Finding pretty quickly how boring I am compared to most of you all.
My b day is always on or around opening day of duck hunting. My dad was rarely around for it, he and buddies would go the Mississippi river for opening day. They had a island they would bushwack every year and camp for 3 days. Opening morning they would kill their limit, eat it then go back out and kill a second limit. It would be where I legally hunted for the first time, it just happened that my 12 birthday fell on opening day. I am pretty sure I went through boxes of shells before I connected. That was a drake woodie that I ended up not finding because I was so excited to hit something. We didn't have a dog so I learned to watch them hit the water and hustle after it.
Fast forward 14 some years. My wife and I built a house, got married, went on a honeymoon and then the first week back we picked up our first dog Maxx. My name on most of these forums is still that across the internet. I had a lot of energy, time and want to make this dog great and she didn't disappoint at all. She was a bear to get through force fetching and it didn't help that I was green but after that she flew through training. We went on to run test through AKC senior hunter title, she was doing master level work. Then kids came and we just hunted when ever we could. She hunted 4-5 different states, duck, geese and pheasant. I don't think you could have picked a better first dog!
So this picture was taking in front of that same island that I started my hunting career. Not sure why but I have always loved it. We are on our 4th family dog right now and while they have all been great in their own way I am not sure if we will ever have one like Maxx! She was the best.