You recognize the spectacular beauty of Honey Lake Planation upon opening the door into the Pansy Poe Cottage and after those tentative steps into the softly lit passageway that whispers Southern secrets from the Gilded Age you happen to look toward the glow at the far end of the white bead-board living room, through the picture windows, surprised to see the pristine surface of Honey Lake shimmer in the Florida daylight.
Daniele Perazzi passed away at the top of his game. Only months before his death on November 7, 2012, his eponymous shotgun company swept the London Olympics with 12 out of 15 medals, including four gold — celebrating a lifetime of international victories that elevated the Perazzi marque to the highest rungs of performance and craftsmanship.
Since upland bird hunting is our primary activity, it’s a given that the six months of October through March are without a doubt the busiest ones of the year here at Joshua Creek Ranch. The season begins in October at a gentle pace and continuously accelerates to breakneck, full throttle, race pace in January, February and March. I think the closing of whitetail deer season in early January, followed by the closing of the bobwhite quail season in late February, contributes largely to the increase in the demand for preserve hunting of upland birds the first three months of each New Year. By March, it’s the only hunting that’s left for the avid shotgunning enthusiast.
On a brilliant autumn afternoon, a helicopter packed with oil men from Texas and Mexico touched down on a grassy field at Joshua Creek Ranch. With rotors revolving overhead, they filed out toward an idling SUV and three minutes later the contingent occupied a table on the limestone patio in the shade of a magnificent 400-year-old oak tree, the rush of the Guadalupe River rising from below, enjoying a hearty lunch and talking business.
I love getting a limit of ducks.
Don’t get me wrong – I’m not going to cry if I go home with fewer than seven. Some days I just don’t get the chance to kill that many. Other days I couldn’t hit a decoy, much less a speeding teal. But seven feels like an affirmation of my skills, which still matters to me in my seventh season as a hunter.
Dog trainer extraordinaire Robert Milner wants to ask sportsmen a personal question: Would you discipline your own children with a shock collar?
They looked out of place in the rack – that pair of side-by-side shotgun barrels there amidst those belonging to single-barreled pumps and autoloaders, a bolt-action rifle or two, and a few “black guns” that I couldn’t identify.
As we enter a NEW YEAR, I remember a few years back, as a middle-aged adult, commenting to my dad about how fast time was passing. His response was, “Honey, you haven’t seen anything yet. When you get to be my age, time is avalanche speed!” Well, I’m not yet to the age Dad was then, but time around Joshua Creek Ranch seems to be accelerating more rapidly with each passing year.
For my first six seasons as a duck hunter, my hunting was limited by two things: no dog, and no boat.
No dog means I need to be really careful about where I drop my ducks, because I can’t count on a canine’s superior sense of small to help me get that duck if it falls in thick cover. I’m OK with that tradeoff because I have neither the time nor the money to invest in a well-trained dog.
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