Fog Hunt

Decided to hunt the WMA today as a
walkon since I got shut out on the
permits. I found out that UFTarpon
had a permit and I asked him if I
could join his party. Fortunately,
he had an open spot. Things were
crowded enough this morning that
they actually had to turn folks
away.

We ended up with the exact spot
that UFTarpon wanted. It turned
out to be a great spot. But, it
was going to be a hard hunt. Heavy
fog started rolling in right before
we headed out to our draw. To
make matters worse, the bulb on my
headlight went out. I've had fog
hunts so bad that I couldn't find
my decoys after I put them out. To
be without any light was going to
be tough.

UFTarpon was hunting with Ironeyes
(both members of the A-Team). He
also invited Matt the WMA intern
to join us. UFT and IE had a canoe
and would hunt a pond on the east.
Matt and I would hunt the northwest
corner. We would be just south of
Bandit1 and his party.

The odd thing was that the lack of
a light (Matt didn't have one either)
actually worked out well. We were
able to see the water and the
reed/para grass islands we would use
for cover. I tossed out only 6
decoys since we figured we would
have to move once the light was better
to wherever the ducks were working.

Shooting time came and went without
much action on our part. When ducks
came through, they burst out of the
fog and were out of range by the time
I picked them up. Finally, a pair came
in on my left. A dropped two hen gwts
for a nice, true double. Then things
went cold for us. The guys behind us
just to our north were shooting a bunch
and I thought we might be too close to
them and the area just to the south
looked pretty good. We pulled up stakes
and moved.

As we waded over, the water got shallower
and we found a nice reed island big enough
that Matt could hunt the west and I the east.
I tossed out decoys for him and headed over
to where I would set up. As I got there, two
big ducks took off and flew toward the guys
to our north. They fired at them but missed
and they turned back right over me. Three
shots and I got the nicest drake bull sprig
pintail I ever shot. He was a definite mount
candidate. Unfortunately, he proved next
to impossible to kill. One pellet had gone
through his head, but he just wouldn't die.
I tried all day long to finish him off in a
way that wouldn't mess up the feathers, but
had to give up and whack him good. Oh well,
they eat well.

I finally got decoys out and got set up just
in time to shoot another hen gwt. She was
crippled and landed in a small para grass
clump. I sloshed over there, saw a piece
of grass move, and fired there. I ended
up with a nice retrieve.

The day finished up with another double.
This time it was a drake hen bwt pair.

Here's Mr. Bull Sprig



ofs