Your Best (worst) Waterfowl Blunder

Andrew L.

Andrew L.

Well-known member
Thanks to a nice gift from Paul Tychsen I have been spending my spare time this past week reading "Waterfowling: Best Days" by Worth Mathewson.

Chapter 4 in the this book is about a time Worth and two friends were hunting divers. This is part of the account from the chapter: "About the only action happening during the morning was when Dave and Gary were returning from a trip to shore in the Marsh Rat. Dave had placed the drain plug on the outside of the boat rather than inside, it caught on some ice, pulled out, and they started sinking while still some distance from the TBD. They made it ok, but the excitement could likely have been heard for miles."

I laughed for quite awhile replaying this scene in my head and then laughed harder at a few of the moments I have been apart of or have witnessed while hunting that are quite similar.

I am certain all waterfowlers have an embarassing blunder or 2 to share or at least a morning when nothing went right.

What's your most memorable blunder?
Thanks Worth for sharing both the good and the bad times a waterfowler can experience.
 
Been there before and hope nobody was looking. Was poling to shore with my nephew Chris and hit something on the bottom and did a full back flip into the drink. No one saw me, other than that, was a good day... A trip with Capt John on wantaugh bay. Still a great day....
 
Andrew~

I've got a whole bunch - that I hope to write down as short stories someday soon. They will include my popping through the ice once - a quarter mile offshore, in water over my head, in the pitch black - and, the mercury was about 2 above.... (and, of course I was by myself)

There will be one whole treatment on trailering mishaps alone - including the time I spotted my driver's side axle in the sideview mirror - simply because it was glowing yellow hot.

Of course, I will have to cast my net wide enough to tell tales of others - at which I was an innocent witness - included the story of "How Cap'n Nemo Got His Name"

On the other hand, I'm happy to report that - with Season 50 approaching within weeks, I have no tales of serious injury.

All the best,

SJS
 
Good friend and I had a leaky boat. Never really was a problem. He would just drive it up on plane and I'd reach back on the outside of the transom and pull the plug for a short time.
Once I pulled it and lost it. I just very calmly went back sat down and mentioned it might be a good idea to stay on plane all the way to landing.
When your young it just never seemed nessesary to have two of everything in the boat.
 

Coldest evening of the year (last year) hunting with my best bud.

We ignored the fast-dropping, extreme tide and wound up having to empty the boat and tackle dummy shove it (sweating) until we could get to the mud to slide it. Replaced all the contents then headed for home.

Somehow, along the way one of us must have bumped the fuel hose clip and in the extreme cold, it split. We lost the engine and were being drug out to sea. We dropped both anchors and managed to slow our retreat to the sea. Attempted to pole back towards shore... no go. In desperation, we began tossing anchors and pulling ourselves to shore.... S-L-O-W progress. (Sweating more)

Eventually, my buddy, believing we were in shallow water slipped over the side to pull us.... OF COURSE, the water was well over his head dousing him with very cold water as he yelled "over my head" repeatedly. I managed to pull him in and got us bundled against the cold.

With darkness upon us, I suggested we call the fire boat for a tow. I knew we were in deep trouble when he agreed without hesitation or argument. I called dispatch and they were uncertain if their boat was even in the water. I assured him it was as we launch right next to its berth. He said he'd send a crew as soon as he could.

We hunkered down in the boat to stay out of the rising winds. in about an hour the boat's lights could be seen as they approached us and took us under tow. The boat captain yelled back and asked if we needed medical attention. Our reply was "No, not until we get home and our wives find out". We begged him to turn of the damn flashing lights for the tow home. He kindly declined and resumed the tow and safely arrived at the ramp.

Lessons learned:
1. Be MORE observant of the tides. The pushing and tandem anchor-toss really got us sweating under our camo.
2. Carry a spare fuel line sealed in a ziplock bag.
3. Never get out of the boat!
4. Be grateful for the smart idea of spare clothing in a dry bag on board the boat.
5. Don't let embarrassment prevent you from calling for help early. Hesitation could have led to far worse consequences for us and our rescuers.
6. Know your limits. We'd not reached ours, but we were well aware of them.

We laugh about it now....
 
