loosewheelbob
FNG
- Joined
- Jan 14, 2026
- Messages
- 4
Disclaimer: the picture is from a successful hint, not the one in the story that follows....
A week into Ruffed Grouse season a good friend who was passionate about the sport but hadn't been able to hunt for a couple years due to health passed away. Later in the fall we had a small private ceremony and I was able to keep some of his ashes to spread in a place we had both hunted separately but never got to hunt together.
When I went to the spot, my dog Albert and I got to work, we hunted for an hour with no luck. By then I decided I better find a place to spread his ashes and found a good spot. Before paying my respects I had to go to the bathroom so I leaned my new shotgun (which I've never shot) against a tree and did my thing.
In the middle of that my dog flushed a grouse and it landed in a tree in plain view. I was torn between pinching it off or finishing but decided to finish. I grabbed my shotgun and worked my way closer. I drew a bead, shot, and clean miss! The bird flushed right at me and I missed two more times! As I'm standing there getting ready to reload and processing what happened, my dog flushed 2 more birds just out of sight!
All I could do was laugh and think of my friends saying "we make plans and God laughs at us". Lessons learned: pause Albert when I pause and test a shotgun on clays before shooting at birds!
A week into Ruffed Grouse season a good friend who was passionate about the sport but hadn't been able to hunt for a couple years due to health passed away. Later in the fall we had a small private ceremony and I was able to keep some of his ashes to spread in a place we had both hunted separately but never got to hunt together.
When I went to the spot, my dog Albert and I got to work, we hunted for an hour with no luck. By then I decided I better find a place to spread his ashes and found a good spot. Before paying my respects I had to go to the bathroom so I leaned my new shotgun (which I've never shot) against a tree and did my thing.
In the middle of that my dog flushed a grouse and it landed in a tree in plain view. I was torn between pinching it off or finishing but decided to finish. I grabbed my shotgun and worked my way closer. I drew a bead, shot, and clean miss! The bird flushed right at me and I missed two more times! As I'm standing there getting ready to reload and processing what happened, my dog flushed 2 more birds just out of sight!
All I could do was laugh and think of my friends saying "we make plans and God laughs at us". Lessons learned: pause Albert when I pause and test a shotgun on clays before shooting at birds!
