Dénouement

My story this year is over. It wasn't
the conclusion I had hoped for but I've
had worse.

VanKirby hunted with me and kept the
day from being a complete duck skunk.

He took the pictures and wrote the
details.

ofs

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

Saturday Hunt

Hunted the River with Rob and MT. We
met at the Racetrack at 3:00AM and
hurried to the ramp. Once again,
we were the only people trying to
launch. And, once again, there
was a sacrificed rooster. Only
this time, there was no bad
juju. Whew!

It was a two hour plus trip on
the river. We made pretty good
time until we hit some pretty
heavy fog. I kept glued to the
gps while Rob manned the Qbeam.
He hasn't quite mastered the fine
art of not hitting his father in
the eyes with 3 million candlepower
beams. I about wrecked the boat
once. We ran aground a couple times
where the river had dropped off and
where I got off channel. Still we
got down to where I had seen birds
when Craig and I had scouted the
week before. I turned in a cut
early and beached the boat pretty
hard, but was within 2-300 yards
of where I wanted to be. We
decided to abandon the boat (it
definitely wasn't going anywhere)
and head out on the mudflats to
the pond I had mapped in.

We made three palmetto fan booths
and set up with the sun to our backs
about 20 feet from the water. There
was absolutely no other cover
around. We tossed the decoys out
but kept them close to shore. It
was ankle deep water.

Here's the boat camoed up in the
distance.



Here are the decoys. I put the coots
to the left as blockers and pinners
in the middle. The teal (out of
frame) were on the right.



I barely got set up and into my
blind for a little quiet time
before shooting time. MT whispered
that there were ducks landing in
the decoys. When shooting time
came, I told Rob and then stood
up to tell MT. Right as I spoke,
I heard a splash. I looked up
and a nice teal was in the middle
of the dekes and looking very
worried. I yelled, "Up duck" and
flushed him. Boom! and I had a
nice drake GWT. A bit later and
MT got a hen. Then it went
cold.

We were covered up in snipe, so
I went on walk about to see if
I could get a few of those. At
one point, I fired at a snipe
and then heard MT and Rob
blasting away. When I got back
with a snipe, I found that a
group of teal had landed just
out of range. When I fired,
they took off and flew right
by MT and Rob. MT got another
teal and Rob got his first
true double - a nice drake
hen pair.

I settled into my blind again.
A bit later a group of 20-30
teal landed way to our left
those were followed by a
second group. When a third
group started heading in, Rob
and I got on our whistles
and started peeping. The
teal turned and flew right
across the spread. MT and
I each knocked one down. I
had hopes for more teal, but
that was it for the day. I
managed to end the day with
another hen merganser. They
just look and fly too much
like ringers when you haven't
seen a lot of ringers in the
season.

Here we are picking up our blinds
and gear.



This is Rob in his blind. I
do love a palmetto fan for
brushing up.



This is Rob's gwt. Beautiful bird.
We almost mounted it, but it was still
a couple weeks shy of fully plumed.




ofs

Sharing the Wealth

I was 12th pick at the WMA. There are
supposed to be only 10 good spots. I
wasn't confident that there would be
at least two no-shows to move me up
in the draw. So, I was thrilled when
DuckTales PMed me that he was second
pick and had two open slots.
I asked him if he wouldn't mind
taking my two college boys and
giving them a better chance at the
birds. He said, "Sure." I would
then take Dave with me on our
draw. WooHoo! Things got
brighter all of a sudden.

Here are some shots Rob took of
the boys getting dressed in the
living room.

Dave Dressing


Craig Dressing


Rob Dressing


We always put our waders on at home
rather than risk putting a hole
in them on the marl parking lot
at the check station.

We met up with DuckTales and
his friend Harold at the check
station. DuckTales invited us
for breakfast too. Seems he
was going to get out to the marsh
fire up his grill and cook bacon
and eggs. I declined cause
Dave and I weren't sure how long of
a walk and wade we were looking
at in the AM (with the rain one
levee might have been closed to
vehicles). Rob and Craig took
him up.

Craig on the Levee


Rob on the Levee


Here is the impoundment that Rob
and Craig were hunting.



Loading up a lot of soggy gear at
the end.