I hunted as a teenager, then gave it up when I left Maine for college. I didn't hunt again until my late 30's. When I took up waterfowling, I didn't know any local duck hunters, so I was on my own to try to figure out how and where it might be done. I bought a camo kayak and a handful of decoys, got a shot gun and spent some time breaking clays, and scouted the local lake, which had a reputation for early season puddle ducks. I got permission to launch and park my car at an easy-access and posted spot, and to hunt from a privately owned point in the middle of all the duck activity I saw.

The day before our waterfowl opener, I launched my kayak early on a Sunday morning to observe literally thousands of mostly teal in the rice. Just at sunrise I watched an eagle swoop low over the rice and drive a wave of flushing ducks in front of it for nearly a half mile across the lake. "My" point was perfectly located to intercept those ducks as they turned the corner . . . . .

The next morning, my first opening day, I launched the kayak about an hour before legal. I figured since I was launching from and planning to hunt on private land, I wouldn't need to worry too much about competition from other hunters.

Not so much, as it turned out. I ran into the first other party about 100 yards from the launch, and still at least a mile from my destination. There were other parties spread out every 200 yards or so along both sides the channel I was paddling, all of them having walked in and hunting from land. Apparently a lot of other people had observed that ducks flew back and forth on that little channel. About half way to my destination I realized that I in my kayak was going to be in the middle of one hell of a crossfire when legal shooting came. I stopped paddling to think things over, and after I'd been sitting about a minute a voice called out from the shore 30 yards away, "Hey, you ain't gonna sit there all morning,, are you?"

It was too late to get back to the car before the opening hour, so I resumed paddling, and eventually found that someone else was sitting right where I'd planned to be. At this point I gave up and turned and headed back for my car, and was about 1/3 of the way there when I heard the first shot behind me, probably 5 minutes before actual legal. I tried to find a spot out of the way to wait out the opening flurry, and ended up sitting in my kayak with an unloaded gun when the actual legal hour came and parties on four sides of me opened up, all of them pissed at the idiot in the kayak, shooting at ducks that felt like they were right over my head. I didn't actually get hit with any spent shot, but I sure heard them raining into the water around me.

Two days later, at the local convenience store, a guy I knew just to say hello to saw me in line to pay for my gas and wearing a camo jacket and gave me a big grin. "Holy crap, I thought you looked familiar! That was you out there in the middle of the channel on Monday, wasn't it? How you liking duck hunting so far?" He eventually showed me around, clued me in to the local customs, and helped me get a few ducks that first season.

Lesson learned--stay away from the better known spots on the opener.
 
There are so many......

One of the best was last year I believe. Was going out to a local spot. First at landing and was excited that I was going to be in the spot I wanted. Got about 3/4 of the way there and the engine died. I could see other nav lights coming so without worrying what the problem was , and KNOWING I could fix ANYTHING engine related in the swamp, I got out the push pull and frantically push poled to the spot I wanted just barely beating the multiple boats behind me. No worries man, I was hunting.

Put out the dekes and was all set for the hunt. Having some time, I thought I would check the engine. First pull it started right up. Problem solved I was good to go.

Hunted for awhile and watched the other hunters pack it in. It was one of those great days and I was content to just be away from work and outside. Blistering Cold, windy, overcast little snow flurries - perfect day.

Decided to call it a day and packed up. Started the motor and took off - for about 50 yards and the engine died. After much messing around trying to figure what could be wrong I checked the last possible thing on earth that could be wrong with the motor - did I have any gas. By now you know the answer right? No gas. How could this be as the tank was half full when I last brought the boat back.

Now I was worried as I was a ways away, the oar locks did not fit the oar holder (yet another story) and it was too deep to push pole. I rechecked the gas tank and found there was some gas left that the pick up could not reach. Luckily I had a 32 oz. soda cup with me. Poured out the little gas I had into the cup and stuck the gas line into the cup. Got the motor started and just put putted back to the landing. It was kind of funny watching the gas level decrease in the cup.

Found out after the fact that my Dad came over and used the boat a couple of times to go fishing. I don't think he knows how lucky he was that he didn't run out of gas when he was out. He's older and may have had some trouble getting back.

