Pheasant Memories
Zenhunting
by zenhunter
3y ago
The best Christmas gifts aren’t under the tree. My youngest son Griffin spent the past week with Danielle and I. With little happening in the duck hunting realm, I booked us a field at Quail Point in Zamora, California for a pheasant outing. No one was left behind this time; Danielle joined us, and so did the little dog, Abby. I had high hopes for Abby, a mix of three hunting and one working breeds, with a better nose than Schatzie. Gunfire proved a little shocking for the normally fearless and rambunctious Abby. And when her big sis dropped a dead rooster at her feet, that was it. She practi ..read more
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When the skies opened
Zenhunting
by zenhunter
3y ago
“Would you like full coverage on the vehicle?” the young woman behind the Saskatoon car rental counter asked. “It’s about $200 extra, Canadian,” she said, a little apologetically. But added with a much brighter tone: “Bumper-to-bumper, no questions asked. Anything happens, just walk away.” Anything happens, just walk away. My mind flashed back to my own truck’s checkered past, the encounters with submerged logs, mud, boulders, and precipices that didn’t always end well. “It’s a deal,” I said, handing her my credit card. An hour later later I arrived at my destination, one of those small towns ..read more
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Hunting the Silver Lining
Zenhunting
by zenhunter
3y ago
Ah, the fickleness of fowl. To be a waterfowl hunter means throwing many parties where the guests of honor are no-shows. After hours of planning, booking the venue, arranging the party favors, sending out invitations – a large amount of effort and expense – you are too often sitting there alone, looking around, checking the clock until you finally realize: they’re not coming. Socialites and party planners would crumble. But we hunters bravely press on, undeterred. Of course, we shrug off the absence of ducks and geese and point to one good reason or another why getting up at 3am, driving for t ..read more
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Hunting Beaver Bay
Zenhunting
by zenhunter
3y ago
Sunrise on the bay The water was obsidian as we motored across the bay with Captain RJ Waldron at the helm on Wednesday morning. There were four of us hunters – Erin, Jimmy, me and my hunting partner, Tracey. Twenty minutes later we pulled up to a distant shore and offloaded ourselves and our gear. RJ and his first mate set about deploying the strings of diver decoys while we brushed up the portable blind. A short time later, shoot time was announced by distant gun fire. We didn’t have to wait long before our turn came; a black silhouette darted by low and from the left, and Erin and Jimmy e ..read more
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Grizzly Ranch
Zenhunting
by zenhunter
3y ago
There’s some debate whether or not Grizzly Bay and Grizzly Island were so named because of the bears that once roamed the area. Early documents show it instead as Grisly, suggesting other possible reasons for the name. My duck hunting season began this past Saturday at Grizzly Ranch, a former private duck club now belonging to California Waterfowl Association. I got to hunt this beautiful property thanks to CWA’s hunt program, when the hunt’s actual winner couldn’t go and so as runner-up I moved into the top slot. There were several sons and daughters with their fathers at the morning safety ..read more
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The Learning Curve
Zenhunting
by zenhunter
3y ago
  I remember my first hunt  like it was yesterday. Excited and bursting with anticipation, I knew I was in uncharted territory. While much of life had become routine and void of surprises, hunting promised adventure, unforgettable moments, amazing vistas, celebrations of successes and facing up to – and learning from – failures. It delivered all that and more, and to this day still does. Hunting really is the last frontier, the last link to our ancestors, the last gritty tactile experience in a world fast slipping into interactive this and virtual reality that, none of which are tru ..read more
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Outfitter Spam
Zenhunting
by zenhunter
3y ago
Zenhunting doesn’t accept advertising. Sometimes I’ll mention or link to a product or service that I have personally used and can vouch for. Bottom line is, this blog doesn’t take money to promote something. Never has, never will. And it will never promote something I don’t believe in. It was amusing at first when shady salesmen would try to sneak in plugs in the comments section. “Your blog story reminded me of the time I hunted with XXX outfitter at XXX Ranch…” or “I don’t know what kind of rifle you used on your hunt, but I just tested the new XXX custom rifle and it’s the best rifle…” Yeah ..read more
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The Company You Keep
Zenhunting
by zenhunter
3y ago
I hope the old saying you’re known by the company you keep is true, because Zenhunting.com is mingling with some big time hunting celebrities and websites these days. Targettamers.com just released their compendium of the top 59 hunting websites, and Zenhunting – last in the alphabetical order – got in right before they closed the door, at #59. It’s quite an honor to be in a pack with Bone Collector, Buck Commander, Pat and Nicole with Driven Hunter, the DU website, Field & Stream, Jim Shockey, Melissa Bachman, Mike Hanback, Outdoor Life, Realtree, and a lot of other great sites and person ..read more
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What Real Men Do
Zenhunting
by zenhunter
3y ago
My fiancée Danielle informed me recently that she had unfriended someone on Facebook because they’d posted something about how real men don’t kill wild things, they take pictures. That she was offended on my behalf – though I was not aware of the post, nor would I have cared one way or another about this guy’s opinion – is one of a thousand reasons why I love her. She has my back. But I think too, she’s learned a lot about why I hunt, witnessed all the conscientious effort that goes into it, and not least of all, tasted the savory, story-rich results. So, on her own, she knows that her former ..read more
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Hunting the Eagle
Zenhunting
by zenhunter
3y ago
Most everything that we do or that happens to us is the last link in a chain. Those links are often invisible until we get to the end of it, and then suddenly we can look back and see very clearly where the chain started and, depending on how it played out, whether it was heavy and rusted or a bright chrome steel. The first link in this chain was the California Waterfowl Association’s annual dinner and 70th anniversary celebration in Sacramento in August. The truth of it is, our main motivation for attending this particular dinner was that our good friend and neighbor, Tracy Fremd, was re ..read more
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