Hunting Thanksgiving Weekend

We had a slightly busy week and somehow I still can't catch up on all the stuff I should be getting done. I did get a pasta dish made that lasted us most of the week. Jeremy got out hunting a couple of nights. I went with him once. Tuesday, we both had eye exams! We're finally getting around to getting things done. Hayde bumped me in the head last weekend and the other arm of my glasses is now cracked and bent. So, I ordered a new pair of glasses and they should be in this week! We also finally both made it to get a massage! It was soooo nice! Thankfully, we get reimbursed for these so we figured we better take advantage of it! Jeremy also started Wednesday night hockey. He'd been playing over the summer, but this is the "winter" league. He's not sure if he'll continue as it's pretty slow and people don't show up enough to have any good games. He's also started Friday night hockey in Deep River and played Saturday night in Pembroke as a backup. So, all in all, we're still keeping busy during the weeks.

One of Jeremy's weeknight spots out Barron Canyon Road. He didn't get any shots off this night, but came home a few nights with a duck. We did see a beaver swimming around. Saturday we got out to a new spot to hunt, Snake River. It's fairly close to Cobden. It's a much easier paddle since there aren't beaver dams and trees to get around and it's much wider than the creek we've paddled. It also isn't full of leaves and debris! It tured into a decent day, not super warm by any means, but at least the sun was out. We ended up paddling for quite a bit and got further than we figured. We didn't see much at the beginning, but towards the middle of our paddle, we finally came across some birds. We came home with a goose and three ducks and a tired out Hayde.
We came across a wounded goose and stopped to let Hayde go get it, shot free!

Jeremy's "first" mallard drake? He got two on this trip!

Looking for the "lost" duck. We think it's wounded, but it's good at hiding.

Sunday, we spent the day in town. We headed to Pembroke for errands and groceries. Turned into a longer trip than we figured. After we got back, we decided we needed to clean the garage. We got that 1/2 done. Everything in the garage is "put away", but the tool bench still needs a really good cleaning. It's still full so you can't even see the surface! We also wanted to see if the truck would fit. I had tried this last fall by myself and got the hood in, but was too scared to try going further. This time, I stayed in the garage and watched as Jeremy drove it in slowly. He turned the driver's side side-mirror and somehow, inched it in as I watched to make sure there was room. We had about 1-2 inches on either side and maybe 5 inches or so on top! Wow, I can't believe it actually fit!

Today, yes-this is Monday and it feels like Sunday, we had the day off for Thanksgiving. Needless to say, we made use out of our day. We drove out Barron Canyon Road thinking we'd try putting the canoe in a stream out there, but when we got there, it was much lower than we figured so that was not going to work. So, we headed back out to Mud Lake. This time, we decided to come at it from a different way and canoe up a different river.

Scouting to see if any birds are here before we go get the jeep and canoe to load ourselves and head out.

It's a bumpy ride from the road down here. Thankfully no one was here when we got here. Yes, we've been keeping the canoe on the green jeep.

A new spot down the river leading to Mud Lake. We usually come in from the south east instead of the west.

We tried to hide ourselves amongst the tall grasses hoping some birds would fly overhead. We watched some fly over before we hid here, but none came while we were here.

A duck blind that someone built that we used for an hour or so.

Wow! She's pretty dirty....and full of thorny prickles, but she's a good sport. I did spend an hour and a half bathing her and getting all the prickles out of her hair!

Retrieving the wood duck.

View from the duck blind towards Mud Lake.

Watching and waiting patiently. Well, some of us more than others. Hayde tends to be pretty whinny when she has to sit and try to be quiet.

Biting her upper lip!

Got one of the four geese that flew overhead. Nicked another that we assume went down since it didn't come back with the other two. We never did find it.

We ended up with 1 goose, and 2 ducks. Jeremy's a bit disappointed that he's been missing so many lately. We'll have to work on that and on Hayde's early retrieving. I guess she's just so excited she doesn't wait for the command to fetch.