Back to the Desert

Well i forgot the camera again.. but lucky for me my brother did not.. it was cold out there in the morning.. it was 29 deg. for the low and by noon it was up to 70... The quail were thick and my shooting was not on target. I started out very good and finished with a whimper.. I knew it was time to quit when i shot at bird going away, nailed it, it dropped, we all saw it laying on the sand only to see it jump up and take off running. It was running so fast that you could see dust being kicked up behind it... I was gone.. I am sure the coyotes ate well that night. Cody wanted to bring his 17 cal. riffle that he won last summer to shoot jack rabbits.. I told him that we do not just shoot things to kill them. We eat what shoot. well late morning he spied a rabbit and shot it... number 1... he carried it back and we cleaned it and put it on ice... about an hour later i told him he could take one more.. so he did.. again another cleaning and on ice... the jack rabbits are very good sized here.. Well it had been a very long time since i had rabbit so i soaked in a brine overnite then marinade the next nite and a slow cook on the BBQ the next. WOW it was fantastic.. Cody likes it better than Quail and i was quite surprised with the mild flavor as in the lack of gamy taste. Would i bag a few more next time Yes in fact i leave tonite to do it again.. Quail season closes Sunday the 27th... so its my last hunt for the season... Now Cody get one more hunt. He put a reservation card in for the Youth Waterfowl hunt and he got drawn number 2... very good he should be getting a good blind. The Youth hunt is for kids 15 years and younger. It is a week after the season closes so the birds have settled down and only the kids get to hunt. I get to be bird dog, caller and decoy set up and take down.. more on this after next Saturday..... i will not forget the camera.. well i do have one pic of Cody with a Jack Rabbit and one of me and a final bird..