Mark W
Well-known member
or so I had thought - more about this in a second.
Went out for the last day of the northern WI season as is tradition. This year was quite a bit different than years past as it was above freezing, there was no snow, and there hadn't been a whole lot of birds to shoot at.. I get out to the spot 1.5 hours before shooting time as there has been one other guy that occasionally hunts the same area and I wanted to be sure that I had "the spot". Sure enough, those 1.5 hours go by and no one elee shows up. Oh well, still a beautiful day.
Ten minutes before hunting time and I have a flock of mallards land in the dekes. They stay for exactly 9.5 minutes and fly off. I figure this to be a good omen as the day before I didn't even see a duck for the first 30 minutes or so. Hunting hour arrives just as I have 3 ducks overhead. I blow into that wonderful Pure Duck call and the ducks start circling. All three are flying over, and over, and over again the dekes and I'm waiting for that feet down wings cupped shot. Finally one bird commits. Do I shoot, or do I wait? I decide to shoot, all though by this time the duck is less than 20 yards out. I hit him, man did I hit him. Feathers are still floating down to the surface of the water 5 minutes after the duck hits the shore behind me. I pick up the bird and my first thought is "cat food" The bird is pretty chewed up.
More birds overhead but this time it is a flock of about 40 or so. I get them into to commit and take another one out of the flock. Two more to go. I'm now waiting for the bigeest greenhead possible as there were that many ducks yesterday that you could pick and choose and wait for the shot you wanted. I get my third on a not so great shot and have to chase after the bird as it crash landed on the other side of the channel. One more to go.
I have another large flock circling overhead and can see that there are a couple of ducks that are significantly bigger than the rest. I focus on those ducks. "Wait a minute, what's that shiny thingy attached to one of the legs of the biggest bird? Naw it can't be a band as no one up here ever shoots banded ducks (at least not among my friends and family)" "I'm certain that it is a banded duck" I hunker down and do my best daffy imitation. I'm not going to miss this duck. Here it comes, feet down and spread, wings cupped. I'm so focused on this bird I can see the jewelry on my lanyard. 25 yards away I pull the trigger and the duck drops like a rock dead. 3 seconds after the trophy hits the water I hear another splash and look out across the swamp to see another dead duck belly up. I'm not liking this as this would put me at 5 mallards. I never even saw the other duck as I was so focussed on "the band" and this bird had to be behind the one I shot only much higher.
I walk out to the banded bird and pick it up. "Wait a minute, where did the band go and what is this around the leg?" The "band" turned out to be some kind of fishing lure that was stuck to the leg and stuck to this was what looked like a piece of chewing gum wrapper. Between this and the extra white feathers around the leg, it looked just like a band. A question, can I still place this on my lanyard as it is the closet thing I have seen to a band? Does it still count?
Went over and picked up bird #5 and put it in the boat. Sat around for another couple hours calling birds in. Could have shot many more mallards as it was just one of those days (and the only one anywhere near it all season long). I saw some teal in the area (that's how warm it has been up here) and saw some bills fly through the area. I was hoping to fill the bag with a teal. No luck.
Called it a day and packed the boat up for what could be the last hunt of the season. Depending upon weather and family schedule, there could be a southern WI hunt or two left but it is doubtful. I feel bad that I shot one extra duck but brought it to the landing with me figuring I'd just tell the CO what happened should he be there waiting for me. Better than leaving the bird in the field I figured.
Good luck to all you south of me. There have not been many birds around as it has been so warm and no real cold front has moved through the area. I mean I'm still seeing teal and it's November 20th. I'm also seeing bills which are one of the last birds to move through here. It is suppose to get cold over the Holiday weekend so maybe that will push some ducks.
All in all, a decent season. I did not have the opportunity to get out as much as I would have liked and that is my fault for making the job more of a priority than the hunt. I regret that decision and it is one that will be different next year.
Mark W
Went out for the last day of the northern WI season as is tradition. This year was quite a bit different than years past as it was above freezing, there was no snow, and there hadn't been a whole lot of birds to shoot at.. I get out to the spot 1.5 hours before shooting time as there has been one other guy that occasionally hunts the same area and I wanted to be sure that I had "the spot". Sure enough, those 1.5 hours go by and no one elee shows up. Oh well, still a beautiful day.
Ten minutes before hunting time and I have a flock of mallards land in the dekes. They stay for exactly 9.5 minutes and fly off. I figure this to be a good omen as the day before I didn't even see a duck for the first 30 minutes or so. Hunting hour arrives just as I have 3 ducks overhead. I blow into that wonderful Pure Duck call and the ducks start circling. All three are flying over, and over, and over again the dekes and I'm waiting for that feet down wings cupped shot. Finally one bird commits. Do I shoot, or do I wait? I decide to shoot, all though by this time the duck is less than 20 yards out. I hit him, man did I hit him. Feathers are still floating down to the surface of the water 5 minutes after the duck hits the shore behind me. I pick up the bird and my first thought is "cat food" The bird is pretty chewed up.
More birds overhead but this time it is a flock of about 40 or so. I get them into to commit and take another one out of the flock. Two more to go. I'm now waiting for the bigeest greenhead possible as there were that many ducks yesterday that you could pick and choose and wait for the shot you wanted. I get my third on a not so great shot and have to chase after the bird as it crash landed on the other side of the channel. One more to go.
I have another large flock circling overhead and can see that there are a couple of ducks that are significantly bigger than the rest. I focus on those ducks. "Wait a minute, what's that shiny thingy attached to one of the legs of the biggest bird? Naw it can't be a band as no one up here ever shoots banded ducks (at least not among my friends and family)" "I'm certain that it is a banded duck" I hunker down and do my best daffy imitation. I'm not going to miss this duck. Here it comes, feet down and spread, wings cupped. I'm so focused on this bird I can see the jewelry on my lanyard. 25 yards away I pull the trigger and the duck drops like a rock dead. 3 seconds after the trophy hits the water I hear another splash and look out across the swamp to see another dead duck belly up. I'm not liking this as this would put me at 5 mallards. I never even saw the other duck as I was so focussed on "the band" and this bird had to be behind the one I shot only much higher.
I walk out to the banded bird and pick it up. "Wait a minute, where did the band go and what is this around the leg?" The "band" turned out to be some kind of fishing lure that was stuck to the leg and stuck to this was what looked like a piece of chewing gum wrapper. Between this and the extra white feathers around the leg, it looked just like a band. A question, can I still place this on my lanyard as it is the closet thing I have seen to a band? Does it still count?
Went over and picked up bird #5 and put it in the boat. Sat around for another couple hours calling birds in. Could have shot many more mallards as it was just one of those days (and the only one anywhere near it all season long). I saw some teal in the area (that's how warm it has been up here) and saw some bills fly through the area. I was hoping to fill the bag with a teal. No luck.
Called it a day and packed the boat up for what could be the last hunt of the season. Depending upon weather and family schedule, there could be a southern WI hunt or two left but it is doubtful. I feel bad that I shot one extra duck but brought it to the landing with me figuring I'd just tell the CO what happened should he be there waiting for me. Better than leaving the bird in the field I figured.
Good luck to all you south of me. There have not been many birds around as it has been so warm and no real cold front has moved through the area. I mean I'm still seeing teal and it's November 20th. I'm also seeing bills which are one of the last birds to move through here. It is suppose to get cold over the Holiday weekend so maybe that will push some ducks.
All in all, a decent season. I did not have the opportunity to get out as much as I would have liked and that is my fault for making the job more of a priority than the hunt. I regret that decision and it is one that will be different next year.
Mark W
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