Woodrow is trading the warm for the cold.

Hitch

Hitch

Well-known member
Tim is home in Iowa, probably shoveling some of the eight inches of snow they received at his house while he was in Florida. And Woodrow is on his way to Dave for the Grand Finale. 1ZT243020290010613

We saw plenty of Woodys the last morning in my early season Woody hole. Several flocks of a half dozen or eight circled Woodrow, but I’m sorry to report they are well trained by the sky busters and the constant parade of airboats. We did have a fun morning Teal shoot and Tim took a Blackbelly to complete the Florida Whistler slam.

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Tim also went home with a nice drake Bluewing, several to be exact, but a perfect one for the wall as well... something you won’t see during duck season in Iowa.

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Woodrow also paid a visit to the Space Coast Flats in an attempt to expedite the patina, if nothing else. Woodys and Mottles rise from their roosts along the coast each morning and feed on the salt water’s high protein diet.

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But no Woodys showed up for breakfast. The Bluebills did though, and we had 4 quick Bluebill drakes by 9 AM, which afforded time for a nap before finishing out the day’s bag in an impoundment with a rather large lizard, buzzing Ringers and a setting sun.

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It’s up to you now Dave. Woodrow is well seasoned and tanned from the Florida sun.

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I wish you luck my friend. It will be a fitting end to the adventures of Woodrow, the Duckboats.net Traveling Decoy.

Hitch
 
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Thanks Hitch,

Neat pic's you got of that gator. I try to get a woody or two over Woodrow when he gets here. I saw a pair of woodies yesterday on teh edge of the pond and they walked right out on the ice a stood there looking at Wilber and Willamina stuck in it.

After his hunts down in sunny Florida, I may have to make Woodrow a camo sweater!

Dave
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(I grew up north of DSM, near Saylorville Resvr.)

Let me say I was pretty envious of all you FLA hunters as I followed along on the adventure, right up to the point of, "a rather large lizard..." Yeow! No thanks... BTW, what fowl was on the menu in that pic?

Anyway, cool pics. Thanks for sharing.

Best,
Brian F.
 
BTW, what fowl was on the menu in that pic?
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Ringers, seasoned with a little steel. He ate one for the camera, and slithered off with another for a midnight snack.

Hitch
 
Hitch:
I just can't visualize duck hunting like you Florida guys do. You did your best with woodrow so we'll forgive you and leave it up to Dave's wife to shot a woody over woodrow in the final chapter of THE SAGA OF THE TRAVELING DECOY--WOODROW!!
wis boz
 
Hitch:
I just can't visualize duck hunting like you Florida guys do. You did your best with woodrow so we'll forgive you and leave it up to Dave's wife to shot a woody over woodrow in the final chapter of THE SAGA OF THE TRAVELING DECOY--WOODROW!!
wis boz
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Yep,

It's up to Dave now, or his better half as you mentioned. I wish you a speedy and complete recovery WB. I have no doubt you'll be swingin that shotgun again soon.

Hitch
 
I have to ask, how do you FL guys get your decoys out and picked up, not to mention get any down ducks? I be sitting watching the back of the blind, just in case a gator decided to walk in. Or do you go through a lot of dogs?

Andrew H
 
I have to ask, how do you FL guys get your decoys out and picked up, not to mention get any down ducks? I be sitting watching the back of the blind, just in case a gator decided to walk in. Or do you go through a lot of dogs?

Andrew H
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duckin in da swamps of florida you gots to be wary careful dani and hitch are wary brwave ,no dawgs they wont go in dat water i bet there bench warmers lololol
 
Puttin out dekes and pickin them up will of course depend on the place we hunt. If I go down and hunt with Hitch, we put them out while we are in the air boat (or we're wading in the Banana River...very shallow) then we pick them up either by getting in the little Carstens puddlers he has, jumpin back on the airboat and riding around picking them up, or just wading out there and picking them up. If I hunt alone or with my other buddies up here, depending on water depth, I usually go out wading and pick them up. Or we do it in the canoe...just takes longer usually. As far as grabbin downed birds, we do our damndest to make sure they are dead, then will go get them with a canoe or wade after them. The Floating Turd Brigade has one retrieving dog to our group and she's just beginning to get the hang of everthing. It's been taking a bit longer than some b/c she is a priss. But I don't think that in the seven seasons I've hunted that I've lost a bird to a gator...at least initially. I did lose one to a bobcat...not gators yet though. Course there are some gators up here in N.FL that have gotten pretty smart...they don't grab the bird when it hits, they wait for the dog to come fetch the bird...then grab the dog. Makes it a little nerve wracking. The most problems I have had w/ gators is really early in the mornings when you can't see them, or when I'm paddling around not paying attention. After having one try to gator role the pirogue, one learns to pay more attention usually.
 
I have to ask, how do you FL guys get your decoys out and picked up, not to mention get any down ducks? I be sitting watching the back of the blind, just in case a gator decided to walk in. Or do you go through a lot of dogs?

Andrew H
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Most often we use the layout boats, but sometimes we still wade. There are places to hunt where the gators are huge, but still very wild, and are more fearful of you than you of them. They usually depart when you're putting out the dekes, and most all of them leave when you start blasting. In an area like this though, their are many downed birds that aren't retreived. Ringers and Teal will dive under the Hydrilla and when they do that the only ones that get found are by the gators, birds of prey, otters and occationally a mud fish will get one. When you start seeing Gators that do what this one did, then it's probably no longer a good idea to wade in that impoundment. I would never use the dog in an area like this. To use the dog down here, the area is usually very shallow without ditches and the salt water is generally safe after it gets light out as long as you can keep the dog out of the mangroves.

Hitch
 
the great lakes and ice are looking better all the time!

hahaha

i can dress for the cold - how do you dress for a gator?????????
 
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