Betcha Guys Missed Me!

[tearin' lips]

I headed back home this past weekend, and boy was it good to be home!!! I was hunting too much to post any sort of waterfowling report, so here is the report from up north on the border!

Hunted Sunday morning with my uncle and cousin, we got to our spot by five o'clock and started setting decoys at exactly one hour before shooting hours. We ran out four dozen bluebill dekes, two dozen mallard dekes, and a half dozen honker dekes. We were set up decently for a cross wind, until the wind switched to blowing almost directly into our face, thus most of our shots were pass shooting shots. Due to the full moon the ducks were already up and talking. There was plenty of big flocks flying fifteen minutes before shooting hours and nothing attempted to land in the dekes until a half hour after shooting hours started. We still ended up with eleven ducks including two nice drake wigeon, two nice drake mallards, a bluewing teal, a drake shoveler, and five drake ringbills. All in all not too bad.

Looked at the weather Saturday night and was not excited to see winds in excess of 30 mph with gusts to 45 forecasted. Anyhow, it wasn't too bad in the morning, and being young and adventurous me and three buddies headed out. We got out there at 3:40 and setup up on a point next to a rice covered bay that was sheleterd from the wind and adjacent to a river channel. The wind was perfectly at out backs, and a little cloud cover moved in nicely around five o'clock. We ran out six dozen divers, four dozen mallard, and a dozen honker dekes, plus a windduck and a roboduck. We were doing well and had ducks already decoying just before shooting hours. We were doing real well and had a nice mix of drake ringies, mallards, and wigeon.

Now for the BAD news. At seven thrity with ducks flying all over we got harrassed by another group of hunters who had a blind farther down the shoreling that they wanted to hunt, but we were out there first and no one was in the blind so we set up on a better spot just down the shore. Anyhow, they proceded to take forty minutes to setup decoys on another point a hundred yards in front of us. There were ducks flying all over the place and these jokers were ruining our hunt! I was ticked. To top it all off they set up and started to sky blast everything in sight. They had no chance to hit any duck that they shot at. The closest duck that cam near them was well over sixty yards out. They were even shooting as ducks that were looking to land in our spread!!! This was my worst experience duck hunting.

Now for the good news! We adapted to the situation by pulling a few dozen decoys, demolishing the blind, hiding in the natural vegetation, and not calling at all. As these guys were skyblasting at the ducks, the ducks would fly over our spread(now too high to shoot after getting skyblasted)and they would travel to the other end of the bay and come back right into our spread where everything appeared safe and we had some really nice shots at ducks coming right at us less than fifteen yards away. Jokes on these guys, we ended up filling out on some really nice drakes, they ended up shooting a ton of shells and not dumping a duck .

You probably think that I am whining about these guys being jerks, but I am not, it all worked out for us in the end. Sure it was upsetting, but it made me think of a good point that we have always been taught from grade school. "Treat others as you would like to be treated." After we pulled decoys I cheerfully went and talked to the guys about the morning hunt and the number of ducks around and then I wished them a good hunt and left.

Moral of the story, "Don't treat other people badly if you wouldn't like to get treated like that."

Oh and by the way, coming out of the bay was a real treat. with the wind gusts hitting 42 mph out of the SSW the waves had the whole bay to get bigger. We experienced 4-5 foot waves heading back to the landing, and I popped a few rivets loose in my boat. What an experience, I hope my pics turn out so I can show you guys!

Can't wait until this Sunday when I get to go out down here in Duluth! My spot is looking better and better, I just hope that this cold weather doesn't push the ducks out, and if it does, I sure hope it pushes more in!!

Take Care and Good Hunting Everyone!!!

[Sartell Angler]

great post tearin lips--

I can relate all too well to the garbage you and your group were forced to put up with. People like that are the reason why a lot of guys don't even bother hunting public land anymore because it isn't worth the hassle of doing your homework, being prepared, and getting there early just to have your efforts not pay off because of one group of idiots.

The best advice I can give is to keep a close eye on them for violations and if you honestly suspect them of doing something illegel, call the sheriff or C.0.! Terroristic threats ARE taken seriously as well, so keep that in mind.

Anyways, I'm glad to hear that the hunt turned out for you guys afterall and that you kept your cool about it. That is a lot of dekes to put out but I'm sure it was great to hunt over them.

Good luck this weekend.

SA

[joe_stack20]

That is a lot of dekes to put out but I'm sure it was great to hunt over them.

No kidding and all of them fit in your boat with your hunting buddies as well!!??