Goldeneye, a newcomer!

Buckeye Lake duck season has been a strange one indeed! If the three day diver hunt in early November isn't weird enough, no mallards around Christmas is unspeakable. To add to the oddity of our season we have now bagged 3 species of birds that we have Never harvested on our lake and 2 beautifully plumed birds of species that we have not had the pleasure of holding in full stately attire. 

The latest of these is a very handsome drake goldeneye. Now we have shot goldeneye before, but never on Buckeye lake. I am not sure why. There is no rhyme or reason to their absence or their sudden appearance for that matter! 

Last January on Alum Creek (north of Columbus) there were loads of the whistling divers, but none on Buckeye. In any event, the "ice has been broken". The first goldeneye any of us has bagged on Buckeye is in the boat! 

Drake Goldeneye

Dr

Trophy Birds from “The Trophy Boat”

The opening day of the south zone in Ohio came in with a bang! We had a great day! Good shooting and good friends is an unbeatable combination! According to Dan the Mojo Man,” the only thing worse than having a bad day in a duck boat is not being in a duck boat!”

We have had a good year duck hunting thus far, and this weekend was NO exception! The day started a little rough. Randy spent the night sleeping in his boat in order to save the spot we wanted. Dan G. and I came later. Randy had 45 decoys out and 5 mojo stands. Dan and I arrived with another 50 fakes and 4 more mojo stands. Setting all that up made us 11 minutes late setting up for shooting time.  We may have been on time if I didn’t have to drive through freezing drizzle to get there. I nearly slid off the road at one point.  What a duck hunter won’t do!

The skies were dark and gray and the stiff breeze was at our back as planned. It was 7:25, but it was unusually dark. The freezing drizzle stopped, but I am not sure we would have noticed. We were at full alert, scanning the skies for the black dots that race across the sky and listening intently for wing beats, quacks or anything which says DUCKS! Our olfactory senses were filled with stench from the bog behind us. It didn’t matter because Gunner was the only one who can smell ducks anyway!

Out of nowhere a big greenhead appeared cupped up and sailed straight into the space left in the blocks for our feathery friends to land, or at least try. Dan missed and his gun jammed (it happens). One bark from my Benelli and he landed abruptly with a splash! Gunner got so excited he whined and howled at the same time. Then he launched himself ten feet from the boat like a torpedo. He was on a mission! Five minutes later Randy saw a dark feather encrusted animal flying high. One round of high balls from his Haydel call and the duck squeezed his wings and dropped from the sky. A few feeding chuckles later a beautiful black duck was lined up for the harvest! One shot and Dan made up for the first attempt. Moments later Gunner reentered the boat using his WAG Boarding Steps ladder with a gorgeous black duck. After Randy and I hailed at the next two flocks of birds, a single mallard finally accepted our invitation. I sounded the feeding chuckle while Randy sat at the ready. It was Randy’s turn and he did not disappoint. One bark from the SBE and we each had a puddle duck.

Dan had to leave with his black duck at 10:30. Randy and I proceeded to fill our limit of mallards. Dan the Mojo Man invited us over with him. They finished their limit of mallards and had birds pouring in. It is great to have friends. He and John are great guys, and we are blessed to have them as friends!

As great as the duck hunting was, it was not the highlight of the trip. The highlight was Randy’s snow goose! We had a beautiful mature snow goose fly into the Canada fakes. Randy made the shot, and he became the proud owner of his first snow goose! A trophy for us in Ohio! It was as white as snow, a beautiful bird.

On the second day the sky was not a full of waterfowl as the first day. We had our blocks and flappers out on time, and we did have three singles lock up and coast in. As usual we took turns shooting and each member of our band scored on their rotation. Matt saved the spot for us, so he put the hammer down on a nice drake gadwall. I was up next. A big majestic drake mallard tried to land outside the decoys. He did, but upside down! As I reached for more shells, Randy said hello to a duck that I never saw coming. When I looked up all I saw was a duck on his back and a very white belly. It was a beautiful drake pintail!

Earlier this season Randy shot a beautifully plumed drake bufflehead. The lucky stiff then shot the snow and a sprig! For this reason, Matt anointed my boat as “The Trophy Boat”! 

A Gentlemen's Hunt

I was sitting in the living room half watching TV on a Friday night. I was listening to the rain pounding on the glass of the French doors. I was supposed to be going deer hunting in the morning, but that was going to be miserable in the cold rain. Being a waterfowl hunter, I am no stranger to either cold or rain, but deer hunting requires you to be still as a statue for extended periods of time. Not fun in that weather!

