We had a major cold front move through the area this weekend, and naturally...it brought ducks!
With only one day to hunt this weekend, I decided to take one of our apprentices who's been hounding me to take him duck hunting. Last year was his first season of hunting ever, and I guess it was a constant struggle. He's had a bit more success this season, but hunting the public waterfowl areas can be tough...to say the least.
So, it was 14 degrees when I hit the road this morning. Duck hunting in those kind of temps can be tough...and, it was!
Started off the morning with a frozen throttle cable on my mud motor. We jacked with it and jacked with it, but never could get it to budge! It's toast.
And then the clasp on the motor chain was froze solid,
And then the drain plug was froze solid,
And, by the time I got done melting those with a bic lighter, the fingers that weren't burnt were froze solid!!
(Note to self: ALWAYS BRING THE PROPANE TORCH!!)
"Don't worry, we'll get there, it's just gonna suck!"
So, we put in,...and off we go! With him running the spot light, and me reaching around the throttle linkage directly on the carb, all the while trying to horse the tiller around on a 27 HP Kawasaki motor! NOT FUN! I was wore slick by the time we got to our destination!
The forecast was for a high of 31, but sunny all day! I was really counting on that sun, and it would have made a world of difference, but it never burned through the clouds.
We still had a pretty good day, and he got to see ducks actually finish into the decoys, and drop in from WAAAAAY up there. Something you'll very seldom see on a weekend day at a public waterfowl area.
First duck of the day...
Lucky for J?ger, it landed on terra firma behind us so he didn't even have to get wet! :thumbsup:
Naturally, with the cold temps, comes a BUNCH of layers of clothes...and, accompanying that..., poor shooting! (That's my excuse, and I'm sticking to it!!)
If either one of us could shoot for chit today, this pic would look better.
Snotcicles....
We finally threw in the towel at noon. I tried to Macgyver a throttle cable out of an old decoy cord, but it didn't work, so,...I did my contortionist act again all the way back to the ramp. Uhhhhhg!
Backed the truck down,...loaded up the boat, and then proceeded to peel the trailer tire off of the wheel on some unknown underwater obstruction!
Yep!...when it rains, it pours!
Tough hunt for sure, but no regrets at all. I really enjoyed fueling the fire in a young enthusiastic hunter!
Besides...the guys my age,who are still willing to subject themselves to this kind of torture, are getting to be few and far between!
With only one day to hunt this weekend, I decided to take one of our apprentices who's been hounding me to take him duck hunting. Last year was his first season of hunting ever, and I guess it was a constant struggle. He's had a bit more success this season, but hunting the public waterfowl areas can be tough...to say the least.
So, it was 14 degrees when I hit the road this morning. Duck hunting in those kind of temps can be tough...and, it was!
Started off the morning with a frozen throttle cable on my mud motor. We jacked with it and jacked with it, but never could get it to budge! It's toast.
And then the clasp on the motor chain was froze solid,
And then the drain plug was froze solid,
And, by the time I got done melting those with a bic lighter, the fingers that weren't burnt were froze solid!!
(Note to self: ALWAYS BRING THE PROPANE TORCH!!)
"Don't worry, we'll get there, it's just gonna suck!"
So, we put in,...and off we go! With him running the spot light, and me reaching around the throttle linkage directly on the carb, all the while trying to horse the tiller around on a 27 HP Kawasaki motor! NOT FUN! I was wore slick by the time we got to our destination!
The forecast was for a high of 31, but sunny all day! I was really counting on that sun, and it would have made a world of difference, but it never burned through the clouds.
We still had a pretty good day, and he got to see ducks actually finish into the decoys, and drop in from WAAAAAY up there. Something you'll very seldom see on a weekend day at a public waterfowl area.
First duck of the day...
Lucky for J?ger, it landed on terra firma behind us so he didn't even have to get wet! :thumbsup:
Naturally, with the cold temps, comes a BUNCH of layers of clothes...and, accompanying that..., poor shooting! (That's my excuse, and I'm sticking to it!!)
If either one of us could shoot for chit today, this pic would look better.
Snotcicles....
We finally threw in the towel at noon. I tried to Macgyver a throttle cable out of an old decoy cord, but it didn't work, so,...I did my contortionist act again all the way back to the ramp. Uhhhhhg!
Backed the truck down,...loaded up the boat, and then proceeded to peel the trailer tire off of the wheel on some unknown underwater obstruction!
Yep!...when it rains, it pours!
Tough hunt for sure, but no regrets at all. I really enjoyed fueling the fire in a young enthusiastic hunter!
Besides...the guys my age,who are still willing to subject themselves to this kind of torture, are getting to be few and far between!
