One is always better than none

MIKE-SID

MIKE-SID

Active member
My first black duck of the year. Cupped its wings at about 40 yards away, I stoned him at about 25 yards, one shot all head. I choked on my only other opportunity, which was a mallard hen that I called in and set its wings for a landing, I misjudged the angle and got twisted up and missed an easy shot. I still had an awesome afternoon. I'm really loving hunting out of my David Clark Estuary. I feel that I've never been as concealed,and seem to be consistently getting ducks coming in on top of me. Now only if it would get a little colder so some birds would migrate down.[smile]


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Good morning, Mike~


Sweet Drake - congratulations! Glad you enjoy your new vessel - there's nothing quite like a good hide.


All the best,


SJS

 
Nice bird!

Things are just getting cold here in Southern Ontario. Lots of reports of divers already on the move, and I've been getting into a lot of Gadwall which is something we don't usually see in good numbers in my area.
 
Steve Sanford said:
Good morning, Mike~


Sweet Drake - congratulations! Glad you enjoy your new vessel - there's nothing quite like a good hide.


All the best,


SJS
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Just when I thought I knew a lot about duck hunting, I found out I was overlooking maybe the most important part, becoming invisible.
Going to be a great season.
 
Congratulations!

A sneakbox and a drake Black Duck are as good as it gets in my Atlantic Flyway world.


Choking on hen ducks is not uncommon. As we tend to think of what it is for that split second, that turns into a unintentional/intentional miss.

We had some snow here yesterday, so the cold is here.

Hope you have a enjoyable season.
 
Mike, beautiful black duck. You mentioned hunting out of an Estuary. I just purchased one myself and hopefully will be picking it up in a couple of weeks from David Clark. I would like to hear your thoughts on the boat.
 
Tom Hickman said:
Mike, beautiful black duck. You mentioned hunting out of an Estuary. I just purchased one myself and hopefully will be picking it up in a couple of weeks from David Clark. I would like to hear your thoughts on the boat.
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Tom,
My thoughts on my Estuary? It's not just that I love it, the boat is well made, it's real solid hand made quality that is not often found in today's world. I bought my Estuary from Scott Salzer on this site, and he took excellent care of it. I feel the entire hull will outlast me with proper care.
I've never hunted in a BBSB style boat before. This was a new experience I did not fully understand even when I bought the boat. While taking out the Estuary on a couple scouting runs, I began to realize how this boat is designed to hunt. I pilot the boat with a tiller extension handle standing just behind the dodger. Scott had the gas tank sitting in the tip of the bow (inside) with a long gas line to accommodate which is the way to go for many reasons. Scott had used grass mats for camo, One on the bow with one end kinda tied together to allow it to fan out, one on the front of the dodger, one on the top of the dodger, and a couple on the cockpit curtain. I feel this set up as rigged by Scott is perfect, providing excellent coverage.
Now my hunting experience: During my first hunt I figured out. You are comfortably sitting inside the boat, pretty much out of the elements and beyond hidden. I'm setting my decoys closer than normal for me, and the ducks have been landing almost on top of me. This is transforming my duck hunt. I'm getting into my spots and becoming close to invisible.
What the hell was I doing for the last 25 years?? I now feel this is the only way to duck hunt in the marsh, or most water, but obviously a BBSB excels in the marsh.
I can't wait until the late season starts here in CT, I'm more into waterfowling than ever, if that's possible.

A big thank you to David for making such a wonderful craft, and to Scott for taking such good care of it for me[smile]


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Mike, thanks. I grew up hunting in NJ in a sneakbox. Many years of moving around due to work has me in Virginia now. I have been using a Jon boat for years as that seemed to be the most popular boat to use around here. I really wanted to get back to what I new best which is to use. BBSB. I sold my boat and had the opportunity to by an Estuary and am so looking forward to many years of hunting out of it. Maybe some day I?ll come to your neck of the woods and we can hunt out of them side by side. Nothing like the site of having ducks committed to landing in your decoys.
 
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It would be cool hunting side by side in the marsh, or in the harbor for a little diver action.[smile]
 
Hi Mike,

Great post! I'm currently looking into this style boat, I'm selling my 18' Alaskan for something smaller because it's usually just me and a dog :)

Do you mind I ask a few questions, you don't see these style boats to often here in Ontario.

Do you hunt with a retriever, if so where does the pup sit?

With the dodger, do you find it's limiting because you can't see birds working from behind you?

How are these boats in shallow water. Most places I go I can't wade but, some are ideal for a mud motor, but I don't
hit them enough to warrant it. You can get in with a normal outboard it's just a bit of work.

How many decoys, do you feel you could carry safely if you hit some decent rough water?

Thanks,
Greg
 

Greg,
I do not hunt with a dog, but I guess your dog might be able to sit next to you?

I am not finding the dodger limiting me. I can't see ducks working behind me but I'll see them when they drop in or when they come into my field of view which is pretty wide.

I went into shallow water with a rising tide on my last hunt, it seems that I needed about a foot of water to navigate. I guess I could use a jack plate to raise the motor, but that's not necessary for me.

I put 2 David Clark 10 pocket canvas bags on the bow, and could fit a third. It seems to me you can also fill the cockpit and back deck if you wish. I see this having no effect on navigation, except the bags on the aft deck being in the way of the tiller arm if stacked across the deck.
I'm planning on 10 to 20 decoys for most of my future hunts.
I hope others chime in, as I'm new to this style of hunting.
 
Awesome, thank you! These boats are very rare in my area, can't say I've ever even seen one at a launch ramp!
 
Good questions, I've been wanting to ask similar for a while. I also hunt Ontario and just love the look of these boats, and think they would fit my needs.

There's been a MLB Chuck Huff listed on kijiji in Prince Edward County for the last week if you're looking.
 
Good find Mark thanks!

The MLB looks awesome, I think they draft about the same but it looks like the Estuary Hull might handle the larger bodies of water a little safer.

I'm just guessing of course as I've only ever seen these in pictures :)
 
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