Duck Hunting 2006

This year (thanks to the generosity of my friend Ed, and his family) I again got to go duck hunting at their cabin in northern Crow Wing County.

The original plan was to leave Friday night (September 29th), and return Monday night (October 2nd), but because of a training seminar that came up at work, my plans needed to change, and I had to leave on Saturday Morning (September 30th) instead. That was ok because we were not planning on going out Saturday morning (Legal hunting hours do not begin until 9am on opening day anyway). We were going to spend the day doing some of the "chores" that we do each year - hauling (and cutting) wood for the woodpile as well as removing the dock and boat lift at both Ed's cabin, and Jim's parents cabin.

PRE-TRIP PLANNING (OR LACK THEREOF...)
I was intending on doing all my packing, and being ready to leave early Saturday morning. The week prior, I had both Monday and Tuesday off. I worked Wednesday, and had training Thursday and Friday. I allotted Tuesday for packing, and even got an early start on Monday evening when I got a few of my hunting things gathered from the laundry room. I took the things I needed out of my "hunting clothes storage bin" and set them aside.

Tuesday, I got my guns out from their hidden location. (I am, after all, a father of five. As such, I have no choice but to make sure my guns are both safe and "invisible".) I took down my ammo boxes from their hiding spot (in a different location), I got out the outboard motor & gas can, my life jacket, decoys, and my new field bag. The problem arose when I realized that I was not leaving for another five days, and did not want to leave all these things (especially the guns) in my car. I created some "staging areas" for my gear. One in the laundry room, one in the basement family room, one in the garage, and one in my car. Tuesday afternoon I got a call from my supervisor. A Night shift had a dispatcher had called in sick, and (since I worked day shift 0700-1500) he asked if I would come in early and work the second half of the sick dispatcher's shift (0300-0700). Now that I had most of my gear out (spread all over the place), and having to get up at 0200 for work, I decided to cut my losses and finish packing the rest of things Friday night. (After all, I did have MOST of my stuff out already.)

Wednesday I worked from 0300-1500. I was exhausted, and went to bed early, as I had to get up early the next day to pick up the "Command Post" and take it to training. So, because of that schedule, Wednesday night was a bust. Thursday I had to leave our house by 0645. After training, I was invited to stop up and see the MSP Airport Police Department's PSAP. By the time I got home that night it was about 2030 hours. Thursday night was a bust. Friday I had to leave our house by 0645 to again bring the "Command Post" to training. By the time training was done, I had the Command Post packed back up and put away, and I was heading home. It was 1815 hours. I had called Ed to check in with him and see how things were going, and if there were any last minute things he forgot or needed, when I drove past the Post Office. It was then that I realized I had not yet got my State or Federal Duck stamps (a license requirement). I told Ed what had happened, and I quickly pulled into the Post Office hoping they would be open. The lobby was open, but the window was not. I was very upset. Without that Federal stamp, I could not legally hunt. I checked at the "package pickup window" that was open for another hour, and the employee behind the window told me not to worry, that the sales window would be open "tomorrow" (Saturday) from 0900-1300. I returned home, finished gathering up the last of my things, and (knowing I could not leave until at least 0830 hours, I went to bed.

The next morning, I started packing the car said goodbye to my family, and headed north. I had a couple of stops I knew I had to make, so I got my state stamp from the local hardware store. I found out that the local post office also had Saturday hours, and was there ten minutes before they opened. I got my federal stamp, got a quick haircut, and dropped off some clothes at my in-laws house for Ben. It was now about 9:30 am. I had planned to get to the cabin at about noon, but it was looking more like 1 pm now. When I had gotten about a third of the way up, I realized I forgot one important item for all duck-hunters, and for anyone taking docks in and out of the water... MY HIP-BOOTS! I was too far to turn around now, so I decided to stop on the way up and find the cheapest pair I could find. I stopped at the Cabella's store in Rogers, MN and found a pair for $30.00. Of course there were none to be found on the sales floor, so I had to "try" and find a salesperson. It was a Saturday morning (duck opener) at Cabella's... I'll leave it to your imagination how easy it was to find someone able to help me. When I finally did find someone, I asked for the boots I wanted in my size. He said he would be right back with my boots, and disappeared into a back storage room. After a LONG time (watching three other employees enter and exit with product) my employee finally came back out carrying a box. He told me they were out of my size, but he brought the next size down out for me to try. I do wear shoes of each size, so I gave them a try. The fit was OK. I took the boots, grabbed more shotgun shells and headed out. The remainder of the trip was uneventful. I had made some recordings of my favorite XM radio show (The Ron & Fez Show) to listen to on the trip up, so I turned that on, and went into "auto-pilot" mode. Including my errands and stopping at Cabella's - I still arrived at the cabin at about 1pm.

