My second opening weekend...
With some anticipation, I drove north on Friday to the farm for my second opening weekend. I went alone, so took the .22LR for something to do in the evenings. Within minutes of arriving, I shot a rabbit, then went to setup my decoys for Saturday morning.
Problem #1, the pond I intended to setup on wasn't there any more! Problem #2, there was no realistic access to the river, so went to the pond I started on last year (a lot of walking!). Setup my gear, then went back to camp to shoot some possums and get a good nights sleep. Arrived back at the pond at 0630. To cut a long story short, I sat there all day and half of Sunday in my ghille suit for two greys. Lots of birds high in the clear blue sky, but not coming anywhere near close. A little bit of a disappointment. On the plus side, my new Browning Maxus did a great job. First two shots, two stone dead ducks.
http://i1248.photobucket.com/albums/...psk06qg7bl.jpg
At lunchtime on Sunday, I decided on a change. I had seen some parries in the paddocks, so went and setup some decoys. As soon as I used a phone-based parrie call, a pair turned up and started attacking one of my decoys! Knocked them both down with one shot.
http://i1248.photobucket.com/albums/...stpbe5m9x.jpeg
The parrie call was also effective on pheasants(!), the first buzzed within a few feet of my face before I could respond. I was ready for the second and down it fell.
http://i1248.photobucket.com/albums/...psyx3lgnym.jpg
Another parrie and a pukeko followed.
Two greys, three parries, a pheasant and a rabbit came home with me. In the darkness on Sunday evening, I made a bit of a mess of plucking the pheasant and ended up skinning it! Pheasant is on the far right of the photo. Everyone I've shown thinks it is a rabbit.
http://i1248.photobucket.com/albums/...psd0s0tw3s.jpg
A good weekend overall, some more beginner's learning points to build on last year.
- Ghillie suit works a treat.
- Browning Maxus is a bloody awesome gun, light, points and shoulders well and minimal recoil. Camo finish works well with ghillie suit. Hit 7 birds with 6 shots. 1/4 choke steel equivalent was just fine for close in work.
- If you put your decoys in close, the birds will come in close.
- My location is a bit crap for mallards and greys, need a new one! Happy with my concealment, the birds just weren't coming in.
- Game caller app on phone combined with a bluetooth speaker works for parries at least.
- My pheasant field dressing skills need a bit of work!
