A little late with this post but had to share. I apologize for this posts length its long but had to share my experience. I worry a lot about the youth not being as involved in hunting as they were when I was a kid but I came across a youngster that gives me hope. Hope you enjoy the story and picture.
Opening day of dove season came and my group was ready. There were 9 of us and we had a good spot on public land. We got there about 630 that morning and got to our spot We were the first in the field. Shooting doesn't start until noon so we had plenty of time to kill. We had a great time and were excited as we were seeing a ton of birds.
10 minutes before shooting time a group of about 6 hunters walks up and sits in a spot that is basically cutting us off. It's public land but they should have known not to sit there. My whole group was aggravated and none more than me. Year after year to some extent the same scenario plays out on a public field. Their group consisted of 3 grown adults, one 20-something and 2 younger kids and a black labrador retriever. Based off past experience with retrievers on public land I figured it was going to be a mess. As mad as I was I knew there would be some action so I let it go. The first 2 hours were dead, and as bad as I had ever witnessed at that field. Just after 2 it was like a switch flipped. You hear a couple shots in the distance and before long birds were coming in. We had a problem though. We were in a awesome spot but little did we know or expect those 2 young kids were straight up killers!!!
Anger turned to jealousy that eventually turned to being extremely impressed. The older of the 2 boys was a good shot but my gosh the younger kid was a dead eye. If birds flew his way they were dead. I don't know how many times someone from my group would say "birds coming in" and before we knew it little man was shooting, the bird(s)dropped and someone in our group would say "nevermind". I watched 10-12 birds fly over when him and his brother dropped 5 of them.. Not only was the youngest a crack shot he was the one who was in control of the dog. It was so impressive to watch a young kid handle that retriever, it did whatever he told it to do.
When it was winding down I asked one of the older guys from their group if that was his boys. He said no he was an uncle. I asked if they were on some kind of shooting team at school or had lessons or anything. He said no we've just been bringing them to the dove fields since they were little boys and had them shooting their whole life it was all just natural. I could tell he was proud of the boys and he had every right to be. The youngest boy was 12 or 13 and his brother was 17. I congratulated the young men and told them my day in the field was sub par but watching them made the day worth it. They both were a couple birds shy of a limit which is saying something for young kids on crowded public grounds! I asked if they were coming the next morning and they said yes. I told them with all due respect I hoped we weren't sitting close to each other again!
The next morning came we were down in a different part and again the birds were headed our way. I clicked the safety and before I could shoot I saw birds falling from other people shooting. Next thing I hear is a young boys voice giving a command to his dog.."BELLA!" and I see a black lab run to the downed bird and back to the boy. It was him again!!! I stood up and hollered "not you again" and his uncle looked at me then realized who I was and said "he hunted you down didn't he?" Once again the boy was wearing them out. We walked over to them when we saw the uncle getting ready to leave. I asked him if they were heading out he says "I am but the boy wants to stay so I'm going to come pick him up later" This young kid was on a mission with his dog to get a limit and stayed there by himself trying to get it done. He trained the dog by himself and it certainly paid off.
It reminded me of when I was a kid just walking the fields and woods hunting all day. You just don't see that too much these days. This kid was like Daniel Boone davy Crockett and John wick all rolled up into one. He's 12 or 13 and he's my new hero! I enjoyed watching him and talking with him but felt bad when I got home. I wished I had gotten some contact info on the kid. I'd like to send him a case of ammo or something. I hope I run into him again sometime in the future and I hope he stays at it because "the sport" needs kids just like him. I snapped this picture of him with his dog. He had just came back from a retrieve when another bird was coming in. You can see the bird and both the boy and dog looking at it before the shot.
Again sorry for such a long post but had to let the world know about a dove killing machine named Jackson and his dog Bella.
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Opening day of dove season came and my group was ready. There were 9 of us and we had a good spot on public land. We got there about 630 that morning and got to our spot We were the first in the field. Shooting doesn't start until noon so we had plenty of time to kill. We had a great time and were excited as we were seeing a ton of birds.
10 minutes before shooting time a group of about 6 hunters walks up and sits in a spot that is basically cutting us off. It's public land but they should have known not to sit there. My whole group was aggravated and none more than me. Year after year to some extent the same scenario plays out on a public field. Their group consisted of 3 grown adults, one 20-something and 2 younger kids and a black labrador retriever. Based off past experience with retrievers on public land I figured it was going to be a mess. As mad as I was I knew there would be some action so I let it go. The first 2 hours were dead, and as bad as I had ever witnessed at that field. Just after 2 it was like a switch flipped. You hear a couple shots in the distance and before long birds were coming in. We had a problem though. We were in a awesome spot but little did we know or expect those 2 young kids were straight up killers!!!
Anger turned to jealousy that eventually turned to being extremely impressed. The older of the 2 boys was a good shot but my gosh the younger kid was a dead eye. If birds flew his way they were dead. I don't know how many times someone from my group would say "birds coming in" and before we knew it little man was shooting, the bird(s)dropped and someone in our group would say "nevermind". I watched 10-12 birds fly over when him and his brother dropped 5 of them.. Not only was the youngest a crack shot he was the one who was in control of the dog. It was so impressive to watch a young kid handle that retriever, it did whatever he told it to do.
When it was winding down I asked one of the older guys from their group if that was his boys. He said no he was an uncle. I asked if they were on some kind of shooting team at school or had lessons or anything. He said no we've just been bringing them to the dove fields since they were little boys and had them shooting their whole life it was all just natural. I could tell he was proud of the boys and he had every right to be. The youngest boy was 12 or 13 and his brother was 17. I congratulated the young men and told them my day in the field was sub par but watching them made the day worth it. They both were a couple birds shy of a limit which is saying something for young kids on crowded public grounds! I asked if they were coming the next morning and they said yes. I told them with all due respect I hoped we weren't sitting close to each other again!
The next morning came we were down in a different part and again the birds were headed our way. I clicked the safety and before I could shoot I saw birds falling from other people shooting. Next thing I hear is a young boys voice giving a command to his dog.."BELLA!" and I see a black lab run to the downed bird and back to the boy. It was him again!!! I stood up and hollered "not you again" and his uncle looked at me then realized who I was and said "he hunted you down didn't he?" Once again the boy was wearing them out. We walked over to them when we saw the uncle getting ready to leave. I asked him if they were heading out he says "I am but the boy wants to stay so I'm going to come pick him up later" This young kid was on a mission with his dog to get a limit and stayed there by himself trying to get it done. He trained the dog by himself and it certainly paid off.
It reminded me of when I was a kid just walking the fields and woods hunting all day. You just don't see that too much these days. This kid was like Daniel Boone davy Crockett and John wick all rolled up into one. He's 12 or 13 and he's my new hero! I enjoyed watching him and talking with him but felt bad when I got home. I wished I had gotten some contact info on the kid. I'd like to send him a case of ammo or something. I hope I run into him again sometime in the future and I hope he stays at it because "the sport" needs kids just like him. I snapped this picture of him with his dog. He had just came back from a retrieve when another bird was coming in. You can see the bird and both the boy and dog looking at it before the shot.
Again sorry for such a long post but had to let the world know about a dove killing machine named Jackson and his dog Bella.