A day for the ladies

Troy Fields

Troy Fields

Well-known member

The morning started out at 7 degrees, four women of which two had never sea duck hunted before and all four had never hunted from a layout boat before. We motored out through the sea smoke to a spot I have hunted many times. With the layout deployed and decoy lines attached and anchored, we had three minutes to spare before legal shooting. It take long until a nice drake eider was on the water

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Then a hen was added to the collection.


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A beautiful morning in the making!

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Pearl was there in all her glory making new friends as she does with ease.

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And also keeping a watchful eye.

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All in all, a very memorable and one not to be soon forgotten.

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That is awesome Troy! How cool to see other women out there! Were they locals to the area?

Some great pictures too. How old is Pearl now?
 
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Hi Dani,

Yes, all local women who lived within about a 60 minute drive of the boat ramp. They are all part of a women's outdoor group here striving to do things mostly on their own and with their own, in a highly male dominated activity. I know a couple of them personally so I offered the hunt to them as an avenue to get them out sea ducking. One of the women is our states new Commissioner of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, and new to hunting, so it was nice to have her on the boat experiencing what we love. We all had a great morning and shared some stories and laughter.

Glad you enjoyed the pictures. Pearl will be 8 in Feb. and still as playful as a puppy.
 
Troy,

What incredible photos and a cool memorable experience for everybody. Those gals will never ever forget the adventure.

For Christ sake, I am up against it to just get one fat guy to go out and hunt, and here you get 4 ladies. My hat is off to you.



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Good morning Steve,

It was indeed a great morning. The layout boat is the X2 model made by Terry Rose, who owns Core Sound Layout Boats in NC. This is the third season that I have had it, not everyone wants to shoot from it so it is offered as a hunting style option for those who wish too. It's a very stable platform to gun from, plenty of foot room in the nose and because of the cockpit design, no need for a spray curtain. Mine came in at about 170lbs so very easy for two people to deploy and load after the hunt. It fits perfectly in the bow of my Duck Water which makes transport very easy.

Have a Merry Christmas and great 2020.

Troy
 
[size 4] Now, that was a great way to broaden "the commish's" perspective + surely being a great day for all involved.

Was Pearl picking up two at a time to keep time in the chilly water to a minimum?
 
Thanks Todd,

Glad you like the photos and I agree, very cool experience. I get more and more female hunters each season although this was the largest group to date.

Have a Merry Christmas and great 2020

Troy
 
Indeed Bob. It really was nice having her on board. Talked about some wildlife issues, but more importantly, we had time to get to know each other as people with our professions aside.

Pearl has not mastered the double retrieve yet. But when using the layout she can move about the big boat freely which helps. I do keep a very close eye on her and time exposed to the elements.

Merry Christmas and have a great 2020.

Troy
 
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Good for you Troy. Wonderful photos.

I'm curious about how you manage Pearl's exposure under those conditions. Do you dry her exposed parts off when she returns to the boat? Do you ever find the need to cover her with some sort of wrap between retrieves? Do you ever use heat in the boat for the dog? Does she live in the house?

I had a lab go hypothermic on me many years ago after multiple retrieves, and a long exposure to very cold water. I've been hyper vigilant ever since.

By-the-way, you Pearl reminds me very much of our female also named Pearl. She left us last summer at age 14. She was still hunting with me at age 12.

Matt
 
Hi Matt,

Glad you liked the pictures. Pearl does live in the house, she weighs about 65-68lbs and gets 3 cups of food per day. I do not feed her the mornings that we hunt so that her energy is spent working to keep her warm and not digesting breakfast. The usual feeding routine though is 1c@bfast and 2c@dinner. I do not dry her outer parts as I have been led to believe that doing so could drive the water deeper into the coat, not really sure. No heat of any kind on the boat. She does have a military coat with a wool liner that I use more as a wind breaker. The scenario yesterday was as follows. 7 degrees when we launched and the frost still building on the boat until well after sunrise. Water temp was 39 degrees, hence the sea smoke. It is hard to call a guided hunt short because the dog is cold so there are some days she doesn't come, other days she'll come but I won't allow her to retrieve unless the bird is where I can not get the boat in to, ie rocks or low tidal flats. Other days I'll bring and only allow her to retrieve the last hour or so knowing we'll be picking up soon. She'll be 8 in Feb and despite her being in very good shape, I do pay closer attention to her than I did a couple years ago. I seldom do multiple retrieves unless very close to the boat, within 30-40yds. Even then, probably not 3. In addition to the elements, I hunt some pretty strong tidal current which can pull a dead bird a long ways in a short time. She also needs to navigate through the longlines and droppers. My boat is always on the ready when she's in the water. She is great family member and loves to hunt so I try to do my part in keeping her safe while afield. I guided many years without a dog so making boat retrieves is second nature for me.

Merry Christmas and have a great 2020
 
Sounds like you're managing Pearl's exposure well Troy. Interesting comment about drying off her hair. I carry a car chamois in my bag. It is very absorbent, and works well for drying off. I just wring it out after it is saturated. I also discovered the S.U.G.A.R. coat a few years back http://thesugarcoat.com/SUGARCoat.aspx. It is made by a waterfowler from RI I believe. It's a fleece lined drape with magnets in the front for closure. It seems to work well to hold the heat in and block the wind after retrieving.

Wee also feed just a little in the morning, with the bulk at the end of the day.

Merry Christmas to you too.

Matt
 
Troy,
Beautiful morning on the water.

7 degrees and 170 pounds of layout boat.

Mmm. You must not qualify for "getting older."

What a great Christmas gift for them and for you.

Thanks for sharing,
Larry
 
That's really neat about the ladies being part of a group of just ladies. I haven't found anything like that down here. Is there a website to their group do you know?
 
Great pictures of the hunt and of Pearl. It was obvious that the ladies had a great time from the smiles on their faces. I was deer hunting near the coast recently and it was a balmy 15 degrees! I could hear the barages from the seaduck hunters, but I was glad I deer hunting--it's alot easier to stay warm off the water. I'll go for seaducks when it's closer to 32 degrees, but that wouldn't be likely to happen in Maine! Never minded the cold when I was younger, but it's harder to keep a body warm when it's 75 years old!
 
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