Duck Hunting 2011
I'll just save you the suspense...I didn't fully connect with any ducks this year.
*sigh* It's just hard NOT to get so excited when they're coming in. They always seem super-fast, but they're also a BIG target...so it's always a mystery when you can't hit them! I DID pull off quite a few feathers a couple weeks ago, so I know I at least hit once...even if it was in the rear end. The weird thing about THAT duck was that it flat out disappeared! I don't know what it did, but two mallards came into the decoys, I picked out one and shot, then only saw ONE leaving. Who knows, maybe he turned tail and flew straight away and I just payed attention to the wrong duck.
But overall, it's been a pretty fun season! I'm definitely hooked again, and if for nothing else than just getting out after the general hunting season closes!
Lately, since the chain lakes froze up, we've been working on a bay off Coeur d'Alene lake. It gets MINIMAL activity so it's a pretty nice area. The only trade off is that it's a solid two mile paddle in. (Getting the Jon boat in the water this time of year would be a pain because the water level is very low.) But, my brand new lumber rack is definitely serving it's purpose and I have a pretty good method anymore for getting it up there and secured. I can even do it solo, but help is definitely appreciated.
So there have been quite a few mornings of getting up at 3:30, on the road by 5:00, putting in at about 5:30 and then paddling for an hour in the dark. The water was typically glass-calm and the stars have been brilliant. EVERY paddle I've made in there I've seen shooting stars...and one morning I was able to see seven within 30 minutes. We'd paddle through on big bay, cutting off some mileage, and usually once we round the point we'd be putting up gobs and gobs of geese (it's still so dark you can't see them.) That's pretty fun, listening to (what seems like) hundreds of birds starting their morning commute. Shoot, one morning I even had the privilege of hearing a loon!
We've got two spots we'll set up in, one stays in the shade ALL DAY and is just downright cold, but you can see much more of the lake from that vantage. We were just in there yesterday and had (what is likely to be) the last and very best day of the duck hunting season. No, not because there were a lot of birds...because there were none...but because of the OTHER things we saw.
So there we were, right? Sitting there after a 30 minute paddle (we had a nice breeze helping us along) and watching an eagle fish about 100 yards away from us. We watched him pick up a fish and then perform a very entertaining hover-land on a piling. He then proceeded to eat the fish...and then take off to get another. This time the hover-land wasn't really seeming to come together for him and after two unsuccessful tries, he flew over and behind us. All of a sudden, I could hear a lot of wind on his feathers as he flew close and then another odd sound. It sounded like a large rock shwissshing through the air. Then it hit! Right...in...the...decoys! KERSPLASH!! This eagle had dropped his fish in our spread and then came swooping down. The only thing we can think of is that it dropped the fish to try and make the birds (decoys) move and then was going to pick one off. We'd seen him diving at some other ducks (divers) and they'd all skitter out of the way. Perhaps he was irritated that these birds were so bold? Or, maybe he just "dropped the soap" and thought it a loss.
Well, we're sitting there talking about that and some time went by. Over off to our left there is a big frozen mud flat...leading to solid ice, to thin ice, then to open water. Repeat on the other side but in reverse. A yearling doe came screaming down from the hill, onto the mudflat and just running flat out. I didn't even get, "What in the world is..." when the first coyote that was chasing her was on the flat. Then another coyote came down! The doe got to the solid ice and fell, floundering around on the ice while the first coyote caught up and watched her. At this point, I had my safety off, planning on shooting at the coyote (never fired a shot though.) But then I figured, "No, this is nature. This is what happens." That rapidly led to, "But I personally don't have to sit there and watch this happen." The doe finally broke through and started breaking ice and bounding toward the open water. Meanwhile, the coyote backed up and joined his buddy. They seemed to get together, consult, and come up with a game plan. Both Jason and I were up at this point, planning on trying to help get the deer out of the water and cut off the dogs. By the time we got on the flat, the coyotes had left and the doe had made it to the other side. She tiptoed on the ice and then just stood on the mud panting. She SLOWLY started making toward the other shore and then paralleled us as we headed up the creek channel as if she was keeping us between her and the coyotes! I have never really wanted to kill a coyote, but at that point I was wishing I had had a rifle with me. Hey, I'm part of the environment too! If I want to intervene, I will.
