Pretty good bird season here so far. October 1st was the opener for us, as is tradition I hunted waterfowl. Did well and got my yellow lab his first retrieve when he and I went solo for the evening. The pup is an excitable 90lber and still learning his canoe manners, so he has sat out a lot of my duck hunts because the water levels in my favorite early season marsh are too low for a larger boat and wind has made having him in a canoe a cold swim probable proposition.
Upland hunting, woodcock and grouse have been plentiful but foliage and the dog still learning the game has resulted in more unseen flushes than good shooting opportunities. Conditions aligned with a frosty morning and nearly no wind Monday and we had a great day, three ruffed grouse got invited to dinner and I should have had one more and a woodcock but it kept my truck as a back stop and replacing a window for a bird didn't seem like a fair trade off. Foliage is a little thick still and I was a little slow on some birds so didn't get a shot but the dog flushed 14 grouse and 5 wood cock so a great day for all.