Dave and I ended up with a short walk and
easy wade. We set up about 60 yards
apart on a couple of para grass islands.
There were teal hens all around and flying
over us. I didn't put a lot of decoys
out cause I thought we should wait for
the light and see if we were on the flight
path of the ducks. The morning was
intermittent, but light rain and light
winds. An okay hunt day.

I had no-fogged my glasses but by shooting
time, they were misted over again. I was
afraid to put down the gun and retreat my
lens. Bad move. I grannied my bifocals
down to the tip of my nose. The few early
shots I had were awry. I took a break
and sprayed the glasses. What a difference!

A big drake mottled duck flew high right
between us. He was quacking that ringing
drake call that says, "Hey baby, I'm lonely."
After he was passed, I hit him with the
Duck Commander's paralyzer and chop chop
calls. Mr. Drake turned on a dime, dropped
down, and came screaming back to us. I
had a bead on the bird, but didn't want
to Cheney Dave. He had the better angle
and BOOM - he had his first mottle duck.

One note on mottles, they are easy to knock
down, but hard to kill. He had a tough time
finishing off the bird.

A little later, Dave was on his whistle making
a pintail call. A big duck flew a little
off my left. I was very surprised to find
I had shot a big, drake pinner. No sprigs,
or it might have gone on the wall. As it
was, it gave me a mottle's load of trouble
to finish off too.

We spent the rest of the morning shooting
teal. I got four and Dave three. I finally
went on walk about to see what I could scare
up. I was hoping to flush a mottle for me.
I managed to flush a bunch, but too far
away for a decent shot. When I got back
to Dave, I found that he had picked up
all the decoys, taken down the palmettos,
and dragged the sled back to the levee.
When he came back to help me with my
stuff, he told me he had shot his first
pintail ever too. A two new species day
for him. He has really come alive this
year.

Rob and Craig were off by themselves.
DuckTales and Harold had gone to the
other end of the impoundment. The boys
did a little running and gunning and ended up
with 6 teal and a hen pinner.

It was an excellent day for the Clan.

Rob


Rob's Ducks


Craig


Craig's Ducks


Dave


Dave's Ducks


17 Ducks


Big Ducks



ofs

The Quickness of Youth

News Year's Day was a hunt day for
us. We went out to a spot we had
scouted last Friday. The area looked
promising. The weather was perfect,
the pond was so so, we were well
camoed up, but there were no
ducks. We saw a group of three
and a group of four that wouldn't
come anywhere near us.

Finally, I saw one coming in.
I could hear Craig ask if it
was a coot. I saw a white
breast on the bird and knew
it wasn't a coot. Then it dropped
some big ole' diver feet down
for a guided landing. Craig
and I both fired. Thankfully,
he was a split second faster
than I was. It wasn't a ringer.
Craig ended up with his first
hooded merganser and the mockery
that goes with it.

We finally gave up, did some scouting,
found a big group of teal for our
next hunt, and hit Snipe
City. It was loaded with really
antsy birds, but two of them
couldn't outfly #4 shot.

At least the day wasn't a total
waste.

ofs

Bad Ju Ju

Went scouting yesterday afternoon. We
saw a few ducks and found a couple nice
holes. I figured things would be mostly
okay. When we got back to the ramp,
I found the remains of a rooster that had
been sacrificed there the night before.
This must be a popular spot for Santeria,
cause we've found one there before.

Hey, I don't believe that stuff. How
could that hex my hunt? When I got
the kids up in the morning, my #4
boy said, "My stomach really hurts;
I don't think I can go." Fine, more
room in the boat for the rest of us,
I think.