What did I learn? Check the darn gas every evening before going out hunting.

That's one of a hundred.

Mark W
 
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I got a good one...last year me and my friend were going down the bay for a broadbill hunt and I was up all night stressing about the boat and if the motor was going to be ok and packing all the other gear. Had about an hour ride to get there and about 15 minutes from the ramp realized my gun was at home.....

Now every time I go, I make sure I have the bare minimum (gun, shells, license) before I do anything else
 
One time when I was about 15 I was chasing a cripple goose along a rocky shoreline without my gun after running after it for a few minutes I finally caught up to it just to have the goose scoot through my legs. As I reached through to get him I slowly fell forward and tipped over like humpty dumpty. I was really scared at first but once I realized my jacket kept me relatively dry and my buddy I was hunting with was right there to help I couldn't stop laughing picturing myself falling over in slow motion chasing a goose through my own legs.
 
This thread is awesome...
Here's my blunder:
I forgot the gun...
I met up with two other Army newbies... And was almost too embarrassed to tell them that my shotgun was at home...
So, I did tell them, once I was SURE it was home... Buzzed home, and was back in the blind only an hour after shooting light... Man, what a cold day... We saw a couple groups of six, uninterested in our spread...
They went home with 1 hour of shooting light left, too cold and disheartened, and twenty minutes later I bagged a double... My first two mallards!

Perseverance... (?)
...More like 'obsession'...
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,(But blunders like 'gun-forgetting' WILL happen in the future :(
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When I was 16...a long, long time ago, two buddies and I built a stake duck blind on Bean Lake in Missouri. There were several blinds on the lake then and most were covered with willows. Two weekends before the season opened we cut our brush and attached it to our blind. On opening morning, as the sun came up, we noticed something was wrong. We had cut sumac, not willow, and our blind was fire-engine red. We were so embarrassed that we left the blind and went rabbit hunting.
 
I have a number of blunders of me and my buddies out hunting. One is of the time we went hunting about 45 mins. away from my house (I keep the boat at the house) and as we are getting the boat ready to launch I notice no gas tank. You see I always make sure it is full and take it out of the boat to fill it up at the gas station. Just this time forgot to put it back in. Now I am always asked if the gas tank is in the boat.
Pete
 
I have a ton of crazy things that have happened but I think my most memorable was last year. My buddy took me to a new spot we shot a few ducks at first light then it slowed down I decided to stretch my legs before the tide came all the way in with about ankle deep water I step out of the blind releaved my self in the usual spot and then decide I will cut around the back of the blind to a side I never walked before. So I'm jaw jacking with my friend watching the sky shotgun over my shoulder I get about 20 yards from the blind and splash I am neck deep in water. I can remember kicking feeling for the bottom and I couldn't feel it I finally got a foot hold in the muddy bank got an elbow in the mud and pulled my self up. Now this all happened in a matter of seconds but felt like I was in the water for a half hour. I walk back to the blind dripping wet my buddy looks at me and says boy I cant take you any wear. I strip off my coat and get my self dried out luckily the blind blocked the wind and it wasn't to cold for november so I was able to get a few more ducks. Lesson learned don't go exploring in the dark or when the tide comes in.
 
Backed the trailer into the water, set the brake, put the truck in park and got out.
Truck door slammed shut and somehow locked.
Engine Running.
At the bottom of the ramp.
At 4:30 am.
10 miles from nowhere.
Replacement window cost me $150........
 
Probably my most memorable blunder happened with my son and brother-in-law. I had a classic double and decided to load my own shells to shoot in it. So there we were all in position to shoot and I drew a bead on a nice big drake mallard and pulled the trigger. POP! And I mean the kind of pop that comes out of a kids pop gun. The crimping had come loose on one of my shells and about half of the shot had fallen out leaving no pressure on the wad and powder. My son and brother-in-law said they could see the wadding pass the shot in the air as the shot fell in the water about 10 yards in front of me. They got a great laugh over that!
 
