[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]

Dumb luck?

I was walking into a bright sun and the wind was tossing the trees, so I never heard it launch and only just saw the wing movement as it flew down the trail. The shot was instinctive and long (~30-yards & with the tube full of 8's, not the 6's). When it fell I was surprised, as the mount seemed awkward and uncertain. Saw just one other bird off the trail to my right (didn't hear it either) that beat me to the thick cover (Jack Pine) before I could even mount the gun. Tough sledding so-far up here this year, so every bird counts double it seems.