Since we were up, we went on a walk up the mostly ice-covered creek and checked out all the beaver lodges and big game sign...making plans for a hunt next September. Imagine an early season bow hunt, using a canoe, in a wetland. Sounds like fun to me! Well, we found a patch of open water that held some ducks. Jason was ahead of me by about 20 yards and I whispered at him, "Jason, get down! Ducks RIGHT THERE. Four mallards." At that point I just hunkered to watch the show. He got up and fired three shots. One hen fell, that looked dead...but then got up and ran into a hole in the bank. It was further than we could reach, so had to fashion a hook out of a stick and yard her out of there. Again, kinda sad, but it was over quick.
After that, we went back to the decoys and had some coffee. It was only 1130 in the morning! Well, we hung out for another hour before heading out. A large, low, black cloud was headed for us and we sunk those paddles deep to battle the wind. And sure enough, rounding the last bend to the launch we found about 30 mallards, maybe 40 geese...all on private property and way too close to houses. *sigh*
Oh, and when we were 40 yards from the dock, the water became glass and the "storm" dissipated. After we got gear transferred and Jason took off, I went on a drive to watch the incredibly impressive sunset over the mirror of Coeur d'Alene lake.
So, no ducks or geese, but like always, I had a heck of time!
*sigh* It's just hard NOT to get so excited when they're coming in. They always seem super-fast, but they're also a BIG target...so it's always a mystery when you can't hit them! I DID pull off quite a few feathers a couple weeks ago, so I know I at least hit once...even if it was in the rear end. The weird thing about THAT duck was that it flat out disappeared! I don't know what it did, but two mallards came into the decoys, I picked out one and shot, then only saw ONE leaving. Who knows, maybe he turned tail and flew straight away and I just payed attention to the wrong duck.
But overall, it's been a pretty fun season! I'm definitely hooked again, and if for nothing else than just getting out after the general hunting season closes!
Lately, since the chain lakes froze up, we've been working on a bay off Coeur d'Alene lake. It gets MINIMAL activity so it's a pretty nice area. The only trade off is that it's a solid two mile paddle in. (Getting the Jon boat in the water this time of year would be a pain because the water level is very low.) But, my brand new lumber rack is definitely serving it's purpose and I have a pretty good method anymore for getting it up there and secured. I can even do it solo, but help is definitely appreciated.
So there have been quite a few mornings of getting up at 3:30, on the road by 5:00, putting in at about 5:30 and then paddling for an hour in the dark. The water was typically glass-calm and the stars have been brilliant. EVERY paddle I've made in there I've seen shooting stars...and one morning I was able to see seven within 30 minutes. We'd paddle through on big bay, cutting off some mileage, and usually once we round the point we'd be putting up gobs and gobs of geese (it's still so dark you can't see them.) That's pretty fun, listening to (what seems like) hundreds of birds starting their morning commute. Shoot, one morning I even had the privilege of hearing a loon!
We've got two spots we'll set up in, one stays in the shade ALL DAY and is just downright cold, but you can see much more of the lake from that vantage. We were just in there yesterday and had (what is likely to be) the last and very best day of the duck hunting season. No, not because there were a lot of birds...because there were none...but because of the OTHER things we saw.
So there we were, right? Sitting there after a 30 minute paddle (we had a nice breeze helping us along) and watching an eagle fish about 100 yards away from us. We watched him pick up a fish and then perform a very entertaining hover-land on a piling. He then proceeded to eat the fish...and then take off to get another. This time the hover-land wasn't really seeming to come together for him and after two unsuccessful tries, he flew over and behind us. All of a sudden, I could hear a lot of wind on his feathers as he flew close and then another odd sound. It sounded like a large rock shwissshing through the air. Then it hit! Right...in...the...decoys! KERSPLASH!! This eagle had dropped his fish in our spread and then came swooping down. The only thing we can think of is that it dropped the fish to try and make the birds (decoys) move and then was going to pick one off. We'd seen him diving at some other ducks (divers) and they'd all skitter out of the way. Perhaps he was irritated that these birds were so bold? Or, maybe he just "dropped the soap" and thought it a loss.
