Team SnK

March 15, 2012

Shaun — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 04:09:37 +0000

First trip out shed hunting this year!

January 1, 2012

Shaun — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 05:10:09 +0000

3 in 1, 8 in 30

Shaun — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 03:06:39 +0000

After having a very successful previous night before, my good buddy Slade and I decided for a morning hunt. We got to our new honey hole and threw out our dozen and a half dekes and then stood there waiting for shooting time to arrive! Its funny how when your late time flies by, but when you’re standing there waiting for shooting time it seems like the world is at a standstill. We had ourselves in an obvious good spot, when you’ve got hundreds of birds around you waking up making all sorts of sound it certainly gets your blood pumping, that’s for damn sure. After waiting what seemed like an eternity shooting light was here and it was time to start laying down the law. The first group came swooping in and decoyed great, 3 birds locked up and dead right over the decoys, yep all 3 of them. Couldn’t have written it up any better. So me being the great friend that I am, I send Slader out to pick up the dead birds. While he’s out there I holler at him and tell him to get down because there is a group headed right towards us from the south. So he gets down and the birds that I thought I was going to get a shot at slide me and went right towards Slade. Another group of 3, right as the birds get over Slade I watch him pull up and wham. The mother lover shot all three birds with one shot! I can say that, that vision is forever engrained in my head. I never have seen and doubt that I will ever see it again so that was something that we both thought was pretty special and pretty freakin’ awesome. So we sat there and it only took us 3 more groups and we had our limit and were headin’ out of one of our new coveted spots before 730am! That’s right, a 30 minute hunt! What a great morning, that I will never forget! Get out in the outdoors, you’ll see something new or different every time you go out as long as you’re paying attention! I can’t wait to get back to my new honey hole.
Adam Smith

Let’s just give it a try

Shaun — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 03:04:29 +0000

Well it was late in the afternoon and I was really wanting to get out and kill some ducks. So I gave my reliable buddy Slade Volkman a call and we conversed for a few minutes and I convinced him that it’d be worth our time considering the scouting I had done in the area the previous night. So Slade and I met up and headed out to my new hopefully honey hole. Getting out there around 5pm we were a little bit later than I had had in mind but having only a dozen and a half dekes made it a quick easy set up. So we tossed out our dekes in two very undefined groups leaving plenty of room between each decoy being sure to not get them bunched up. And sure enough not having been standing there 30 seconds after throwing the last decoy out, the first group of early flying teal were headed our way. We slid back into the reeds and kneeled down letting the birds work into the wind right our way. Boom, we slayed the first group of 4, already had a one person limit. We had a few more groups come in and in 40 minutes we had our limit and were picking up and headed back to the truck. You know after a short notice to Slade and a hurry-up fashion of getting our butts out and into the water, it was only appropriate that we kill our birds and be back to the truck in 50 minutes. We ended up shooting 6 blue wing and 2 green wing teal. This hunt is what it’s all about, putting the time in before hand, scouting. And then calling a good buddy and getting out there and having a fun successful hunt. Some times you just gotta go with your gut and Just give it a try.
Adam Smith

First Merriams gobbler

Shaun — Wed, 11 May 2011 18:28:12 +0000

Middle of a four day spree

Shaun — Wed, 11 May 2011 18:24:21 +0000

First bird down 2011 season

Shaun — Wed, 11 May 2011 18:19:23 +0000

Brian’s first turkey and a double at the sametime!

Shaun — Sat, 23 Apr 2011 18:31:42 +0000

Beep! Beep! Beep! That oh so familiar sound of the alarm clock on a Saturday morning. The sun wasn’t up yet, but it was time to head out..

We’re here, now out of the truck and quietly load a few shells. We didn’t but hop the fence and gobblers started shouting out. Curt, Shaun, and I couldn’t have asked for a quieter morning. Once again, we were out looking for my first turkey. We’ve stepped foot in this place many seasons before, but none of us have taken down a bird on this soil. I was set up, ready for the big moment. Shaun and Curt were having a conversation with three gobblers only a few dozen yards away. It was a waiting game. That moment never came. Those gobblers we were chatting with hen’d up elsewhere.

It was mid-morning now. We heard the sound of faint gobbles and so we decided to head toward them. Every so often we stopped and put out a locator call. “Did you hear that? This way!” We moved closer; never knowing how far away the bird was. Suddenly, a loud GOBBLE! We were right on top of them. The three of us sank to the ground. Okay, this was it. I sat next to the closest tree. Curt moved up to place a decoy and Shaun sat about 8 yard to my right. The decoy was up, but Curt wasn’t moving away from it. Two turkeys were coming up the hill we were on. They stood almost in Curt’s lap; he could not move. I had to wait for a clear shot. The smaller of the two moved left behind me. I wanted the big one anyway. Wait.. Wait.. Wait… The larger one began to move the same way. Now! I leaned off the tree swinging simultaneously to the left and thinking to myself “bead on the sweet spot and… BOOM” I see the wad fly out and the turkey drop. I didn’t but gather my thoughts and a second gun rang out. Shaun was in perfect position to drop the first turkey. It was a success! Both gobblers! This was a great day for Team SnK. Our first turkeys on this land, my first turkey ever, and it was a double. This is a day to remember.

My First Snow Goose Hunt

Shaun — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 01:19:10 +0000

Well I finally got out to chase snows. We had been talking about it for along time, but just finally got a chance. It almost didn’t even happen. One guy got sick, another was called into work, and top it all off I over slept. On top of everything else the fog was so thick I had to drive 45 mph all the way to the field. Which is a 45 minute drive when you can drive the speed limit.

The farmer was nice enough to let us drive in the field which help a bunch with us running behind. Beings there were only two of us we decided to set up decoys till we ran out of time. We ended up setting up 2 dozen shells, 2 ½ dozen full bodies, and 4 dozen rags before we ran out of time. My buddy sat up the foxpro while parked the truck.

It wasn’t long before the ducks started moving. We had all sorts of plumed out pintails and wigeons landing in the dekes. Then slowly the geese started moving. The first group came in and we dumped 2 of them. My buddies gunned jambed and by chance I had a spare in the truck so he took off to grab it. While he was gone I shot five more birds.

It stayed steady till around 9:30 and then it slowed down and we were picking up by 10:00. We ended up shooting 18 snows and ross’s. It’s hard telling how it would have turned out if the other two guys would have been there and we wouldn’t have had gun problems. Either way it was on for the books and we both shot our first snow geese. I’m definitely ready to get back after them.

Last Day of Season

Shaun — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 01:31:51 +0000

The last hunt of the year is always a sad one, but it wasn’t all bad. A friend of mine called me Saturday morning and told me that there was a field about 3 miles from my house loaded with geese. He also informed me that he had already gotten permission to hunt it if I wanted to go Sunday morning. I decided to go check it out and I only had to glance at it to make my mind up. Not only was I going to be able to hunt close to home, but the odds were in our favor.
We headed out to the field in high spirits. The only problem was that the field was green wheat and it was half covered in shallow snow. We set up the best we could and settled in for the action. The warm weather had the birds up early. Which was no problem for us. Who wants to wait for an hour for the birds to get up any ways?
They were experienced birds for sure, and very decoy shy. It took a lot of coaxing and patience the get these birds in. They were wanting in our field bad, but so shy they landed in the field next to us. We thought the hunt was tanked, but they started bouncing back to us. Four of us ended up taking eight honkers. It wasn’t what we were hoping for, but a good hunt anyways.

J.W. Strobel