There is a very strong cold front expected to hit the Wasatch Front today around noonish…couple that with the fact that we have water lapping the duck club and 30 mph South winds….it all spells for a wonderful day to be out in the marsh duck hunting!  Yes, today is also the opening day of the pheasant hunt, but with no pheasants around there shouldn’t be any (or many) hunters stomping around the marsh.  Besides those hunters will hit it early (8 a.m.) and be back in the restaurants or bars by noon anyway.

So, Weasel, Conner and I will be out there quacking away.  I have two new boxes of 3 inch 20 gauge in my hunting coat pockets, 16 duck decoys, a 5 gallon bucket, two peanut butter and jam sandwiches, 6 pieces of jerky, my shotgun and chest waders…..I think I’m ready.

I picked up my duck stamp yesterday and have called for my HIP number.  I think I’m ready, but usually that first trip tells you pretty quickly what you have forgotten.  Luckily we are going to be hunting no farther than 2 miles from home and so if we forget something REALLY important, we can take the time to go back home and get it.  A definite advantage to living close to the hunting area.

Conner has never been duck hunting and I want this to be a positive memory for him.  Unlike when his father was 16 and I took him hunting geese for the first time….a cold and snowing day, after an all night snow storm creating a “perfect” scenario for goose hunting.  We were set up before it was light enough to see, hid out under white sheets laid on the ground.   We laid there all day long and never saw the first goose.  Cold, wet and very disappointed, Weasel never did want to go duck or goose hunting again….well not until his mid 30’s.   I don’t want to make that same mistake with Conner.

Mallards!  Nothing but Greenheads in the bag today!  That’s what I say I want to shoot, Weasel can pick his ducks and Conner can shoot the sky full of holes if he wants.  I’ll do my best to get the birds in close and flaring in his face!

QUACK!  QUACK!  QUACK!  Get ready, they are swinging into the set…….TAKE EM!

Bears Butt

November 1, 2014

Well, we didn’t get away until about 11 a.m., knowing the storm front was due around 1 p.m.  We figured that would give us plenty of time to fix Colmer Island box and get set up for ducks somewhere farther West before the front hit.  We were spot on with our timing.

With a hefty breeze blowing all morning long we could have had a very good hunt without the storm coming, but we wanted to be there for the “big one”.  All 3 of us had our own idea as to what to expect.  In my mind, we would see an increase in the wind, followed by a brief heavy blow, then some light rain followed by a more moderate wind, the water level would rise a few inches and the ducks would be everywhere.

About 12:30 or so, we were set up West of Colmer Island and the breeze was beginning to pick up.  A few ducks were milling around and kept our interest going.  Even a few Canadian Honkers were moving a bit.  Some guys very far West of us were having a great shoot.  They even bagged a couple of honkers while we were there.  Lots of ducks decoyed into their setup and they shot a ton of shells, dropping about one bird in every 5 shots.  Not bad for whoever they were.  For sure, they would count the empty boxes to know how many times they shot today.

So, my goal was to see to it that Conner had a good time and hopefully bagged a duck or two.  The first shot was his to take and as long as the bird didn’t pose an unsafe shot, he could take it.  Weasel was designated the “call the shot” guy and when the first bird came in, he called too soon and Conner missed.  Bad Weasel!  You have to be able to see the birds eye, or it’s too far out.  OK Conner, the next bird is yours too.

The front could be seen coming in and it looked to be a huge dust cloud being blown along from South to North East.  The winds locally began to pick up a bit, but not overwhelmingly strong.  The water level did begin to rise a bit as well.  We were each sitting on a 5 gallon bucket and the water was about half way up the bucket when we began.  Not too bad and it would stay in its place pretty good when we stood up to stretch or shoot.  Just what you want when sitting on buckets in the swamp.

Well, the front continued to bear down upon us and the shooting way West of us continued to get more intense as time went on.  Pretty soon the front was almost to engulf us and I took this picture.

That was an ominous cloud and it was about to devour us.  I had to take the picture and then get my camera back into a safe environment and out of the elements quickly.  It wasn’t more than 5 minutes after I took this picture that the storm hit us with all its fury!  Very high winds and lots of dust!  So much dust in fact you couldn’t see much more than 100 yards in any direction.  If any ducks were on the wing we couldn’t see them and they couldn’t see our decoys.  We just stayed hunkered down and waited it out.  The wind really howled and soon I noticed Conners butt was about to get washed off his bucket, his “free board” was only about 2 inches from his butt.  Any wrong move and he was going to be soaked.  Something had to be done.  We tried putting his bucket inside the sled and having him sit there….no good, the sled would move way too much.  So, I walked over to Colmer Island and retrieved a piece of broken wood I tossed out of it.  My thoughts were that he could sit on that with it across the top of the bucket and it would hold him an extra 2 inches above the water.

I trudged over to Colmer Island, some 200 yards and as I approached could see the water depth of the lake shore was inundating the box.  No way could anyone have hunted out of that box this day.  The water was pouring over the sleeve and had filled the box completely to the top of the sleeve.  That meant the lake level had risen over a foot while we were out there!  That’s crazy!

I made it back to the boys hunkered down behind the decoys and then noticed the decoys were shifting to the left with the wind….hmmm….short strings!  I had stomped the weights into the mud when I set them out but the water level was getting deeper than they could handle and were pulling free.

Well, we tried my idea on the bucket and it worked “sorta”, Conner was sitting higher than the water level, but his butt was still wet from the board.  Oh well.  Suddenly a duck appeared out of nowhere and Weasel had the shot….BLAM!!!!  Down it came!  But he had to go out in the wind and retrieve it and it wasn’t quite done living yet.  He did manage to get it and brought it back….an very nice Widgeon!  Good Duck Weasel!

The wind was picking up speed when suddenly a duck came in low, right in front of Conner….When its eyes were plainly visible he jumped and took his shot…..the bird flaired up and to his left and came in front of me.  I just watched as it climbed and then dropped because of the strong headwind it was bucking….then it turned to come back over us….I couldn’t resist and popped it!  A nice female Pintail.  Weasel was a very nice son and went and retrieved it for me!  Thanks Weasel, you need to do that more often for your old pa.

Well, as time went on, more and more wind whipped at us and the rain began with a vengeance.  I realized a couple of things today…first off my coat needs a good soaking in waterproofing and secondly my chest waders have holes i both legs on the insides of the knees.  By 4 p.m. we were done.  Soaked, cold and miserable.

We came out of the swamp with two ducks, wet boots, wet butts, wet coats, wet guns, wet wets.  Weasel was pretty dry with his new chest waders with the added attached coat and 1,000 gram Thinsulate insulation…..But Conner and I were pretty wet.  Did we have fun?  Heck yes!  Will we do it again?  Heck yes!

Time to get some supper cooked…Winemaker will be home any time now!

Bears Butt

My gun is cleaned and dry!  Is yours Weasel?  Is yours Conner?

November 1, 2014