Boys #1 and #2 and I got dressed,
ate breakfast, got our waders on and
started to put the guns and ammo
bags in the boat. That's when we
heard boy #4 ralphing up his guts.
SheWhoMustBeObeyed came out and
let it be known that she'd be really
bummed if I went hunting and left
her with Barfing Boy. So, we called
off the hunt.

ofs

Mr. Toad's Wild Ride (or Murphy's Law Strikes again)

Thursday, I went out with a friend
for a hunt out of his airboat in
Mary A. Things went fairly well
to start with. We got launched,
crossed the first airboat jump,
and tooled down C40 canal to
the levee crossing into Mary A.
This crossing is definitely
"unimproved." It was a high,
muddy run up and over a 20ft(?)
levee. I got off the boat and
waited on the top of the levee
as my friend got a good running
start. Almost at the apex of
the jump, he started sliding
sideways. The boat ended up
teetering precariously on the
edge of the levee. My friend
fell off and down the hill into
the thick para grass below.
I ran and grabbed the high
edge of the boat to keep it
from flipping over or sliding
down on top of him. Once he
was able to crawl up the hill,
we had to puzzle out how to
turn the airboat off. Finally,
I climbed up the edge and flipped
the three switches and shut it down.
Thankfully, two other airboaters
came down the canal. They helped
us push the bow around and slide
the boat back down the hill. My
friend fired up the boat, swung
it around, and came back up and
over the levee. Whew!

We got out in the marsh where he
had seen lots of teal the previous
day. We turned the boat off to
toss out the decoys. When we
went to fire up the airboat to
run it back in the reeds and hide
it, the engine wouldn't start.
Right then, another airboater
came by. We signaled to him, told
him our woes, and asked him to swing
by when he was done hunting. My
friend and I pushed the boat as
best we could up in the reeds and
tried to camo up. It was tough.
We did get a few shots. He and
I each killed a ringer. I also
lost one in the reeds.

When hunting was done the other
boat came back, helped us take the
starter and solenoid off, and loaded
us into an already full boat to
go back to the launching ramp. I
love instructions like, "If we
start taking on water, bail out."
We made it back, took the parts in,
got a replacement solenoid and a fix
to a starter cable connector.

Our rescuer was waiting at the ramp
when we got back. Took us out in the
marsh again, helped us reconnect
everything (not without incident),
and then had to hotwire the boat
to get it going (good thing he's
an LEO). We got out and back in
one piece. I then proceeded to
lose my car keys. I searched and
researched everywhere. Finally,
I had to call SWMBO. Right before
she arrived, I found the keys
where they were supposed to be and where
I had searched twice - the pocket of
my ammo bag. See doing the same thing
repeatedly hoping for a different
outcome sometimes doesn't prove
insanity.

I told my friend to buy a lottery ticket;
he's got some luck coming. And! I claim
to be a Calvinist.

ofs

Lonely Hunt

I was going to try a walk in at TMG
with Craig, but we decided to take the
boat out on the St. Johns and give that
a try. I've mumbled about the river dropping
before and I really wasn't sure where
to try. Craig and I had done some
scouting last Monday, but hadn't seen
any ducks. Still, I've had success
there this year and wanted to try
again.

We were the only boat at the ramp.
That's not a good sign. But, the
weather was perfect: blowing wind,
spitting rain, and darkly overcast.
Miserable is the best way to describe
it - almost ideal duck hunting
conditions.

We headed out on the river at a brisk
6 miles per hour. Craig manned the
Q-Beam and I kept my eye on the GPS.
I was torn between three different
spots. None of them seemed ideal.
I passed the first one because I didn't
have the side channel it was on in the
GPS. The third one I talked myself
out of because I didn't like the feel of
if (sort of a Gandolfian experience in
the Mines of Moria). So, we chose the
middle way (I am Anglican after all).

We ran the boat up in a little cut and I
went to find a spot. I found a little
pond surrounded by dry land. There was
a little clump of plants mostly stripped
clean by free ranging cattle. We put
the blind in there. Here's Craig putting
up his palmettos.



I loaded the far section of the pond with
coots and put teal and pinners up front.
I left a landing zone on the left that was
about a 20 yard shot. Here's the layout
from the blind.



We didn't get much action at first. But,
finally some bird flew in. It came in so
slow, that at first, I wasn't sure it was a duck.
When it put its feet down I changed my mind and
shot it. The day started with a nice hen pinner.

Craig and I decided that we couldn't shoot any thing
over our heads; the river was only 10 yards
behind us. Still, two blue wing teal came
from Craig's right straight over us. He
shot the one on the left cause it was the
safest shot. It landed in the river, but
we were able to easily retrieve it.

