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Spring Turkey Finale 2017

It was Memorial Day weekend 2017: sunny and hot in Oregon’s Willamette Valley. The last weekend to hunt spring turkeys. On my final morning hunt, I parked the truck at the edge of an orchard grass field, walked to the center, and sat down. It was in this very spot that I was outwitted by a tom turkey the evening before. When I arrived for the evening hunt, he was in the center of the field…

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Spring Color

I love the colors of spring. It was a warm, sunny spring day. We chased gobblers all morning and finally this tom stepped into range. Then we packed up and went home just before the rain set in. What a great way to spend a Saturday.

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New Gun, New Duck Season

My friend, Joe, bought me a Ducks Unlimited hunting calendar last year for Christmas. It’s one of those special edition calendars where DU gives away a gun every week for a year and I was lucky enough to win this awesome CZ Redhead 12 gauge shotgun. It fits me perfectly and earlier this week I was able to escape the farm for a half day with Joe and do a little duck hunting. It was a slow and…

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#bird hunting #CZ Redhead #Duck Hunting #Ducks Unlimited #waterfowl

Gifts from the Sky Two hunters, thirteen ducks, and a dog who won't quit.

#bird hunting #Duck Hunting #goathunter #Gun Dog #Oregon Waterfowl #Sauvie Island #waterfowl hunting

Great Day At Sauvie

Sauvie Island is a public hunting area west of Portland with a reputation for being a circus with random bouts of greatness. Yesterday, we found greatness: four hunters, four limits of ducks, one bone-tired dog. It’s a day like this that will keep us going back and tolerating the sky-busting, bad calling, 3-ring circus known as public land hunting.

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O Brother Bear Where Art Thou?

Every other year, we are able to draw eastern Oregon spring bear tags and this year, we hunted five days in the mountains. Once we left the truck at the trail head, we never saw another human and that’s exactly the way I like it. I’ll cut to the chase and tell you that we did not put a bear in the freezer on this trip, but we had a good hunt and a good time. There are several things that we can…

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#bear hunt #bears #hunting #kifaru #oregon #packgoats #tent stove

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I love turkey hunting in the spring. By the time April rolls around, I have cabin fever and need to get out and get away. Wild turkeys are smart and everything has to come together just right in order to put one in the freezer. It’s challenging, fun, and the rewards in the frying pan are mouth-watering delicious! Gobbles of Spring 2015 I love turkey hunting in the spring. By the time April rolls around, I have cabin fever and need to get out and get away.

#hunting #oregon #spring turkey #turkey #turkey hunt

Spring Nesting

While hunting for wild turkey, I encountered this goose each day, nesting quietly next to a pond. She had a diversion tactic worked out in advance with her partner, who sat in the water 20 yards away. When I would approach, her partner would make a great racket and fly away, distracting my attention, while she stayed low and quiet on her eggs. I hope she and her eggs are able to avoid the…

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#Canada geese #Canada goose #geese #goose #nesting #waterfowl

Happy 2015!

May your new year be filled with bounty!

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#bird hunting #chukar #Gun Dog #hunting #upland hunting

What do you do with a truck full of waterfowl hunting gear, two dogs, and nine days? If you’re two bird hunting bozos from Oregon, you drive 1,283 miles to the legendary DT Ranch in Weldona, Colorado and hunt ducks. Of course we have terrific duck hunting right here in Oregon, but Joe and I bought this hunt at a Ducks Unlimited fundraiser and decided to make a road trip out of it. Stopping at Summer Lake, Oregon and Ruby Lake, Nevada, we met good people and had a good time, despite warm, sunny weather with few ducks in the air. Pushing on across Utah and Wyoming, we arrived at the DT Ranch just in time for cold weather and a fresh crop of migrating ducks. The DT Ranch is 2,100 acres of prime waterfowl habitat, owned by 24 conservation-minded hunters who manage it for birds first and hunting second. Our gracious host, Scott McGraw, lodged us in the ranch house, cooked meals, and put up with our bad jokes as we hunted two mornings and one afternoon in near-zero degree weather. We had a great time and our trusty duck dogs, Tango and Ruby, handled the cold weather with their usual “get up and go” attitude. If you ever get a chance to visit the DT, don’t miss it. THANK YOU, Scott for supporting conservation and hosting us! #gallery-0-5 { margin: auto; } #gallery-0-5 .gallery-item { float: left; margin-top: 10px; text-align: center; width: 33%; } #gallery-0-5 img { border: 2px solid #cfcfcf; } #gallery-0-5 .gallery-caption { margin-left: 0; } /* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes/media.php */

Scott/Cassie, Matt/Ruby, Joe/Tango

Ducks, Dogs, & Driving What do you do with a truck full of waterfowl hunting gear, two dogs, and nine days?

#adventure #DT Ranch #Duck Hunting #Ducks Unlimited #Gun Dog #hunting #outdoor #Ruby Lake #Ruby Mountains #Summer Lake #waterfowl hunting

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Fiery sunrise

Cackler for the cooking pot

Teamwork

Beauty and the Beast

Go in light, come out heavy

Ruby in her blind

I love fall: the transition from summer, cool nights, sunny days, and flocks of geese calling out from the sky. Time for man and dog to make a hide at the edge of a fallow wheat field, put out some decoys, and when the geese call from above, we answer from below. There is nothing quite like having a thousand geese spiral into your field like a black funnel cloud, circling lower and lower, until finally landing right in front of you. I love watching, listening, and being right there in the flock. Unfortunately, some have to die so I can eat. Shooting time came and still I hid there in my blind, not wanting to disturb the scene in front of me. Ruby sat in her “mutt hut” quietly taking in the wonder of so many geese, so close. Four minutes, five minutes went by and then I chose a goose on the edge and put him down. His family flew off, but they came back in smaller groups and over two mornings, Ruby and I took two limits of geese. The fiery sunrise, hunting in a short sleeved t-shirt, the total experience is a memory that I’ll cherish. It’s nice to have a few of these to go along with the many days of hunting where we came home empty handed. Someday when Ruby is long gone and I’m too old to hunt, I will look back at these photos and remember a great day in the field. Warm Weather Geese I love fall: the transition from summer, cool nights, sunny days, and flocks of geese calling out from the sky.

#black lab #Duck Hunting #goathunter #goose hunting #Gun Dog #matt alford #outdoor