Where are the teal?

[skeet]

Hmmm. We may have to place a little wager on this if it'll make ya be there rain or shine. Say a buck a bird difference... But since Del and I don't really ever shoot sporting clays.... You'll have to spot us a few measly little birds...say about 8 or so? If I break 30 I'll be happy.

[DelDuck]

I'm still in, and I do hope it is going to be pretty nextweekend.

[fabsroman]

Skeet,

Now you are utterly hilarious. Not only are you a good shot, but you are a shark too. I saw you shoot what Petey and Ol'Spark were throwing and those didn't always look like skeet targets. I might have been born at night, but it wasn't last night. Sure I'll spot you 8 targets, as soon as we have 8 feet of snow in Maryland in July.

Okay, we are settled on November 6th. Now, how about a time? Does 11:00 a.m. sound okay. I have a two hour drive and I need my beauty sleep. Plus, it might be a little warmer at 11:00 versus 9:00. I did not see the range's hours on its website, but sent them an e-mail asking. Let me know what you guys think about the time.

[DelDuck]

11 works better for me.

[fabsroman]

11 works better for me too. So, 11 it is this Sunday. I am really looking forward to this.

I'll be the guy with the big grin in the clubhouse. All kidding aside, I'll probably be driving my tan 1998 Taurus with a Xport bike/travel rack on top. Kind of like a Yakima or Thule rack. Needed extra space for the decoys when I got the dog, for those occassions when I didn't want to drive the truck.

[DelDuck]

I don't know about who will have the grin there Fabs, I've been going to owens station everyday this week .

I'll be in a 04 F150 super crew with a cap on it all grey with a delaware beach tag and a roxana vol. fire co. tag on the front. I'll be the one walkin around the parkin lot like a lost puppy

[fabsroman]

Yeah, I've been working every day this week, so this will be a great break for me, and any bad day of shooting, fishing, or hunting is better than a good day in the office.

[DelDuck]

It has been rough this week , we have had no work.
so I just got 1 day in this week.

[skeet]

Fabs Delduck and I got together this Sunday. Fabs also brought his father. The man is a saint. I really don't know how he survived raising Fabs...hehehe!. seriously though we had a good time. It was a beautiful day and we shot a hundred birds on the sporting clays course at Pintail Point on the Eastern shore. Fabs shot good as did his dad. del and I did ok too. The Beretta Extrema Jay(Delduck) has really shoots good....but you ought to see the piece of JUNK Fabs brought. I almost thought he brought a Browning at first..but it was the other B gun...at least it wasn't Broken with a B. The highlight of MY day was the Pheasant(a real one) that Fabs missed. Really close too.25 yds. But I think he was thinking of the water that the pheasant was flying over. He really didn't want to get THAT wet! If he had his retriever with him I'm sure that bird woulda been toast. Fabs really is a good shot...especially for an attorney..and newly married. And don't listen to him when he says his father can't shoot. He really did quite well. I was thinking of getting fabs to go on a duck hunt with me down at Deal Island this year...but after seeing the way he shied away from going in the water for a bird....well I guess it'll just have to be Delduck and me. I really need a WELL TRAINED retriever Oh I'll bet I'm in for it now.

[DelDuck]

I'll retrieve birds for you anyday buddy. Yesterday was a real hoot, I had alot fun and it was great meeting Fabs and Skeeet. Don't let Skeet fool you guys I shoot poorly compared to these 2 sharks. They are both awsome shots on the sporting clays range. I think maybe with several years of practice I will become colse to them And I agree Fabs father is a saint to have raised that fellow.

I'll sneek away very quietly now.......

[fabsroman]

I was over my parents until late last night for the family dinner and then I watched the Redskins game with my dad. Otherwise, I would have posted first about yesterday.

I really had a great time too, as did my dad. I was really impressed with his shooting yesterday, and am wondering if it is just easier for him to pick up the targets in the wide open sky versus in the woods at the PG Trap & Skeet course. Then again, maybe it was because he didn't get much sleep the night before and he was working on auto pilot. He was out playing cards the night before and slept the entire ride home.

For those interested in scores, Skeet was the big wiener. Oh, I meant winner. He beat the second place guy by 2 birds.

Regarding the pheasant, I was about a mile behind that thing when I pulled the trigger. The waders and dog were about 70 miles away at home and since I just got over one heck of a cold (i.e., just finished up my antibiotics in the middle of last week), I decided to pass on having to retrieve the pheasant. It was pretty neat to see a pen raised pheasant flush that hard and that straight away with its head down. Most of the pen raised birds I have shot have flushed straight up.

My father raising me probably qualifies him for sainthood. However, if it doesn't, raising my two brothers and two sisters certainly does. He and I have had our moments over my 34 years, but he is still my best friend and always will be, and God help the person that talks bad about him in front of me.

When my sister and her boyfriend found out that we went to Pintail Pointe and didn't invite them, they were kind of pissed. However, my excuse was that I was shooting with some professionals and then I had to let them know that Greg, my sister's boyfriend, might have shot Skeet for flirting with my sister, or maybe my dad might have. LOL I really don't want to participate in a murder trial anytime soon.

All kidding aside, Skeet is really a people guy (i.e., he gets to know everybody). Or is it that he is a lady's man? Let me think, he talked to about 20 women yesterday and 2 or 3 guys. I'll let you guys make up your mind on that one, and don't believe him when he tells you it was me talking to all the women. LOL

It was also nice to see that many women out shooting yesterday. To keep our sport going, whether it be shooting or hunting, I think we need to introduce as many people as possible to it. It was also nice to see some kids out there shooting.

