longer". So Pounce and I sat shivering in the cold, steady wind driven drizzle for another hour. Geez! I hate to hunt in the rain. Never seem to learn!
note: A hot shower after a cold hunt is cool. Ha!
note: planned to hunt the Mississippi River next Tuesday and Wednesday. The forecast
is for 60's & 70's......probably no ducks flying.....but it will be warm and dry. Is
there no middle ground!
Oct 1 spent the better part of today working with the running lights on the "big boat", dogs had
the day off......then in the evening.....pack for the trip to duck camp began with the Iowa "Opener" on Oct 3rd
Oct 2 left about noon for duck camp and spent the rest of the day unloading and re-arranging
gear......Pounce will not be going on opening day (very early and unpredictable with the crowd complications on the river Daisy will is first up and the wind was an issue (upper teens out of the east.....not all that normal)
Oct 3 Pounce had the day off while Daisy and I worked at making a day out of not ideal conditions.....including only on opportunity at ducks - dropped one wood duck out of pair that buzzed the decoys.......however, the modifications on the Migrator worked well and were tested greatly by the wind and current. After a short nap, Pounce was up next and we intended to scout for a place to hunt - scouting proved to be unproductive and did not see any hunters out which was unusual....,.the morning was not especially a good day for most in Pool 13.....scouted "a lot" and decided it was NOT worth it as the winds were close to 20 mph out of the northeast
note: once back at camp with plenty of daylight left, a decision was made to pack
and wait for better days to hunt
Oct 4 left camp around 11 am and home in two hours
Oct 5 day off
Oct 6 Pounce ran her first "stand alone/send back singles" in tandem with Daisy and Kooly
note: is was a "new thing" for all three and Pounce caught on quicky
after the marking setup, Pounce ran three cold blinds in this new training area
note: not much work the last week and coupled with a duck hunting trip plus the
"new taking turns in the field marking setup" made for a weak showing
on her cold blinds
note: Daisy and Kooly ran the same blinds afterwards
Oct 7 Pounce ran three doubles in the "stand alone /walk back" format and run three cold blinds angles down hedgerow with each longer than the last - sharper today
note: Daisy & Kooly ran the same blinds after Pounce
Oct 8 Pounce worked on a casting drill in the new hay field area and then ran three long, cold
blinds (orange bumpers) designated as a "3-peat" run to the horizon setup.....she will run these a few more times this fall and right after a couple of spring cuttings- did not have any problems
"getting her out there" (longest blinds for her)
note: the casting drill has the handler moving to create different angled casts to
the same pile with Pounce on a place board facing wherever the handler
moves to - actually, kind of an intro to the "Kwick Pivot Drill"
note: came back at dusk and ran the first two with mallards - fast!
note: need to deal with her "loopy" sit......her speed is "off the charts" and creates
a momentum issue with stopping immediately
note:all three blinds are mostly downhill
note: Kooly & Daisy ran the three blinds before Pounce giving her a break after the
casting drill