Last Friday Adonis showed up on my doorstep. He was thoroughly inspected by Kip and Brant.
Saturday was opening day for Pacific Black Brant. So I rigged Adonis on a longline clip and readied him for a dip in the salt along the Washington Coast. We drove to the farmhouse to prepare to do battle. Saturday morning arrived with a Gale Warning of winds 20-30 mph with gusts to 50 mph. So much for Plan A.
Adonis checked out the bling on his buddy the drunken mallard.
With Saturday shot, Donnie settled in with a glass of wine and formulated Plan B. Greater scaup are always present on the lower Columbia River and there are usually dabblers flying about. So Donnie kept his longline dropper and got ready to fool the real greenheads. He also gave me a few pointed on decoy painting while we listened to the rain fall.
Unfortunately the skies opened on Saturday night and continued into Sunday. With 6 inches of rain over night, the rivers quickly rose and the logs started their journeys to the ocean. We drove to the ramp and the Columbia was beginning to look like a log drive. It was apparent that the logs and debris would make boating dangerous and keeping longlines in place impossible.
My little trout stream across the road was looking angry.
The Columbia was ripping and the logs were heading for the Ocean.
Our intended greenheaded targets were safe from us.
Now it was time for Plan C. A couple of quick phone calls revealed that there were good duck numbers 5 hours east on the other side of the Cascade Range and reportedly a huge flock of divers on the Columbia up the highway. We kept the diver rig together in the Bankes and headed east. Only to find out that east of the Columbia Gorge we have a 30 mph tail wind (I GAINED 2.5 miles per gallon towing 2000 lbs of trailer, boats and decoys). The forecast was for sustained winds of 30 miles per hour and gusts to 50 mph east of the mountains. That meant the big water was out of the question because of restricted access because of very limited boat ramps and it would require motoring on open water.
Now time for Plan D now that Saturday and Sunday were gone and Adonis' feathers were beginning to dry out. Another phone call to a buddy who manages a duck club found a member who was willing to host Adonis. This club is well managed and has wonderful habitat and shoots well in a wind.
Well come shooting time on Monday morning, Adonis was on the job again as a dabbling duck decoy.
He attracted some look alike friends who decided to stay for dinner.
He also enjoyed tricking a few famous Pacific Flyway pintails.
A few other locals dropped in to visit with Adonis but were in a rush to move on.
Adonis teamed up with Charlie, and both got a good work out bringing back 28 ducks and 2 geese in about 3 hours. So Plan D was a winner.
Tuesday morning Donnie caught a plane to Florida for his last hunt of the season, so stay tuned for his next adventure. Rumor has it that he has attracted attention in Hollywood and there is a movie being shot on location in Florida.
Saturday was opening day for Pacific Black Brant. So I rigged Adonis on a longline clip and readied him for a dip in the salt along the Washington Coast. We drove to the farmhouse to prepare to do battle. Saturday morning arrived with a Gale Warning of winds 20-30 mph with gusts to 50 mph. So much for Plan A.
Adonis checked out the bling on his buddy the drunken mallard.
With Saturday shot, Donnie settled in with a glass of wine and formulated Plan B. Greater scaup are always present on the lower Columbia River and there are usually dabblers flying about. So Donnie kept his longline dropper and got ready to fool the real greenheads. He also gave me a few pointed on decoy painting while we listened to the rain fall.
Unfortunately the skies opened on Saturday night and continued into Sunday. With 6 inches of rain over night, the rivers quickly rose and the logs started their journeys to the ocean. We drove to the ramp and the Columbia was beginning to look like a log drive. It was apparent that the logs and debris would make boating dangerous and keeping longlines in place impossible.
My little trout stream across the road was looking angry.
The Columbia was ripping and the logs were heading for the Ocean.
Our intended greenheaded targets were safe from us.
Now it was time for Plan C. A couple of quick phone calls revealed that there were good duck numbers 5 hours east on the other side of the Cascade Range and reportedly a huge flock of divers on the Columbia up the highway. We kept the diver rig together in the Bankes and headed east. Only to find out that east of the Columbia Gorge we have a 30 mph tail wind (I GAINED 2.5 miles per gallon towing 2000 lbs of trailer, boats and decoys). The forecast was for sustained winds of 30 miles per hour and gusts to 50 mph east of the mountains. That meant the big water was out of the question because of restricted access because of very limited boat ramps and it would require motoring on open water.
Now time for Plan D now that Saturday and Sunday were gone and Adonis' feathers were beginning to dry out. Another phone call to a buddy who manages a duck club found a member who was willing to host Adonis. This club is well managed and has wonderful habitat and shoots well in a wind.
Well come shooting time on Monday morning, Adonis was on the job again as a dabbling duck decoy.
He attracted some look alike friends who decided to stay for dinner.
He also enjoyed tricking a few famous Pacific Flyway pintails.
A few other locals dropped in to visit with Adonis but were in a rush to move on.
Adonis teamed up with Charlie, and both got a good work out bringing back 28 ducks and 2 geese in about 3 hours. So Plan D was a winner.
Tuesday morning Donnie caught a plane to Florida for his last hunt of the season, so stay tuned for his next adventure. Rumor has it that he has attracted attention in Hollywood and there is a movie being shot on location in Florida.
