limited out on woodies in the rain!

[mazzgolf]

My buddy let me hunt his blind this morning while he's off trying to get a deer. So I went out solo this morning. We had good luck here last week, but this was my first solo hunt in early October season, didn't know what to expect especially with the weather.

Well, I got my first limit of wood ducks! Nothing miraculous, but still a banner day for me. Still getting used to duck hunting, but have to say it is fun!

Walked in at about 6am - the rain was steady but not a hard downpour, so it wasn't bad. Wind wasn't as strong as I thought it might be. And it wasn't too cold - probably mid-40s. I could only carry so much on a solo hunt - so I only brought 6 decoys with me... I was hoping it would be enough.

Nothing happened for about an hour after shooting time started - no birds and I only heard one volley of shots way off in the distance. Then I decided to close my eyes and almost fall asleep - a sure way to bring in birds is to stop paying attention.  I briefly opened my eyes and I saw a couple geese floating past my decoys!!  Well, geese aren't in season, but I thought it was still cool, so I stood up to watch them; that's when I suddenly noticed there were about a half dozen wood ducks floating behind the geese coming right into my decoys!!! It was keystone cops at that point, because the wood ducks noticed me and took off in every direction - I hurriedly picked up my gun and started shooting everywhere ... and missed all them! HA!  (It's funny now; not funny at the time)

Got frustrated because I thought that would be my only chance. When the time came when I planned to leave, I decided to stay out a little longer hoping I'd get another chance. I take out my phone to text home and tell them I'd be a little late - I immediately say to myself, "It's going to happen - my head is down and I'm dorking with my phone, so ducks are going to come." Well, of course, I'm half way through typing my text message when 3 wood ducks from out of nowhere and making NO sound fly in and land right into my decoys! This time I stay seated, but hurry up to put down the phone and pick up my gun. I stand up to get them to flush like that first group did. I shoot the first when he's still just barely launching off the water (sorry, not ashamed to say - my rule is: you land in my dekes, you're getting shot at with no head start ), the other two take flight - I shoot the second when it gets airborne, swing the gun over to the third and just before it gets completely out of range I shoot and it goes down!

I noticed that third one wasn't an immediate kill, so I load one more shell in my gun, get down into the water and rush to retrieve the birds. The wind and current is taking the birds downstream, so I'm running with water up to my waist and quickly grab the two I know are dead. I then rush downstream about 30 yards to find the cripple - but I can't find it. I'm wondering now if I really did hit it... that's when I see it pop up out of the water! I throw the two dead birds on the bank so I can have two hands and run (swim) to the cripple. He dives under the water again! I wait for it to pop back up, and deliver the coup de grace. I grab that one, go over and pick up the two I left on the bank, and catch my breath!! It was funny because I had to run around that whole time making sure the birds didn't float away downstream. If someone was watching me, I'm sure they would have gotten a good laugh. 

Well, that's my story. It is so much fun when it works out!

 

[Batsto]

Well done! Nice blind. 

[rgw]

awesome

 

[Buck154]

Congrats.  It is good duck weather 

[Rusty]

Nice way to spend a rainy day Mr. Golf.   

[toxo]

Duck Hunters are nuts! lol

[Stewey]

Nice job golf, beautiful birds 

[Batsto]

By the way, nice shotgun! My son in law loves his A300.

Edited October 27, 2018 by Batsto

[FowlHooked]

Great job Mazz.  Way to finish the week.

[deadonshot2]

John, your stories always crack me up. Glad you had a great day though.

[SPEARFISH]

Nice going.  I always thought about getting into duck hunting but never did.

[mazzgolf]

4 hours ago, Batsto said:

By the way, nice shotgun! My son in law loves his A300.

I *love* my A300.  Never a failure, eats any ammo I give it, easy to clean. Beretta quality but it didn't break the bank when I bought it. It's a great hunting shotgun!

[Kype]

Great day. Great hunt. Great post. 

[mazzgolf]

3 hours ago, deadonshot2 said:

your stories always crack me up.

 I love hunting - so many different experiences. This duck hunting in the rain and having to chase down wood ducks is just another to add to the list. I have to write it down so I remember it! 

Hunting is a blast. God is good to me! I'm kicking myself for waiting so long in life before starting. I'm trying to make up for lost time. Wife thinks I'm crazy going out as much as I do before work. But I can't wait for the next thing to experience. Even if I'm just out for a couple hours in the morning - you never know what you'll see.

You guys that have been doing this your whole life - don't take it for granted. Being outdoors and seeing and doing all these things, it's awesome.