Trying to figure out the new re-sizing program..

S

Steve Sutton

Well-known member
A couple of pictures from last season....

A long shot of the diver rig on the Columbia in the snow.....Mark Vanderhoof, Mike and I are somewher to the left of the 15th or so "WHITE DOT" in a rock blind that has been on the side hill for well over 30 years, (I've been hunting it for 25 and it was ancient when I first started hunting it).....public land....unlike blinds on the Mississippi we don't have "issues" with hunting existing river blinds....Course that might be simply due to the fact that its a likely bet that the guy that originally built this blind died before I moved to Washington, and that no one bought the rocks, or the driftwood, that its constructed of.....either way, "first come" is the order of the day here....
in the snow-long.jpg

A little closer shot with Fred Slyfield's TDB against the shoreblind...you can see the blind now, just to the left and above the boat on the bank. Diver shots from this blind are all BELOW the level of the blind.....right sporty for guys that are used to shooting UP at their decoying ducks....

in thr snow-r.jpg

"Fuzzy" Mike.....I think someone was eating something in the blind and he was trying to figure out where his share was....

fuzzy mike-r.jpg

A shot across the Diver rig looking down the Columbia on a cold winter day....waiting on the Cans....they came but....well....lets just leave it at
"butt", huh Mark?

columbia vista-1.jpg

Now lets see if that worked.....

Steve
 
cool shots steve! do you even own any plastics in your rig? sure doesnt look like it. (im building my rig so one day i can do that) It looks real good!!! THANKS for sharing...

Zach
 
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zach, did you say plastic? please dont swear like that! steve has one of the largest and nicest handcarved rigs ive ever seen. truly a treat to hunt over, escpecially with steve and mike in the blind. steve, what great memories!! looking forward to making more, not only in the "mountains" but on the tidal water as well. i think that was the one and only day that i "watched" 50 canvasbacks hover over the decoys. truly mesmerizing! best, mark
 
I've hunted that blind and yes, it is as cool as Steve is making it out to be. It is still hard for me to fathom shooting ducks over a river running through a desert.
 
I still run 20, or so, E.Allen Scoter decoys, (and a couple of their Eiders thrown in for good measure)....

Scoter rig 1.jpg


These decoys take a real pounding annually during Scoter shoots. I've been gunning them for 10 years and except for broken tails and bills that resulted form dropping them, stepping on them, running over them with the boat, etc., the only ill effects they show ae the rust steaks from embedded steel. Definately the way to go when you need not to worry about your decoys getting hit at close range with large shot....

ouch.jpg

Other than those Allens all of the rest of the rigs are either cork or wood or canvas, (one of which is getting SUNK in the phot above courtesy of a well placed shot by Derek's Dad). I do have a half dozen o so Lobster buoy birds as novelty items. The only "plastic" that I use anymore ar ethe two dozen or so full bodied Mallard, Pintail and Goose decoys that I use on the rare occassion that I have some shoreline where they'll add to the setup...

I started carving 30 years ago while I was still living in Florida and adding otherr peoples birds to the rig about 20 years ago.....in fact some of the first birds that I added to my rig were by people that I would later meet through this website....small world.....

Steve
 
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