After Fridays very frustrating hunt, Sunday, I headed to the big salty water. The new boat works great and gave me the confidence to head to a spot farther away from the ramp that I would go in my old jon boat.
There were a lot of birds around, mainly redheads and great scaup. But they just werent flying that great. It was relatively warm and little wind. Plus I think they are feeding under the very bright moon we have right now. So, it was a slow but rewarding day. I almost had a limit of divers:
Sunrise over the decoys:
View attachment sunrise01-15-12.jpg
A nice hen greater:
View attachment hengreater01-15-12.jpg
A drake buffie that came over the decoys at 100mph. One shot and one "golden bb" is all it took:
View attachment buffie01-15-12.jpg
The days take:
View attachment daysbag01-15-12.jpg
All the birds came in as singles except one group of 3 redheads I got the hen out of. Killed almost (see below) every bird over the decoys except the other two redheads in that group.
The most frustrating part of the day came at the end. I had my scaup and redheads and needed one buffie drake to finish. Well, i'm watching low for buffies when two big ducks come in high between me & the sun, right over the decoys. I couldnt see the colors and expecting them to be redheads or scaup, I didnt get up or shoulder the gun. They suddenly made a turn and immediately I could see their profile: PINTAILS DRAKES!!! By time I could react, they caught the wind and side-slipped out of the decoys only to land 60 yards away and started feeding! I watched them through the binos, both were full plumage drakes. I still want to cry for not getting off a shot! I know where I will be next weekend if the wind is right. And I will have my 4 pintail decoys with me.
There were a lot of birds around, mainly redheads and great scaup. But they just werent flying that great. It was relatively warm and little wind. Plus I think they are feeding under the very bright moon we have right now. So, it was a slow but rewarding day. I almost had a limit of divers:
Sunrise over the decoys:
View attachment sunrise01-15-12.jpg
A nice hen greater:
View attachment hengreater01-15-12.jpg
A drake buffie that came over the decoys at 100mph. One shot and one "golden bb" is all it took:
View attachment buffie01-15-12.jpg
The days take:
View attachment daysbag01-15-12.jpg
All the birds came in as singles except one group of 3 redheads I got the hen out of. Killed almost (see below) every bird over the decoys except the other two redheads in that group.
The most frustrating part of the day came at the end. I had my scaup and redheads and needed one buffie drake to finish. Well, i'm watching low for buffies when two big ducks come in high between me & the sun, right over the decoys. I couldnt see the colors and expecting them to be redheads or scaup, I didnt get up or shoulder the gun. They suddenly made a turn and immediately I could see their profile: PINTAILS DRAKES!!! By time I could react, they caught the wind and side-slipped out of the decoys only to land 60 yards away and started feeding! I watched them through the binos, both were full plumage drakes. I still want to cry for not getting off a shot! I know where I will be next weekend if the wind is right. And I will have my 4 pintail decoys with me.
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