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Do you have much current? Never gave quick release much thought until seeing 12-15" diameter snags and an old piling bobbing down river.

That is interesting, Brad. I had no idea it was so unique, rather, I just thought I'd been unlucky twice and better move along somewhere else. I was used to hearing about seals/sea lions taking hooked salmon from anglers so it didn't seem too much of a stretch that I might lose a duck to one.

Lost a pintail to an otter or seal, on two occasions. Hunting lower Columbia tidal marsh. Scratched my head the first time it happened, as I was sure I had killed both birds, but after picking up the first duck I turned to where the second should have been, maybe 15 yards away, and it was...

Bradden, what side of the state are you hunting? My wife is from the far eastern end. Try as I might, I just don't see where you'd find many birds around there. It's not in the cards at the moment, but if there was hope for duck hunting over there it sure would add to the urgency to relocate...

Larry, Thanks for the detailed reply. Was curious how fishy or marshy they might be given their habitat and diet but it sure sounds like a flavor I am compatible with. Having grown up in Michigan and also having lived along the Pacific flyway a couple years I can sympathize with the limited...

What does a clapper taste like? Inquiring minds want to know!

Rather than cast anything, I just tie up a sharp brick like a Christmas package with 550 cord. You won't hold more than a dozen decoys in a tide but that's about all I hunted with on a line anyway.

I'll take the rain any day. At least birds get up and move. I don't like hunting in clear skies. Brad, I hunted LCR with a kayak for a full season a few years ago before I had a boat. It was a blast. Paddle around the islands and get up in the shallows, sneak on birds, go as far as you were...

What a great list. Oregon's coast brought this amateur several firsts as well: northern shoveler, canvasback, widgeon, and pintail, just not birds I saw growing up very often in the places I hunted in Michigan. Not to mention ten foot tides and 5 foot a second currents, but with the finest...

Very cool photos. I miss living and hunting out west...a good day hunting in Centex is a slow day on the LCR.

I have a 1448 mod v with a 15hp Nissan. With a full load of decoys, plastic kayak, trolling motor battery, trolling motor and a second person it takes me a while to plane unless things are arranged very carefully. I'm 250 in gym clothes (although my height almost matches lol), kayak is 70...

Any time! Enjoy it. I've never fished the smallies but I've heard the fishery up in that neck of the woods is amazing. Don't be surprised if you aren't able to get many trout to bite on the Au Sable...they are fished hard and according a couple accomplished fly fishermen I know, it takes a...

I can't speak to the school district, but Gaylord has the stores and things you'll need beyond the basics which are easily available in town. Good bakery there in Grayling. Goodales? Can't remember. Grayling is a good little town and has grown up a fair amount while still having a small town...

Owned a cabin near Grayling for a few years and have trained at Camp Grayling for many years. What area are you looking in?

Not recently. I'd like to see a duck within shooting range in Texas... :-) Maybe next week.

Cool project. How far do you think you might be traveling on the marsh or in the lakes with it? Any idea what speed the boat would plane at in its original configuration? 850 pounds really is minimal weight given the capacity, that's equal to 4 people and a large cooler in the boat's original...

Todd, Thanks for sharing the journey! Interesting look into a place that we don't hear a lot about. Truth.

Congrats. One thing I have found that helps new hunters is to try to get them to a skeet field a couple times or at least some clays in the back yard working in to some crossing shots. Of course a bufflehead isn't an easy target to hit most of the time anyway...

Nice photos. Love the way the boat is grassed in. That is really a spectacular drake!

Did you muddy the water severely when setting up the decoys and getting into place? If so, that may have caused them to flare, as over the course of a season they might begin to associate a big circle of brown water against surrounding clear water with bad things(tm).. Other than that...