There were dozens of shore birds: white ibis,
glossy ibis, every variety of heron, even
more varieties of sand pipers, and rosette
spoonbills around us, but precious few ducks.
After a bit, 4 gwt landed 90 yards out on
the bank of a side channel. Their heads
were tantalizingly visible. We peeped softly
and did some mallard feed chuckles. After
10 or 15 minutes, they took off and flew to our
spread. I whispered to Craig that they were coming,
but he didn't hear me. I shot the drake and
two hens for my first true triple. Craig
got the other hen before it got away. A "Cut
'em all , Jack."

There were some other ducks - a flight of
mottles and some widgeons(?) that came by
but couldn't be tempted in range. I
finished the day with a stray hen gwt.

We killed every duck we had a shot at today.
A lot of fun.

Here's a shot looking back at the blind.



Here's what 8 palmetto fans will do. This is
a picture of Craig in the blind.



Here are some of the wild or not so wild
horses that wander the river. We scared
a herd of cows that swam the river in the
dark. Really neat.



Here's the final take:




ofs

Just Another Tuesday

Craig is back from Idaho and is trying
to adjust to the warmth, sun, and 3
hour time change. He and I went
scouting/snipe hunting on Monday.
He has lost none of his skill with
that stubby little o/u Beretta. He
got two snipe (with #4 shot no less)
and finished off a crippled blue wing
teal hen we found. I knew I'd have
my work cut out for my on Tuesday
when we went to Broadmoor for a hunt.

We had a special guest, Cannon, who
I met off the internet. It was his
first time hunting TMG/Broadmoor.
I'm guessing it won't be his last.
He took all of the following pictures
because he finished his limit way
before the rest of us were done
hunting. Never trust anyone who
says their shooting is only "fair."

The hunt was a very successful.
Cannon limited out early on teal.
Dave and Craig were both shooting
well, but the teal weren't quite
as willing to fly across in front
of them as they had been in the
same spot the week before. Maybe
the ducks remembered "death in
the para grass" at that spot.
Still, we were clicking along.

We ended up the day with 22 birds.
Cannon's 6 teal, Dave's four teal
and a ringer, Craig's 3 teal, 1
spooner, and 1 pinner. I had 4
teal, a spooner and a mottle.

We finished up with lunch at
Marsh Landing where we ate with,
Duckmanjr,
IronEyes,
TunaDuck,
UFTarpon,
and
SSPhone.
A lot of friendly kidding, good stories,
and really slow service.


Decoys spread


Cannon



Craig in the blind



ofs and Dave




Craig Retrieving



ofs and the boys



Cannon and the boys


My pic of all our ducks. Sadly, one of my drake
green wings disappeared between the check in stand
and home.





ofs

Tuesday Hunt

I had a draw at the Wildlife Management
Area today. I made a mistake with my entry
and got a Tuesday instead of a Saturday.
Originally, Dave and Jim were going to have
class and wouldn't make it, but their classes
were canceled and the hunt was on. We got
up on time, got to the check station, and waited
our draw. Jason C. didn't have a draw for
today, so we invited him to join us. Joe
Richter gave us valuable advice on what spot
to choose and off we went. It wasn't a hard
walk or a tough wade. We set up with lots
of time. Jason had a mojo and a bunch of
Herter's bwt decoys. I had my old Carrylites,
a bunch of coots, and my holy handgrenade
powered flashy wing wobble duck.

There were clouds of teal buzzing us in
the dark and flocks of whistling ducks
all around. It was exciting.

The action started fast and furious and
all teal all the time. We ended the
day with a limit for Jason and me, Dave's
first limit ever, and Jim's first green
wing teal ever. In all, we had 22 ducks.
What a day!

Weird Day

Per Van's request ... be careful
what you ask for:

Yesterday's second phase opener was
strange. The last weather forecast
I saw on Friday had the dreaded word
FOG in it. On a twisty river with
a million sub-channels, fog really
complicates things. But, I've had
some really good foggy day hunts too.
So, I went to bed hopeful.