I love this thread

1. No plug in the boat - done that
2. Forgot gun at home - more than one time
3. Ran out of gas - see above
4. Backed boat into water with strap still around boat tieing it to the trailer - been there (kind of fun watching the boat AND trailer floating in the review mirror)
5. Launched boat and parked car only to find the boat had floated away from high winds - yep. Needed the sherriff and Mayor to help me get my boat back
6. Tipped over in kayak type boat from being stupid - uh huh
7. Forgot waders - who hasn't?
8. Zipped across a new place to hunt only to find sheriff at landing upon return. It was OK to hunt the lake, but it was a no wake lake - oop's.
9. Mixed up WI and MN regs. Went out hunting and got set up. Started wondering why no one else was out hunting. Rechecked regs only to recall WI was closed this week and MN was open. Packed it in and went home.

And so on and so on.....

Mark W
 
I'd forgotten this one, from last year. Full story here:

Short version: Steep ramp, windy day, ice and snow. Pull up canoe, take gear to truck, wind blows canoe back down slippery ramp and it begins floating away. "Borrow" nearby canoe to chase. Borrowed canoe turns out to have no thwarts and a major leak. Realize this ~100 yards from shore. Chase lost canoe anyway and manage not to dump or sink, but not by much.
 
Sure wish I had a story to contribute to this thread, but I got nothing. Nope, nada, everything always goes as planned.
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Unless of course you count the time I got all set up back in a finger off the main lake. All set up just waiting for daylight when,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, what the heck, where is my shotgun? Dang, I got just enough time to make a run to the ramp and back if I hurry. At the time I was using a jon boat with a pop up blind. I didn’t take the time to lower the blind, just fired up the motor and off I went.
Everything is going good till I hit the main lake and the wind blowing down across it. The wind filled the blind material like a sail and lifted the hull from the water. Lifted it right up on one edge and kept coming. I quickly turned down wind which brought the hull back down flat to the water.
That was as close to flipping a boat as I ever want to be. Naturally it was way late in the season, ice cold water and no one else hunting the lake.
 
There are no words to describe sitting there in the blind, pulling out your shotgun and seeing a lock that you do not have the keys for....
 
Well there was this.....a little mis-calculation involving a narrow greasy dike, a too wide axle and a tight turn....it's really wasn't as scary as it looks though...it was scarier...until the downhill tire chocked itself on a big rock it was pulling the truck backwards as it slid downslope....only took two wreckers and a lot of cash to get it back on the dike....




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Not the dumbest thing I ever did...that would likely be swimming a hundred yards to the anchored boat in Puget Sound on Thanksgiving Day so as to avoid the blistering wrath of She Who Must Be Obeyed for not showing up on time for dinner as promised....one of those...I didn't really think that one out too well went through my rapidly numbing mind as I clung to the lower unit of the outboard so cold I couldn't climb out of the water...thankfully the big motors have a trim switch on the lower unit so that I could ride the elevator up to the "dry clothes this way dumbass" level...HEY...give me credit for having dry clothes in the boat...

My favorite though has to be a simple running out of gas in the same boat in the pictures with my older Brother and his then 12 year old son on the Columbia River just above a damn.....stiff breeze blowing down the river and since it was mid-week in Dec no other boat traffic.....we did the paddle thing moving imperceptibly towards the shoreline as the damn grew larger and larger....we'd toured the Dam so Matt could see it the day before and the water blowing out of the turbines was fresh in his mind....to him the dam was getting larger far more quickly than the river bank was and he stopped paddling, turned and very seriously asked me...

Uncle Steve, if we don't get to the bank what will happen"?.....

I replied..."well I guess we'll just drift up to the dam".....

His eyes got wider, remembering the downstream side of the dam from the day before, and with some alarm and a quavering voice he asked..."and then what will happen"....

Being his Uncle and loving him dearly I felt I had to be honest with him so I replied...."well I guess when that happens we'll go over the top and be killed".....

He turned back to the bow and very frantically paddled for thirty seconds or so, stopped, turned, ran to the back of the boat to his Father, grabbed him by his jacket, hauled his face in close and YELLED...."DID YOU HEAR THAT DAD...WE'RE GONNA DIE......DO SOMETHING.....

We didn't go over the top and we didn't die but that's a story that we love to retell now that he's grown up and married...sometimes the blunders are the best....


Steve
 
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