Hank Yorke
Well-known member
Normally I do a "season's over" post, mostly pictures with some prose on how the season went.
Not many pictures this year...
Our third child, my little girl, was born on the 2nd of September. A great day, my wife was/is thrilled to have another girl around and I was/am thrilled as eveyone was happy & healthy and our boys adjusted quite nicely to the new addition.
Like most of you, this year it was a struggle; I missed dove season, teal & our early split, so it feels like I've been playing catch-up all year. Temps were way above normal resulting a little to no push of birds and our locals got stale very fast. To make things worse, what is usually snow came in the form of rain putting rivers out of their banks and sheet water in every field, so the few birds that were here were spread out everywhere.
Our season ended last Sunday the 10th. I hunted Saturday until noon and never fired a shot. It was 50 and rainy, with the lowest visibility I have ever experienced outside of Southern CA. You'd hear wings or drake grunts and never see the bird. Temps were beginning to fall as I picked up and the weatherman predicted snow that night after midnight. We got snow, but mostly ice so I holed up until 7:00 to let the salt trucks work. A trip that normally takes just under 2 hours, took all of 4 hours Sunday morning, 12* with a 25 mph WNW wind had the snow blowing pretty good. By the time I put the decoys out it was 11:22, hunters must vacate the area by noon on Tuesdays, Thursdays & Sundays. I had 38 minutes to hunt. A pair of Gadwall swung close enough to take the safety off, but I never raised the gun. They landed where I wanted to set up, about 300 yards away. I am not sure why but I was really feeling pressure to harvest something, that's a feeling I've not felt in a long time. It was 11:52 and the Gadwall picked up and swung close again, as I watched them fly away something caught my eye. A solo drake Pintail, wings locked, was gliding under them straight to us. He covered at least 150 yards at 4-5 feet above the water, and never moved a muscle. It was so cool to watch, seconds seemed like minutes as he got closer and closer. At 15 yards and 6" above the water, his flight ended. I had 7 minutes left in the season.
Those are some LL Beans that Steve Sanford was nice enough to morph into Gadwall, in the background. My "Sanfordized" Bean Pintails are to the left out of the picture.
I don't know who was more proud, her or me. She was a little confused by my hootin' and hollerin', normally I'm pretty composed and no nonsensen but this is my first Pintail in 10 years.
Cork decoys, old guns, and cold weather... In my opinion, it doesn't get much better.
Not many pictures this year...
Our third child, my little girl, was born on the 2nd of September. A great day, my wife was/is thrilled to have another girl around and I was/am thrilled as eveyone was happy & healthy and our boys adjusted quite nicely to the new addition.
Like most of you, this year it was a struggle; I missed dove season, teal & our early split, so it feels like I've been playing catch-up all year. Temps were way above normal resulting a little to no push of birds and our locals got stale very fast. To make things worse, what is usually snow came in the form of rain putting rivers out of their banks and sheet water in every field, so the few birds that were here were spread out everywhere.
Our season ended last Sunday the 10th. I hunted Saturday until noon and never fired a shot. It was 50 and rainy, with the lowest visibility I have ever experienced outside of Southern CA. You'd hear wings or drake grunts and never see the bird. Temps were beginning to fall as I picked up and the weatherman predicted snow that night after midnight. We got snow, but mostly ice so I holed up until 7:00 to let the salt trucks work. A trip that normally takes just under 2 hours, took all of 4 hours Sunday morning, 12* with a 25 mph WNW wind had the snow blowing pretty good. By the time I put the decoys out it was 11:22, hunters must vacate the area by noon on Tuesdays, Thursdays & Sundays. I had 38 minutes to hunt. A pair of Gadwall swung close enough to take the safety off, but I never raised the gun. They landed where I wanted to set up, about 300 yards away. I am not sure why but I was really feeling pressure to harvest something, that's a feeling I've not felt in a long time. It was 11:52 and the Gadwall picked up and swung close again, as I watched them fly away something caught my eye. A solo drake Pintail, wings locked, was gliding under them straight to us. He covered at least 150 yards at 4-5 feet above the water, and never moved a muscle. It was so cool to watch, seconds seemed like minutes as he got closer and closer. At 15 yards and 6" above the water, his flight ended. I had 7 minutes left in the season.
Those are some LL Beans that Steve Sanford was nice enough to morph into Gadwall, in the background. My "Sanfordized" Bean Pintails are to the left out of the picture.
I don't know who was more proud, her or me. She was a little confused by my hootin' and hollerin', normally I'm pretty composed and no nonsensen but this is my first Pintail in 10 years.
Cork decoys, old guns, and cold weather... In my opinion, it doesn't get much better.
Last edited:
