Will M
Active member
Things have been a little tough here in Jersey the past week or 2 with a hard freeze up that locked up nearly all the water in the state. At the begining of the freeze we did well until word got out about open water and quality ducks then the few open spots got crowded. Finally Wednesday of this week I got tired of dealing with the crowds and searched for new open water as things began to finally thaw. Found a small pocket of open water in a small tidal creek that had a decent feed of black ducks and mallards. It wasn't a ton of birds but enough for me to make a pretty respectable solo trip out of it. I dragged my aqua pod, 10 puddle duck decoys and my layout blind across the marsh, an incredibly easy task considering I was sliding across solid ice, and got set up well before shooting time. Having pushed several puddle ducks out of the hole I was feeling confident for a decent hunt. 5 minutes before legal shooting light my confidence grew when black duck lit into my spread but quickly swam to the opposite shore and climbed onto the bank and started sleeping just out of range. I let him be as legal light came around and just a few minutes into shooting time a beautiful drake broadbill sailed into the decoys. A single shot and he was belly up. While I was ecstatic about killing a perfect example of my favorite duck I was also dishartened as my shot only put one duck up and that was the black duck sleeping across the creek from me. I quickly collected my broadbill and laid back down. After sitting for another 45 minutes I hadn't seen a single duck with the exception of a pair of buffleheads that seem very intrigued by my mallard decoys. Then I heard wings over head, a trio of big divers blew over top of me at full speed from behind and quickly made a 180 and dumped into the decoys without a second thought. Three bull canvasbacks!!! I dropped one with my third shot (nearly choked). As I got up to grab my aqua pod to collect my bird another group dropped in from the heavens and I downed another bull this time with my first shot. I collected my birds and after a few moments of admiring them I sat back down to see what else was in store for me. Soon after I settled back in 3 more flights of cans sailed into the decoys. A few even hung around and swam with my decoys for and while. This was my third time killing canvasbacks this season and it was the first time I've ever had more than one group come in during the course of a hunt. Pretty special moment for most guys here in jersey, and it certainly wasn't the day I had expected but you certainly won't hear me complaining about it any. This ice has been a real pain for us but it has certainly made for some memorable hunts! View attachment IMG_20180113_141034_794.jpg
