No, that’s not a stuffed bird like my mom insisted. It’s as real as they get! Funny story behind it, too.
Long story condensed, my buddy has a chicken ranch near McConaughy. We were taking some birds out for the youth hunt the next day. I told him one got out going down the interstate, but he wouldn’t have it. Next day we hit Mac, drove 8 miles thru waves, then back 7 thru the same waves. 2 in the afternoon, here comes this bird strutting out to see what was going on. Near as I can tell, it was sucked into the boat and whipped behind a console where the wind commonly places things. He crawled up in the console, which I can guarantee, as my boxes show it, if you know what I mean. He hopped up on the gunwale, and I rushed for my camera, because I knew nobody would believe this. We were convinced he wasn’t going to make it, but he hopped and flew to shore and looked pretty lost on a sandy beach. Doubt that one will be topped anytime soon.
As for the fishing, it wasn’t too bad. Our biggest was 23″, and they were caught anywhere from 16-46 FOW. Ended with a few eaters but no hawgs like we were hoping for.