Beautiful Snowy late season hunt!

J

Joshua Riskin

New member
Today we had some weather come in while gunning out our Garvey just north west of Jones inlet. It was a beautiful morning, myself and the guys will remember this hunt for the rest of our lives. Snowflakes the size of half dollars dropped on us, a little bit of wind picked up but we held tight and had many birds come into into the decoys. Anything from mergansers, Brant, old squaw, a GIANT blue heron and a trio of whistling swans. Ultimately the patience did pay off and harvested a beautiful black duck. I?m sure many of you have had some memorable mornings just like this one! Myself and Peter Meyer JR, also a forum member would just like to share a few photos from today.
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There is nothing like a gunning trip on the marsh when it's snowing. Have only had a handful over the years, and they are all memorable. Great photos Josh.
 
Love those conditions but have to admit its a little more enjoyable sitting in a blind with a roof overhead! Hopefully if weatherman is right i,ll get a shot at that monday morning here on the E.S. of Md. Thats usually a Blk. Dk. kinda day.
 
roy brewington said:
Love those conditions but have to admit its a little more enjoyable sitting in a blind with a roof overhead! Hopefully if weatherman is right i,ll get a shot at that monday morning here on the E.S. of Md. Thats usually a Blk. Dk. kinda day.
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Looking like a nice Monday/Tuesday for us here on Long Island as well!
 
greg setter said:
There is nothing like a gunning trip on the marsh when it's snowing. Have only had a handful over the years, and they are all memorable. Great photos Josh.
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Thank you! Luckily it didn?t snow for too long and we were able to keep pretty dry!
 
Good morning, Joshua~


Garvey + Saltmarsh + Snow = The Stuff of Dreams for this old Long Islander! Congratulations to you all. I have encountered Whistling Swans only a few times whilst gunning - but they surely left indelible impressions.


All the best,


SJS

 
When I lived down in Ludington I used to pass shoot geese in the dunes along the Lake Michigan shoreline in very similar conditions. One trip I was watching a pod of over a thousand birds sitting offshore, waiting to establish a flight line to try and manuever my way to get in range. Out of the snow came a flock of swans, followed by another, then another. I never got a shot at those geese but sat for a handful of hours in the dune grass listening and watching one of the largest swan flights I have ever seen. Really impressive against that weather back-drop with such limited visibility.
 
Great stuff. Snow hunts are always my favorites. One of my most memorable was a hunt on the Maine coast with temps below 10 degrees, and predicted 2 inches of snow turned into almost a foot--most of which fell during the 3 hours were were hunting. We were surrounded by ducks, and could hear them all around us, but they couldn't find our decoys, and if they did, we couldn't see them past about 10 yards. No shots, ducks, memorable day.


James Woods said:
Good lord, you take me back to such mornings on the salt marsh-North Shore.
Thanks so much.
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I've got to pick your brains about North Shore ducks. My sister moved to Marblehead, and I often end up there for Thanksgiving or Christmas. Looks like lots of great habitat in the Ipswich, Parker River Refuge, Joppa Flats on the Merrimac, etc., but not knowing local rules and customs has made me hesitant to go exploring. I read the Parker Refuge hunting rules one year and could not begin to understand how I'd know whether I was following them if I took a canoe out into the marsh.
 
Only hunted in the snow once and was great. Would love to do it again but snow is rare now in Northeast NC.

Thanks for sharing those photos and hope you get another hunt in the snow.
 
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