Del & Skeet, we should try to get together again. I've got two pretty good fields for resident geese, but sometimes they are hit or miss. I'll let you know if the geese start using them. One farm, about 200 acres, still has its corn up. My motto is, "Have guns, will travel." If you guys want to shoot clays again or go on a hunt together, just let me know. It is always a good time to hang out with light hearted, happy people, that know how to have a great time.

Rubicon, I'll invite you too. Hopefully, you won't be on call next time.

[rubicon]

Hey guys- Rub it in!!!!!- I spent Sunday on the dark side of the bridge at a nursing home with water pouring out of the bricks in the front of the building- maybe next time, sounds like you all had a great day though. Ill be heading to Deale Island this weekend. Fabs, you could a come down the road and got rusty to get that pheasant for you. Would a only taken about 10 mins each way.

[fabsroman]

I never assume that I can borrow anybody's dog, but I'll keep it in mind the next time I have a shot at a pheasant over water at Pintail Point. Seriously, when I started my swing I had the entire intention of killing that bird, but right as I was catching up to it I thought about the water and stopped the gun when I pulled the trigger. No sense killing game for nothing.

By the way, why is my side of the bridge termed the "Dark Side"? Skeet had been using that term on Sunday and now you are. We probably have more lights on this side of the bridge than you guys have over there. LOL

If I could make a living on the Eastern Shore and also convince the wife to move out there, I probably would. Heck, I have been looking at houses and property up in Washington County. I could sell this townhouse and buy a really nice house up there for just a little more than the sales price of this townhouse. Plus, I would be a lot closer to a couple farms I hunt up there. Then again, I would be a lot further from the Eastern Shore. Maybe Montgomery County is where I am going to have to stay (i.e., between all the good hunting spots).

[rubicon]

Fabs- Dark side has nothing to do with street lights- closest thing to a street light in my neighborhood is the beacon at Bloody Point lighthouse. When I started looking to buy a house I first thought about Calvert County ( have a son in Solomons) but didnt like the thought of route 4 which just keeps getting worse. Made a trip from the dark side to the right side of the bridge and put a deposit on this house one week later and closed three weeks later and I havent regretted it. Commute is 15 mins quicker than it was from Deale and no traffic lights. We have lawyers over here too. Greta Suskrin lives over here -but she commutes .

Skeet, I cant begin to imagine what it must have been like down at Deale Island. They say you could hunt anywhere around here until it started building up. Neighbor said his goose blind was his back porch for years. I lost the last place I had to hunt on the dark side this year. Farmer let a guy hunt and he fell out of a climber and is now suing the farmer so now not even the farmers family can hunt it.

[fabsroman]

Rubicon,

You have got to be kidding me about the hunter suing the farm owner. I cannot believe that one. First off, I cannot believe that the hunter even has a case against the landowner, especially if he didn't pay the landowner anything to hunt on the property. Even if the landowner were paid by the hunter, the landowner would not have a duty to the hunter other than letting him know about know dangers. I am praying that this is a lie by the landowner, because this really makes attorneys look bad. Plus, I have no idea why the farmer's family cannot hunt the land.

It sucks, but farmers and landowners should include a disclaimer in all permission forms. It really sucks nowadays where a person cannot get oral permission from a landowner because the law says so, and a landowner cannot give oral permission without worrying about being sued later (i.e., the farmer needs a permission form with a disclaimer/release in it. I have had a landowner ask me to put a Hold Harmless clause in my permission form, and I was more than glad to do it. The Maryland DNR should come up with a simple Hold Harmless permission form for the landowners and hunters to use. That will make everybody feel more comfortable about these things.

As far as the Dark Side reference is concerned, I understand the meaning. Kind of like the Dark Side of the Force in Star Wars. I hunted Deale Island once in my life about 9 years ago and it was pretty good back then. There were 4 of us and we split into two groups. The other two guys limited out and me and my hunting buddy got 2 ducks a piece. That was my first time hunting ducks with the intent of hunting them (i.e., I shot ducks before, but just because I got lucky while hunting other animals). That was the experience that really got me hooked.

As far as development is concerned, when I was younger my dad would always point out places that he hunted quail in PG County. I thought he was out of his mind because he was showing me parking lots at shopping centers or housing developments. I was too young to understand "progress".

As far as moving to the Eastern Shore, it would be tough for me because all of my clients are from around here. I would be driving a lot to see them and the drive from the Eastern Shore towards DC in the morning is pretty tough, not to mention the drive back in the afternoon. Right now, I am pretty close to the middle of the state and I have been in Court in Washington County, Frederick County, Montgomery County, Prince George's County, Anne Arundel County, Baltimore County, Baltimore City, Howard County, Calvert County and Charles County. Most of the small businesses that I am working with are located in Montgomery, Baltimore, and Prince George's County. At the end of the day, it would be easier for my wife to work as a pharmacist on the Eastern Shore than it would be for me to continue my practice. Heck, we were debating whether or not to move to North Carolina because they were offering $300,000 for pharmacists down there and a 5,000 sf house with a pool, 6 bedrooms, 5 baths, 6 acres, and a 2,500 sf separate garage (i.e., my dream garage) was only $600,000. I told the wife that I would be a stay at home daddy and take the kids hunting and fishing when they were old enough. The big problem is leaving my family and friends from this area.