The Best Day of 2010...So Far (11/19/10 Duck Hunt)

What a day this turned out to be!  As usual, I woke up a little late.  That happens a lot when I hunt by myself.  The extra sleep just feels too good to pass up.  I decided to head to the good ole' spot in Burbank...again.  This time, however, I knew early on that things could work in my favor.  When I arrived at my usual parking spot, a truck parked at the exact same time as I had just down the road a bit.  I was fairly sure that he was going to try for the same area as I was, if not the same spot.  So, I hopped out of my truck as quickly as I could and I hurried to put my waders on and get my gear together.  As I was doing this, a train slowly rolled by, blocking my crossing to the trail leading to the river.  However, it was also blocking my new opponent's approach.  As I continued to ready myself for the race, the train slowed to a stop, but not before it was out of my way.  As I looked down the tracks a bit, I noticed that the train was blocking the other hunter's crossing.  Yes!  Score!  I had a massive head start on the other guy.  The duck gods were smiling on me today.  I knew it at that point.  I had no idea how right I was.

After getting set up, I heard a lot of commotion in the bay to my left.  I knew I was close to one of two things; either a duck calling contest or a lot of ducks in the bay.  I had not heard that much noise in that bay...ever.  As I sat waiting for 6:35 to arrive, I sat quietly and listened to the ducks, trying to mimic their sounds at times.  At 6:20, eleven ducks dropped into the decoys.  Couldn't shoot, though.  Too early, so I waited.  Those birds swam out.  At 6:35, a wigeon hen dropped in and I rolled her.  I was on the board.  After nearly three weeks of shooting and not bringing anything home, the streak was broken.  After the quick retrieve, I sat down and waited.  I would have honestly been perfectly content having only shot one.  My bad luck streak had been broken.  Well, the duck gods had other things in mind for this day.  Big flocks flew all around and some of the ducks worked the call and decoys fairly well.  I coaxed a mallard hen into committing and down she went.  Took two shots, but I got her nevertheless.  After that hen, I worked the call and flapper decoy as I had earlier.  From the behavior of the birds, I could tell they didn't like the spinner today.  I hurried to take it out of the water.  No sooner did I get back to my seat than a big fat greenhead came to say hello.  So I shot him.  I sat quietly for some time and just watched the birds flying.  I was happy to just sit and watch, as I haven't seen many flights like I had seen today.  They were constant and plentiful.  The cold air in Canada is definitely working in my favor.  I grew tired of just watching so I readied myself for some more action.  A group of three wigeon flew overhead.  I tooted my wigeon whistle and they came around.  They may have already been turning around, but hey, it almost felt like I played a part.  The three approached form the left.  I couldn't identify any drakes, so I took what I could get.  With three shots, two more wigeon hens were down.  One required a finishing shot before I could snag her.  After another little bit of sitting, I saw a duck coming in low and fast.  I watched it approach and it turned a bit to my left.  That sucker looked like he had a tuxedo on!  It looked to me like a bufflehead drake or a common goldeneye.  Either way, it was a bird that I wanted.  I stood...I shot... and I missed.  Needless to say, that duck got the hell out of there.  More birds came in and I emptied more shells but did not manage to kill anything.

Then it happened.  From the same area, a duck was coming in low and fast.  It looked like the same duck I shot at before.  This time I was not going to let him get away.  I let him keep coming straight in.  I didn't move a muscle.  He was coming straight at me.  Finally, he flared a little to my left and was about to touch down.  I took the shot.  I scored my first goldeneye drake.  What a sight.  The stark black and white of this bird was amazing, as was his bright yellow eyes.

I sat for another 45 minutes or so.  I was EXTREMELY content with the way today panned out.  When I was almost ready to pick up for the day, I decided to wait a little while longer.  I had six ducks, why not go for the full monty.  It didn't take long.  At exactly 9:30, three mallards swung by my decoys and landed about thirty yards beyond.  I gave a couple of soft quacks and whistles, and they came into the decoys on a string.  I waited until I was sure they were close enough, picked one out, stood up and made some noise, let it get airborne and pulled the trigger.  Feathers went everywhere and the duck went down.

I could not have asked for a much better or more satisfying day.  I took a lot of hens today, but it felt good to actually hit something.  It also felt good not to shoot sometimes and just watch the ducks.  Today just felt good.