I woke up at 1:30AM and checked emails
until 2:00AM when I got Dave and Jim
up. We were dressed and out the door
by 2:30AM. I got coffee at the RaceTrac
gas station (they must love it when
camo clad men come into their store
that early), and headed up I95. At
one point, I saw the car ahead swerve,
I should have paid more attention. I
hit the huge remains of a semi trailer
tire. It didn't seem to do any damage,
so I kept going. [Side note: It is
family tradition to call those Gila
monsters after my Mom's misidentification
of dozens of them on a cross desert
drive back in the early 50s.]

We got to the launching ramp. We were
the only boat. Last year, this was
the tell-tale sign that there were
no ducks. But, Friday I had scouted
and saw piles. I put Dave in the bow
with the Q-beam and I manned the tiller
with my GPS in hand. We averaged 4.5 MPH
as we navigated in what was indeed fog.
It was an odd fog because it only went
horizontally. Straight up, we could see
every star in the sky and dozens of
shooting stars. I tried to hug a
bank, cause it was the only way the
Q-beam could find anything. Once
Dave shined the roots of an over-
turned cypress tree. It was right
next to me and looked like some
critter about to come in the boat.
I jumped a little. We now call
that the El Chupacabra tree.
[It doesn't help that we listen to
Coast to Coast on hunt day drives.]

Somehow we made our lonely way up
river. When we finally neared our
spot, the banks were lit with
headlights from cars and trucks.
Someone had a way to get where
we wanted to be without a boat.
I got nervous that someone would
already be set up in out spot.
But, the other groups were
set up either well north or
south of us. And, our spot
was open.

We unloaded all our gear.
The river has fallen so much
over the last weeks that all
the cover was 100 feet back
of the water's edge. We
created our own cover with
palmetto fans on dry land. I
tossed out a pile of green
wing and blue wing teal and
a half dozen pintail decoys.

The boat I drove and dragged
about 300 yds away. I covered it
with some camo netting and
slogged back to the boys. Our
slow trip on the river had taken
almost two hours. Getting set
up had taken even more time.
When I finally got in my blind
and sat down, I only had 20
minutes to shooting time. As
we sat in the dark - Dave on
my left and Jim on my right -
we could hear birds land in
the water to the right of our
decoys. Other people must
have had birds land in their
decoys too - they started
shooting well before legal
light (6:34AM). Even if I had
wanted to start early, it was
still too dark for us to see
where the ducks were. Plus,
my glasses were too fogged
over from the humidity and
exertion I had put in so
far.

Finally, a bwt came flying
in on our right. Dave jumped
up and shot it. After a bit,
he did it again. Then again.
I got really nervous by then.
Jim and I'd had some shots, but
my shooting was stinking. I
was very happy to finally get
on the board with a teal for me.

One thing that helped was making
a decoy change. Every group of
teal had flown over a small circle
of water with a 30 foot diameter.
I moved all of the bwt decoys to
that hole. Now, when the teal came in,
they had to think about where to land
in that crowded spot. Never be afraid
to adjust decoys. Make a quick decision;
it may make your day.

The sun was well up by now and
the fog was gone. We heard
a boat pull up to the group of
hunters to our right. After a
bit, it pulled off and headed toward
us. The boat scared up three gwt.
They came on Dave's left. He
fired all three shots and clipped
one. It swung back around over us
and I finished if for him. I told
him to leave it, cause it hit the
water dead.

We sat back down and waited for the boat
to pass. It did, but I could see it
was a FWC officer. I stood up
and waved. Might as well be friendly,
cause he's going to check us anyway.
He pulled up south of us. I told
the boys to unload and I went to get
Dave's teal.

Officer Riley checked our shells
[must be steel shot], magazines
[plugged for two shells with one
in the chamber], ducks [less than
six ducks per hunter], and licenses
[hunting, wildlife management area,
Florida Waterfowl, HIP, hunter safety,
and Federal Waterfowl.] Jim forgot
his hunter safety card, but he doesn't
really need one. I was clean. But,
Dave didn't have his safety card and
he apparently didn't buy the right
licenses when he went to the county
extension office. I had never followed
up to back check him. Dave's failed life
of crime continues. The officer
was cool and only issued Dave a
warning. I appreciated the compliment
he payed us. He said, "I saw your
boat, and your fake ducks, but you
have really good camo; I didn't see
you at all."

