Timed account of my first morning.........

[Bigpoppa]

4a.m.-A guy ran into my boat at the landing.

4:15 a.m-New boat, loaded down 700 pounds of people. 500 pounds of gear. With a 450pound weight limit.The coast guard doesnt know diddly.We had no problem.

4:45a.m.-Decoys are out. We dropped pole to our Robo Duck so he gets to sit in the blind with us. Spread looks good regardless.

5:15a.m.-Make effort to blow brand new duck call and discover reed has fallen out.

5:16a.m.-Look for reed til my head hurts.

5:45a.m.-Watch big ducks pitch in to decoys by moon light.

5:50a.m.-My pop realizes he forgot his shells.

6:00a.m.-Listen to idiots shoot well before legal light and spook every duck within 5 miles.

6:15a.m.-Shooting light. No ducks. Still looking for reed to new call.

6:30a.m.-Killed first duck.

6:30a.m.-Unbeknownst to me killed last duck.

7:15a.m.-Had beautiful flock of geese headed for the blind.

7:16a.m.-Watched geese hit water when hunters 200yards from us smoked them. Good shootin too I must say.

7:16a.m.til 8:45a.m.-Watched four idiots in a boat do circles around our spread,apparently looking for where they had placed there brains.

7:16a.m. til 8:45a.m.-Pop realizes he didnt need shells anyway.

8:45a.m.-Finished off 2nd thermos of coffee.

9:10a.m.-Picked up decoys.

9:15a.m.-Found reed to new call.

9:25a.m.-Put boat on trailer.

9:40a.m.-Visit with other hunters and talk about what we all saw and killed.

10:00a.m.-Hunting party of 3 took picture with 1 duck.

11:00a.m.-Let other people pay $1 a piece to have there picture taken with our duck.

11:30a.m.-Left for home.

Noon-Arrived at home and hugged my wife and daughter and told them what a good time I had.

Thanks to the good Lord for this opportunity and everything he has given me. Thanks for the chance to see another sunset and get to hunt with my Pop one more time.

Just think how good it would be with ducks.

They'll get here and I'll have so much fun I wont know what to do.

[Benelli20]

Great Post Express. I like your way of thinking. Even though no ducks, you still had a great time. I bet you were happy when your new boat got hit. [img]images/smiles/icon_mad.gif[/img] Your post made me feel like I was right there with you.

[Wingman]

Xpress...funny story [img]images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img] But does the Edmund Fitzgerald ring a bell? The Coast Guard knows a little more than diddly, just be careful out there man. My choice of opening morning hunting spot was so deep the decoys wouldn't touch the bottom..no ducks.

Wingman

[GulfCoast]

K know how you feel, Xpress! Lemme tell ya about my afternoon.....

I went out scouting this afternoon and when I stuck the boat into the water the knot popped off of the cleat. [img]images/smiles/icon_redface.gif[/img] My boat squirts out into the 60 foot deep main shipping channel by the refinery just as quick as you please. So there I am on the dock, holding a slack rope, and my hapless camoflauge boat is steady drifting towards Cuba. I am thinking, oh boy, all I need is to swim for it and a ocean tug come down the channel and see ya GC! [img]images/smiles/icon_confused.gif[/img]

Then, in a stroke of pure luck, one of the Bar Pilots was pulling up his launch at his dock and waved me over. He was laughing his head off!!! [img]images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img] So here I go chasing my little old duck boat down the channel in a friggin Bar Pilot launch!! All this taking place with oceangoing traffic passing us and no doubt freaking out.

That Bar Pilot was so skillful that I got down on the lower deck, and he overshot the duck boat and then backed into it so that the massive pilot boat, and my little boat met perfectly, and I just stepped over into it pretty as you please.

A crude oil tanker was leaving the refinery while all this was going on, and I can just hear the radio call .... " Base, we have a delay on exfil due to Pilot 7 navigating placement through the main shipping channel for a duck hunter."

Strange but true.... but at least I still have a boat [img]images/smiles/icon_eek.gif[/img]

[booger]

Ya'll are cracking me up.

I cant believe Xpress found his reed, what luck.

[img]images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img] [img]images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img] [img]images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img]

[Bigpoppa]

Gulfcoast,
It is odd to hear about, tankers and stuff like that when talking about duck hunting. You have quite a story there. Hey Booger I put my call back together after I found my reed and it sounds like gold. Maybe it was a blessing in disguise to drop it.

[hotty toddy]

I'll tell you Xpress your morning sounds like a dream compared to mine.

It started out great. After a short walk from the trucks we got to where we were to hunt. The walk was fairly uneventful all except for almost losing a hunting buddy to the nastiest mud know to man. He literally sank to his waist and nearly farther. Well after that we put out decoys which went suprisingly well.

Now it is 1 hour before shooting light and all the work is done. We also beat the rest of the hunters in for "the best spot". We had some nice conversation until about 20 min. before legal time when a pair of woodies almost took our heads off and landed in the decoys. Bye the way they left way before we could legally kill them.

After the woodies we were hopeful. Then the fog set in. Shooting hours came and we could see less than before. Two groups of wigeon passed well within range I think. I say that because we could only see them.

Well the story goes on like that. We could hear alot of shots but none were ours. Finally late in the morning out of nowhere a pair of smiling mallards locked on our dekes. Well being as I havent yet fired my gun I decided to take the shot. I fired twice. The second shot did the job. I thought. The duck hit the water about 100 yards out and immediatly went to swimming. After a 50 yard sprint in waist deep water and ankle deep mud I finnally got to where I could take what I thought would be a finishing shot. I was wrong and out of shells. They were in my back on the tree. I sprinted back and swapped guns with my buddy and sprinted back twards the duck that was getting farther and farther away. To make it short the duck crossed a deep hole and swam out of sight.

So all in all I got tired, my friend got wet (he had a little mishap with a woodduck and waist deep water- it wasnt pretty, and we came home empty handed.

[Anatidae]

Great story, X-press!! SO TRUE! We've all been there! [img]images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img]

[mallardchaser]

XPRESS , CALL ME AT WORK...

[bluwtr]

Well guys it sounds like we were par for the course down here. GC, you must have hunted with Paul and the other guys. We went to the Pascagoula Managment Area in George County. Between 7 hunters, 10 birds seen, 5 shots at 4 birds, one dead. Foggy as all get outs. Our dog whined the entire time because she was so excited to sit there and do nothing!!!

Went Sun. a.m.----different day, different area, same damn result. Oh well that's why it's called hunting and not killing. Can say that we saw a lot of marsh birds, white and brown pelicans etc. and one hell of a beautiful moon that pulled up a beautiful sunrise.

Maybe this weekend.

Good luck all and be safe.

Wes

[Bigpoppa]

The moon was definately beautiful.

[Delta Duck]

Sounds like a nice weekend.
I got to the duck hole at 6:45 stop back off about 300 yards and see nice groups of mallards working, I think why are they not shooting. So I drive on to the hole. My buddies are running around on the four wheeler trying to find the blind. I guess my son did a good job on the blind. Get to the blind and set out a spread. 7:15 shoot 4 ducks and see a few groups high. 10:00 leave go wake my 7 year old baby girl up and we leave and go south to the duck camp. Get dowm there and everything is under water. We ride out and I get 10 dekes out and hear a splash. My baby girl is soaked. Waders full of water. Go back get her some dry clothes and start on a game of slap J that last til sunday morning. Water still coming up.

It just don't get any better than that.

[ December 05, 2001: Message edited by: Delta Duck ]