From a hunt near the tombigbee river many years ago

[bigwater]

Enjoy
It was a typical frustrating year in the life of a duck hunter; 2005.. a sort of transitional year for myself. Having spent the past few seasons living the high life with not one but two duck clubs in Arkansas; I found myself on the outside looking in as our club(s) had imploded from within; and I left with no formal club to hunt for the 2005 duck season



I wasn't in a rush to secure a new spot. I was fortunate enough to have a golden goose that had fallen in my lap. Newly purchased family land in the heart of the Mississippi delta would be coming available for the 2006 duck season .



This new hunting opportunity would be Much closer to home, and best of all the only expense I would incur would be the sweat off the brow of myself and my duck hunting entourage. That's right not a single dime in duck lease cost; just a labor of love.



Certainly a far cry from the thousands and thousands of dollars that I had incurred as a member of two prime duck clubs situated on the grand Arkansas prairie.. not to mention the time required to properly hunt these properties; the strain of time away from loved ones and even the neglect inflctied on my business affairs. Whewww. I was looking forward to the 2006 season; but the quandary remained. What would 2005 be like.



It didn't take long to cobble together a list of potential candidates for places to pursue waterfowl for the upcoming season..

let's see:

Public land check

Old friends duck camps check

Old stomping grounds near the home place check.

And with this list in mind I started my season with an upbeat attitude and a dogged determination to get through this transitional no duck camp year and make the best of it.



2005.. A struggle it was . Factors we have all encountered before. To hot, no water, too cloudy, no wind , full moon, shoulda been here yesterday , ducks went back north mechanical snafus and so on and so on.



So In Late January when my brother called with some encouraging news of actual ducks he had eyeballed through his on binocs and On private land where permission was obtained . well let's just say I was in. In like pop tarts in a toaster. Crank it up ..



So what if this hunt would take place outside of the traditional "flyway ". No concerns here; I just wanted to hunt/shoot.. any concerns over the fact that the majority of the birds that had been scouted we're blackjacks. Nope.. none at all (blackjacks make challenging little targets especially at Mach 1 speed). Big group 7 or 8 guns would be invited on this hunt.. no problem..beggars can't be choosers.



The only real concern was . Was this was Monday and we weren't talking about actual hunting until Saturday morning. With the run of luck I was having during my slim Pickens year ; I was naturally concerned about the probability of the birds hanging around until Saturday. I was on go and if my brother had said we're going after them Tuesday morning I would have been there with bells on.



And so the wait began. A hunt Wednesday on public land was a slow go. Again hot temps and no wind derailed our hopes. But the scouting report from the blackjack lake was positive and still a go. Another positive report for Thursday verified that the birds had been rafted up for the last four days on the west side of the 75 ac lake. The final Friday report was was all Systems go same reports as before. However ... Ol Mother Nature was going to have her say so

Yep wouldn't you know it. A rare cold front from the east.. was on the way and temps would be dropping which of course was a good thing and winds picking up another favorable event. The problem was that my brother had been seeing the birds consistently on the west side of the lake. Should we set up where he had been seeing the birds?? If we chose that option we would ensure Ourselves with the dreaded wind in our face scenario that all duck hunters despise . Or.. Should we play the wind and set up away from where the ducks have been loitering. These are all good questions and i put my two cents in but ultimately the decision was made to hunt where the ducks had been on the west side of the property.



A brisk walk in was followed by a quick decoy set up. The starless sky was a sure indicator of the clouds that would follow. Soupy gray clouds set our backdrop for us; the kinda gray that depresses most men and causes some weekend warriors to choose the comforts of their sealy posturpedic over the dreary day ahead.



The sounds of White capping waves greeted us as we crested the levee and piered into the dark water . Rolling steady and sure right towards our position. Whitecaps tall enough that the decoys went nearly invisible for a split second. Of course the standard doubts had eased into my mind. Would the birds still be there . How would this wind affect us? How much leed to put on a duck when shooting at his behind.

As legal shooting time approached within a couple of minutes : the first big line of jacks came from over our head and worked towards the other side of the lake. No time was available to comment or ponder this predicament as another group was zeroed in on the same flight line and following the same course ..



In rapid succession two more smaller groups did the ditto dance....



From the far end of the firing line came the voice of a mark Blake, a grizzled 40 year veteran in the duck hunting business.. "we might have to move boys . Can't let many more groups like that go down over there or will be fighting a real problem.. Blake was in town as guest of my brothers. Easily one of the most knowledge duck hunters around .. Blake was joining us from his familiar haunts in the north delta .. Blake had been in the middle of an above average season by his lofty standards but as happens a recent downturn in hunting had left him and his trusty retriever chief looking for some fresh action. Action was what my brother had promised Blake, but whether it was going to be meaningful-fruitful action was up on the air.