As he sailed off, we headed back
into our palmetto fan blinds.
The sun was up, it was getting hot,
we'd had a brush with the law, but
we only had four ducks. SheWhoMustBeObeyed
and the three little kids were at Sea
World, so "On we hunt." That turned
out to be a good idea. Lots of boats
started working through the area.
That helped kick up some birds. Several
more small groups came through.
Dave shot a bwt over the dekes while
Jim and I were watching a larger
group working our way. At last,
a group of 8-10 teal came across
our decoys. Dave finally choked
but Jim knocked down a duck while
I hit a double. That turned out to
be the last of the day: eight teal -
all hens. Oops.

For the first time, Dave outshot me.
I hate children. Thus far,
Jim is tied with his entire last year
bag. I'm doing okay. And Dave seems
to have figured out the Mossburg 20.

We tried snipe hunting on the way
down river, but my reaction time
and #4 shot didn't connect. That
was the end of yesterday's adventure.

ofs

2nd Opening Day

Phase II of duck season starts tomorrow.
I went back to the St. Johns and scouted.
The ducks were fairly concentrated in
open, shallow water. It's going to be
very hard to get out to them and appear
like a normal part of the vegetation.
We've decided to use some milk crate
file boxes as seats. We'll jam some
palmettos in around us and hope the
teal don't think it looks too odd.

The weather is against us. The low
is forecast to be a scorching 61
degrees. Lest you think that's
an exaggeration, try slogging through
the mud in chest high waders at
that temperature. The river (see
link above) has fallen from 13
feet when we hunted 1st opening day
to 11.5 feet. The spot we had for
opening day is now a snipe bog.
I can't wait for this summer so
we can start work building some
layout boats. Those are the bee's
knees.

The river has dropped enough that
there are banks for the gators to
lay on. There were dozens and dozens.
As I went by in the boat, they would
slide, jump, splash into the river.
It was like a scene from the African
Queen. Very disconcerting. I hate
gators. But, tomorrow at 4:00 AM, I'll
step again into the tannic acid coloured
waters of the St. Johns.

As Joe Richter (duckmanjr) said, "You
gotta real hate ducks to do this."

ofs

The Barking Snipe

Went out to do a little scouting for the
next Saturday's second phase opener of
duck season. Did see one really large
group of bwts. I just sat in the boat
and glassed them for a while. It was
a ballet.

I was also out for some snipe hunting.
The wading and the hunting were hard,
but I managed 4 snipe. My shooting
wasn't the best, but I didn't have
any cripples and I didn't loose any.

Here's me with the take.



The one on the left was exceptionally
pretty. The photo doesn't do it
justice.



It was a lot of work for not much meat,
but snipe is really really tasty.



ofs

Last Hunt of First Phase

We had an awesome draw at the WMA. It
was a short walk and wade. The water
was puddle duck depth full of fall
panicum, millet, duckweed, smart
weed, and duck potato. Two different
people gave us pointers for where
to set up.

Unfortunately, two things worked against
us. The people to the west of us didn't
go to their spot; they set up right where
we wanted to be. The other is that the
ducks moved out with this last front.
We managed to squeak out four green
wing teal. The worst shot of the day
was on a group of a ringers that came
scorching right over us. I dropped two
of them. They turned out to be
XXXXXX XXXXXXXXX. The public humiliation
in front of my kids was painful. At
least, the "professional wildlife
biologist" hunting with us thought they
were ringers too. The awesome shot
of the day was on a pair of pintail.
the PWB spotted them, Jim hit the
pinner call, and they came right in.
I figured the PWB would take the lead bird.
The trail bird was a hen. I didn't want
to leave her lonely; so I yelled, "You
take the drake and I'll take the hen."
I heard him shoot and saw the duck fall
from the corner of my eye. My hen
started to climb straight up. I nailed
her and she started to fall so hard
and fast that I thought she might hit
Dave.



I hate being a hen killer, but that does
double my lifetime pintail take. Sadly,
the PWB's pinner was a hen too.

ofs

Tuesday Morning Hunt

Took the morning off and hunted with
MT and his friend at TMG.
We had 2N in Broadmoor. I didn't
have much patience and wasted too
many shots on ducks screaming by.
It didn't help that I got into some fire
ants and got all bit up. Fire ant
balls were all over the place. If
I hadn't run out of shells, I would
have gone all Duck Commander on them.



