Welcome to the Toolies!

Big Steven and I spent the better part of last weekend hunting out in the Salton Sea region of Southern California, at the Wister Unit.  We had a blast and brought home a few ducks…along with an egret Big Steven thought was a snipe.  Now, a few of you might be asking, “but, Big Steven didn’t really hit anything this time around,” and you’re right.  However, what you don’t realize is that Big Steven has a very specific range in which he is deadly accurate — unfortunately, that range is between 25 and 27 yards.  Anything less than that or further away and he misses…but if a bird flies into that 2 yard killing zone it’s dead.

With the aid of my son-in-law, we’ve put together the first in what I hope to be a long line of Hunting Sensei video episodes detailing our adventures in hunting. 

Once you’ve taken a gander at the video, feel free to drop us a line to let Big Steven and I know what you think.  Until next time, Happy Hunting!

-Steve D., the Hunting Sensei
http://www.huntingsensei.com

Welcome to the Toolies!

 Well, as I promised, here are a bunch of photos from our shoot on the opening day of duck season.  Big Steven and I were at the Wister Unit here in Southern California — and we’ll be back again this weekend (November 3, 2007).  I was finally able to get Big Steven to send the pictures over for us to post up here on the website.  We had a blast and are hoping to have photos and some video of this weekend.

Check out the pictures and let us know what you think! Read More »

Welcome to the Toolies!

I’m sure you’ll all be glad to know that Big Steven and I made it in at Wister for the opening of Duck Season here in Southern California.  We got in at about 9pm the night before and got our names in right away for the “hope and pray” line.  We finally made it out to our blind at about 7am on Saturday morning.  Not the optimal time for setup, but we were just thankful our number was called.  Read More »

Welcome to the Toolies!

Well, we may not have our reservations but Big Steven and I are heading out to Wister tonight to sleep in the truck, share some coffee, complain about the cold and to wait in the “hope and pray” line.  For those of you who are interested, we’ll be there at the Wister Unit of the Imperial Wildlife Area out at the Salton Sea.

Here is a brief explanation of the area, taken from the California Department of Fish & Game website: Read More »

Welcome to the Toolies!

Well, it is that time of year again and excitement is in the air.  That’s right, duck season opens here in Southern California this weekend on October 20th.  While I am excited that the season is just about upon us all once more, I am also more than a little annoyed.  You see, I usually go hunting in a group of at least 3 of us - myself, Big Steven and my buddy, Bob.  My wife, Gina goes from time to time as well. 

My frustration comes from us not having a reservation for the opener this year.  You see while I sent in my request on time (early even), neither one of my hunting partners got around to sending theirs in.  So, instead of having 3 chances at getting a reservation at our prime spot, we only wound up with 1 chance.  Unfortunately, that one chance turned in to no chance and we didn’t get pulled.  What that means is that we’ll be standing in the “hope and pray” line come Saturday.  This does not bode well for the beginning of the new season. Read More »

Welcome to the Toolies!

It’s not often I get excited but I am right now. You see, last year — back before I had even an inkling that I’d be doing this website — I wrote a short piece about the end of the hunting season for my friends and family. I emailed or mailed (yes, people still do that) it to everyone I knew and we all had a good smile over it. A few months ago I dusted it off and sent it to the folks at the California Waterfowl Association (of which I am a proud member). They got back to me and asked if they could publish it in the “Hunter’s News” section of their website. Needless to say I agreed. Read More »

Welcome to the Toolies!

One of the main reasons I started this website was because my son, Big Steven (who, I guarantee, you’ll be hearing a lot about as I write), became interested in shooting a couple of years ago. From there he started asking about my hunting trips with my cousin and his son. In spite of my warnings about having to wake up early, dealing with the cold, getting wet and not having access to comfortable places to do the squat and grunt (my son is one of the few people I know who seems to really enjoy sitting on the porcelin throne and who refuses to do so in public places), he convinced me to take him on a duck hunt back at the end of 2005. Even though he didn’t have the right equipment, he enjoyed the process enough to want to do it again…and to get the right gear next time. Read More »