joe Sarrantonio
Member
WARNING ! It’s a long one and some may find it boring and some may not, I’m hoping it’s the later.
Well I finally did it. I finally got the time to take out my new to me Dock Boss DB15. Even though the boat is only a year old I still needed to personalize it in between taking care of the honeydo list. Also, it’s no secret that I tend to over think things and I am a bit particular, bordering anal, oh who am I fooling I guess anal would be a fair description.
The most important thing I needed to do was to modify the stock blind. For some reason the past owner thought it would be a good idea to cut it down. Well I’m sure it worked for him because he is a bit shorter then I, and being a young man had no problem sitting on a 3 gallon bucket. However at my age when my butt is below my knees for any length of time the pain in my lower back is only superseded by the pain in my knees and time it takes to get into a upright position. So I raised the blind height by 9 ½ inches by constructing a grey electrical PVC 3/4 inch frame, with 1/2 inch electrical EMT inside the 3/4 PVC for strength, to extend above the old frame. I attached black plastic mesh with 1x1 squares and attached it to the railings of the old blind with wire ties and painted it all flat black, brown and green camo with fusion paint.
The previous owner used thatch to camo the blind so I picked up some Avery fast grass to match it and was very disappointed in it. The color is to yellow/white and green. That in itself was not problem, a quick trip to the home center for more paint remedied that, but it was so dry it cracked and broke off very easily so when I did wire tie it, it had to be done carefully or the grass would break off (it does seem to be holding though) I just need it to make it through this season with it as I have some new ideas for changing the set up next year.
Anyways, after adding all my safety, standard vessel and must have store bought & homemade gear, gadgets and equipment, i.e. push pole, decoy retriever, mud stick, etc., etc . I was ready to go. So off I went with my five black duck and three mallard, artistically painted cork decoys( thank you Steve Sanford), to hunt the salt marsh.
The day was a bit windy with a little chop in the bay when I went out and I was quite impressed not knowing what to expect. I have owned boats most of my life from an early age, being fortunate it to spend most of my youth growing up on the water, but never piloted or hunted on a duck boat. It was quite the experience and one I’m looking forward to repeat, repeat, repeat!
Even though I didn’t take a shot, I saw lots of brant but I wasn’t interested in them this time around, and gave them all a pass, this was a hunt I will truly remember and one of the best I have ever been on.
Another highlight of the day for me was when member Rich Figlia text me that he was hunting nearby and would take a ride over on the way in. He kept me company while I retrieved my decoys and discussed hunting together in the near future.
I’m still working on learning to put pictures in the post and so far I’m not doing so good with it so I’m attaching the pics as a file. I EDITED THIS POST BECAUSE I RETRIED TO UPLOAD MY PICS TWICE AS A FILE IT WON'T WORK AND I'M STILL TO MUCH OF A DINOSAUR TO FIGURE IT OUT, SORRY.
PS ….. Lastly, I need to thank the wonderful girl I’m married to for the past 35 this April for assisting me with the blind modification and being my sounding board for all my ideas and countless cups of fresh home brewed coffee with backyard deliveries. However, it did come with one caveat , my DB15 now has a name – QUACKERS. A cheap price to pay.
Well I finally did it. I finally got the time to take out my new to me Dock Boss DB15. Even though the boat is only a year old I still needed to personalize it in between taking care of the honeydo list. Also, it’s no secret that I tend to over think things and I am a bit particular, bordering anal, oh who am I fooling I guess anal would be a fair description.
The most important thing I needed to do was to modify the stock blind. For some reason the past owner thought it would be a good idea to cut it down. Well I’m sure it worked for him because he is a bit shorter then I, and being a young man had no problem sitting on a 3 gallon bucket. However at my age when my butt is below my knees for any length of time the pain in my lower back is only superseded by the pain in my knees and time it takes to get into a upright position. So I raised the blind height by 9 ½ inches by constructing a grey electrical PVC 3/4 inch frame, with 1/2 inch electrical EMT inside the 3/4 PVC for strength, to extend above the old frame. I attached black plastic mesh with 1x1 squares and attached it to the railings of the old blind with wire ties and painted it all flat black, brown and green camo with fusion paint.
The previous owner used thatch to camo the blind so I picked up some Avery fast grass to match it and was very disappointed in it. The color is to yellow/white and green. That in itself was not problem, a quick trip to the home center for more paint remedied that, but it was so dry it cracked and broke off very easily so when I did wire tie it, it had to be done carefully or the grass would break off (it does seem to be holding though) I just need it to make it through this season with it as I have some new ideas for changing the set up next year.
Anyways, after adding all my safety, standard vessel and must have store bought & homemade gear, gadgets and equipment, i.e. push pole, decoy retriever, mud stick, etc., etc . I was ready to go. So off I went with my five black duck and three mallard, artistically painted cork decoys( thank you Steve Sanford), to hunt the salt marsh.
The day was a bit windy with a little chop in the bay when I went out and I was quite impressed not knowing what to expect. I have owned boats most of my life from an early age, being fortunate it to spend most of my youth growing up on the water, but never piloted or hunted on a duck boat. It was quite the experience and one I’m looking forward to repeat, repeat, repeat!
Even though I didn’t take a shot, I saw lots of brant but I wasn’t interested in them this time around, and gave them all a pass, this was a hunt I will truly remember and one of the best I have ever been on.
Another highlight of the day for me was when member Rich Figlia text me that he was hunting nearby and would take a ride over on the way in. He kept me company while I retrieved my decoys and discussed hunting together in the near future.
I’m still working on learning to put pictures in the post and so far I’m not doing so good with it so I’m attaching the pics as a file. I EDITED THIS POST BECAUSE I RETRIED TO UPLOAD MY PICS TWICE AS A FILE IT WON'T WORK AND I'M STILL TO MUCH OF A DINOSAUR TO FIGURE IT OUT, SORRY.
PS ….. Lastly, I need to thank the wonderful girl I’m married to for the past 35 this April for assisting me with the blind modification and being my sounding board for all my ideas and countless cups of fresh home brewed coffee with backyard deliveries. However, it did come with one caveat , my DB15 now has a name – QUACKERS. A cheap price to pay.
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