Finally, onsey twosey ducks started to
decoy - especially after I reduced the number
of decoys that I had out there. It's
weird to watch a teal fly across the
spread, duck his head, look over the
selection, and then fly on. I ended up
with four teal - two GWT and two BWT.
I also found out (when I crossed a
lateral ditch looking for a pintail
I crippled and lost) that my waders
leak. I slogged around with half
the marsh in my boots. It was
a painful wade out. Mike's friend
got bit on the eyelid by something
and was headed to the doctor.

Broadmoor is awesome though.

ofs

Opening Day II

Today was opening day. I went to bed nice
and early, but woke up at 11:30PM. I couldn't
get back to sleep so I read Calvin, did
a crossword, and checked the weather.

I got the boys up at 2:00AM. We ate and
dressed hurriedly, but still didn't manage
to leave the house until 2:45AM. The
drive was uneventful except for a SUV on
its side in the center median. There
were a bazillion cops around the wreck.

We were the third duck boat in line.
But quickly got launched and headed
South up river. This was the first
time I ever tried to navigate using
the GPS at night. We got turned around
thrice but managed to get back on track
each time.

We got to our spot and were initially
concerned about how much the water had
dropped over the last week. Not to
fear. The boat easily got in place.
The boys got the camo netting up while
I tossed the decoys out. I put
palmettos up and we settled in for
an hour wait. I sliced my shooting hand
up on the palmettos, but at least there
were no skeeters. Shooting time was 6:17AM.
One good sign, we saw a teal take off
when we pulled up with the boat. Only
problem was that we were shooting into
the sun.

Here's a picture of the hole. It looks
crowded with vegetation - and it was.
Smartweed, duck weed, and other weeds
were thick. But there were enough small
pockets to put the decoys. I put out
bwt, pintail, and coots.




This was the boat. It was really well
covered up. We had tons of birds (ibis,
caracaras, kingfishers, and bald eagles)
practically land on the boat. When I
made my first retrieve before the sun
was fully up, I could hardly find the
boat from 30 yards away.




We had an awesome morning. I dropped one
bird stone dead very early and left it
to lay, but after a pair of mottled ducks
came and only one left. I figured I'd
better retrieve my birds. While I was out
Dave shot a nice green wing teal and I got
it for him. Back in the boat, I couldn't
figure out what my duck was. It had a
slightly rounded, smallish head and a blue
bill. I kept thinking it might be a wigeon,
but I knew they had a white speculum. This
bird didn't. I got out my Ducks at a Distance
and found that it was indeed a hen wigeon.
A new specie for us.

The boys had several opportunities at mottled ducks,
one hen was 2 feet off the water 15 yards
away and they missed with all six shots.
How they can hit little bitty teal screaming
through the dekes and not hit a hanging
modu - I'll never understand. Of course,
I've done it occasionally myself.

My calling was really on today. I worked
my Duck Commander drake call and pulled in
several of the mottled attempts. The boys
had success on the teal with their whistles.

Dave got a bwt when a pair came in low and
fast straight at us. I tried to get a shot
off, but forgot to take the safety off
first - that's happened before.

I got a bwt in a longish shot it fell
into a side channel of the river. I
spotted it trying to hide in some coots.
When they took off it was left. I spent
two more shells on it and it dropped its
head and started swimming in circles. The
wade out to get it kept getting deeper and
deeper. Thankfully, it didn't top the waders
and I didn't "float my hat."

Jim got on the board when a large group
of bwt came at us and broke across. He
shot and I shot. I saw two ducks fall.
One Jim's and one mine. Jim's was a cripple.
When I finished it for him, I saw that he
had another duck dropped with it for a Rut
Double. Later when I was picking up the
decoys, I decided to take a pass through
the smartweed. I found a second one I
had shot for my Rut Double.

Back at the boat ramp, we had the best
haul of the day. A lot of the guys who
were hunting farther north were hampered
by guys having airboat races.

