Eric and I were going to try the same setup as Christmas Eve. I would hunt the shoreline with a puddler duck configuration while Eric used his boat as a layout blind off shore for divers. The high winds precluded Eric from taking the boat out, so we set up a puddle/diver spread and hunted from the shore. As our luck held true to form, the wind died out right after the last decoys was set. With a little patience, Eric could have hunted from the boat but you never can tell when the wind will pick up or die down.
Several ducks made their way into our decoys just before light. Not only that, but they were ducks that I have been after for a while; a pair of canvasback drakes. They were big boys. I felt my heart sinking as I watched them swim out and disappear into the darkness. Has they landed in the decoys 10 minutes later, I am fairly confident that I could have shot one of them.
Again today, the ducks were not piling into the decoys. I'm unsure what has happened to all of the ducks in the area. Perhaps they have migrated south, or even back north. Any way around it, they aren't here in the massive numbers that they were.
Two shots were fired all morning, and i had one wigeon in the bag.
The draw of the outdoors this morning, however, was not the duck hunting. It was the weather. After a windy start to the day, the weather changed. The clouds cleared and the sun came out. With the sun, came mild temperatures. As the sun warmed my face, I closed my eyes and just took in the vitamin D. If I have to be out sitting next to the cold water without ducks flying, this was definitely the day to be out.
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