Dropping like ducks...Chesapeake Bay Report

[Steve Steffy]

"Dropping like ducks" That actually refers to guys that were scheduled to join us on this hunt. Gene Rhoades was pulled for jury duty and couldn't make the trip down at all. Then on day one of the hunt Tom Hickman got stuck in the tidal mud flat and the wind pushed his boat into him knocking him over into the mud. Unfortunately, this aggravated his back that he has had surgery on numerous times. He departed on Friday to see his doctor, but not before at least one day of hunting with Darin Clark, his golden Luke, and myself. Here we are on day one...my boat is the foreground, Tom is in the middle, and Darin and Luke are at the top.

Here's a better shot of Darin and Luke in the new Zack Taylor Wigeon that Darin made himself. Note to self, I have to collaborate with my seamstress (wife) to make one of those little pop up tents for my Lab Maxx next season.

It really does pay to keep a close eye on an outgoing tide. This picture was actually take about two hours prior to low tide. We managed to free up all of the boats from the tidal muck and paddle / pole our way back into the main channel. But man that took some effort!

We decided to move from one shallow area to another and ended up walking our boats out to the main channel from this spot. Thank goodness for hard pack sand! Darin, Luke and Tom with my boat in the foreground...Kind of like a wagon train, only with sneakboats. Honest guys, there were ducks here last season. Quit looking at me like that!

Here's a shot of one of Darin's hand carved buffy blocks...and unseasonably warm temps. Those are all seagulls and shorebirds on the far shore.

Jersey Boy arrived from Long Island on day two of our hunt and was deployed immediately....more unseasonably warm temps and no ducks to be found.

Here's Jersey Boy Resting up after dancing on the water for a spell...

And one last shot on the last day of our hunt. Please note, no ducks were harmed (with the exception of one solo bufflehead) in the making of this adventure. No really, we hunted for three days and harvested one bufflehead. I guess you can't shoot what isn't there. Darin and I did some extensive scouting on the last day trying to locate ducks somewhere...anywhere, they simply weren't present. The reason you see mostly buffleheads in the pictures is that is about the only species of duck we saw anywhere other than a handful of blacks. We had a great time down there either way, I know I did, and I think the other guys did as well. We will certainly be pushing our annual pilgrimage back into January when we normally go. There's a far better chance the ducks will be there with us later in the season. Time to work on the duckboats now and get them ready for next year.

Steve

 

[Tom Hickman]

Steve, I could not have described that hunt any better than you have stated !!! I want to thank you and Darin for a great adventure even though it was cut short for me. Hopefully we can do this again next year, I really enjoyed the experience. These pictures are beautiful, great job ! Tom

 

[Al Hansen]

Steve,
That was a wonderful story and I sure enjoyed the pictures that went with it. Thank you.
Al

 

[Bill Burkett]

Another marvelous photo essay! The marsh and the sky and the boats and the good companionship...ducks?They'll come around again, but it sounds like a great hunt anyway. It's why we call it duck hunting and not duck shooting. And the decoys! What a nice closing shot of that widgeon. Hope your partner's back survives the ordeal so he can get back out among. As for jury duty? In duck season? There ought to be a special exemption for duck hunters! Wonder if you just phoned in from the marsh and said my vote is guilty unless you let me serve one of the nine months YOU CAN'T HUNT DUCKS! Oughta get you dismissed for cause...cause the ducks won't wait!

 

[Gene R.]

Bill, Yes getting picked was not my idea of fun or perfect timing. But after listening too several B.S. excuses from other jurors given to the Judge as to why it was such a inconvenience to them. I then seen how they just passed the buck to other alternate jurors which I'm sure inconvenienced those people. They thought nothing of it as they walked out of court room smiling. A sense of civic duty came over me and I just sucked it up. I let Steve know I was going to have to cancel but texted and talked to him couple times a day to get updates.


Gene R.

 

[Bill Burkett]

Gene,
I admire your awakened sense of civic duty. The only time I got as far as a jury room, we got the big speech about how important we were to the process, etc etc...now sit on these hard benches and wait all day until a courtroom decides to call you. If we're so vital to the function, I inquired, where's the coffeepot? You can't drink coffee in here! Then I suppose doughnuts are out of the question? Sorry, where I come from when you're an important guest at least you get coffee...

Eventually I was seated. Two stellar citizens before the bar for making withdrawals from a local bank with firearms instead of pens. Soon as the defense found out I was employed by a law enforcement agency I was free as a bird and got my mid morning coffee after all. When I got older and was diagnosed with such severe sleep apnea that I could have slept tranquilly through Clarence Darrow expostulating at the monkey trial, I got a get out of jury hell free card...