 As my wife flipped the channel to the latest Hallmark movie, I noticed that I received a text.  "Now who could that be?", I wondered. It was my buddy Dan who lives in Lewis Center. He inquired, "What are you doing tomorrow?" Immediately I remembered that the north zone was in, and Dan lives in the north zone! Oh yes! I love to hunt ducks and I now have a good reason NOT to sit in that tree stand in the rain!

I made arrangements to meet Randy at the Park-N-Ride at 5:20. That meant I would have to get up at 4:00. We agreed to rendezvous at Dan's house at 6:15 and leave at 6:30. Right away I realized we could not get to the lake by shooting time. Dan said that we would arrive there about 7:45 and be set up around 9:00. It was a "gentleman's hunt!"

 I knew that Dan did these "gentleman's hunts” as he calls them, but I have never been a participant. I like to be there ready to go before sun-up, so as to catch the early fliers. It is a well-documented fact however that mallards like to come back from the fields in the mid-morning hours to get a drink. We call it the 10:00 flight.

It was fine. I was with friends, and I love spending time with good friends in a duck boat! My friend Dan is known for having plenty of Mojo’s in his spread of blocks. Some guys call him the Mojo Man! We put 7 full sized Mojo’s out that day. Along with the motorized flappers, Dan brought a boat load of size 72 Restle Mallard decoys. I have 24 size 72 Herter’s myself. They float so nice in the choppy water. It really makes a difference. I tried to count them a couple of times on the hunt. I will guess that we had 55 big blocks out and another 16 nice looking plastic geese. A nice arrangement of those beauties made our spread look REAL!  He had a plastic duck decoy that he found that he named “Black Jack”. He went out last.

We were there about 20 minutes before we saw our first ducks. They cupped up and turned west. We watched them cut the north wind and drop right down in front of a McDonald’s on the lake shore.  Dan blurted out, “Those ducks want French fries.” Shortly before 10:00 we had a pair lock up and coming right at us. We hunkered down behind his Avery Quickset blind and Dan said, “get ready.” The birds were about 45 yards out when they flared. Dan send, “take ’em!” Well, we tried but in spite of all the barking of our 12 gauge loads, we did not scratch a single feather. We laughed at each other and reloaded the guns.

Shortly thereafter, we had a single work us and fly off. Dan told Randy that it could have landed on the other side of the island to which we were tied. Randy decided to get out of the boat and walk to the other side. After he got to the other side, we had 8 mallards work us. Regardless of how much sweet music Dan and I played our duck calls, they just circled and circled. “ Quaaaak Quaaak Quaack Quack  Quack! Tickit tickit tickit tickit tickit! We hardly had time to sit back from our disappointment when a pair of puddlers appeared out of nowhere, cupped up and dropping fast! At 25 yards Dan gave the command and we each dropped one with a splash. Dan’s black Lab followed their splash with a belly smacker of his own as he launch from the bow. High fives all around!

Around noon Dan got out his camp stove and heated up a pot of  “Mac-N-Chilli”. We had a hot lunch which was all a part of the “gentlemen’s hunt”. The smell of the chilli was about to drive me crazy! Needless to say, it didn’t last long! It was 35 degrees and we had a 25 mph wind at our back. My toes were a little cold and I had a slight shiver. That hot chilli (complete with Tobasco sauce) warmed us right up!

We saw ducks fairly consistently and bagged 3 more by 2:00.  At 4:00 the “gentleman’s hunt” was over, and we were off the water before it was completely dark! I don’t know how many times I will initiate the gentlemen’s hunt guidelines, but it was fun. When I retire, if I want to hunt every day during the week, it might be the way to go!

Avery Quickset Blind - some ways to improve it.

The Avery Quickset Boat Blind is the best boat blind on the market (in my opinion). I have hunted ducks for a long time. I have built boat blinds, and I have hunted behind the Northern Flight and others. I have yet to see a better blind than Avery's.

I put an Avery blind on my 16' Grizzly Tracker, and I loved it. The blind fit my boat easily and well. As I used it, I found some things that I would have improved upon if I were to do it again. One big thing was the height of the "top" of the blind where my rain top goes. I would like for the top to be clearly above my head, but it wasn't. This is important to create shadows and to keep the wind and rain off!  The other improvement I wanted to make was to eliminate the huge gap in the middle when the front and back were both up. I like to swing the two sides up when geese are flying overhead. If the two halves come together, it will hide you from high flyers. These two problems are actually a function of the length of the pre-bent sections of frame that made specifically for the back (top) and the front swing sections. The length of the frame before the bend limits blind height and concealment. A friend of mine has an Avery Quick Set blind that he has mounted on the third 20' Lund that he has owned. He likes the Alaskan model with side console and 90hp motor. It is high and swings closed overhead. I am not sure why they are not made that way anymore!

