That's a Wrap!

Craig F

Craig F

Well-known member
Finished up the 2015-16 season this afternoon by myself on the salt marsh. With lackluster gunning the norm for most of the season I did not have high expectations, but wanted to get out one last time.

Got to enjoy a wonderful sunset and shot a nice pair of grey ducks over some of my father's custom gadwall decoys. A nice way to close out another season.

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Good way to end the season, if I don't get out tomorrow, I will have ended on a similar note.
Love the decoys!
 
Phil they are Ken Lion decoys, a good friend of my dad's. A lot of them stay on the mantle, but the gadwall get some use.
 
Good morning, Craig~

As always, great photos that stir the heart of this Long Island boy!

And, I never tire of looking at that sweet vessel of yours.

All the best,

SJS
 
Craig, each year I look forward to your duck season because I know I am in for a treat. Thanks for all the great pictures. Congratulations.
Al

By the way, that was one dandy shot of the gadwall dekes and ducks.
 
Craig: Agree with Al and SJS and all others, your season is a privilege for all of us and your pics of the salt marsh bring back so many great memories.
 
Thanks gents, that's very kind of you to say!

I have some more pictures and videos to work on to post in the near future hopefully. Didn't do as much video work this season as it was a grind and on the really good days I mainly focused on shooting something other than a camera instead.
 
Craig you always have the best camp jobs on your boats. After getting some use out of that boat how did it compare to your
Fricke? Handling rough bays?
 
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Charlie,

I can't take much credit for the camo job on the roy boat, it's the previous owner(s) handiwork. I did tweak it a little for the coastal gunning I do and was very pleased with how it blended for being 90% raffia. I try to conceal the boats as well as possible as I like decoying puddlers as close as I can. The best critique of a camo job is done by those South Jersey black ducks...

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I ran the boat in some sloppy conditions and it handled it much better than I anticipated. I never felt unsafe at anytime in it and ran it on a multitude of big water bays in the coastal zone. I'd probably still take my Fricke if it was super super nasty but I try not to put myself in those situations. Also we didn't get much ice this year and it's definitely not a boat I would be using to try to break serious ice. It handled the softer ice we got the past couple weeks just fine, but I kept my Fricke box ready until it was apparent we wouldn't be getting any major icing before the end of the season.
 
wow, what a camo job on a duck boat........very nice images and, not being too familiar with Gadwalls, I noticed how the bill colors vary between hen and drake ? on both the birds and those very fine decoys. It must be very rewarding to use a decoy that your father made.
sarge
 
Craig a few years back on New Years Eve, I was out on the river and there were ice flows while we were going out...On the way back the tide had changed and the ice flows ended up closing off at one of the river bends from shore to shore. I tried running into the ice but it was about 2 inches thick or more in some spots. I raised the bow up and rode up onto the ice and the boat broke down through it. I had to do that for about 100 or more yards. it took probably 45 minutes to get through that patch. When I got back to the ramp, I got under the trailer to look to see the damage...Only paint scrapes and a few cosmetic scratches... I was surprised as hell. These boats are made strong. I was expecting gouges down into the glass.
 
Charlie,

I can't take much credit for the camo job on the roy boat, it's the previous owner(s) handiwork. I did tweak it a little for the coastal gunning I do and was very pleased with how it blended for being 90% raffia. I try to conceal the boats as well as possible as I like decoying puddlers as close as I can. The best critique of a camo job is done by those South Jersey black ducks...

405FA4F1-B6A0-4491-AE80-A1E0E3BCD2F5.jpg


I ran the boat in some sloppy conditions and it handled it much better than I anticipated. I never felt unsafe at anytime in it and ran it on a multitude of big water bays in the coastal zone. I'd probably still take my Fricke if it was super super nasty but I try not to put myself in those situations. Also we didn't get much ice this year and it's definitely not a boat I would be using to try to break serious ice. It handled the softer ice we got the past couple weeks just fine, but I kept my Fricke box ready until it was apparent we wouldn't be getting any major icing before the end of the season.
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You're underestimating that boats capabilities LOL if I only had a go pro following me around you'd be in shock
 
Gadwalls hens have an orange-ish bill with black mottling. Some hens will have a bill that is almost all orange, others almost all black with just orange "lips". Lots of variation.
Drakes have a totally black bill.
They have a subtle beauty that is quite unique, IMO.
 
Gadwalls hens have an orange-ish bill with black mottling. Some hens will have a bill that is almost all orange, others almost all black with just orange "lips". Lots of variation.
Drakes have a totally black bill.
They have a subtle beauty that is quite unique, IMO.
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Carl I agree 100% about the subtle beauty of the gadwall. While a big drake canvasback may standout with his bold features or the small drake wood duck stands out with his stunning and complex paint scheme. Few ducks compare, while held in the hand, to the subtle yet unmatched beauty of the seemingly bland drake gadwall, drake black duck or even a well plumed hen mallard
 
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