First Hunting Trip Ever!

I never thought that I would ever go with my brother-in-law on a hunting trip... but since I've helped him set up duck blinds and have fun playing/training his dog, I have really been interested in going and see what hunting is all about. I only thought that it was men going out and slaying poor helpless animals and then laugh at them as they die. But apparently I was either an idiot or a dork who has watched one too many deranged movies. Oh and I have to clarify that my job during this hunting trip was to use my camera and capture moments and angles that would look really good. I was a pretend photographer, my roommate is the real photographer so I tried to put some of the things that I've heard her talk about to use during this trip! :)

Hunting was so fun. I got up at 3:30 in the morning and pulled myself out of bed after going to bed at 11:30 that night before. So I really thought about calling Thomas, my brother-in-law and ask him to do this another morning... but I didn't because he was so excited about it. I had to sing songs out loud in the car with the cold blowing to keep myself awake on the 10 -12 mile drive to his house in Pasco. I got there and he hooked me up with a pair of thermals from my sister and some waders which she had not used and still had the tags on. It was very comfy! I loved the waders... I wish they made something like that to wear every day!

We headed out and drove to our spot which no one had claimed yet... we parked his truck so that everyone could see we were going to be claiming that area for the morning hunting season. After we packed down about a dozen decoys, MagnaLight, shotgun, bird with twirling wings (fake, but effective), and a cement filled bucket to have it sit on as well as my camera and cell phone in case we needed it or someone called us. We were walking in pitch dark and Thomas had forgotten his hat that had the built-in camera so we were walking in the dark. It was kinda fun.

When we got to where we were going to set up the decoys, we dropped everything and went into the water and started to plop the decoys down after untangling them because I was the smart one that tangled the guarenteed-not-to-tangle-together decoys... Talent is all I can call that one! ;D We were setting up the decoys and this entire time I had been carrying the MagnaLight and for some reason put it between my neck and shoulder to help untangle some of the decoys... but then heard something I really didn't expect, "Autumn. Did you just drop the flashlight in the water?" Yeah... smooth... within the first 15 minutes of being out there I had dropped the flashlight in the murky water.... wonderful. I could tell my day was going to be wonderful just from this first experience. So we tried for 5 minutes to find the flashlight with our feet in our waders to help get it up. After that we just gave up and I promised Thomas I would pay him for another one. Stupid Autumn! Way to go!

Now I have to let you know something that I learned and had my eyes opened to! I didn't know that when hunters went out that sometimes they waded in the water up to their chests and then would sometimes stand in water up to their chest to hunt a good spot. We weren't up to our chests, but we were up to our knees and there were some places we were up to our chest in the freezing water. Thank goodness Zoey, Thomas' very talented hunting dog, was there to fetch the ducks.

Moving on... we finish up setting up the decoys and finally I grab my camera and start to take some shots... it was still pitch dark and my camera was acting up (which reminds me that I need to get the user manual out of it to check some of the settings). My favorite part of that time of morning was me hearing geese flying above us, but not being able to see them. Another part I laugh about even now was me telling Thomas that the sun was coming up in one direction and he looked at me funny (I couldn't see his face, but I could just tell he was) and told me the sun would come up on the opposite horizon... of course I didn't believe him because he was obviously blind... but in the end he was right and again I was wrong...

The moon was just a little thumb nail and I tried to get it, but my camera was focusing on everything but the moon. Frustrating!

Thomas and his hunting dog, Zoey. She is beautiful and very well mannered, not to mention talented. I love her.

Thomas with his duck calls hanging around his neck. He has quite the collection.

Thomas doesn't have gloves on and puts his hands in his waders to keep them warm. He goes the entire winter without gloves...

So fast forward to when the huge flock of ducks come into the area Thomas was hunting. I didn't know what time it was because Thomas had my cell phone to check the time. I heard from him it was about 10 minutes till when the ducks flew in, he just hunkered down and hoped they would stay the 10 minutes until shooting opened for ducks (7:00am). Finally we heard the shots in the distance at 5 till and so Thomas took the shots and downed 3 ducks. We were super suprised that Zoey brought in her first ever double-catch fetch. She brought back two ducks at once, which she hasn't done yet! The third one that he had shot landed far out there and we couldn't find it at first on the water and then finally about 4 minutes after Zoey came back we spotted it out and then when it came closer Thomas sent Zoey out after it. He used hand signals to direct her until she spotted it. Just after that while Zoey was coming back in, another group of ducks came into the area. Thomas shot at them and downed another one right behind us about 10-15 feet.

These are the shells that were discarded just the first 10 minutes of the morning when it was time to start hunting. Very impressive! Of course we picked them all up so not to litter. It's the Hunters Code to clean up th place before you leave. Below: Zoey waiting for Thomas to give her the go to get the ducks he downed.

Thomas finally does give her the go and she's off....

Thomas using his hand signals to tell Zoey where to go to get to the duck in the water which she couldn't see at the moment.

This was the dawn shot. This was the sun finally peeking out. The dawn is beautiful here! I haven't experienced it yet like I did this day. You have to be there I guess to do it justice.

Zoey returning with the ducks.

Thomas looking watching more ducks flying in....

Another couple of scenery/dawn shots

To say the least Thomas was one away from his limit that day (7 ducks per hunter in one day). It was light out and I was getting some good shots (with my camera of course). I couldn't shoot anything alive and kill it. Even in high school when we were raising chickens, when it came time to butcher them I couldn't do the cutting heads off thing. I did the gutting, but not killing. So we decided to go walk around to the other ponds right by us to see if there were ducks there. The entire time it was so awesome. I definately was moved by how beautiful and peaceful things were at that time in the morning. We took some shots on the railroad tracks and at different places along the way that I thought were good ideas.

Do you see that Zoey poses too!

Thomas lookin on a pond that he really thought there would be ducks on.

This is Zoey running down the railroad tracks to us. I love this one too!

Thomas, the hunter, and Zoey, the hunting dog

I really like the sillhouettes in these photos.

Thomas started to get "smart" with me when I was telling him how to pose... so this is HIS pose shot that he liked! :D Could you tell we had fun with this?

I really liked this one with not only Thomas, but his shadow on the bushes behind him.

Another sillhouette I liked.

In this photo Thomas was waiting for Zoey who had gone after something in the brush... right after I shot this photo Zoey came running out after Thomas called her because there was a Racoon hissing in there.

Thomas calling ducks in before we left.

We finally went back to our spot and started to pick up the decoys and as we were collecting them, a flock of ducks flew over head of us and Thomas shot one. I will spare you the details, but he had to go after it himself after Zoey couldn't find it because it was hiding. So that was his limit for the day. We packed up and packed everything back to the truck. I wasn't trusted with the decoys another time, I don't know why! ;)

This is Thomas moving from his call to getting his gun ready... you can tell he's concentrating...

Then this is me taking a shot while trying to cover my ears which were still ringing from the shots earlier in the day. Thomas popped up like a Jack in the Box.

Thomas across the pond searching out the duck he downed.

That's his last one and limit for the day. Zoey was really wanting to take it back to shore. Can you tell?

Thomas with the seven ducks he shot.

I love this photo of Thomas and the decoys along side the real ducks. This is probably one of my favorites of the day.

After we packed everything back up to the truck we had to get our picture together.

So the hunting trip with Thomas was so much fun. I definately hate the fact that women don't look good at all when they roll out of bed and guys always do! It's not fair! I definately am going to do another hunting photo shoot with my brother-in-law, his friend, and my nephew in December or sometime in the winter. I love being out in the early morning and experiencing the sunrise by yourself and in person. It was awesome.