It's like the 64 million dollar question. Should we move? Do we move. Should we leave some decoys or do we take them all.. do we all move or should some of us stay and some of us move. Heck, are we even that mad at them or do we tip the hat and claim the score as ducks 1 hunters 0.. all of these questions were being wrestled with by the more experienced members of our hunting party that cold cloudy morning ..



And then it happened..



For whatever reason , but mainly to pay tribute to the ol hunters saying "ya never know until ya go" a large group of bills 25 strong approaching on the same line as the previous flights threw us the first curve ball of the morning. As the ringers screamed overhead and towards the eastern shore of the lAke. The lead squadron of birds made a sharp hard athletic pivot to the north and then dropped altitude and began to bring questions to our mindset as to just what these little bombers were going to do. Their next move appeared to be compliments of a magic lasso, kinda like the one Wonder Woman carried.. these ringnecks had obviously caught a glimpse of our Decoys and were determined to get a better look. As the birds hurried north of us towards to upper end of the black jack lake the magic lasso made then preform a tight almost 180 degree turn. The navy's blue angels themselves would have been proud. Once this turn had been executed the birds were now heading in our general direction . Not really committing to the decoys the large group of birds appearing broadside to our position at somewhere between 35/40 yards.. I'm not sure to this day who made the call but someone in our group took the initiative to say we'd better get'em ..



a seven gun volley followed and it was every man and equally every duck for himself .. stiff 20-25 mph winds played havoc with the sting of shot sent forward to greet our quary. After all was said and done we were 5 birds in and still 37 more to go..



Favorable winds or naught; a cadre of close to a dozen shovlers did their best to give us a decoying shot and the results were much more favorable with 8 spoonbills added to the collection. Double digit bag total with only two groups ; not bad.



Turn around turn around was the instruction issued from my brother. These ringnecks were coming right at us low and hard they charged towards the blackjack lake.. with everyone rotated around and ready to greet the ringers . It was determined that these birds would get a volley as they passed our position low and well within range..



The Blake led side of the firing line seemed to inflict more damage as several birds fell from the group..



Now the hunt was picking up steam as the consistent steam of ringnecks came pouring through the spread .. mostly straffing runs skirting the decoys. Pairs , small groups and 20 plus size groups resulted in consistent shooting throughout the morning. As the gray of daybreak had given way the ducks had become a little more wary of our presence on the levee. Edging futher out to the limits of effective kill range the 7 gun volleys were still producing dead birds but the shot to kill ratio was suffering..



As our group of was taking stock of where we stood on available ammunition, and redistributing accordingly. A group of birds appeared before us that even before we could identify them we could sense something special about these birds. Their descent was strong and rapid and they were quiet yet firmly in control of their landing destination.. the magical birds were in on us so quickly that as they presented the money shot we were still in awe. The King Can had made his appearance on the black jack lake. Only a small volley was fired from my end of the firing line and and fortunately one lone mature king can gave himself to the cause that morning ..



The morning continued on with quite frequent visits to the lake by the sporting-hearty ringnecks. Groups of various sizes continued thier assault until we had accumulated just over 40 + birds..



This cloudy-windy-nondescript morning was one of those days were as a duck hunter you can feel the magic in the air. To experience the best of the best and to be able to acknowledge and appreciate it for what it is and what it encompasses. It's why we do what we've done for as long as we've done it; and as long as the good Lord above will let us continue to do it.. the best of the best it was ..



In a year I will remember for the slim Pickens. This hunt was destined to be a kicken



The e

[novacaine]

That was nice.................you tell a good story pilgrim.........

[bigwater]

Thx Bill. Glad you enjoyed. Got another I’m working on right now

[hntrpat1]

in the five years that i lived on that side of the state I have had some very very good hunts and some very very crappy hunts. I sure made me hate hunters from bama, Georgia and South Carolina.

[Duck Engr]

Very nice read on a Monday morning!

Thanks bigwater!

[missed mallards]

Great read!

I don’t know why but I’ve always been intrigued by ringnecks. Per my records I’ve only killed one on the “farm”. Ended up shooting him about 10 yards away and there was no way to preserve him for a mount. Bill, feet, and body took on way to many pellets. He was the last duck to fill out the strap full of big ducks. Came from the north and literally locked up from a mile up. That sound of his wings cutting air is one I still get chills about!

Thanks for sharing! Looking forward to the next one!

[DuckBoat]

Good reading.
A good hunt is a good hunt no matter the kind of duck.

[Wildfowler]

That sounded like a fun hunt. Thank you