Ever have one of those days?

Huntindave McCann

Huntindave McCann

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One of those picture-perfect days when the weather is right, there are a few new birds around, and they want into the decoys? Only to be plagued by a case of CHS?

Yesterday was a rest day for me. The winds were howling at 35 to 45 mph and I choose to stay indoors. Parts of the state even got a dusting of snow. So, I figured today would be a good day and I wasn't wrong.

The temperature as I left my driveway was 19 degrees, but the winds had lessened to a very tolerable 4 to 6 mph from the SSW. I had just the right spot to take advantage of the conditions. Got the decoys deployed and boat in position, all that's left is to wait for legal shooting hours. I had the heater along but only lit the pilot flame.

Right on cue, ten minutes before legal, a Teal lands in the decoys. Now the dog is prancing in anticipation as I tell her "No, not right now". The teal leaves as I observe several more groups of ducks crisscrossing the predawn sky.



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Now it is a few minutes into legal shooting and there is plenty of light to ID the ducks. A flock approaches and is side slipping to let air out from under their wings. Always neat to see them do that side-to-side rocking that they do. I empty my gun and never bust a feather. [:/] crap

Not to be deterred, another flock is right behind them. I quickly reload, just to repeat my first performance. Oh my, now I'm really frustrated with myself. Did I say I thought it would be a good day? Well, the ducks gods look down upon me with apparent sympathy, because once again, there is yet another group of ducks in front of me.

This time I connect on a Gadwall and a Widgeon.



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It was a two-duck day but not for lack of opportunity. Based on the number of ducks which wanted to commit suicide, I should have been leaving for home with a six duck limit. [blush] [blush]

All in all, it was a great morning, there were a few new birds and they wanted into the decoys.
 
Yup. I've had those days where I can't hit the ground with my empties I suck so bad. I should have just been throwing my shells at the ducks for all the good I was doing. Looks like a great morning to be out though.

I like Cinnamon's harness. Is it used for getting her back up into the blind?
 
Dani said:
Yup. I've had those days where I can't hit the ground with my empties I suck so bad. I should have just been throwing my shells at the ducks for all the good I was doing. Looks like a great morning to be out though.

I like Cinnamon's harness. Is it used for getting her back up into the blind?
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Dani,
"can't hit the ground with my empties " I'll have to steal that line from you. [cool]

Actually, the harness will pull forward right over her head if you try to pull her into the boat. Yes, I can lift her somewhat using it. The best way to help her into the boat it to reach out and apply downward/forward pressure to the back of her head right at the neck joint. She will use your hand/arm as a leverage point. to pull herself into the boat.

Two reasons I use her harness; (a) reflective strips allow me to keep track of her, predawn at the launch. (b) has her name and my phone number in big bold lettering (she is chipped as well)
 
Whats the old saying, "I shoot an over-under: one barrel shoots over them, the other shoots under them".

[smile]

We've all had those days when you feel like the barrel must be bent or you shooting blanks.
But scenery like that and seeing "new birds" makes it alright.
 
I use to have a bout with that first duck hunt right after our firearms deer season. Always assumed it was from concentrating on cross hairs and trigger pull and not the motions of wing shooting. It was frustrating to say the least. Only thing you can do is shoot your way outta that slump. Connections will resume!
 
Huntindave McCann said:
Dani,
"can't hit the ground with my empties " I'll have to steal that line from you. [cool]

The best way to help her into the boat it to reach out and apply downward/forward pressure to the back of her head right at the neck joint. She will use your hand/arm as a leverage point. to pull herself into the boat.
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You're welcome to steal it....not sure I'd be proud of that level of suckiness but at least it is funny

That's how we would get the boys onto the float tube or kayaks when we were hunting central FL a lot. Sometimes I wondered if a harness would be a good idea but after Drake getting caught up in willows with his safety vest while upland hunting, I'm not so sure I'd be comfortable letting a dog wear a harness around here in the water.
 
Dani said:
That's how we would get the boys onto the float tube or kayaks when we were hunting central FL a lot. Sometimes I wondered if a harness would be a good idea but after Drake getting caught up in willows with his safety vest while upland hunting, I'm not so sure I'd be comfortable letting a dog wear a harness around here in the water.
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That's why I'm actually not upset that the harness will slip off over her head, if she pulls (backs away) from something. Hopefully if she would get snagged, she could free herself.
 
Did Cinnamon give you a dirty look when you missed those shots? Alex used to Do that, sometimes Kaden as well.

Those a neat shots and any day out there is good. 2 ducks are just a bonus.

Thanks for writing up the report.
 
Carl said:
Whats the old saying, "I shoot an over-under: one barrel shoots over them, the other shoots under them".

[smile]

We've all had those days when you feel like the barrel must be bent or you shooting blanks.
But scenery like that and seeing "new birds" makes it alright.
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Need to upgrade my duck gun. An O/U will add class, and more importantly, give me the "mis-aligned barrels" excuse I can't use with a pump or semi.
 
Dani said:
Yup. I've had those days where I can't hit the ground with my empties
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LOL, I remember some nights like that but hunting ducks had nothing to do with it!
 
Good morning, Dave~


Indeed - more than a few memorable hunts were recalled by your tale.


