The NCPHA held it's annual group hunt last Saturday, in Granville County, NC.

Chuck, Jerry, Mike, Dave and I met at 6:30 and stood around for a while to see if anyone else was going to show up. The temperature being somewhat south of 30 degrees, we did not wait too darn long.

Our first stop was outside of Butner, on the gamelands right next to the NC State cattle farm.

Hiking in. Gamelands on left, ranch on right:



The last time Chuck and I were here, about 200 crows flew back and forth over our heads the whole time we were there, apparently because they love cattle byproducts so much, so we were confident that we were in for a big shoot.

We set up in two rows of slash, with the decoy and callers between them.

This is about as close to a perfect setup as you can get. We would have them in a crossfire in the middle, and could also pick them off whichever direction they decided to scatter in:


Well the best laid plans of mice and men go oft astray. We had one lonely crow fly over at about 10,000 feet, but that was all. Luckily Jerry did not keel over on the rather long hike in and out; he was hospitalized with a heart condition a few days earlier. Talk about a dedicated hunter! No excuses for you all next year after his example.

We did manage to call some in on the way out; Mike scored his first bogie, and Chuck downed a 12 point branch.

Mike's first confirmed crow kill:


Chuck's trophy White Maple:



We headed on down the road to brickhouse. We got some shots off, but I don't think anybody got one here.

The wives can't not text us, even when hunting:



At our next stop, we surprised a young man sitting in his car, who suspiciously sped off as soon as we pulled up. Not sure what was up with that.

Well, ok, this bunch could scare off just about anybody:



After a light lunch at Bojangle's, we hit the trail again.

Chuck brought some decoys this time:


No luck there. We're Running and Gunning so off we go.

Hiking out of anther stand. Can you tell which one is our Fearless Leader?



Another stop, another dead bird.

Chuck dusts another one:


Our last stop of the day. It's getting late, so Chuck decides to call us in a couple of song dogs. We set up with a pond at our backs, and a landfill on the other side of the woods in front of us.

After 10 minutes, the tan clump of grass I had been staring at starting looking suspiciously doggy. After 15 minutes, I thought I saw legs on it. After 20 minutes, I thought I saw it raise it's head. After 25 minutes, the light changed and it became a clump of grass again. The mind is a terrible thing to waste.

The pond:


It was about 4:00 by then, and we had hiked several miles, so we decided to call it a day. We shot some birds and swapped some stories and had some great fellowship on a beautiful Carolina Saturday in February. Try and make it next year! This is what the NCPHA is all about.

Jerry, Chuck, Mike, and Dave


Thanks for reading!

Jon