Weather:
Upper 20's,
Wind out of the north-northeast at 5 to 10 mph
Partly cloudy skies
Sunrise 7:03, shooting time 6:33
_______________________________________
The worst part about hunting public land is figuring out what time you should get up to go hunt. The last time when I hunted on October 28th, I sat in the parking lot for over an hour and no other hunter showed. If I hadn't done that, I would have gotten out there and the parking lot would have been filled up. College kids are still in college, so we shouldn't have many hunters, however it is a Monday and not a Tuesday so I have a chance of getting and additional hunter or two. With a 6:33 shooting time, it takes me 30 minutes to setup and 30 minutes of letting everything calm down, means I need to be out there at least by 5:30, with a 1 hour drive, I need to leave the house no later than 4:30... I think I'll getup at 3:00, and that will give me a 1 hour wait in the parking lot. Thank goodness for the IPOD and old time radio.
To be continued....
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Will's First Duck Hunt
Sunday, November 9th
Weather:
Blue skies, temp around 42 degrees.
Slight northwest wind
***************
After getting out of Mass, Will and I head home, grab our gear and head for the marsh. We arrive at Unit E with one other truck in the parking lot. We put on our gear and head up the trail to see where the other hunting party is at. I can't find their spread, so head for the point. Being that this is an evening hunt and I don't want to be picking decoy's up in the dark, I setup a dozen in two pods and hit the bank. The first thing I noticed when setting up is that the water is way high. I had forgotten my mojo, however I took note to make sure and bring the extra tall poles for when I come back. We sat for an hour and didn't see anything. During the next hour, we had a single circle us a few times but wouldn't commit and then a small group of 2 to 3 circle once and not commit. At sundown I saw quite a few in the air, but none wanted on E. When I got ready to leave, Will was asleep on the ground. I picked up, got ready and woke him up. As we were packing up at the truck, the other hunter showed up with an empty bag as well.
It wasn't the best hunt for Will's first time, but I think he had fun all the same.
Weather:
Blue skies, temp around 42 degrees.
Slight northwest wind
***************
After getting out of Mass, Will and I head home, grab our gear and head for the marsh. We arrive at Unit E with one other truck in the parking lot. We put on our gear and head up the trail to see where the other hunting party is at. I can't find their spread, so head for the point. Being that this is an evening hunt and I don't want to be picking decoy's up in the dark, I setup a dozen in two pods and hit the bank. The first thing I noticed when setting up is that the water is way high. I had forgotten my mojo, however I took note to make sure and bring the extra tall poles for when I come back. We sat for an hour and didn't see anything. During the next hour, we had a single circle us a few times but wouldn't commit and then a small group of 2 to 3 circle once and not commit. At sundown I saw quite a few in the air, but none wanted on E. When I got ready to leave, Will was asleep on the ground. I picked up, got ready and woke him up. As we were packing up at the truck, the other hunter showed up with an empty bag as well.
It wasn't the best hunt for Will's first time, but I think he had fun all the same.
Friday, November 14, 2008
2nd Hunt
Tuesday, October 28th, morning hunt
Weather:
Cold, low in the upper 20's, slight west wind, clear skies
Sunrise : 7:42 AM, Shooting time 7:12 AM
__________________________________________________
Will had his first commuion on Sunday, served his first Mass on Monday so I went ahead and took Tuesday off to hunt. The weekend sounded like other spots were doing a good job getting ducks in so I had high hopes going into the hunt.
I woke up around 3:00, got ready, packed my gear and took off. Arrived at the parking lot of E a little prior to 4:30 and sat in the truck until a little after 5:30 and then headed out to the point. At the point I quickly found where other hunters had already started to smash down the grass for their hunting spots and decided to just hunt in one of these spots instead of smashing down more. I hunted the western edge of the point and set up 6 widgeon and 2 mallards in a small pod to the east and 18 mallards with the mojo in a pod to the west with a landing pool open right in the middle. I turned the mojo on around 6:40 and waited for the ducks to come.
There's something special about hunting by yourself on a cold morning as the marsh awakens. With this still being early in the year, the water was giving off a slight fog and sound of mallard hens quacking on Boicourt was certainly enjoyable.
