Post-Season 2016
Posted: Wed Apr 13, 2016 8:40 am
Been doing some fishing and other typical offseason activities, but feel like I've recovered from the usual end-of-season hangover/exhaustion both mentally and physically. Have also been revisiting the log on here and my personal record via Excel sheet to look back on what we did right or where we let the birds win (often) this past season. The birds largely just didn't show for us in our home marsh but still enjoyed a few nice hunts there and were fortunate enough to get on some great hunts elsewhere like Delacroix marshes and SW La fresh marsh and fields.
One recent revelation has been, seemingly, a result of the continued work with Harry in the backyard, most frequently with tennis balls (fired up every time) to when I finally pulled out a pair of dummies (extra fired up for those) to test him on some retrieves I've been working on with him. Last season he had trouble committing to one retrieve and returning with that one in the event he saw another laying on the pond en route to or from the initial target OR if another bird hit the pond on occasion with Harry still on retrieve initially sent for. Understandably we'd have likely made the game easier for him by not taking such shooting ops over a green dog but apparently that was tough to hold back on at times. Nonetheless, multiple retrieves proved problematic regardless of timing of presentation to him, with the exception being multiple birds dead in the decoys and close enough for me to emphasize his return with each one, in which he did well. I recall one instance that he brought in 7 teal after a particularly productive volley.
As such, been really harping on him coming back with initial tennis ball (or dummy), returning it to hand (at times had tendency to stop short in the past), and then send for the second retrieve. It would seem just in the last few weeks that things have started to click with him on this and he's been showing marked improvement so I'm hoping we're on to something. Just in general he seems to be handling a bit easier overall so maybe it's just a product of his age, having just made the 16 month mark on April 5. It's also looking like he's starting to plateau with growth, with a recent trip to the vet showing he's around 66 pounds, having only gained a couple of pounds since the last trip a few months ago. At that time the Doc had predicted he'd be in the 65-68 pound range so looking like he's on target there. I'd hate to see him get much bigger since he doesn't exactly help to paddle the pirogue on way to the blind. One thing is certain, he's full of energy as is typical for his breed and very athletic/muscular. Been trying to get him exercise each day, especially right now while it's not sweltering hot.
I snapped these during yesterday afternoon's session. I'd also note that he seems to be more apt to properly carry these dummies than he was pre-season in the fall of 2015.
We've got a couple of offseason projects on tap as well with regard to two of our go-to areas. We're hoping to get a permanent hide built in the Delacroix honey hole for both comfort and better hiding than the haphazard bush blinds we relied on this past season, though they were typically very effective.
The other project is to consider tightening up the big blind pond by maybe moving some grass clumps into it during a high tide event. Historically this pond had more clumps and wasn't quite so wide open. As shown in the photo below, the area to its immediate south is more broken and thus seems to be more attractive to the mallards, mottleds and teal. Though we'd prefer more open water for the grays, it was very apparent this season that the mallards would give us a swing only to commit to more broken marsh areas of our surroundings.
One recent revelation has been, seemingly, a result of the continued work with Harry in the backyard, most frequently with tennis balls (fired up every time) to when I finally pulled out a pair of dummies (extra fired up for those) to test him on some retrieves I've been working on with him. Last season he had trouble committing to one retrieve and returning with that one in the event he saw another laying on the pond en route to or from the initial target OR if another bird hit the pond on occasion with Harry still on retrieve initially sent for. Understandably we'd have likely made the game easier for him by not taking such shooting ops over a green dog but apparently that was tough to hold back on at times. Nonetheless, multiple retrieves proved problematic regardless of timing of presentation to him, with the exception being multiple birds dead in the decoys and close enough for me to emphasize his return with each one, in which he did well. I recall one instance that he brought in 7 teal after a particularly productive volley.
As such, been really harping on him coming back with initial tennis ball (or dummy), returning it to hand (at times had tendency to stop short in the past), and then send for the second retrieve. It would seem just in the last few weeks that things have started to click with him on this and he's been showing marked improvement so I'm hoping we're on to something. Just in general he seems to be handling a bit easier overall so maybe it's just a product of his age, having just made the 16 month mark on April 5. It's also looking like he's starting to plateau with growth, with a recent trip to the vet showing he's around 66 pounds, having only gained a couple of pounds since the last trip a few months ago. At that time the Doc had predicted he'd be in the 65-68 pound range so looking like he's on target there. I'd hate to see him get much bigger since he doesn't exactly help to paddle the pirogue on way to the blind. One thing is certain, he's full of energy as is typical for his breed and very athletic/muscular. Been trying to get him exercise each day, especially right now while it's not sweltering hot.
I snapped these during yesterday afternoon's session. I'd also note that he seems to be more apt to properly carry these dummies than he was pre-season in the fall of 2015.
We've got a couple of offseason projects on tap as well with regard to two of our go-to areas. We're hoping to get a permanent hide built in the Delacroix honey hole for both comfort and better hiding than the haphazard bush blinds we relied on this past season, though they were typically very effective.
The other project is to consider tightening up the big blind pond by maybe moving some grass clumps into it during a high tide event. Historically this pond had more clumps and wasn't quite so wide open. As shown in the photo below, the area to its immediate south is more broken and thus seems to be more attractive to the mallards, mottleds and teal. Though we'd prefer more open water for the grays, it was very apparent this season that the mallards would give us a swing only to commit to more broken marsh areas of our surroundings.