Here are my birds:




This is the whole take:




ofs

Opening Day

Saturday is opening day of duck season.
Getting ready is a challenge. Here's
my check off list

Decoys - repainted and restrung
Camo netting - bagged
Buckets filled
.....Water
.....Sweet and Salties
.....Bungwaden
.....Bungee cords
.....Flares
.....Whistle
.....Knife
.....Boat registration
.....Skeeter repellent
.....Decoy heart - new batteries
.....Binoculars
GPS - charged and tracked
QBeam - charged
Extra Gas
Shotguns - unloaded and cased
Ammo Bags filled:
.....Shells
.....Gloves
.....Neck Gaiter
.....Face Mask
.....Wader belt
.....Shell belt
.....Head Flashlight - new batteries
.....Copy of regulations
.....Copy of Ducks at a Distance
.....Slings
.....Duck Calls
.....Fire Extinguisher
Hunting License
Boat Plug
Waders
Boots
Gaiters
Camo clothing (and extra dry clothing)
Paddles
Push Poles
Boat Lights
Ropes
Anchor
Life Jackets
Palmetto Fans
Netting support poles
Cell Phone and carrier
OD Mats
Sunglasses
Boat Keys

And SheWhoMustBeObeyed wonders why I'm
tense.

ofs

Scouting Report

From Hwy 50 down to East Marsh, we
have scouted the St. Johns River
marsh. We found a few wads of
bwt but only about 35 ringers.
Actually thought we saw a true
black duck.

The St. Johns River is
dropping again after the rains
of early October built it up.
We are very concerned that any
hole we found on last Saturday's
scout may be dry by by this
Saturday - that's what happened
to us last year.

The spot I've picked should be
able to withstand some drop. If
not, I've got a fall back or two.
Though it is very hard to find
spots in the dark even with a GPS.
I'm sure the marsh will be packed.
I won't sleep much this week.

ofs

Early Teal (and Wood Duck)

This was one exhausting, but fun hunt.
Jim and Chris had two draws at TMG and
graciously offered to let us have one.
Dave wasn't feeling well and bailed out
on me, but my Jim came along.

Launching was a nightmare. Most of the
other hunters in the Goodwin Reservoir had
smaller boats or canoes. I had the big
boat. The problem was water level. Things
are way down. We got the boat in the canal
with a modicum of difficulty, but it didn't
want to start. Finally, it did. Once it
was running, I got it up to speed, went
down the canal, and hit the levee into
14W at speed. We got halfway across and
with Jim and Chris helping easily managed
to get into the impoundment.

The water in the impoundments is
very low and the hydrilla and spatterdock
are thick as peanut butter. But, my
Go-devil long tail cut through it with
ease.

We tossed out some teal and a couple of
pintails for decoys. The boat we wedged in
an island and camoed it up. I wasn't quite
back as far into the vegetation as I would
have liked, but we were where we were and
I didn't want to get out of the boat. The
reservoir holds far too many gators and it
was too hot to hope they might be sluggish
at all. I did get out to make retrieves
once the sun was up.

There were a lot of wood ducks flying,
but they were flaring off of us, but they
were flaring off of Jim and Chris too. I
just think they were skittish. I managed
to knock down two hen woodies. They were both
long retrieves and I was beat. We saw some
teal in distant groups, but they weren't
interested in us. Jim had some shots and
had almost gone through a whole shell belt
when a nice drake came from behind and
presented a tailing shot. It wasn't 'til
the third shot that he knocked it dead
from the sky. Once again, I had a long
wade through the weeds, but it was worth
it. Jim is continuing his late success
of last year and slowly regaining some of
his former shooting prowess. I was very
proud of him. And, not liking to walk
though gator infested water with a duck
in my hand, all I can say is "Happiness
is a duck in your waders."





Getting the boat back on the trailer
was a real effort and again, if it
weren't for Jim and Chris we might still
be trying to figure something out.

What a great day!

ofs

Early Teal

Early teal is just around the corner.
I can hardly wait. Boys 3 and 4 and
I went and biked TMG and Broadmoor
Marsh today. We only saw a handful
of teal, but the blackbellies are
back in force. Water levels are
critically low. I don't think my
big boat will be usable at all.
I talked to Mike about how things
are shaping up. They have lots
of areas chopped and prepped, but
getting water on them will be tricky.
Still, it was really good to be
back on the levees again.

ofs