This year we had a new member of our hunting party. Bob (Ed's Father-in-law) joined us. He is a pretty quiet guy, but when he does open up, the stories he tells (Navy during the Vietnam War, etc) were very fun to listen to! I truly enjoyed having him there!

AT THE CABIN DAY 1
When I arrived - Ed, Bob, and John (Ed's dad) were already at the cabin. I unpacked, and loaded my outboard onto Ed's second boat, and we took the boat to the water. The outboard started up, and I drove it slightly down the lake from the cabin and back again. Confident it would run in the morning, I beached the boat, and we prepared to get started on the "Seasonal Chores" of getting the dock, boat lift, and John's boat in for the season. After doing this for the past "umpteen" years, we have a pretty good system down, and within a couple of hours the work was done.

With the work at Ed's cabin being done, Ed helped me set up a target to check the accuracy of a Marlin .22 cal rifle I was given by my father-in-law. After putting about 50 rounds thru the rifle, and getting some pretty good accuracy from 50 yards, I was satisfied, and cleaned up.

By this time, Jim (Ed's old neighbor and good friend) and Chris (Ed's brother in law) had arrived. Jim was not going to hunt this year because of a recent surgery to one of his shoulder, and damage to the other one, and an impending surgery for the second shoulder. Chris comes up to share dinner, drink beer, and visit with us in the evenings. He has a pretty good sense of humor, and I enjoy his stopping by.

This year, Ed had offered to purchase groceries, and we would pay him back. This was both a good and a bad idea. Let me explain. Ed is a unbelievably good cook, and Ed loves unbelievably good cuts of meat. Together these facts add up to - well - a diet killer!

I have not talked much about this, but I am down between 10 and 20 lbs. (at last time I looked), and at least 1 (and close to two) pants sizes smaller. I also had to (while at the cabin) put a new hole in my belt, as my pants were falling off! I was hoping that Ed's dinners were not going to work against my weight-loss... Sadly... They did...

Dinner that first night was extra large garlic and herb marinated steaks. You would not believe the size and quality of these cuts. Dinner was unbelievable.

IN THE FIELD DAY 2
The morning started at 4:45 am. We awoke to John getting up to use... well... the john. After he returned to bed, Ed noticed that there were headlights on at the public access. That meant we needed to get going ASAP. We all got dressed, and loaded up the boats. Ed forgot something back up at the cabin, so I offered to motor out to where we wanted to hunt (as it was still open). I pushed off, and tried to start the outboard - (tried is the key phrase here). After a lengthy attempt (with no success) to get my outboard running (even though I had it running the day before), Ed pulled up along side of me in his boat and I hitched a ride. Since the island was already occupied we went into the northern most bay and each set up on one side of a little point of the slew.

After setting up my decoys, and pulling my boat into the slew (quite a job when you are alone), I settled in and waited for dawn. I could frequently hear ducks flying over me, but it was still too dark to see.

As always, within 10 minutes of "legal hunting" (which is 30 minutes before sunrise) I could hear gunfire off in the distance. I had told myself that I was not going to shoot until my watch showed the "legal hunting" time AND Ed has taken his first shot. About five minutes after "legal hunting" I had two ducks fly straight at me. I could have, but did not take a shot, and they few right over my head. So much for waiting for Ed!

Later in the morning, I had an opportunity to do something I had never done before. I had a flock of 3 birds fly quickly across my field of view (from left to right). I shouldered my gun and fired my first round. A bird folded and dropped into the water. I ejected, and chambered another round (pump action shotgun), and fired a second time at another bird. That bird also folded and dropped into the water. I had downed two birds in one flock flying across my field of fire. I instantly spotted the second bird that went down, as it was flopping in the water, and was sure I had seen the first bird lying in the water. When I got out into the water, I searched and searched for the first bird that went down, but never could find it. (Ed later commended me on such great shots. He saw both of them splash in the water from where he was at too!) I took a hen Teal.