Well, we're sitting there talking about that and some time went by. Over off to our left there is a big frozen mud flat...leading to solid ice, to thin ice, then to open water. Repeat on the other side but in reverse. A yearling doe came screaming down from the hill, onto the mudflat and just running flat out. I didn't even get, "What in the world is..." when the first coyote that was chasing her was on the flat. Then another coyote came down! The doe got to the solid ice and fell, floundering around on the ice while the first coyote caught up and watched her. At this point, I had my safety off, planning on shooting at the coyote (never fired a shot though.) But then I figured, "No, this is nature. This is what happens." That rapidly led to, "But I personally don't have to sit there and watch this happen." The doe finally broke through and started breaking ice and bounding toward the open water. Meanwhile, the coyote backed up and joined his buddy. They seemed to get together, consult, and come up with a game plan. Both Jason and I were up at this point, planning on trying to help get the deer out of the water and cut off the dogs. By the time we got on the flat, the coyotes had left and the doe had made it to the other side. She tiptoed on the ice and then just stood on the mud panting. She SLOWLY started making toward the other shore and then paralleled us as we headed up the creek channel as if she was keeping us between her and the coyotes! I have never really wanted to kill a coyote, but at that point I was wishing I had had a rifle with me. Hey, I'm part of the environment too! If I want to intervene, I will.
Since we were up, we went on a walk up the mostly ice-covered creek and checked out all the beaver lodges and big game sign...making plans for a hunt next September. Imagine an early season bow hunt, using a canoe, in a wetland. Sounds like fun to me! Well, we found a patch of open water that held some ducks. Jason was ahead of me by about 20 yards and I whispered at him, "Jason, get down! Ducks RIGHT THERE. Four mallards." At that point I just hunkered to watch the show. He got up and fired three shots. One hen fell, that looked dead...but then got up and ran into a hole in the bank. It was further than we could reach, so had to fashion a hook out of a stick and yard her out of there. Again, kinda sad, but it was over quick.
After that, we went back to the decoys and had some coffee. It was only 1130 in the morning! Well, we hung out for another hour before heading out. A large, low, black cloud was headed for us and we sunk those paddles deep to battle the wind. And sure enough, rounding the last bend to the launch we found about 30 mallards, maybe 40 geese...all on private property and way too close to houses. *sigh*
Oh, and when we were 40 yards from the dock, the water became glass and the "storm" dissipated. After we got gear transferred and Jason took off, I went on a drive to watch the incredibly impressive sunset over the mirror of Coeur d'Alene lake.
So, no ducks or geese, but like always, I had a heck of time!
posted by geotracker12 at 1:12 PM
8 Comments:
Great story! I remember once John (hunting partner) and I were hunting just north of Flathead Lake. It had been pretty quiet and John thought changing the decoys around would be just the ticket. He took his shotgun and poled the boat out to the spread and was just in the process of picking up the first block when a a small fligt of Widgeons came in. I said "John. Ducks" in a broad stage whisper. So he crouched down. I said "No. Ducks." He tried to get lower. The ducks landed so close to him they splashed water on him. He finally realized what I was trying to tell him, damned near dropped his shotgun overboard and started shooting at the rapidly fleeing ducks. I swear every shot was just a little farther behind than the previous one, like he was swinging backwards. I was laughing so hard I didn't even think of shooting. Never drew a feather.
Ah, the joys of duck hunting. Nothing beats watching them come in to the blocks on set wings, though, side slipping and maneuvering for just that pfect spot.
Great article!! This stands true for first time hunters of any age. It’s the experience that makes or breaks their decision to continue. elitehuntsman.com
Thanks for sharing your experience with us. It is very interesting and I really like it. Good luck for your next hunting. I am waiting for your next posts about hunting. Thanks again!
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Great post !! Your article helps me understand a lot of information more about duck hunting .Good luck! Rainy Camping
For duck hunting is much easier than deer hunting, just need a few types of equipment is enough, but for hunt the deer need some very professional products and accessories, this is an excellent article!
It’s very simple to find out any topic on net as compared to textbooks, as I found this post at this web page.
Alfred
I love Duck Hunting. Thanks for sharing. Read more.
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