Toby's First Hunt....Awww Aint He Cute!

This past weekend was the normal ritual for many hunters across the state.  Eat a whole pile of turkey on Thursday, sit on the couch and watch a football game or two with a cold one in hand and try to figure out if the body will allow you to get off the couch in time to hunt in the morning.  The ladies head to the local shopping center the next day(some of them earilier than even us hunters rise from the wrapper) and the men head out in search of a rooster or two.  This year, Dingy and I continued with our now 2 year old ritual of heading out west in hopes of bagging a rooster or two.  The new companion on our trip is this cute little fella named Toby.  He just might be the best looking pup that I have ever laid my eyes on.  I have had the pleasure of seeing this peeing machine from its first couple of weeks of life and watching it grow the last 4 months.  I think I am in love with this dog, and Tim, if you don't look out, I just might take it home with me.  Our hopes on this adventure was to see if Toby would be able to understand what it means to "Hunt Em Up."   The day before we headed for the 2 hour hike out west, we stopped at a local spot of mine and had this future Pheasant huntin machine run around in search of some roosters just to see what he would do.  The result was totally awesome.  While he didn't understand exactly what had happened, he was running around through some brush for the heck of it, and a rooster got up right in front of him and I.  Officially I get to say that this gem of a pup jumped his first rooster in front of me and I was able to knock it down.  Only so special because of the unknowing puppy that was now playing with the feathers on the bird that he officially flushed.  I think it hit a soft spot in me, and now I am left wondering how long I can wait before I have my own puppy dog.  The picture of us is kinda blurry, but one that is very clear in my memory.  Thanks Dingy and Toby for that bird, it was maybe the coolest hunt of my life even if it only lasted for 20 minutes.

The hunt out west didn't treat us the best for some goofy reason.  We had a proven dog in Nelly (Nates Dog) and Toby fresh of his first hunt.  Nate, Dingy and myself met up with my cousin Nate out in Benson, and we hunted some of the best looking property that I have ever touched in MN before.  The birds were there, but they were skittish and just found every way imaginable to stay out of range.  Oh well, it was still a great hunt, and Toby spent most of his time eating every weed, stick, or cattail in sight.  The weather was perfect and we had the laughs that are always expected on a trip like that.  On the route back, Toby reminded us of the small bladder he has, and dribbled on not only me, but Nate and our sweatshirts that we gave him to use for a pillow.  Hahaha, still laughing about that darn dog. 

I want to give a shout out to Lynn Schulz and his hunting crew out in the Dakota's.  Lynn traveled all the way up from Arizona to spend some time with his family and a long overdue trip out to the prairie lands for some pheasant hunting with friends.  Hope it went great for you boys! 

Brrrrrrr!  That Ice will be here before we know it.  Stay tuned for a conclusion on another great season of open water fishing.  I will try to recap the greatness that we accomplished in our many trips across the state.  I also will send out as many thank you's as I can along with what is on tap for our quest of more Trophy Encounters.  Until Next Time Y'all, Keep on Livin The Dream!