Today was one of those days to remember. Not for a ton of birds, but for one of the most pleasant days in the field I have had in a very long time.
The morning started at 5 am as I met two friends to hunt the little pond across the road from the house. (By the way, many kudos to the local land trust for buying the entire shoreline, allowing walk-in access only, and allowing us to duck, deer and turkey hunt in there.) We hiked the half mile in to where I and a neighbor each have canoes stashed, and spread out to three separate corners of the pond. Just before legal shooting, a huge bunch of ducks piled into the middle of the pond. A few minutes after legal I was buzzed by big bunch of teal; two flew into the decoys and only one flew out. As I was fetching the canoe to retrieve the duck, a bunch more ducks were in the air, and I stood on the shoreline and watched a pair of woodies land in the decoys. I slowly sneaked the 2 steps to my gun, put in two shells, and amazingly enough they were still sitting there. I waved my arm; they flew; and one of them dropped next to the teal.
After I retrieved the pair, I witnessed one of the most amazing flights of ducks I have ever seen. A BIG flock of ring necks--maybe 200 birds--circled and circled and circled me, my buddies, and our three little spreads of decoys. Eventually they funnelled into the middle of the pond, out of range of all of us. I heard a shot from the end of the pond, then my friend Nick's voice telling the lab to fetch it up, a big splash, and "Good Boy,
Percy." (Found out later it was a drake woodie.) The shot put the ringnecks back in the air for several circles, and then about half the flock set down towards my end of the pond--50+ birds just out of range to my right; 30+ just out of range to my left; and another big bunch still flying around me in circles. I didn't wait long enough, and after several passes took a long shot that put the whole bunch back up. I missed.
By then I was out of time, so I picked up my little spread and paddled to the trailhead. Sunrise lit up the red and sugar maples on the ridge over the pond to give me a great backdrop for the paddle back. As I was hiking back up the hill I heard the geese flying in, but no shots from my buddies. I heard later on that they worked the geese for about an hour after I left with no luck.
I was in the office by 8:30, put in a half day of work, and in the early afternoon met another friend for my first ever Sora rail hunt.
He was just in with a pair of ducks from his morning hunt, and was cleaning them along with a pair of grouse he shot yesterday. Based on the feather pile around his shed, he and his Brittany are finding some woodcock, too.
He did all the work poling the boat, gave me a history and natural history lesson that ranged from Merrymeeting Bay duck camps to the bird life of Costa Rica and Belize, and put me onto my first three rails. We also discussed local politics--he's been out of the country in South America for several years. We agreed that a benign dicatorship of environmentally-minded hunters and anglers would solve many of our problems, but also that this outcome is not likely unless one of us organizes an armed takeover of the statehouse.
We also poked into a couple of creeks looking for ducks, but never saw one. We did see a pair of eagles, a harrier hunting over the rice, and some sturgeon moving over the mud flats.
Just finished a nice supper--teal, woodduck and sora breast with mushrooms and wine over wild rice.
Super day, and the first frost is on its way tonight. I love October in New England!
The morning started at 5 am as I met two friends to hunt the little pond across the road from the house. (By the way, many kudos to the local land trust for buying the entire shoreline, allowing walk-in access only, and allowing us to duck, deer and turkey hunt in there.) We hiked the half mile in to where I and a neighbor each have canoes stashed, and spread out to three separate corners of the pond. Just before legal shooting, a huge bunch of ducks piled into the middle of the pond. A few minutes after legal I was buzzed by big bunch of teal; two flew into the decoys and only one flew out. As I was fetching the canoe to retrieve the duck, a bunch more ducks were in the air, and I stood on the shoreline and watched a pair of woodies land in the decoys. I slowly sneaked the 2 steps to my gun, put in two shells, and amazingly enough they were still sitting there. I waved my arm; they flew; and one of them dropped next to the teal.
After I retrieved the pair, I witnessed one of the most amazing flights of ducks I have ever seen. A BIG flock of ring necks--maybe 200 birds--circled and circled and circled me, my buddies, and our three little spreads of decoys. Eventually they funnelled into the middle of the pond, out of range of all of us. I heard a shot from the end of the pond, then my friend Nick's voice telling the lab to fetch it up, a big splash, and "Good Boy,
Percy." (Found out later it was a drake woodie.) The shot put the ringnecks back in the air for several circles, and then about half the flock set down towards my end of the pond--50+ birds just out of range to my right; 30+ just out of range to my left; and another big bunch still flying around me in circles. I didn't wait long enough, and after several passes took a long shot that put the whole bunch back up. I missed.
By then I was out of time, so I picked up my little spread and paddled to the trailhead. Sunrise lit up the red and sugar maples on the ridge over the pond to give me a great backdrop for the paddle back. As I was hiking back up the hill I heard the geese flying in, but no shots from my buddies. I heard later on that they worked the geese for about an hour after I left with no luck.
I was in the office by 8:30, put in a half day of work, and in the early afternoon met another friend for my first ever Sora rail hunt.
He was just in with a pair of ducks from his morning hunt, and was cleaning them along with a pair of grouse he shot yesterday. Based on the feather pile around his shed, he and his Brittany are finding some woodcock, too.
He did all the work poling the boat, gave me a history and natural history lesson that ranged from Merrymeeting Bay duck camps to the bird life of Costa Rica and Belize, and put me onto my first three rails. We also discussed local politics--he's been out of the country in South America for several years. We agreed that a benign dicatorship of environmentally-minded hunters and anglers would solve many of our problems, but also that this outcome is not likely unless one of us organizes an armed takeover of the statehouse.
We also poked into a couple of creeks looking for ducks, but never saw one. We did see a pair of eagles, a harrier hunting over the rice, and some sturgeon moving over the mud flats.
Just finished a nice supper--teal, woodduck and sora breast with mushrooms and wine over wild rice.
Super day, and the first frost is on its way tonight. I love October in New England!
