One Flu Over the Cuckoo's Nest

Yesterday, we were first pick in
the TMG draw.  We also didn't have
a single hunter in the house who
didn't have the flu.  Waste of a
good draw.

ofs

Variety - The Spice of Life

It was warm today, but the action we got
into made the day positively hot.

Dave and Jim took the van down to TMG
and camped overnight in the walk in line.
By the time the gates were opened, they
were #3 in line.  When Craig and I met
them at 4AM, we were looking at the
7th pick after the permit holders.  To
my surprise the same spot Jim and I
hunted a couple weeks back was
still open.  We jumped on it.

Our buddy Duckmanjr let us know that
the 4.5 inches of rain the previous week
had made the impoundment a skosh
deeper.  Where we had once had
a couple of inches to spare crossing
the lateral ditches, the water now
topped our waders.  Dave had chosen
to free wheel it and go without waders.
He made the wise move.  The rest of
us were just as soaked by the end of
the day, but we had the added burden
of trying to wade with half the marsh
in our waders.

Dave and I hunted together while Jim
and Craig moved further down.  By
8:30, Dave had 4 birds and I had 5.
Things had slowed down and we had
an awesome view of the impoundment.
Much further back, where the water
was shallower, we saw wad after wad
of ducks piling in.  We moved out there
and were covered up.  I rounded out my
limit and decided to go get Jim and Craig.

They started wading out and told me they
only had 4 birds.  I said that I would head
in and pick up gear and decoys while they
went out to join Dave.  In the next half hour,
Craig went from 1 bird to a limit using only
his O/U.  Jim's gun had picked up some
goo and was back to single shot status.

Somewhere in there, Dave finished his
limit and Jim chipped away at his until
he too had six birds.  I had finally slogged
my way back to the pickup and was dozing
in the bed when they finally stopped shooting.

This was our first four man limit as a Clan
and had - we think - the most species variety
of any single hunt:
2 scaup (really unusual bird in the marsh)
2 ringers
2 green wing teal (we got none last year)
2 spoonies
16 blue wing teal.

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Whack a Doodle

My friend and old Control's engineer, Mike U..

invited Jim and me to join him and his son at 

Broadmoor WMA for last Saturday's hunt.  

He had #4 pick.  At Broadmoor, that's a

guaranteed awesome draw if you know 

what the layout of the land looks like.

I got to the parking lot a few minutes late, but

immediately ran into Joe R.  As always, the

Mayor shared some really good G2.  When

the drawing time came, he put us on the

hot spot of hot spots.  

We met Mike and Josh at the stand and

then headed out together to our spot.  It's

been a while, but it felt really good to

be back at Broadmoor.  

Joe had told us to hunt the very east

side of our impoundment either in

the north or south corners. I told

Mike I wasn't sure I could make it

all the way to the north and he 

graciously agreed to let us hunt

the nearer spot.

Jim and I got in, crossed one

lateral ditch, and then sloshed

around a bit trying to find the

best spot with some cover.  We

finally backed up against the

reeds on the lateral ditch and 

tossed the decoys out close in

front of us in some really nice,

low feed.

After that, we sat and waited until

shooting time.  There were a 

bazillion ducks flying in from 

behind us.  If I hadn't had a hat

on, I imagine I'd have had a new

part.  They were low, fast, and

plentiful.

I could see Mike and Josh's lights

in front of us and was surprised to 

hear someone on a hen mallard

call just to our left.  What's worse is

how badly they were blowing the

call.  Turns out, it must have been

a real hen because there was no

place for a person to hide once the

sun came up.  If that's the best she

can do, she needs killin' before she

she screws up the gene pool.

I started off slow with my continuing

cycling problems but Jim had the

O/U banging them out.  He was 

several ducks ahead when my gun

started working better.  I eventually

caught up and passed him.  One

of my ducks he tracked down and

retrieved - dispatching it a la Duck

Commander.  Jim surprised me by

announcing that it had a band.  I

thought he was joking because a 

banded blue winged teal is pretty

rare. Most of the bands I have are

the local mottled or wood ducks

banded at the WMA.

Joe had counseled us to not "burn

out on teal, but wait for the big 

ducks."  I couldn't stop myself.

I had six and Jim five bwts when

a last flight of speedy ducks buzzed

us from our right shoulders.  Jim

fired and I knew he had hit a

drake ringer.  It kept flying 

about another hundred yards before

dropping hard with a big splash.

We both waded to get it, but I

played out and was pretty sure

I could see it dead in the water.

He got a really nice bird.

Mike and Josh weren't set up

quite as well, but they managed

7 nice birds.

We had a really good day.


ofs

Two Limits

Tw

Jim's Nice Drake Ringer

Here One Can See the Ringer's Ring 

Banded Aug 2012 in North Dakota

Opening Day 2012

Nothing like being fully prepared and well scouted in
anticipation of an awesome opening day only to find
that the mud motor has an oil leak. Fortunately, we
weren't planning a long trip in the morning (300 yards
at most).

Stu and I headed out early, but were surprised at the
number of boats that were already launched when we
got there. Three or four more boats showed up after
we were in the water. The quick trip was ... well ...
quick. We set up and waited. The Thermacell worked
awesomely and we had no problems.

There were ducks, but they came at a really odd angle -
directly towards the bow of the boat. I couldn't fire
without shooting over Stu's head. Also, I'm still having
cycling problems with the Baikal. If we had a decent
gunsmith in town, I'd have my three crippled shotguns
fixed and firing. As it is, we're limping through duck
season.

Most of the ducks that came to us were blue wing teal
and I doubled on a pair. We saw some woodies , but
they didn't even give us a look. A pair of mottles liked
my duck calling and circled us four or five times, but they
didn't like the spread and moved on. At least we're on the
board.

ofs

Hide in Highway Sight

ofs and Jones Hat