Around 7:10, a pair of teal let into the decoy's the stayed past shooting time but I passed as I really wanted to get all mallards. Around 7:20, a single lit in but I couldn't id her. I'm guessing she was a hen gadwall, but the only thing I knew for sure is it wasn't a drake mallard. Around 7:30, 3 mallards (2 drakes and a hen) circled once and then cupped and commited to the spread. When the got in the kill zone, about 10 feet above the water, 10 yards out, I pulled up on the first drake, shot and he and the hen went down. I got on the second drake and missed with my second shot, but knocked him down with my third. He was still alive, now about 60 yards out in the water so as I walked out to get him, put a layer of steel out and finished him off. So only 20 minutes into the hunt, I've got 3 of my 5 birds down. Not a bad start, it was looking to be a good hunt.
Around 8:00 I had a group of about 8 to 10 mallards circle me twice, cup and commit to the spread. I let them get right into the sweet spot, I picked out a big drake, shot and he went down. As I started to get onto a second drake, with the light conditions I couldn't cleanly get on another drake and with one hen already in the bag, I passed on a second shot. I've got 4 of my 5 down, all mallards. I'm not a little dissappointed that my hunt is most likely going to be over fairly quick and it is a beautiful day.
Around 8:30, a pair of drake mallards circle me a few times and do the best commit ducks can do. After circling me from behind heading west, out front they are heading east, start to go north then quickly circle back, doing a circle 8, and commit hard into the kill zone. I'm able to easily pick the drake on the left out, knock him down (poor shooting as he wasn't killed instantly) and my day's hunt is over.
I had a little time to spare, so I sat on the bank, finished my coffee and watched out over the marsh. The point has been great for Matt and I and I'm truly blessed to have found this spot when we did.
I was able to get home around 11:00 and get cleaned up to take the family to Mass. Will was able to server his second low mass, BONUS!
Weather:
Cold, low in the upper 20's, slight west wind, clear skies
Sunrise : 7:42 AM, Shooting time 7:12 AM
 |
| From Duck Hunting 2008 |
__________________________________________________
Will had his first commuion on Sunday, served his first Mass on Monday so I went ahead and took Tuesday off to hunt. The weekend sounded like other spots were doing a good job getting ducks in so I had high hopes going into the hunt.
I woke up around 3:00, got ready, packed my gear and took off. Arrived at the parking lot of E a little prior to 4:30 and sat in the truck until a little after 5:30 and then headed out to the point. At the point I quickly found where other hunters had already started to smash down the grass for their hunting spots and decided to just hunt in one of these spots instead of smashing down more. I hunted the western edge of the point and set up 6 widgeon and 2 mallards in a small pod to the east and 18 mallards with the mojo in a pod to the west with a landing pool open right in the middle. I turned the mojo on around 6:40 and waited for the ducks to come.
There's something special about hunting by yourself on a cold morning as the marsh awakens. With this still being early in the year, the water was giving off a slight fog and sound of mallard hens quacking on Boicourt was certainly enjoyable.
Around 7:10, a pair of teal let into the decoy's the stayed past shooting time but I passed as I really wanted to get all mallards. Around 7:20, a single lit in but I couldn't id her. I'm guessing she was a hen gadwall, but the only thing I knew for sure is it wasn't a drake mallard. Around 7:30, 3 mallards (2 drakes and a hen) circled once and then cupped and commited to the spread. When the got in the kill zone, about 10 feet above the water, 10 yards out, I pulled up on the first drake, shot and he and the hen went down. I got on the second drake and missed with my second shot, but knocked him down with my third. He was still alive, now about 60 yards out in the water so as I walked out to get him, put a layer of steel out and finished him off. So only 20 minutes into the hunt, I've got 3 of my 5 birds down. Not a bad start, it was looking to be a good hunt.
Around 8:00 I had a group of about 8 to 10 mallards circle me twice, cup and commit to the spread. I let them get right into the sweet spot, I picked out a big drake, shot and he went down. As I started to get onto a second drake, with the light conditions I couldn't cleanly get on another drake and with one hen already in the bag, I passed on a second shot. I've got 4 of my 5 down, all mallards. I'm not a little dissappointed that my hunt is most likely going to be over fairly quick and it is a beautiful day.
Around 8:30, a pair of drake mallards circle me a few times and do the best commit ducks can do. After circling me from behind heading west, out front they are heading east, start to go north then quickly circle back, doing a circle 8, and commit hard into the kill zone. I'm able to easily pick the drake on the left out, knock him down (poor shooting as he wasn't killed instantly) and my day's hunt is over.
I had a little time to spare, so I sat on the bank, finished my coffee and watched out over the marsh. The point has been great for Matt and I and I'm truly blessed to have found this spot when we did.
I was able to get home around 11:00 and get cleaned up to take the family to Mass. Will was able to server his second low mass, BONUS!
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