As the morning passed, I saw more birds flying that I have ever seen before. The number of birds in the flocks was also much higher. I would not be exaggerating if I said that there were flocks that contained 10-25 birds. I would say that I saw well over 400 birds during the whole weekend! Because the weekend was clear skies, the birds were flying high, preventing me from doing a lot of shooting.

Remember how I talked about the two trumpeter swans that landed in our decoys last year? This year we had one trumpeter fly over us. IT WAS GORGEOUS! Less than an hour later, a flock of four trumpeters few east of our location, but still very close.

Another unique aspect to this morning was the geese. We could hear them coming from what seemed like miles away. It sounded like there may have been a hundred of them. We heard them coming for several minutes (seemed like an hour) before I could actually see them. There were close to two dozen flying over us. They were too high for shooting, but low enough to enjoy!

About 0930 hours we decided to call it a morning and started packing up, and gathering up decoys. I tried, and succeeded in starting my outboard, and got it all the way back to the cabin. When we arrived at the cabin, there was a visitor waiting for us. A man in a camo jacket, and khaki pants came down the hill from the cabin and met up with us at the lake shore. He was the DNR's Conservation officer for the area. We made introductions, and made some small talk for a couple of minutes, but then he decided to get down to business. He started out by asking for licenses. I always carry my license and my ID with me. I provided him all needed documents (minus a signature across my federal stamp). I told him (the truth) that I had just gotten the stamp on the way up the night before, and stuck it in my field bag (so I would not forget it in the morning.) He was understanding, and asked me to sign it in front of him (which I did) while he looked over the rest of my license. He then turned to Ed and Bob, and did the same thing (Ed too had not signed his Federal stamp yet.) When he finished checking all documents, he checked our PFD's and then asked us to uncase our guns, and he proceeded to check them out. Mine was first. He checked that there were no rounds in the chamber. I offered him a couple of shells to check the limiter plug. He said he did not need them and pulled out a fancy little do-hickey that he was able to test the magazine for the limiter. He then moved over to Ed and Bob checking the same. By this time I started cleaning up my boat. He walked by the boat and started to "peek" into my field bag. I offered to open it all the way up for him. He said it would not be necessary. He checked my shells (in a box on the seat) for being non-toxic, checked my decoy bag, and poked in and around the decoys a little. I helped him out by picking up the decoys on the boat floor and setting them on the seat so he could see under and around all of them, and he could easily see the floor of the boat. We checked out just fine - we had no violations (except forgetting to sign our federal stamps). He stuck around a few more minutes just visiting, then wished us luck, head back to his truck and went on his way. All in all, it was a very positive experience, and I (as a responsible hunter) was glad to see him, and happy to have him working on wildlife conservation in the area. It's guys like him that keep unethical hunters at bay. Kudos to this officer!

The remainder of the day was spent doing the other miscellaneous things we do each year. We did go to Jim's parents place about 30 minutes away, and pulled in docks at his parents place. We did this in record time thanks to the help of Jim's brother-in-law.

Ed and I went out squirrel hunting. We decided to take different roads. I took the "lake road" and he went into the woods. I made it about three quarters of the way down the path, sat down in some brush (waiting for squirrels to show up) and fell asleep. I was awoken to hearing shots fired off in the distance. I took my time and leisurely walked back to the cabin (empty handed). I beat Ed back, and sat waiting for him. Not long after, Ed returned with three squirrels (two greys and a black). We took off into the woods and dressed them.

Dinner that first night was an eye (and stomach) bulging gourmet stuffed pork chops. I honestly have NEVER seen anything like them! They turned out perfect!

IN THE FIELD DAY 3
We awoke and prepared to go out to the field. By the time we made it to the lake we could see that there was no other hunters on the lake (just the way I like it!), so we had our choice of spots. After loading all our equipment into the boats, we headed out. Again this morning I had troubles with my outboard, and had to "hitch" a ride with Ed and Bob.

Being the only hunters on the lake, we decided to "spread out" just a bit. Ed and Bob wanted to go back into the bay, so I took the west point of the island. They dropped me off, I set my decoys, and rowed to the far north end of the island. I hauled my boat into the reeds (the water was so low this year, it felt like I was leaving my boat in the water, even though it was completely beached), and made my way around to the west point of the island. When I arrived, the "usual" place to sit seemed so far back from the water, that I could actually walk along the dry part of the lake bed to gain a much better vantage point. I found an almost perfect log to lay against, and I nodded off for a while. When I awoke, I noticed that it was getting close to legal shooting time, so I moved into my hunting location, and waited.

