We put in a long day on the salt today at the same spot I hunted last Saturday.
I was expecting mostly whistlers and buffies, but we set a few puddle duck decoys "just in case". My buddy started the day sitting over them and had a nice late season black duck soon after we sat down. He then moved over to the diver side of the spread and I sat over the puddlers while nothing flew. Later in the afternoon we had two more blacks decoy, but by then we'd given up on them and were both sitting on the diver side.
It was a slow day on the divers compared to last week, and my friend learned that shooting passing whistlers is different from decoying black ducks. There were many "Behind, Behind, Behind" moments. He finished the day with a great shot on a buffie that was screaming past just over the decoys, and I knocked down two drake whistlers. One of them just had a broken wing, and I was unable to put a second shell into it despite a long chase in the canoe. It never had its head up long enough for me to get a bead on it. I eventually lost it near the edge of the ice, and I think it swam underneath where it either drowned or came back out at a spot I didn't see.
I also found a Coopers Hawk or Sharpshin Hawk (I think) floating in the water. I hope some moron didn't shoot it. It had been dead for a while but was still afloat. Smelled bad enough when I snagged it that I didn't want to take a close enough look to confirm the ID.
A pleasant day on the water, and about 25 degrees warmer than last week. A lady at a convenience store laughed at us when she saw the canoe, then spent 5 minutes telling us to be careful and wear our lifejackets. May have some photos later.
Edited to add a couple of pics--none great.
Looking across the gut--diver decoys just to the left of the photo:
View attachment point.jpg
Nick and the duck:
View attachment nick black.jpg
Close up:
View attachment Black Duck.jpg
I was expecting mostly whistlers and buffies, but we set a few puddle duck decoys "just in case". My buddy started the day sitting over them and had a nice late season black duck soon after we sat down. He then moved over to the diver side of the spread and I sat over the puddlers while nothing flew. Later in the afternoon we had two more blacks decoy, but by then we'd given up on them and were both sitting on the diver side.
It was a slow day on the divers compared to last week, and my friend learned that shooting passing whistlers is different from decoying black ducks. There were many "Behind, Behind, Behind" moments. He finished the day with a great shot on a buffie that was screaming past just over the decoys, and I knocked down two drake whistlers. One of them just had a broken wing, and I was unable to put a second shell into it despite a long chase in the canoe. It never had its head up long enough for me to get a bead on it. I eventually lost it near the edge of the ice, and I think it swam underneath where it either drowned or came back out at a spot I didn't see.
I also found a Coopers Hawk or Sharpshin Hawk (I think) floating in the water. I hope some moron didn't shoot it. It had been dead for a while but was still afloat. Smelled bad enough when I snagged it that I didn't want to take a close enough look to confirm the ID.
A pleasant day on the water, and about 25 degrees warmer than last week. A lady at a convenience store laughed at us when she saw the canoe, then spent 5 minutes telling us to be careful and wear our lifejackets. May have some photos later.
Edited to add a couple of pics--none great.
Looking across the gut--diver decoys just to the left of the photo:
View attachment point.jpg
Nick and the duck:
View attachment nick black.jpg
Close up:
View attachment Black Duck.jpg
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