Winter Report

End of Duck Season
Duck season ended a few weeks ago. On the last day, I invited a big group to come and shoot at my family's farm. We had an excellent shoot. Limits on blackheads, and geese, and we shot mallards, widgeon, buffleheads, and goldeneyes. It was great way to end a slow season.

Skip retrieves one of our mallards:


Me, Eddie, Dave and Jeremy. We did not kill all these birds ourselves, there were 7 other people who shot with us, we just made sure we were around for the big picture:


Overall, this hunting season was good. The warm period in Decemeber and January made for some challenging conditions, but we tried some new spots with good success, and made the most out of a season that many waterfolwers I've spoken to called the worst ever. I thought it was a good year!

Quail
Hunting is done in Maryland, but not in Florida. My dad and I were invited by Florida Rock to travel to the owner's private ranch, Chinquapin Farm, in Lake City to shoot wild quail. This type of shoot is becoming rare in the US. The quail is more susceptable to habitat degradation than most animals, and all over the country, wild populations are disappearing. Modern farming, and the McMansion craze are hell on these birds. Fortunately, there are those with the means, such as the owner of Florida Rock, who enjoy hunting wild quail and manage their land to ensure that the wild population thrives. When I become a billionaire, I think I'll do something similiar. At any rate, here are some pictures from the shoot:

We hunted behind pointing dogs. These animals are impressive. They run hard, so hard that we had to follow them in a truck and on horses. Chinquapin has a kennel of 50 dogs that are all hard core hunting machines. Through the course of a day, we would hunt over 10 different pointers, as the guides rotated the dogs on a regular basis to rest them and ensure they did not over-exert themselves.

Hunting:


Following the dogs on horseback:



When the dogs find quail, they "point" it. Basically, they stop and stand still, nose pointed at the birds, and wait for the hunters to come and flush the birds:


There are water buckets spread throughout Chinquapin to allow the dogs to get a drink, and jump in to cool off and take a break:


The dogs are followed all day by the guides. They tip off the hunters as to when a dog is on point by raising their hats in the air:


To flush the birds, two hunters will walk up behind the dog, and scare the birds out of hiding. A group of quail is called a covey, here Mike Day flushes a covey and and gets a shot on one:


Me with a quail:


This trip is great, and the best part is the private jet that takes us down and back. I did not get a picture of the jet, but took some pictures from it.

Clear burning woods outside of Lake City:


Bay Bridge:


Cold
It has been freezing in Maryland. Cold enough to freeze the Chesapeake:




The Patuxent River:



When the Bay freezes, the ice sucks the water up and out of the tributaries, causing extreme low tides. This boat got stuck on one of these tides:


I can't wait until its warm enough to hang out at this tiki bar:


Ducks
I've traded in my shotgun for my camera.

Canvasbacks at dawn:


Canvasbacks, with geese on the ice in the background:


Mallards startled during a feeding frenzy:


Blackheads, taken from a bridge:


Canvasbacks and Mallards:


Canvasbacks diving for food:


Canvasbacks have great eyes. The gray one is a hen:


Hen Canvasback in flight:


Hen canvasback with PMS:


Mallard Drakes:


Mallards in a feeding frenzy:


Speckled Belly Goose. This is a rare bird in Maryland, and the first one I've ever seen: