Pete McMiller
Well-known member
when things don't really work out as planned?
I was in Kansas last week to spend Thanksgiving with two of my kids and my grandkids. I hunted in the mornings most days and even got a chance to take my 12 yo granddaughter out for pheasant. I had planned on heading back to Wisconsin this past Saturday but one look at the weather changed my mind - 35-40 mph winds from the NNW and above freezing. First, there is no way I'm driving 800 miles in that and secondly...........I just knew it was going to blow in some fresh birds.
Early Saturday I'm off for the 60 mile drive to Cheyenne Bottoms with the wind already at 20-25 mph. I get to the landing and I'M ALONE .......... what's up with that? Am I the only one who thinks this could be a banner day?
I get out to the spot I had been thinking about (after observing the bird movements on a previous day I had a pretty good idea) with a bit of difficulty due to the cross wind. I was 'almost' on the spot and only had to move about 50-60 yards once the birds started flying. Once there I was able to connect on a couple Widgeon, Blue Bill and a Shoveler. Unfortunately I had to race the wind to retrieve my birds as Otto was on injured reserve for the day and had been left home. Not an easy task in the winds - now at 40 MPH with gusts that almost blew me over.
Since changing to a SxS a few years ago I am conscious of my empty hulls and regardless of the ejectors in my gun always pull them out and stick them in my blind bag. I was doing this throughout the morning when I realized my forearm was rattling a bit and my ejectors weren't working. Upon examination I found that the forearm hanger had broken it's solder joints - oh crap. It's fixable but my gun is going to be out of commission for a few weeks.
So, now that my gun is broken and it's about noon anyway, I pick up my 13 decoys and start to head in. Now where I was at was about 1/2 mile I think from the landing on an east/west canal with a 40+mph cross wind. I soon found out that it is almost impossible to paddle a 70 lb poleboat in that kind of wind. Fortunately, the water in that pool is shallow, even in the canal it's only mid thigh and I walked/slogged the boat most of the way to the truck.
What a relief to finally get there. I pulled the skiff up into the parking area and started unloading it. After taking out some of the heavy stuff the wind was pushing boat around pretty good and at one point tried to push it over the cable that stretched around the parking area.
View attachment 112601951322[00].jpg
I'm thinking.............Oooo, this isn't going to be easy - trying to get this boat up on top of the truck alone. I have a canoe carrier type of thing with goal posts that fits into my receiver hitch so I can get the bow up and then normally just swivel the boat around to put the stern up on the racks. I had a heck of a time getting the bow up 'cause everytime I put it up in the air the wind tried to whip it right out of my hands. Finally I get the bow up and during a lull in the wind run around to the stern and spin it around and get the whole thing up on top of the truck. Oh crap, now what..................I'm holding on to the boat for dear life because of the wind but manage to get the straps over the boat from the upwind side and toss them over to the downwind side. As I'm running around to the upwind side to cinch them down tight the wind has a huge gust and flips the boat off the truck. I mean, this thing is a sail. The cinch straps unspool themselves (I hadn't started the cinching process) and the boat is airborne right off the truck. It gets tossed 10-15 feet and I can hear what happens even before I go around to look. It landed square on top of a 5 ft. tall, 6" diameter concrete filled steel post that you can see in the above pic.
As I am staring at my poor boat and dismissing the idea that maybe I can just leave it where it landed a pheasant hunter looking for local info drives up and helps me load the boat back up and holds it while I get it finally strapped down.
View attachment 112601951324[00].jpg
Am I done? Nope. I finally get in my truck and have a sandwich and a cup of tea. I start the truck and notice right in my line of sight a new chip in my windshield - stone chip or boat chip - it doesn't really matter does it?
The good news, it you can call it that is ........... I wasn't hurt, my gun will only cost about $100 to fix and since I built the boat..............I can fix it...........I think.
If you recall, I made this boat out of 4MM Okume and 3.25 oz glass to keep the weight down to 70 lbs. It has worked better than I anticipated but still no match for that post nor would it have survived any better had it been the 6MM. Oh well........it's only 'stuff'.
