How things have changed

[Mark W]

Went out yesterday morning to check on my favorite hunting spot. It is a decent producer but more importantly it is relatively easy to get to and not many people know about it. This spot used to hole several hunting groups where most of the time one was abutting next to someone else. There was always a spot to go even though that might no be the spot. Still made the morning enjoyable as you all know.

A few years back an upstream dam was removed. Promises were made about controlling the amount of sand and other stuff that would be washed downstream (this was a premiere, and not well known trout stream). All the promises made amounted to nothing and tons and tons of silt and sand was washed downstream. Ruined the trout fishing and made getting back to the hunting spot very difficult. While this kept out the casual hunter, it also severely limited the number of spot where one could hunt. It became difficult to hunt and not as much fun.

I purchased a lightweight Poke Boat to paddle back to these difficult spots. Worked very well up till this coming season. Went out a couple of days back to check out the hunting grounds and it will be difficult to get back there with a 22lb kayak. I am so sad as I don't know if I can hunt there this year. As I age, what I can, and cannot not do get tends to the "can't do" side of things. I think the early morning hunts with my 14" boat are done. And kayaking a longs ways will be trying. Guess I'll have to try a couple of times and see what happens.

Hope this isn't the beginning of the end for me. I have other spots, just not as close by nor nearly as productive.

Sorry for the rant. Feeling the old "oats" today.

Mark

 

[Vince Pagliaroli]

Many of us have reached the point of "helluva lot harder than it used to be". Not a easy pill to swallow at first cuz it's so important in our life. Some just stop waterfowling all together. Others adapt, know their limitations and do the best that they can without further Geezer caused injuries. The difficulty arises when our mind Thinks we can still Do It, and the body sez Yer not gonna like this...

Where there's a will there's a way. Good Luck.

 

[don novicki]

I have a spot that's a death march to and from. As you get closer to the water the grasses are 6 foot tall or better and there is no path of any kind except for the one you make. After hunting one day last year, it was cold and snowy, as I was walking out ( if you can call it that) I fell and landed in about 10" of water which rushed down my waders and soaked me to the bone. As I lay there I thought, how am I going to get up as I had limited use of my L. shoulder due to major rotator cuff surgery in May. It took all I had to get off the ground and as I started back again, I fell a second time. I was so exhausted from the first fall I had to talk myself into getting up and getting going because it was starting to get dark, and I could see bad things on the horizon if I didn't move. I made it back but I don't want to be in that position ever again because if I had gone down again it would have been the last time. I minimized the details when I got home but my wife was ticked at me anyway for hunting alone. Says I'm getting too old. I never thought it would happen to me.

 

[Rick Pierce]

Sorry to hear that, Mark, on several counts. I hate that a quality trout stream gets ruined and nobody seems to get held accountable.

I've lost all those little spots like that, and I miss them. Had nothing to do with the number of ducks; usually more about the privacy and having someplace that nobody else wanted to mess with.

 

[greg setter]

I've had to scale it back over the years as to what I do and where I do it. I can still do a lot at 64, but I temper that with good judgement and realism as to where I should be going. You only need to get stuck on low tide once on a late December afternoon and have to wait until 9 to get out, and you know you don't want to do it again. Particularly when you are 60 or beyond. Fortunately, the nature of a tidal marsh is that it changes a little every year, for every spot that goes away a new one opens up. It's just a matter of finding out how to get to it. Walking anywhere is mostly out of the question. The shallowest water at high tide tends to be the some of the best, and that makes for shorter time windows to get in and get out, but I rarely hunt more than 4 hours anymore anyway. I also hunt a lot of afternoons. They aren't as good, but they are a lot easier.