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Its almost that time of year again.........duck season!!!!
88 hrs to go until opening of the 2014 Duck season on Saturday morning at 6.30am.
The Tide is all wrong for the area where we shoot on opening weekend, with full tide at 1pm. It means another midnight harbour cruise to get to where we hunt...........then 5 hrs sleep in my 13' aluminium duck boat. Weather looks like it is going to be fine and sunny with 10knot variable winds.
This will be my 53rd consecutive opening day. ( started when I was a young fella following my dad around)
I am going to try something different this year. At first light we always get birds coming into the decoys where we set up ( on the edge of a mangrove island in the middle of the harbour) After the initial flight which lasts about 2 hrs, the birds prefer to land out on the mudflats about a 1000yds away from where we are set up. As the tide comes in the birds follow the tide line until it floats our decoys .......and then the shooting starts again. This year I am taking a shovel with me. When things get quiet I intend to walk out onto the mudflats to where the first birds settle, ( taking gun, decoys, shovel and some mangrove branches with me) and dig a 'pit blind'
Will have to watch the tide closely though............when it comes in, it comes with a rush and moves across the mud faster than a fit person can jog. Walking, let alone jogging in mud up to your mid calf can be difficult at the best of times..................knowing you are being chased by rising water makes it real interesting!!!!!!!
Better go and start getting my gear ready..............
WOOOHOOOO.................Its duck season!!!!!!!!!!!
The Tide is all wrong for the area where we shoot on opening weekend, with full tide at 1pm. It means another midnight harbour cruise to get to where we hunt...........then 5 hrs sleep in my 13' aluminium duck boat. Weather looks like it is going to be fine and sunny with 10knot variable winds.
This will be my 53rd consecutive opening day. ( started when I was a young fella following my dad around)
I am going to try something different this year. At first light we always get birds coming into the decoys where we set up ( on the edge of a mangrove island in the middle of the harbour) After the initial flight which lasts about 2 hrs, the birds prefer to land out on the mudflats about a 1000yds away from where we are set up. As the tide comes in the birds follow the tide line until it floats our decoys .......and then the shooting starts again. This year I am taking a shovel with me. When things get quiet I intend to walk out onto the mudflats to where the first birds settle, ( taking gun, decoys, shovel and some mangrove branches with me) and dig a 'pit blind'
Will have to watch the tide closely though............when it comes in, it comes with a rush and moves across the mud faster than a fit person can jog. Walking, let alone jogging in mud up to your mid calf can be difficult at the best of times..................knowing you are being chased by rising water makes it real interesting!!!!!!!
Better go and start getting my gear ready..............
WOOOHOOOO.................Its duck season!!!!!!!!!!!
Still enjoying the trip of a lifetime and making the best of what I have.....
Replies
Jerry
I will be Jerry. I have had that idea for a few years but never got around to actually implementing it. I figure its about time...........while I am still fit enough to try it.
Good luck.
Gun control laws make about as much sense as taking ex-lax to cure a cough.
And be careful on those mud flats!
― Douglas Adams
as it will keep caving in because the water table is at the surface of the goo.
Good point Ned..................which is why I am taking a camo net and stakes as a backup.............lol.
The mud in the area varies in consistency. Some of it is like liquid cement, other areas it is almost like sandstone in texture. The trick I think is to find a spot that is somewhere between the two. Might have to dig a few 'test' holes until I find the right place.
Will take the camera and get some pics btw.
I haven't forgotten.
Will be taking the 375 up with me.................after we come off the harbour I may get a chance to go chase a few rabbits....................video/pics will be taken.
That's old school. Get you some surplus arty netting.
I have some surplus netting for the boat and a frame and poles to put it up.
Also have a dead grass net to lay out in a field.
That netting is getting hard to find and pricey as well. Sure is right handy for hunting though. Especially for quick set up portable blinds.
It's going to be a long day tomorrow.
Well that's actually today.
Reuters, Dec 2020.
Reckon they've filled a box with quackers yet?
― Douglas Adams
Personally I didn't do to well today, tally of only 14 Mallards, however this was off set by the way my Three yr old Wirehaired Pointer worked. Water , land he was pretty good all round, Found two winged ducks in the long grasses and retrieved everything he saw hit the water.
He is currently lying on his mat beside me out to it, and anyone who Knows Wirehairs knows it takes a bit to put them out.
Reuters, Dec 2020.
Nope......................am still here......Just trying to catch up on things that I let slip in my excitement at facing another opening day.
Headed out to where we were going to shoot at 10pm on sat night. 4 of us in two boats. Judging by the lack of activity at the boat ramp, it seemed that a lot of regular hunters weren't bothering to head out. Forecast for the weekend was fine with clear skies and no wind ............may have had something to do with it.
I changed plans before we left and we decided to split into separate areas. Bloodhound was with Nick (my mates son) and GB ( his dad ) was with me.
Took BH to a spot that I normally don't shoot early in the season but wanted Nick to have a good day. I set their decoys ( at 11.30pm ) by walking out in a rising tide with water up to my waist. It was a bit tricky as the mud is soft and I was sinking in up to my knees. I then decided to let BH & Nick use my 'duck magnet'........a pole mounted wing flapper decoy.
It did the trick perfectly with the 2 of them scoring 16 birds.
GB and I didn't do so well..........we managed to knock down 5 between us..............out of the 8 that came in range. ( I told BH not to be a tightarse and buy his own 'flapper ' for next year as it would have made a big difference to our decoy set..)
Sunday we elected not to head out on the harbour but deal to some pesky geese causing a problem for one of the local farmers. Spent most of the day on the property and managed 5 Paradise ducks, 1 mallard and 1 goose.............The only mob of geese that came in numbered about 80........GB, BH and I opened up and sent 9 shots in their general direction...........just when they were almost out of range Nick fires one shot and drops the 'tail end charlie'. His first goose. ( Nick is in his 20's but has only recently started hunting)
BH gets bragging rights for being top gun...............................but considering he was using most of my gear I get to take some responsibility :tooth:
While sitting in the paddock a trio of Spur Winged Plovers flew past. ( they are a pest here). Bloodhound dropped the lead bird at about 35 yds.......I swung on the 2 remaining birds and dropped them both with one shot at about 50yds..............to show him how it should be done...........and to point out that conserving ammo was possible lol.
My 'pre-emptive' strike worked btw.............After we left BH & Nick we headed to our spot. By the time we had the boat set up it was about 1.30am............and I figured the other two would be fast asleep..................................so I rang Bloodhounds mobile..........It took about 20 rings before he answered...( it was buried in the bottom of his ammo box).
When he answered, I asked him if he was asleep to which he replied "No, I had to wake up to find my phone damnit!!" I told him I was just checking that they were ok......then hung up. It appears it took him another hour to go back to sleep. lol.
― Douglas Adams
Life member of the American Legion, the VFW, the NRA and the Masonic Lodge, retired LEO
You got it right Robin. We are almost into winter now. That's why I love coming over for the SE................I get to spend a couple of weeks in a hot place, work on my tan, enjoy seeing scantily clad women..............while all my friends get to wear bulky clothes and look at shapeless creatures...............
I looked up the winter temperatures for NZ. Average of 61°F for high and 45°F for the low. Must be some thin blood to need all them clothes with those temperatures. Of course it could be construed that women wearing longer dresses and pants, and maybe a jacket in the morning could appear bulky clothing as opposed to those teeny tiny swimsuits on the beach, and the light stuff they wear in the summer. :tooth:
― Douglas Adams