Brandon Yuchasz
Well-known member
Well I said if the birds were working well I would take my time and enjoy my hunt today. We were up to late again last night and no one got our of bed this morning but me so on the drive out I decided I would take my time this morning and really try and pick quality birds.
Apparently the duck gods agreed with me because the first big duck over the decoys was a Can. It was still early and I dropped the bird clean. I was only able to Id the species not the sex in the early light but I did not hesitate. As it turns out it was a hen and had I passed I would have had several opportunities at drakes later in the morning. I had two Can decoys on the lines this morning. One is by Hank York and the other I carved several years ago and finally painted this summer. As you can see Hanks decoy has been in service for several years i love it. Mine although new this season took some rubbing already and today it took some shot as well.
I had planned to try for a full limit of bills today and after the Can I took special care to make sure and pick drakes. Most birds decoying were drakes so it was not to hard. I had been sitting less than an hour when I found myself with the Can and four drake bills sitting next to me. I passed on the next few groups and waited for a nice clean hard crossing shot to end the day. It did not take long and I had my bird down. In my defense it is a drake although you have to look hard to tell. Man I was bummed when the dog brought it in. Obviously I am better at IDing then I though though who would have thought I could have seen that vermiculation just starting while it was on the wing?
My face shows how bad the wind was today. By the time i got home my cheeks were swollen from the wind burn.
All done in less than an hour. The wind was hollowing here today well over 25mph out of the north. The snow was spitting and the sky was slate grey. Normally I would be packing up and heading to work or home to catch up on chores but since I am on vacation and everyone in the family is still sleeping I sat back down, unloaded my gun and drank some strong black coffee. I expected to see a few birds work over the decoys but what I got instead was an amazing air show. Days like this boys are why we get up morning after morning when we are beat down and tired. God smiled on me today! I actually talked to my wife when I heard the wind outside this morning. I was so close to going back to bed. In fact I would say the odds were I was going back to bed but I got up. Glad I did! The pictures I snapped do not do it justice but if you look you can see my long lines mixed in.
Apparently the duck gods agreed with me because the first big duck over the decoys was a Can. It was still early and I dropped the bird clean. I was only able to Id the species not the sex in the early light but I did not hesitate. As it turns out it was a hen and had I passed I would have had several opportunities at drakes later in the morning. I had two Can decoys on the lines this morning. One is by Hank York and the other I carved several years ago and finally painted this summer. As you can see Hanks decoy has been in service for several years i love it. Mine although new this season took some rubbing already and today it took some shot as well.
I had planned to try for a full limit of bills today and after the Can I took special care to make sure and pick drakes. Most birds decoying were drakes so it was not to hard. I had been sitting less than an hour when I found myself with the Can and four drake bills sitting next to me. I passed on the next few groups and waited for a nice clean hard crossing shot to end the day. It did not take long and I had my bird down. In my defense it is a drake although you have to look hard to tell. Man I was bummed when the dog brought it in. Obviously I am better at IDing then I though though who would have thought I could have seen that vermiculation just starting while it was on the wing?
My face shows how bad the wind was today. By the time i got home my cheeks were swollen from the wind burn.
All done in less than an hour. The wind was hollowing here today well over 25mph out of the north. The snow was spitting and the sky was slate grey. Normally I would be packing up and heading to work or home to catch up on chores but since I am on vacation and everyone in the family is still sleeping I sat back down, unloaded my gun and drank some strong black coffee. I expected to see a few birds work over the decoys but what I got instead was an amazing air show. Days like this boys are why we get up morning after morning when we are beat down and tired. God smiled on me today! I actually talked to my wife when I heard the wind outside this morning. I was so close to going back to bed. In fact I would say the odds were I was going back to bed but I got up. Glad I did! The pictures I snapped do not do it justice but if you look you can see my long lines mixed in.
Kudos to you on a great day. After seeing this, can't keep my head at work... pg