Redneck Dove Shoot!

I drove out to the duck camp with the boys and Chrissy.  The plan was to spend the night at the cabin, check on water levels and let the boys run around shooting their BB guns and just be boys.  As I was unloading the car I couldn't help but notice the almost continuous flight of Starlings.  The Starlings where trading between the cattail sloughs and a cut corn field.  Their flight path was taking the majority of the birds directly over the cabin. 

Since Starlings aren't a protected bird in MN I loaded up the Browning with #8 game load and "got after em".  The wind was blowing about 25 mph so it made for some fun and challenging shooting.  This was my redneck Argentina dove hunt! When the smoke finally cleared we had laid down 25 Starling and 1 Pigeon.  Oshie did a hell of a job retrieving all of the downed birds.  It made for a fun afternoon.

The water level is looking good for this fall.  The water level is down from last fall which is a good thing.  There is a ton of breeding geese pairs on the property which should lead to a great early season shoot.  Things are already looking up for the fall.

2008 MN Starling Season Starts With A Bang

I made it out for my first Starling hunt of 2008 on Sunday afternoon (4/6/08). The wind was blowing from the south at 10-15 mph, overcast skies and light rain. Because of the weather I decided to hunt from the kitchen blind at my parents "farm". Right off the bat I had several Starlings come into my feeder. Finally after 2 or 3 minutes I had a hen starling give me a 13 yard broadside shot and I just happened to have a hen tag in my pocket. Smack! Hen starling pinned to the ground.

5 minutes later I missed on a mature male starling before getting out of my blind to go shoot at the Gander Mountain Range. I returned to the kitchen blind around 4 PM to hunt the late afternoon. After 5 minutes I had a couple starlings come into my feeder, but none where shooters. I had a perfect wind so I was undetected. Finally, the Starling I had been dreaming my whole life about dropped from out of the trees and under my feeder. I came to full draw, but the starling stepped behind the feeder. I stayed at full draw and waited for what seemed like hours for my trophy to give me a shot. Finally the Starling cleared the feeder. I took careful aim and "Smack!" My first record book bird was lights out immediately!

As you can see I got great penetration with my cabelas field tip and Carbon Express Maxima Hunter arrow. They are a lethal combination when teamed up with a Hoyt Vetrix and I highly recommend that setup when hunting record book Starlings!

My first "book"bird and a great start to my 2008 starling season!