First let me explain how this hunt came to pass.  On a bowhunt in 2006 for elk in the Missouri River Breaks region of Montana I sat watering holes for several long days without seeing any elk.  A few times each day I would have an antelope come in to drink.  This was one of the better ones:

Unfortunately we did not anticipate seeing all the antelope we did, and thus we had not applied for the required archery tag. 

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After the Chiefs stunning victory over previously unbeaten Denver I was sure luck was in the air.  My wife and I met up with my friend who’s new to hunting and my Dad for an afternoon shoot.  After last week’s hunt I had high expectations but we only got 10 or so doves out of the field when we walked in.  None of them were on the ground and most of the sunflowers were picked clean. 

Well, not to worry.  We finished 2 short of a limit but obviously had a fantastic shoot.  With the cool weather blowing in tonight and tomorrow I suspect this may have been our final shoot.  Even if that’s true we’ve still had one of our best years.  The dry warm weather has held the doves around and our habitat has been fantastic. 

Now if those deer food plots would grow faster!  Next on my list is the Missouri Bow Season which opens Wednesday.  In addition the Missouri Urban season opens Friday, and the Kansas Bow Season has been open about a week.  I haven’t opened my bow case since returning from Quebec, but I think it’s about time.

The Wyoming antelope update will be tomorrow…

Ok, here’s an idea that will help us all argue with get to know each other better.

First:  Raise your hand if you’ve suggested that Sarah Palin doesn’t have enough experience to be Vice President. 

Second:  If your hand is up, keep it up if you support Barack Obama for President.  If you support some third party candidate you can put your hand down and adjust your tinfoil hat as needed.

Third:  Look around and see who still had their hand up.  These people are idiots or they are dishonest, or both. 

Yes.  It is that simple.  Here’s the deal:  You can like Obama.  You can dislike Palin.  But you can’t claim that Palin is unfit because of experience and still support Obama.  They have a nearly identical lack of experience.  Stop kidding yourself; it’s just making you look dumb.

I found this article fascinating.  Be forewarned, it’s from the New York Times.  It’s condescending towards hunters and soldiers (what would you expect?) but it’s still worth reading. 

My theory is this:  Camo is hype.  I simply don’t think it makes any difference.  I consider dark earth tones and camo to be interchangeable.  My favorite hunting outfit is a lucky pair of brown cargo pants and a lucky green long-sleeved shirt.  No camo involved.  I’ve killed deer, elk, ducks, turkeys, and whatever else wearing that outfit.  I’ve never once felt like the color or pattern of my clothing made a difference.  This spring during the archery turkey season I had 8 different toms within 20 yards of that outfit, and I wasn’t in a blind!

If it weren’t for choke tubes I’d argue that camo is the most overrated, hype-generated product line for hunters.  Think about this:  who sponsors more “hunting celebrities”?  And in turn those people tell their fans and viewers what?  That they absolutely will never kill and bull or buck without the newest Mossy Oak pattern.  It isn’t true, I promise.

I’m headed out the door for Wyoming.  I’ll try to update if I can find a place with internet.

I took an old friend on his first hunt today.  He passed his hunter’s safety class last winter at my urging.  We’d had trouble getting our schedules worked out but today he cut work and I took him on a late season dove hunt.  For a guy who has only fired a gun a few times in his life he did great.  Now we’ll see what a professional cook can do with doves!

I’ve always suggested that dove hunting was a good way to introduce a new hunter to the sport.  Today was no exception.  The weather was good, there were lots of birds, and the shooting was fast and furious.  I think he had a great time, without being too stressed or overwhelmed. 

Sorry for the spotty posting.  I’ve been working like crazy to get everything under control so I can go to Wyoming on Sunday for my first antelope hunt.  Today I shot my rifle to make sure everything was as it should be.  Afterwards I checked out a dove spot and killed 8.  Not great, not bad.

Tomorrow I head to Missouri for a wedding and my first whitetail bowhunt of the season.  I’ll try to keep you updated.

The wife and I headed out for an afternoon dove hunt after watching the Chiefs poor performance.  I hadn’t expected to see many after several days of cool rainy weather.  I was pleasantly surprised.  There were more doves flying than on opening day and when we had our limit there were plenty more still coming in to feed and roost.   Afterwards we grabbed some fresh apple crisp at the farmer’s house.  Wow.

I know, not much of a haul.  I headed South this afternoon with the intention of hunting in a flood.  When the water is barely running over the levy you can stand and shoot the fish as they swim by.  Instead I discovered the river still a foot or so below flood stage and it was raining.  I couldn’t see much so I just walked along the edge of some marshes hoping to see the fish before they saw me.  These fish have been hammered since the last flood in April so there aren’t many.  Hopefully the river will come out some time tonight and replenish the stock.  It was a different style of shooting for me but I had fun.  I also saw a 35-40 pound snapping turtle and a handful of brown water snakes.  Ugh.

Bowfishing in the rain isn’t as productive as better conditions, but it beats sitting on the couch watching MU hang 69 on poor Nevada!

For those of you who followed the Semi-live updates from The Colonel I’m sure you noticed that he went dead at about 4:00 am.  Not to worry.  He couldn’t update any more because the cell towers had gone dead.  Today he let me know that the shutters on his house had held and his house was OK.  He was understandably excited about his house but also concerned about those not as fortunate as him.  They’d ridden out the storm in a downtown apartment and everyone there was OK but somewhat shaken.

He still has no power but I hope to hear more specifics when he can get cell reception again.