Jon Yenulonis
Well-known member
Louise arrived safe and sound last Friday, just in time for our annual trip from NE Ohio down to Virginia's Eastern Shore. She remained safely packed up, in the back of the truck for the ten hour trek thru Pennsylvania, Maryland and finally into Virginia where we arrived to find the weather a little less than ducky at about 60 degrees.
After getting settled in at the quaint, old, yet recently modernized island rental home Saturday afternoon, we made quick work of visiting all of the familiar sites we miss so thru out the absent times of the year-"The Refuge", Beach and checking in with my resident hunting buddy Ryan.
Sunday awoke to find a few clouds, a little drizzle and a slight breeze out of the South. Still less than "ducky", but after a year's absence, we were itching to get out. This is the first year Virginia has allowed Sunday hunting, so by early afternoon, my hunting partners, one from Ohio and the other a resident of the Island, made plans for a little Bufflehead, or "Dipper" as the locals call them, hunt. My friend from Ohio, fellow DHBP member Kevin Puls and I both have first year Black Lab pups. We figured a quick little Buffy hunt, where we may be able to somewhat control the environment may be just the right medicine for a couple over anxious, canines. While we thought we had it all planned out, no one told the Buffleheads. The area we chose is normally polluted with Dippers. This year however, they seemed to be scarce. After finding a decent looking little tuft of an island to hunt, we threw out a half dozen Bufflehead decoys on one end for Kevin and his pup Lucy, and Ryan and I set up on the opposite end with my pup Annie. Even though we saw an occasional bird fly by, only Kevin was able to drop a single bird. So much for our impromptu training session.
Monday brought a fairly steady rain, so I figured I'd stay around the house to do some family stuff with my Wife of 33+ years. Not a bad thing at all.
According to everything I've always read about, Tuesday was going to be the day. Forecast expected wind, rain, sleet, snow, and cold temperatures. Once again however, no one told the Ducks. We hunted a normally productive area to little avail. Morning's total was three hen Buffleheads between my hunting partners. Not what any of us would have expected for the weather and location. The highlight of the day may have been witnessing a pair of Eagles do their mating ritual of flying high, locking their talons and tumbling within mere feet of the ground before letting go and resuming flight. Pretty neat to watch.
Wednesday was going to be the Sea Duck morning. I picked Kevin up around 5:45 and met Ryan down at the ramp. We motored out to the "inlet". A place usually frequented by big water Sea Ducks. This morning, even though "bluebird" by most accounts turned out a little better. After missing out on several wouldas and couldas, we managed to drop and retrieve seven ducks including the most perfect specimen of a Greater Scaup hen I think I've ever seen. Kevin made a beautiful shot on her as she decoyed right into the front of the spread, exactly where Louise was set. Picture perfect. As in yesterday, a neat NDR thing to see this day was a pair of Red Foxes trot and hunt along the nearby beach. Too far for a photo, but still neat to watch from afar.
By comparison, I'd say Tom Modin did a pretty good job of replicating a bluebill hen in this photo.
Of NDR interest, in the distant background of this photo, all the way over to the left, is a water tower. That is the Wallops Island Launch Facility where the big rocket blew up a couple months ago. The locals here say it was quite a mess. Lots of talk of dangerous chemicals and debris in the area. But they also say NASA has been proactive and upfront about it all.
You're not miscounting. We are missing a drake Surf Scoter. One was packed neatly in a plastic bag for a trip to my favorite taxidermist friend.
We have a couple days left yet, I'm hoping to be able to write about a couple other good days.
Thanks,
Jon
After getting settled in at the quaint, old, yet recently modernized island rental home Saturday afternoon, we made quick work of visiting all of the familiar sites we miss so thru out the absent times of the year-"The Refuge", Beach and checking in with my resident hunting buddy Ryan.
Sunday awoke to find a few clouds, a little drizzle and a slight breeze out of the South. Still less than "ducky", but after a year's absence, we were itching to get out. This is the first year Virginia has allowed Sunday hunting, so by early afternoon, my hunting partners, one from Ohio and the other a resident of the Island, made plans for a little Bufflehead, or "Dipper" as the locals call them, hunt. My friend from Ohio, fellow DHBP member Kevin Puls and I both have first year Black Lab pups. We figured a quick little Buffy hunt, where we may be able to somewhat control the environment may be just the right medicine for a couple over anxious, canines. While we thought we had it all planned out, no one told the Buffleheads. The area we chose is normally polluted with Dippers. This year however, they seemed to be scarce. After finding a decent looking little tuft of an island to hunt, we threw out a half dozen Bufflehead decoys on one end for Kevin and his pup Lucy, and Ryan and I set up on the opposite end with my pup Annie. Even though we saw an occasional bird fly by, only Kevin was able to drop a single bird. So much for our impromptu training session.
Monday brought a fairly steady rain, so I figured I'd stay around the house to do some family stuff with my Wife of 33+ years. Not a bad thing at all.
According to everything I've always read about, Tuesday was going to be the day. Forecast expected wind, rain, sleet, snow, and cold temperatures. Once again however, no one told the Ducks. We hunted a normally productive area to little avail. Morning's total was three hen Buffleheads between my hunting partners. Not what any of us would have expected for the weather and location. The highlight of the day may have been witnessing a pair of Eagles do their mating ritual of flying high, locking their talons and tumbling within mere feet of the ground before letting go and resuming flight. Pretty neat to watch.
Wednesday was going to be the Sea Duck morning. I picked Kevin up around 5:45 and met Ryan down at the ramp. We motored out to the "inlet". A place usually frequented by big water Sea Ducks. This morning, even though "bluebird" by most accounts turned out a little better. After missing out on several wouldas and couldas, we managed to drop and retrieve seven ducks including the most perfect specimen of a Greater Scaup hen I think I've ever seen. Kevin made a beautiful shot on her as she decoyed right into the front of the spread, exactly where Louise was set. Picture perfect. As in yesterday, a neat NDR thing to see this day was a pair of Red Foxes trot and hunt along the nearby beach. Too far for a photo, but still neat to watch from afar.
By comparison, I'd say Tom Modin did a pretty good job of replicating a bluebill hen in this photo.
Of NDR interest, in the distant background of this photo, all the way over to the left, is a water tower. That is the Wallops Island Launch Facility where the big rocket blew up a couple months ago. The locals here say it was quite a mess. Lots of talk of dangerous chemicals and debris in the area. But they also say NASA has been proactive and upfront about it all.
You're not miscounting. We are missing a drake Surf Scoter. One was packed neatly in a plastic bag for a trip to my favorite taxidermist friend.
We have a couple days left yet, I'm hoping to be able to write about a couple other good days.
Thanks,
Jon
