Well, after heading over to the Space Coast for my hunt with Hitch I’ve recuperated enough to type a little. I have to mention this is my second time to have the opportunity to hunt with John and as always it’s a pleasure. If you every get the opportunity don’t hesitate to go.
I left Tampa around 11:00 pm Friday night to head over to the right coast and hook up with Hitch. His excellent road map put me at the ramp at 1:25 am. Great, I get to shut my eyes for an hour before Hitch shows up with keeping is motto in tact as “First in, last out”. Man they have great ramps here. Concrete ramps and nice custom docks. Many places I use in IL aren’t any more than a gravel bar and some in IA are dirt roads ending at the marsh. There were a couple of others sleeping at the ramp so my phone goes off at 2:30 am. It’s Hitch. I neglected to mention what I drive so he decided he’d rather call than perhaps disturb the wrong vehicle which could be hazardous to ones health. We get my gear on board and Shah’s head gear on. I’ve never seen a dog so good at having something such as headphones strapped to his head before. I even get a couple of licks on the face from Shah and we’re ready to head out. Hitch fires up the motor, turns on the GPS and away we go. This is my first airboat ride and it’s awesome! While I’m thinking in the back of my mind….high center of gravity…..high rate of speed….prop turning RPM’s….and of course GATORS….how easy do these things roll over!!! You guys did see the scouting pictures right? After a few minutes of running in the dark guided only by the glow of the GPS we come to a stop with hitch remarking we’re here while taking off Shah's head gear. We sit the hours waiting for light talking about everything under the moon and watching Gods light show of twinkling stars, shooting stars and the sounds of the marsh. I ended up wearing everything except one fleece shirt I nornally wear up north and to be honest I wished I had brought. The chill does cut right to the bone. Thanks to everyone that gave me a heads up on the clothing thing and marsh temps. We're getting on to first light and the first thing Hitch does is grab a paddle to show me the water depth is only around 1ft deep easing my mind that it’s to shallow for gators and besides Shah won’t be there if he was in a position to be gator bait. Works for me so I jump down off the boat in the marsh hoping that’s not a line of BS….;-). You guys used to jumping into the muck of the Mississippi river would really appreciate this. YOU CAN WALK IN THIS STUFF WITHOUT SINKING UP TO YOUR NETHER REGIONS!!!
There’s miles of this stuff. Without GPS you could end up in every inch of these miles!
We setup using Hitch’s Carstens Puddlers. The way they’re utilized these are great little boats that are very stable and hide well. Using palm fronds for camo really works well at concealing us with minimal material required.
Here’s Hitch swinging into action on one of the several wings of ducks that came though the blocks. The birds that were there have become a bit skittish and didn’t decoy all that well but I got to see more ducks Saturday morning than I’d seen all season in the places I hunted this year. With that in mind we’ll begin with the excuses Hitch shot all the ducks….geesh!
He’s a shot of Shah retrieving a Bluewing that Hitch knocked down. I forgot how fast these little ducks fly. It’s really neat seeing them in their full colors. They’re not nearly as pretty when they come though the Midwest in August and September. Normally in flight it’s very hard if not impossible to tell the drakes when you’re just trying to get a bead on a duck flying past you at 70 miles and hour!
I had brought my wife’s brand new 20ga 870 down when we moved her to Tampa so I decided I’d use that on the hunt. I’ve only shot 4 shells though this gun so it’s not really broken in and it kept jamming when I fired (excuse no.2). I was relegated to a single shot until it started to loosen up. I had found a gun shop the first time I came down but could find it again and didn’t know the name so I had to go to Walmart for shot shells. The only thing they had on the shelf in steel were low brass # 7’s so here I am hunting ducks with quail loads….(excuse #3)
Here’s a shot of a couple of Jim Williams Teal decoys. I wish my camera was better. I tried to take some of all the handmade decoys but they didn’t come out to well.
All in all I had a great time. We had a good lunch at the local Bar-B-Que joint where we washed it down with a pitcher of Amber Bach before we parted company for my trip back to Tampa.
Next time I get the chance to hunt with Hitch hopefully I’ll remember just how fast these little buggers fly and I’ll actually get the gun to my shoulder so I’m sighting down the barrel rather than past it!
Oh by the way John, when you mentioned this little trip was going to cost me since I was down to visit my wife. The tee shirt was a nice offering but just a little short!
I can’t wait for the next time. Now if I can figure out how to mount a VW engine with a prop on my 14’ flat bottom…..!
