Saturday was the Mid Zone waterfowl opener in Michigan.  Hubby and Thunder left a bit before dawn to head for the river for some wood duck hunting.  They had to hike through some heavy cover to get to there.

Lots Of Brush By The River
Lots Of Brush By The River

Normally the ducks start flying at first light when they leave their roosts in the trees.  This day was no exception and the ducks started moving a bit before shooting hours.  Finally it was light enough to shoot and Thunder’s first retrieve for the season was a double.  He missed all of last season with a leg injury, but he didn’t forget his job.  He retrieved both ducks in no time.  One more and they would be at the daily limit which in Michigan is three wood ducks.

The Set-Up
The Set-Up

Unfortunately it started to thunder and lightning so they had to call it a morning.  Still, Thunder was in his glory and it was a good way to start the season.

I tried to take a picture of Thunder with his birds but it was raining and lightening so bad that I didn't get any good ones.
I tried to take a picture of Thunder with his birds outside but it was raining and lightening so much that I wasn’t able to get any good ones.
I moved him into the garage which was better.
I moved him into the garage which was better.

Hubby took Freighter out in the evening to try their luck.  Typically he hasn’t had luck at that time of day.  It was a good opportunity to work on Freighter sitting still.

It was also a good chance to get some pictures since the morning lightening made it impossible to stop and take any in the morning.  I was anxious for hubby to try out our new waterproof camera, (more on that on Friday).

Freighter Practiced Sitting Still
Freighter Practiced Sitting Still

They could hear the ducks, but they weren’t coming into the decoys so eventually they packed up and scouted for another area.  As they were walking, Freighter flushed three grouse and a woodcock.  Of course since they were scouting, the gun was not loaded.  Still, it was nice that Freighter got some flushes.  Hopefully one of these days he will get a retrieve too.  🙂

Freighter Had  A Swim In The River
Freighter Had A Swim In The River

Hubby didn’t want to burn out the area since the birds seemed to be wise to him, so he did not hunt it at all on Sunday.  Instead he took Storm out to do a bit of grouse hunting.  She flushed three woodcock and a small rabbit.  Good job Storm!

Good Boy Freighter
Good Boy Freighter

The South Zone opens up this weekend, but we will be spending some time at the cabin for more wood duck and grouse hunting.  I have posts scheduled for the rest of this week.

Tomorrow come back to see what Storm was doing on Saturday while Thunder and Freighter were hunting.  This ‘N That Thursday is a product review of the brown dawgs’ favorite snack.  Friday I will tell you a bit more about the new camera.

21 thoughts on “Opening Day

  1. They all look like they are having so much fun. Such beautiful dogs you have. Seems like your hubby is getting quite a workout with all three of them. Nice pictures. Thanks for sharing.

  2. Sounds like they had a nice time and at least got a few birds. If you need help with the wabbits, call me…I can flush them out no problem 🙂

  3. How exciting! Opening day is coming soon out west. Unfortunately the Sundogs won’t get to go nor me the photographer. But I get to wait for the feast (hopefully). Beautiful brown dogs.

  4. Well DONE! My doggy dad enjoyed so much hunting. It’s EXCITING! Can’t wait to see your post for tomorrow. Lots of Golden Woofs, Sugar

  5. I bet the dogs are just so happy to be out doing their jobs, they don’t care whether they hit their limit or not. (You don’t suppose they KNOW whether they got their limit, do you?) Freighter will get there, I bet he’ll be excited too.

    I can’t wait to hear your review of the camera, I’ve been using mine and so far I love it, but I’m sure you’ve found lots more things to do with it then I have. 😀

    1. Glad you like the camera. I have not had time to mess with it much. I saw a lot of settings, but that is about it…lol. The pictures of the river and Freighter were all taken with it.

    2. I bet they may not understand what a limit is so therefore would not be concerned whether they reached it or not, however, I am sure they can count and know how many they got and are just interested in getting more. Call me a dreamer.

  6. I really enjoy reading about your dogs at work. Having a retriever myself, I can really appreciate all the hard work you put into your dogs. And I can see they really love training and going on an actual hunt. Looking forward to hearing more about the season.

  7. Wow, they all did great, didn’t they? The photos really came out great too, so I can’t wait to hear more about your camera. Enjoy your time at the cabin!

  8. It’s great to see the Brown Dawgs put all that training and skill to use in the “real world”…Have a great week at the cabin

  9. Good job Thunder! Two out of three ducks and bad at all, especially when mother nature intervenes. And nice job on the flushes Freighter and Storm.

    Oooohhhh….a new toy! Looking forward to hearing about the camera!

  10. Great job, Brown Dawgs! Sounds like they had a really successful weekend even despite the stormy weather. Always get to see the great action shots when they’re training. Nice to see some sweet still shots, too.
    Looking forward to hearing about the new camera – I still have a really old point & shoot and have no idea where to begin with buying a new (better) camera… too many to choose from and I’m not knowledgeable enough.

  11. Nice pictures. Too bad the ducks weren’t cooperating but a couple of ducks makes a meal. We don’t have many wood ducks here so it always sounds strange to hear about ducks in trees.

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