As I sat in the dark of pre-dawn, I noticed some movement out in the water. I was able to tell that some sort of animal was swimming back and forth through the water and the reeds. As it got brighter and brighter out, I was able to notice that there were several of these little animals in the water. There was one point where I could see at least 4 of them at the same time. These little critters swam back and forth, disappeared under the water, and then reappeared a little further down their route. Often, they would climb up on the far end of the log I was sitting on. (A downed tree that I was sitting on. The root and trunk on shore, and the top stuck out into the water.) I was sure that they were "baby" beavers. They had the same shape, and movements, only much, much smaller.

The morning was off to a great start! Less than 5 minutes before "legal shooting", two ducks landed about 20 yards north of my decoys, and I watched them swimming around. They then turned and started coming in closer. When they were about 15 yards off my decoys (and closing) six more circled once, came back around, and landed with the other two, making a flock of 8 birds just past my decoys! I sat as still as a corpse. I waited and watched and they were all actively swimming around the group, slowly making their way towards my decoys. I had a "line in the sand" chosen where I was going to make my move. I honestly thought I could get away with at least 2 if not three birds out of this flock! I'd have my limit minutes after legal shooting!

I made one fatal mistake this morning. Remember me saying I sat as still as a corpse? That was my mistake. I did not try to slowly shoulder my gun or even try to slowly get into a shooting position. I was so intent on watching the ducks, and "willing" them to come my way that I did not even pay attention to the fact that my gun was laying across my lap, no where close to being ready to shoot.

So, as I sat watching the ducks, deciding when and how I would get the best shot(s) off, and not even thinking about the gun. I was frightened by the startling sound of several shotgun blasts to my right (north) of where I was sitting. They were loud (as if pointed towards my direction) and instinctively (like a reflex) I looked that direction. I saw nothing. I knew in my head that Ed and Bob were shooting at ducks near them. As I quickly turned back to my flock. I noticed that they were already off, and flying away from me. I did not down one bird. As I took my first two shots, the ducks had enough distance (their starting point was further away than I would have liked) and time (between looking away for that second and a half and, not having shouldered my gun earlier) on me that I did not down even one bird. I did not even bother taking a third shot.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank "Mr. Itchy trigger finger" (Ed - (grin)) for not waiting another 60 seconds before shooting. If he had waited, I would have filled my limit and had to go back to the cabin by 7am. Instead, I got to stay out in the field and continue hunting. You da man Ed! (snicker)

Not long after I had a pair of wood ducks fly past me (right to left), and I did drop one. (Later determined to be a beautiful drake!).

I also put another bird in the water. This was a frustrating situation. I had two or three ducks fly towards me. I took my first shot, downing a duck. After watching the splash in my peripheral vision, I shot at a second, and missed. The first bird got back up and started swimming around the south side of the island. I got out my binoculars and saw it was a bufflehead. I climbed over some trees and shrubs, and took another shot, wanting to kill the duck. I saw my pellets hit all around the duck. I knew I hit it, but it was just too far away to make an effective kill shot. The duck made several attempts to fly, but as it was wounded, it could not get up off the water. Feeling bad, and not wanting an injured duck in the water, I hiked back to my boat. I rowed out, and around the island, trying to catch up with the duck. By the time I got the boat around to where I last saw it, the duck was no where to be found. I continued rowing in and out, and then around the whole island (hoping it was just ahead of me, and I would catch up to it) checking the water surface and the reeds for a carcass, or the live duck hunkered down somewhere, but I never saw the duck again. I really hated that. But I did feel like I did my best to not loose that duck. I rowed back, grabbed my woodie (wood duck), returned the boat to it's hiding spot, and sat back down to continue hunting.

The rest of the morning was spent watching ducks (although not as many as yesterday, but still a fair number of them) fly over, and around me (All were much higher than I could shoot at), and the "beavers" that turned out to be muskrats (now that I could see them in the light of the day). They had a lodge under the fallen tree I was sitting on, because they would approach the shoreline where the tree met the waterline, and would disappear under the log. Then, several minutes (sometimes as many as 10) a little head would poke out of the water just past the stump, and swim away. This went on for the whole time I was in the field. My guess is that they were gathering food or material for their den (for the winter). Once I took a shot, they would disappear for several minutes, but would then return. Their presence made the passing time between flocks enjoyable!