One of My Most Memorable Hunts ever had plenty of misses - including a bunch of Wigeon right after I rigged. Ice was moving, a big flood tide was falling, the winds were changing all day. After more disappointment, I finally figured out that my ineffective shooting might be explained by my contact lenses. It was my first season afield with them. Wonderful around boats and salt water and such compared with glasses, but - you do need to put them in the proper eyes - right lens in right eye, left lens in left eye and so on.



I was not yet adept enough to switch them in the field, so I did the next best thing: I closed my left eye when shooting. I will always remember a sweet double on Gadwall as they flew straight over head, about 30 yards up in the freshening northwest breeze again a bright sun and high, scudding clouds. The day was salvaged - and will always be remembered.


BTW: Although I'm now down to a single functioning orb, it sees 20/15 - so no more contacts.


All the best,


SJS

 
A different version of "one of those days". It's sunset, time to pick up. Gunner wants his dinner, but it's going to be a while before the tide comes in. For the record, I have now demonstrated to my own satisfaction that surface drive mud motors will not push a boat through this kind of mess. 11-11-23.jpg
 
SJ Fairbank said:
A different version of "one of those days". It's sunset, time to pick up. Gunner wants his dinner, but it's going to be a while before the tide comes in. For the record, I have now demonstrated to my own satisfaction that surface drive mud motors will not push a boat through this kind of mess.
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We combined your experience and Dave's last weekend. We miscalculated the incoming tide and planed a pre-dawn hunt at a spot the tide didn't let our boat into until dawn+30 min. Had a wonderful sunrise sitting in the boat on the mud waiting to float, and in the half hour before and after dawn, had plenty of ducks flying in and out of the puddles up where we wanted to be.

When the tide came, we moved in, and even though it was bright and sunny, a few birds were still moving around--and liked our decoys. The first group came in as my partner had just left the brush blind to "check the boat". They flew towards the decoys on his side, where he stood with unloaded gun, then flew away. The second group came in a little far and clearly going to pass over our decoys without touching down. My two shots were behind, behind. (Damned left-to-right crossers always hard with my cross dominant eye.) No idea where my partner's two shots were, but no birds were injured or even much at risk. Same thing happened again 20 minutes later, except that this time I held my shots praying the birds would circle back closer, but partner let loose with all three shots and never ruffled a feather. No birds moved after that, and in the 3 mile run back to the launch, we only moved a handful.

It's good to know our experience and scouting put us in the right spot--and would have put as there at the right time. Now we just need to improve on reading tide charts and hitting birds.
 
SJ Fairbank said:
A different version of "one of those days". It's sunset, time to pick up. Gunner wants his dinner, but it's going to be a while before the tide comes in. For the record, I have now demonstrated to my own satisfaction that surface drive mud motors will not push a boat through this kind of mess.
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OOOOOHHHHHH I remember doing that a couple of times on the salt marsh....soooooo much fun with the mosquitoes eating you as you wait for the tide to come in
 
Jeff,

Playing the tides is something us coastal guys take for granted. A couple of times over the years, friends who haven't spent much time in tidal areas have come to hunt or fish and are amazed and/or horrified by the effort required to avoid stranding. But for all the aggravation, it provides the coastal hunter a variety of opportunities the inland hunter does not enjoy. Especially the movement of birds in relation to the tide.

While hunting yesterday I was thinking about Dave's original problem of improper vectoring of the shot cloud. It happens to the best of them. Many folks on this forum are familiar with the Wildfowler decoys and the original owner, Ted Mullikan. Ted and his wife Carmen lived up the street from my family in the 30's-50's, and almost across the street in the early 60's. My father and grandfather were both friendly with him, and my dad as a young man was permitted to scrounge around the factory for discarded "seconds", which otherwise went into the stove used to heat the factory. Probably why it burned down. My dad's first gun was Carmen's Fox Sterlingworth 16, purchased from her sometime before WWll, and which accompanied my dad to the happy hunting grounds. I have few recollections of Ted as I was a small child when he passed, mostly from when he came over in the evenings for drinks and BS. His ownership and sale of the factory was before my time.

The point of that dissertation is that Ted had been everywhere and done everything related to waterfowling. His rule of thumb, one of few things I remember him telling me directly, was that five was an acceptable ratio of shells fired to birds in hand. This from a man of renowned marksmanship. So when "one of those days" happens, I can smile and recall stories from "the good old days".
 
Dani said:
SJ Fairbank said:
A different version of "one of those days". It's sunset, time to pick up. Gunner wants his dinner, but it's going to be a while before the tide comes in. For the record, I have now demonstrated to my own satisfaction that surface drive mud motors will not push a boat through this kind of mess.
Click to expand...

OOOOOHHHHHH I remember doing that a couple of times on the salt marsh....soooooo much fun with the mosquitoes eating you as you wait for the tide to come in
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HeHeHe, it would have been nice if it was warm enough for skeeters. Odd as it sounds though, the smell of the marsh at low tide is somehow comforting. A salt marsh at night is a cool place, all the little critters come out. I didn't see any muskrats that trip, but watching them paddle around in the moonlight is memorable. The only really unhappy guy was Gunner, his dinner was behind schedule.
 
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