Late Opening Day

We didn't make this duck season's opening day last
weekend because the trailer lights were kaput and
there were no ducks anyway.

Still, today was Thanksgiving, Stuart's birthday,
and the trailer lights were fixed.  We headed
out to a faithful spot.  Unfortunately, there wasn't
enough water in the St. Johns to let even a
mud boat get where we needed to go.  I
decided to hunt a pot hole that still had
water.

We set up easily on the bank and parked
the boat on a sand bar off the river.
The morning was cool and foggy, but
was going to end up sunny and warm.
We were hunting off of a point which
tends to be a good idea, the sun was at
our back (after a bit of meandering with
the GPS to establish directions), but there
was no wind.

Shooting time came and went with no
sight or sound of ducks, but we did hear
a large splash on the bank between the
blind and the boat.  Later, we saw the
eyes of a gator floating beside the decoys.
I wasn't sure how big a gator it could be
because the water wasn't that deep.  When
the nose of the gator popped up, we realized
it was bigger than I wanted to tangle with.
I wondered what it was doing when it
I saw a flash of white.  A bird floated to
the surface.  The gator repositioned it,
grabbed it, and sank again.  The original
splash must have been the gator taking
a shore bird off of the bank.  Makes one
nervous about walking along the edge
of the water.

I finally got tired of waiting and hit
my favorite Duck Commander call.
A few moments later, I heard Jim jump
up and shoot. Stuart must have shot too,
but I didn't really perceive his shots.  I saw
two mottled ducks in front of me.  I chose
the farther one and dropped it.

That turned out to be the only duck.
A wandering snipe came through and
I added that to the bag.  It was a
successful, but slow and boring day.

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