I noticed Ed and Bob across the lake starting to pack up, so I did the same. After getting the decoys packed up, I started to try and get my outboard started again. After numerous attempts, I finally got it started and headed back. Ed and Bob were 2 minutes behind me motoring across the lake when my outboard died again. I was unable to restart it before Ed reached me, so I grabbed on, and he hauled me back. Just before we reached the shore, I had Ed let go of my boat, so I could work on the motor. I hopped out of the boat, and (while standing stable on the ground) used more torque to pull on the recoil cord. I got the motor running. I left it to idle for several minutes. Things seemed to be going well, so I hopped into the boat, and headed down the lake. I wanted to get the motor up to full operational temperatures. About 100 yards down the lake, the motor died. As I tried to start it again, the recoil cord (original vintage 1955) broke off in my hands. GAME OVER. I had to row back, and completely give up on the motor.

Much of the remainder of the late morning and early afternoon was spent replenishing the wood pile. Ed felled (I think) about 4 trees, cut them up into sections about 10-20 feet long, and I hauled them back to the cabin with the ATV. Then after getting a sufficient pile of timber, we went back and started cutting the 10-20 foot sections down to the 12-18 inch sections that fit in the fire pit. On a positive note; This was the first year I really did not get any significant debris in my eyes. (There are a few people reading this that can attest to my dislike for getting anything in, and my even worse phobia about getting anything that is in my eye, back out...)

It was now approaching the time I had to leave. I still had over an hour left, but I needed to start packing, and any other last minute things. I started by packing up my stuff from inside the cabin. I created a pile of my things outside at the top of steps (on the deck). I started packing up my guns, and Ed asked me to join him one more time down the lake road looking for squirrel or grouse. How could I resist? We grabbed Jake (Ed's dog) and headed out down the road. That was a great walk. We did not say much, but that's how it is sometimes with friends as close as Ed and I. Sometimes just walking the trail with an old friend is better than if we were chatting up a storm. At the end of the trail we sat on a log, visited a bit, and shared some beef jerky. It was not too long before we decided to head back. The trip back was just as pleasant as the trip out. We did not hear or see any squirrel or grouse on this walk, but spending time with my old friend was what made this unsuccessful hunt a great one!

Bob's wife had sent along two home made pies. One apple, one pumpkin. All weekend long we were talking about the pies, deciding when would be the best time to "dig in". The first afternoon, we decided that after dinner the first night would be the best time to partake in the home baked goodness. Well, if you have read this far, you know that by the time we had our garlic marinated steaks of "gigantic proportions", none of us were able to eat another bite (and with full tummies and tired bodies, we all went to bed early). On the second day, we again decided to wait till after dinner. Dinner being the "eye (and stomach) bulging gourmet stuffed pork chops", I do not think it is necessary for me to tell you that we did not learn from our prior mistake. Well, after hunting, wood chopping, and hunting again, it was decided (as I was leaving) that now would be a perfect time to cut into the pies. We all agreed, and we sat around the deck having home-made apple and pumpkin pies. I had the apple, and it was fantastic!

HEADING OUT
I packed up my belongings, said my goodbyes, and headed down the road. For those of you who do not know. I drive a "hail totaled" 1994 Ford Escort. As of the time I am writing this entry it has 180,000 miles on it. Overall, the car is holding together. I do not want to get rid of it because a.) it's paid for and b.) great gas milage. (On this trip I got 40mpg (I usually get about 33 in my everyday driving). Anyway, the front suspension is shot. The struts are dead, and one of the strut supports is broken. I also have one leaf spring in the back that is cracked/broken. This makes for a... well.. a "bumpy" ride. I have to take it very slow over humps, bumps, and potholes. The road to Ed's cabin is "rural", and filled with humps, bumps, and holes. I have to take my time driving on the rural road - at least until I get to the dirt road. Just as I rounded the corner and started driving away from the lake towards the dirt road, a whitetail doe turned, looked up at me for a brief second, her white tail raised up and then she took off, running down the road for about 20 yards, and then disappeared into the brush on the side of the road. What a beautiful site to see as I drove away.

It was the perfect ending to a great trip.