![\"p1030272\"](\"http:\/\/www.pursuetheoutdoors.com\/field-journals\/heather-moore\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/01\/p1030272-300x225.jpg\")
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This was a long awaited day, duck season of 08\u2019.\u00a0 My pack was loaded, my shot gun was ready, the dogs were excited.\u00a0 The morning was cold and crisp, a whopping 15 degrees out.\u00a0 I was all bundled up, and my husband, brother-in-law and I\u00a0 got the decoys set out on the pond.\u00a0 The dogs decided to take an early morning swim, as they were in great anticipation of the barrage of ducks we were hoping to get.\u00a0 They got out and laid down near us and icicles were forming almost immediately on there bodies.<\/p>\n
We sat down and kept checking our watches for the moment the clock struck 6:48am.\u00a0 At that moment, we started calling, and in the distance we could hear our prey calling back to us.\u00a0 My heart was skipping beats, as I waited a whole year for this day to arrive.\u00a0 I was a bit sad for a moment, as my regular hunting partner was not with me on this trip.\u00a0 Our black lab \u201cGrunt\u201d, who lived for this moment, passed away a few months prior.\u00a0 It was a bitter sweet moment sitting here excited to shoot, but sad because my faithful companion could not share it with me.\u00a0 This hunt was for him.<\/p>\n
![\"p1030271\"](\"http:\/\/www.pursuetheoutdoors.com\/field-journals\/heather-moore\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/01\/p1030271-300x225.jpg\")
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The sun began to rise in the distance and the sound of the unseen ducks was getting louder and louder.\u00a0 I looked toward the horizion and up from the across the ponds I could see a flock heading our way.\u00a0 I had my gun ready in position and as they started to come in for the landing the shells started to fly.\u00a0 We had several down, and I had a grin from ear to ear on my face. The dogs knew it was their moment to work, and they were in the water lightening fast to bring us back our prize.\u00a0 No sooner had they made it back, more were calling to us.\u00a0 This time it was geese, the\u00a0 real prize of the day.\u00a0 They came in fast and furious, ready to rest on the ice covered pond.\u00a0 As they circled in, they were met by our ambush.\u00a0 One by one they began to fall, and found their final resting place one the frozen pond.\u00a0 The dogs were none to happy to go back to work again.\u00a0 It is so amazing to hunt, but truly awesome watching the dogs work by instinct.<\/p>\n
We got back into position and called for a while longer.\u00a0 Nothing was answering us.\u00a0 We were starting to get a bit cold and the dogs were feeling the same way.\u00a0 We were starting to think we were done for the morning, but off in the distance we heard a familiar sound.\u00a0 Calls of a flock looking for us, and we would gladly guide them our way.\u00a0 We sat patiently until the moment of their arrival and began to shoot again.\u00a0 A few more down and we decided we got our fare share.\u00a0 So we loaded them all up, packed up the decoys and the dogs and headed for home.\u00a0 It took us a few hours to thaw out, but it was worth every minute we were out there.<\/p>\n
![\"p1030266\"](\"http:\/\/www.pursuetheoutdoors.com\/field-journals\/heather-moore\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/01\/p1030266-300x225.jpg\")
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We skinned the ducks and geese, and what a feast we had that night.\u00a0 It was amazing, and I thought back on the days events and realized how lucky I am to live and be able to hunt in such a gorgeous area.\u00a0 I am very blessed to be able to enjoy the splendid beauty of our surroundings with my husband and family.\u00a0 I could never ask for a better place to live and hunt.\u00a0 All the while, remembering fondly my ever faithful pal lab, that couldn\u2019t be there that day.<\/p>\n
![\"p1030262\"](\"http:\/\/www.pursuetheoutdoors.com\/field-journals\/heather-moore\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/01\/p1030262-300x225.jpg\")
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This was a long awaited day, duck season of 08\u2019.\u00a0 My pack was loaded, my shot gun was ready, the dogs were excited.\u00a0 The morning was cold and crisp, a whopping 15 degrees out.\u00a0 I was all bundled up, and my husband, brother-in-law and I\u00a0 got the decoys set out on the pond.\u00a0 The dogs […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":2320,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[66,98],"class_list":["post-1046","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hunting","tag-duck","tag-oregon"],"yoast_head":"\n