Bummer Hunt

Jenny got me up at 1:15 AM because her blood
sugar was low. I fed her, but stayed awake and
got ready to go hunting. I got Craig up a little
past two, we ate breakfast, and headed out. I
was leaving early to avoid the crushing rush
at the launching ramp. The vast emptiness
of the parking lot should have been my first
warning this morning that things were
amiss.

I had scouted last week and found that
Mud Lake was holding 2 to 300 green
wing teal. Today was my first time to
head south, up river, to find the lake in
the dark. I actually found it, but water
levels were down another six inches from
last week. Still we had a pretty good spot
to set up the boat blind. It was frustrating
that we got there two hours early and heard
no one else trying to find a spot. The river
was dead. I was so nervous that I twice took
out this years regulations to make sure today
was a hunt day.

When hunt time 6:34AM finally did roll around,
we didn't have any opportunities. Even more
annoying were all the flocks of sandpipers that
fly just enough like a teal to get your hopes up.
We stuck it out until 8 and then went snipe
hunting. We only managed one snipe a piece.
I'm bummed.

ofs