The first week

I've been runnin' at a flat lope the last few weeks, tryin' to get some loose ends taken care of before I came upstate and workin' like a dog. Not much time for bloggin', unfortunately. It was much easier maintainin' this blog when I made my livin' in front of a computer...

The opener, as always, was very excitin', although I spent the day at work. Thankfully, my phone spent a good bit of time transmittin' the excitement from the woods directly to me at work.

A regular from the bar that I moonlight at opened the dance, smokin' a fine public land longbeard down home in Adams County. The birds really seem to be gettin' a foothold down here, so hopefully that trend continues and the huntin' is good.

A little while later, cousin Danny got ahold of me. He had guided his cousin that mornin', and had gotten into some birds.

Then, the best text of the day. My best friend, Erik, followed up his success from last year with another fine longbeard, from the same spot, no less.

20-1/4 lbs, 9" beard, 1-1/8" spurs

The first Monday was good to us yet again. We've prolly brought more birds back to camp on the first Monday than any other day of the season.

Spanky got things started with a unique trophy; a bearded hen. Sounded like she put on quite a show by comin' in and beatin' the hell outta his decoy. Bearded hens are legal in PA, so he had no qualms about puttin' the hammer down on her.

6" beard, 15.5 lbs.

 Ron, who has been waitin' years for his opporunity to take a bearded hen, actually passed up on one to take this fine longbeard a little while later.

20-3/4 lbs, 9-3/4" beard, 1-1/8" spurs

The rest of the week was a whiff-fest.

Joe got into some birds on Thursday, and whiffed a rushed shot after gettin' busted by a nearby hen. Oddly enough, he was a mere 40 yards away from one of my most memorable misses.

I finally made it up Thursday night, and less than five minutes into legal shootin' light on Friday mornin', duffed a shot that I never shoulda taken. Impaience and excitement combined for an ugly shot. Had I been more patient, I mighta fared better. Regardless, it was a tremendous mornin', with great weather and lots of action.

Dad and cousin Danny had plenty of excitement of their own, and had several missed opportunities. Dad dispensed the full quota of three shells in the direction of of a jake, to no avail.

Saturday, things got a little more on the right track. This ol' longbeard gobbled his brains out, and wound up right in Joe's lap. He promptly made ammends for his miss earlier in the week, and after a sprint downhill to try and stop the rollin' bird, he had his trophy in one hand, and a handful of tail feathers in the other.

21 lbs, 9-3/4" beard, 1" spurs

So, four birds in the first week... definitely a good showin'. I have four days this week to hunt before I report back to work, and Ron has a few days off this week as well. Hopefully we'll get a few more on the board. There's plenty of 'em around.