Thanks for a great time on my first Florida duck hunt!
Ed L.
I left Tampa around 11:00 pm Friday night to head over to the right coast and hook up with Hitch. His excellent road map put me at the ramp at 1:25 am. Great, I get to shut my eyes for an hour before Hitch shows up with keeping is motto in tact as “First in, last out”. Man they have great ramps here. Concrete ramps and nice custom docks. Many places I use in IL aren’t any more than a gravel bar and some in IA are dirt roads ending at the marsh. There were a couple of others sleeping at the ramp so my phone goes off at 2:30 am. It’s Hitch. I neglected to mention what I drive so he decided he’d rather call than perhaps disturb the wrong vehicle which could be hazardous to ones health. We get my gear on board and Shah’s head gear on. I’ve never seen a dog so good at having something such as headphones strapped to his head before. I even get a couple of licks on the face from Shah and we’re ready to head out. Hitch fires up the motor, turns on the GPS and away we go. This is my first airboat ride and it’s awesome! While I’m thinking in the back of my mind….high center of gravity…..high rate of speed….prop turning RPM’s….and of course GATORS….how easy do these things roll over!!! You guys did see the scouting pictures right? After a few minutes of running in the dark guided only by the glow of the GPS we come to a stop with hitch remarking we’re here while taking off Shah's head gear. We sit the hours waiting for light talking about everything under the moon and watching Gods light show of twinkling stars, shooting stars and the sounds of the marsh. I ended up wearing everything except one fleece shirt I nornally wear up north and to be honest I wished I had brought. The chill does cut right to the bone. Thanks to everyone that gave me a heads up on the clothing thing and marsh temps. We're getting on to first light and the first thing Hitch does is grab a paddle to show me the water depth is only around 1ft deep easing my mind that it’s to shallow for gators and besides Shah won’t be there if he was in a position to be gator bait. Works for me so I jump down off the boat in the marsh hoping that’s not a line of BS….;-). You guys used to jumping into the muck of the Mississippi river would really appreciate this. YOU CAN WALK IN THIS STUFF WITHOUT SINKING UP TO YOUR NETHER REGIONS!!!
There’s miles of this stuff. Without GPS you could end up in every inch of these miles!
We setup using Hitch’s Carstens Puddlers. The way they’re utilized these are great little boats that are very stable and hide well. Using palm fronds for camo really works well at concealing us with minimal material required.
Here’s Hitch swinging into action on one of the several wings of ducks that came though the blocks. The birds that were there have become a bit skittish and didn’t decoy all that well but I got to see more ducks Saturday morning than I’d seen all season in the places I hunted this year. With that in mind we’ll begin with the excuses Hitch shot all the ducks….geesh!
He’s a shot of Shah retrieving a Bluewing that Hitch knocked down. I forgot how fast these little ducks fly. It’s really neat seeing them in their full colors. They’re not nearly as pretty when they come though the Midwest in August and September. Normally in flight it’s very hard if not impossible to tell the drakes when you’re just trying to get a bead on a duck flying past you at 70 miles and hour!
I had brought my wife’s brand new 20ga 870 down when we moved her to Tampa so I decided I’d use that on the hunt. I’ve only shot 4 shells though this gun so it’s not really broken in and it kept jamming when I fired (excuse no.2). I was relegated to a single shot until it started to loosen up. I had found a gun shop the first time I came down but could find it again and didn’t know the name so I had to go to Walmart for shot shells. The only thing they had on the shelf in steel were low brass # 7’s so here I am hunting ducks with quail loads….(excuse #3)
Here’s a shot of a couple of Jim Williams Teal decoys. I wish my camera was better. I tried to take some of all the handmade decoys but they didn’t come out to well.
All in all I had a great time. We had a good lunch at the local Bar-B-Que joint where we washed it down with a pitcher of Amber Bach before we parted company for my trip back to Tampa.
Next time I get the chance to hunt with Hitch hopefully I’ll remember just how fast these little buggers fly and I’ll actually get the gun to my shoulder so I’m sighting down the barrel rather than past it!
Oh by the way John, when you mentioned this little trip was going to cost me since I was down to visit my wife. The tee shirt was a nice offering but just a little short!
I can’t wait for the next time. Now if I can figure out how to mount a VW engine with a prop on my 14’ flat bottom…..!
Thanks for a great time on my first Florida duck hunt!
Ed L.
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love the pics guys and ed your missing the SNOW and COLD!!!!