Hooked on quack.

Continuing the ongoing series of "Hooked on quack"...
Incoming waterfowl over deeks:

Don’t shoot into a flock of birds, overhead, coming, going, never ever… the collateral damage is frequently remarkable and we must have the discipline to wait until an ethical shot avails itself. The only thing you should shoot a flock of birds with is your camera.

Shoot only the birds you know are sure, safe shots… unless, of course, one of them is flaunting jewelry. (Just teasing, hopefully. Just don‘t taunt me with a banded drake cinnamon teal.)

When you are completely certain of your shootgun skillset, dog, and the morning, a double is not unheard of. Select a bird in the back of the approaching flock, making certain of all pertinent issues… positive identity and gender. Look at one close in front of that one and again, be most certain of that identity and gender. If these two birds fit your plan at this moment, do a final check on the general position of the flock, take your shooting posture, telling your dog to mark it (the falls), insert the muzzle behind the farthest bird, swing to and into the flight path of that bird, through the back bird, (butt, belly, beak, bang) and continue swinging through the second bird (repeated, butt, belly, beak, bang). KEEP SWINGING! Two dead birds falling from the sky at the same moment is the ideal situ, but look closely at both of the birds' heads. If either head is not hanging “limp” but is looking around for a hiding place, make the choice then and there… is your dog going to choose the correct bird and act upon this choice quickly enough? Do not hesitate to shoot the still alive bird again in the air before it has opportunity to swim away to escape cover. My Chessie, Sheba, would aggressively chase down a wounded bird over DRT floaters. She was so confident (read: stubborn) if she thought she saw a splash or movement 20 or 40 yards away from where the “easy” bird fell, she would swim to that area first and search for wounded escaped birds… sometimes in error, but she would not give up until her confidence convinced her to hear my whistle and follow those commands. (Fetch the expletive deleted dead!) Tri-Tronics has products which helped convince her to listen to my whistle, but she was a wonderful dog and I miss her daily.

Shooting into a flock of birds almost guarantees multiple birds will carry pellets and die from your unethical and ill-chosen behavior. Please make certain you only shoot birds you have virtual certainty of recovery to your bag. Sure, coyotes gotta eat too, but you do not need to serve them.

Practice this incoming pair on the shootgun range with carefully positioned and precisely released targets. Missing clay hurts nothing except over inflated egos, however the wisdom gained in this practice is valuable.

I deeply miss my Chessie Sheba, and I'm still hooked on quack. Missy (yellow Lab) is learning and will someday always mark the wounded first. Only time will tell if she gains the wisdom of Sheba. We continue to work on these skills frequently each and every week.