Been So So Till Yesterday

P

Phil

Active member
Ended my season on a up note yesterday. I left my house at about 3:15 am and headed to the Cape Cod to meet up with Dave and Pete from Jersey to do a little sea duckin. They said it was better the day before because they had gotten some Geese, Brant and Black ducks to add to their bag but I wasn't complaining I was there for the Eiders anyway. We got our limit on Eiders and a Black duck for a bonus. It was a pretty cool set up, we had our 3 Estuarys tied up together in a little pool on the edge of a marsh. The tide wasn't perfect but it still worked out fine.

Pete's yellow Lab Winchester did a great job, she has to be one of the best behaved Labs I've ever had the pleasure to hunt with. She stood in the boat with Pete the hole time and never heard a peep out of her, wouldn't have know she was there till it was time for a retrieve.

Dave and Pete even made breakfast on the marsh. This was a first for me, ham eggs and hash browns, what more could I ask for. It sure beats smashed up donuts and crumbled up muffins. I definitely got to get myself one of those one burner stoves. Later on after they were done cooking they were using them for heaters and had to listen to Dave busting my ass on how warm he was and how much he was sweating. To tell you the truth I tried those toe warmers for the first time yesterday and they really work my feet never got cold that was a first also.
Here are a few photos from yesterdays hunt.
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Iron Chief has nothing on these guys
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Would you like a little Eider blood with your hash browns.
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Winnie at work!
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No, your not seeing double thats Winnie bring back 2 Eiders at once, she's no fool!
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Dave's Eider rig that he carved.
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Here is a magnum that my friend Gary Advadanian carved it's almost 2' long! That's a live hen behind him
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Here's a couple of a hungry immature with a mouth full, He wasn't 20' from us, didn't even know we were there.
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Back at the dock, a proud man stands over his fleet.
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Thanks again Dave and Pete for inviting me along.
 
Great shots of a Super hunt!

Not sure if I'd have the nerve to cook over my family jewels entombed in all those dried palm frond mats.

Thanks for sharing!
Scott
 
Now that is my idea of fun.

Good boats, a good dog, good hunting, good food and good comraderie.



Paul M - I'm getting ideas.........lol
 
Great pics and enjoyed the story! I've hunted eiders before but I always wondered about how they eat the mussels - do they smash em open in their bill? Must be pretty strong if so. 2' eider deke - that's great! Next will be a layout boat that looks like a drake.
 
A great write up and fantastic pictures. That sure looks like a unique way of duck hunting. Thanks for posting it. That fourth pic is a dandy.
Al
 
That looks like a great day afield.

John, I like it. Once we buy the boats all we need to do is get you more holidays. I already own a couple of small stoves.
 
Looks like you had a nice hunt. Glad to see the birds are still there. I can't wait for next week to head back up there to finish up the season.

Phil
 
Really a neat posting,

Those boats look top notch and the shots of the eider eating the shellfish are great..

I once shot a bluebill with a big clam clamped down on this toenail (bout 3 inches of clam).
 
I just got back from my father in-laws funeral services in Florida and figured I would reply to my last post.

Scott - When I showed my wife those pictures of them cooking, she thought the same thing. I don't think I'll be getting one of those stoves for my birthday.

Bill- I was watching them dive for them and they would come up with a cluster like the one in the photo. Then they would shake the hell out of them ,I'm guessing to get the mud off and maybe to get a just a single one left in their mouth then crush it.

Phil Eager- I'm sure the birds will still be around, I'd tell you where we were but Dave blind folded me on the way there, hehehe. To tell you the truth like I told Dave I couldn't find that place even if I wanted to.

All in all it was one of the best times I've had duck hunting , not for the bag but for the comraderie.
 
Hey Phil,

What camera package did you end up going with? Great photos, by the way.


Are we going to see you on February 5?




Nate
 
Great pics!
The more I see these Estuary's in action,the more i think I'll have to have one... one day.
 
We hunted that same spot this year with the Mighty Layout Boys that were in from Indiana. We too had a great hunt. That is what is great about those BBSB boats, we used ours as layouts in the middle of the bay or used like you did grassed up.....they are deadly.
Nice pictures, thanks for sharing!!
Jim/Fowlfishing
 
Hi Nate, I ended up with a Cannon XTI Rebel and I added an EF 70-300 IS USM lens. The IS is the key here it stands for image stabilizer. To be honest I'm really a rookie when it comes to these digital cameras, honestly I really don't know what I'm doing. Most of the time I have it set on auto so even I can't screw it up ( can you say user friendly). Someday when I figure it out maybe my wife will let me get one of those L lens like Gary March and Hitch uses but thats going to be way down the road.

About the DU dinner, highly unlikely, I forgot it's my wife's birthday. I new February 5th rang a bell. So good luck on the raffles and have a good time and think about me.
 
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