So, August 31^st rolls around after weeks of anticipation. I load up the truck with everything I will need for a long weekend of hunting, eating, and yes, enjoying beverages with Wingdinger, DoubleTHunter, and two of his partners in crime, Will and Bo. I head out from my undisclosed bunker somewhere north of DFW, and head southwest, toward the land of enchantment, our lease in Palo Pinto County.

DoubleT and I had already planned the menu for the weekend, and we bought the supplies, and got to the lease around 1:30 in the afternoon. Wingdinger had school until 3:30, and he drove down to the lease for the first time, alone, in his very own Toyota Tacoma pick up. While we waited for the arrival of Wingdinger, DoubleT and I made ourselves useful and moved a couple tons of corn, and filled about a dozen feeders between us. On the third feeder I filled, we came across two rattlers sunning underneath the feeder. Luckily, I had Wingdingers .20 ga. pump, and dispatched one of the rattlesnakes. That made all of us uneasy in light of the fact that the massive rains in May and June caused the weeds to grow to mid thigh. Snake boots and chaps became the official dress code of the weekend!

That night we cooked steaks, made fun of each other, and sat up way too late for our first morning of hunting. We were all excited. Excited in that special way that only the dove opener can make you feel. It has been a long time since duck, deer and even spring turkey season, and even though it is hotter than hell, and cool weather is still some time away, we know that hunting season is officially “on”.

4:30 on Saturday came way too early. We traditionally hunt in Breckenridge, TX., which is a good 45 minutes to an hour from our lease. We got up, sucked down coffee, and made the drive. When we got to the field that we hunt, we noticed a bad sign. Evidently, it had rained all night in Breckenridge, and there was water standing everywhere. Portions of our field had ankle deep water. In addition, the sunflowers were chest high or higher, and as green as gourds.

We posted up our positions in the field, and let the games begin. A bird quartered past me left to right, I pulled up and..pop. Bird down. A bird passed behind me, I yelled to Wingdinger….and…pop. Wingdinger took a bird down. It looked like it was going to be a good day. The morning frenzy came and went, and our group came up just short of a full limit, but that is due in large part to our inability to locate fallen birds. I know that I personally lost several birds in the extra heavy cover this year. I have dogs, but due to the threat of snakes and heat exhaustion (the humidity was very high this year), I opted to leave the dogs at home.

By 9:00 it was so hot, and all of us were dripping with sweat. By 9:30 the birds mercifully stopped flying. It was so humid and hot that every article of clothing I was wearing was soaking wet. Even though I love to shoot, I was ready for a cold drink, and a nice shower.

When the hunt was over we cleaned the birds and enjoyed a cold drink with our hunting compatriots. Todd Van Poppel also hunts this field with us, and every year, Wingdinger (who is a huge fan and baseball player) refuses to approach Todd for a picture. I know Wingdinger wants to talk to Todd, but is too reluctant to approach him other than a “hello” or “what’s up” type of greeting.

We left the field and drove back to our lease. Although the hunting had not been as good as a year ago, we still had shot a good number of birds, and had a great time.

To make a long story short, rain set in off and on the rest of the weekend, and our bird hunting was sketchy. Mostly hit and miss between showers.

We still had an awesome weekend. We fished. Wingdinger caught 14 nice bass, one of which was over 5lbs. We played washers. We built the obligatory campfire in 90+ degree weather. We ate dove, and wild turkey breast, and venison sausage, and all the other stuff that makes a good dove hunting weekend so special. A weekend with friends catching up with each other after a long summer of anticipation. We talked about the upcoming duck and deer season. We built memories.

Something tells me this is going to be a great year.

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