I was in Kansas last week to spend Thanksgiving with two of my kids and my grandkids. I hunted in the mornings most days and even got a chance to take my 12 yo granddaughter out for pheasant. I had planned on heading back to Wisconsin this past Saturday but one look at the weather changed my mind - 35-40 mph winds from the NNW and above freezing. First, there is no way I'm driving 800 miles in that and secondly...........I just knew it was going to blow in some fresh birds.
Early Saturday I'm off for the 60 mile drive to Cheyenne Bottoms with the wind already at 20-25 mph. I get to the landing and I'M ALONE .......... what's up with that? Am I the only one who thinks this could be a banner day?
I get out to the spot I had been thinking about (after observing the bird movements on a previous day I had a pretty good idea) with a bit of difficulty due to the cross wind. I was 'almost' on the spot and only had to move about 50-60 yards once the birds started flying. Once there I was able to connect on a couple Widgeon, Blue Bill and a Shoveler. Unfortunately I had to race the wind to retrieve my birds as Otto was on injured reserve for the day and had been left home. Not an easy task in the winds - now at 40 MPH with gusts that almost blew me over.
Since changing to a SxS a few years ago I am conscious of my empty hulls and regardless of the ejectors in my gun always pull them out and stick them in my blind bag. I was doing this throughout the morning when I realized my forearm was rattling a bit and my ejectors weren't working. Upon examination I found that the forearm hanger had broken it's solder joints - oh crap. It's fixable but my gun is going to be out of commission for a few weeks.
So, now that my gun is broken and it's about noon anyway, I pick up my 13 decoys and start to head in. Now where I was at was about 1/2 mile I think from the landing on an east/west canal with a 40+mph cross wind. I soon found out that it is almost impossible to paddle a 70 lb poleboat in that kind of wind. Fortunately, the water in that pool is shallow, even in the canal it's only mid thigh and I walked/slogged the boat most of the way to the truck.
What a relief to finally get there. I pulled the skiff up into the parking area and started unloading it. After taking out some of the heavy stuff the wind was pushing boat around pretty good and at one point tried to push it over the cable that stretched around the parking area.
View attachment 112601951322[00].jpg
I'm thinking.............Oooo, this isn't going to be easy - trying to get this boat up on top of the truck alone. I have a canoe carrier type of thing with goal posts that fits into my receiver hitch so I can get the bow up and then normally just swivel the boat around to put the stern up on the racks. I had a heck of a time getting the bow up 'cause everytime I put it up in the air the wind tried to whip it right out of my hands. Finally I get the bow up and during a lull in the wind run around to the stern and spin it around and get the whole thing up on top of the truck. Oh crap, now what..................I'm holding on to the boat for dear life because of the wind but manage to get the straps over the boat from the upwind side and toss them over to the downwind side. As I'm running around to the upwind side to cinch them down tight the wind has a huge gust and flips the boat off the truck. I mean, this thing is a sail. The cinch straps unspool themselves (I hadn't started the cinching process) and the boat is airborne right off the truck. It gets tossed 10-15 feet and I can hear what happens even before I go around to look. It landed square on top of a 5 ft. tall, 6" diameter concrete filled steel post that you can see in the above pic.
As I am staring at my poor boat and dismissing the idea that maybe I can just leave it where it landed a pheasant hunter looking for local info drives up and helps me load the boat back up and holds it while I get it finally strapped down.
View attachment 112601951324[00].jpg
Am I done? Nope. I finally get in my truck and have a sandwich and a cup of tea. I start the truck and notice right in my line of sight a new chip in my windshield - stone chip or boat chip - it doesn't really matter does it?
The good news, it you can call it that is ........... I wasn't hurt, my gun will only cost about $100 to fix and since I built the boat..............I can fix it...........I think.
If you recall, I made this boat out of 4MM Okume and 3.25 oz glass to keep the weight down to 70 lbs. It has worked better than I anticipated but still no match for that post nor would it have survived any better had it been the 6MM. Oh well........it's only 'stuff'.