I was able to solve both of these problems with the same solution! By cutting the vertical part of the frame in half (before the bend) I was able to add an extension. I bolted in a 12” length of tubular steel. The inside diameter was very close to the outside diameter of the frame. The next step was to paint the steel satin black with Rustoleum spray paint. It was important that I leave the last 4” of the pole intact, because that end is designed to fit in the plastic pivot attachment.

 

 By bolting in an extension, I was able to raise the blind by 8".

Not only did I raise the height by 8”, but I was also able to move the pivot attachment 8” closer to the center. This is huge because by closing the gap of the front and back by a total of 16”, you almost eliminate it!

Another smaller issue that I had with my first blind was untying my blind so I could “pop” it up! I had a difficult time finding the black elastic cord and black balls in the dark. We want to set up the blind before shooting time, but our best chance to get it untied from travel mode was under the light at the ramp (where there is one).I found my solution to this problem at Lowe’s hardware. They have these brightly colored “pipe cleaner” looking ties.

 They are covered in plastic, 32” long, tough and flexible. These ties come in bright orange and bright green. They are great for wrapping around the blind material so it doesn’t unwrap while traveling, and they are easy to find when unwrapping the blind for hunting.

A third issue that I had with my first Avery Quick Set Blind was with leaving it tied up at the dock in the early season. The actual problem was that I did not have the blind material covered up and it faded a bit in the sunlight. I did not have a boat cover at the time. I since discovered a way to wrap the camo blind in the wind blocker material. This prevents the boat from being exposed to UV light and fading the camo!

 Hopefully there is something here that will help you. Gunner and I love to hunt ducks, and we love to hunt them behind our Avery Quickset blind!

Oldsquaw - a Sea Duck Lost at Buckeye Lake

Opening day of duck season on Buckeye Lake (Ohio) was pretty good. Of course I did secure the "Ace" spot on the lake, or at least my favorite spot! In order to get that spot, my yellow lab, Gunner, and I had to sleep in my 18' Alumacraft on the lake. Yep, that's right. We put our boat in the evening before and motored to our spot, deposited the decoys, put the Avery quick set up and hit the sack. I did cover the boat with a tarp and turned on my new propane heater. Oh, did I mention we had a blow up mattress? We were cozy! The sun came up and the shooting started. We ended the day with eleven ducks and a goose. We bagged five species, mostly mallards.

The next week I volunteered to secure the prime spot again. This time I got up at 2:30 and launched at 3:30 AM. As I feared someone was already there! Darn. I had to settle for spot B, but with the wind shift out of the north, spot B was a good choice. Spot B is a point that we call "West Point". The report was that there were divers on the lake. That made a point very appealing. We were blasted with a cold snap and there was a light early snow fall. I set out a nice spread of Herter's mallards, geese, divers, and four mojos. My friends, Matt and Randy, showed up later with more blocks and 3 more flappers. Our spread exceeded 100 fakes. It was quite impressive.

We had a great hunt! We dropped 13 birds. I will not mention how many misses! There was quite a collection of feathery participants; ring necks, ruddy, buffle head, canvasback, blue bills and green wing teal and one gadwall! Some of these ducks seldom visit the shallow water of "Buckeye Ocean". It was quite a treat, and Gunner had a ball!

Gunner's share of the spoils.

The next week Randy volunteered to secure a spot for the group. He had first pick at 3:30 AM.  The duck forecast was not promising. Despite the poor duck report, my brother elected to drive two hours to join us before sunrise. The wind was wrong and the ducks were few, but little did we know how blessed we were about to become. A beautiful drake mallard cupped up and "parachuted" straight into the spread at first light. His majesty's arrival was announced by the report of the Randy's Benelli SBE as he joined the poor imitations of his likeness. Later, my brother, Brian, and I were schooled by a passing diver which may very well have been the first duck to exceed the speed of sound! Brian and Randy redeemed our pride by doubling up on a pair of birds and Gunner was quite grateful! It was an hour before we saw another waterfowl other than a loon that landed 200 yards out. The loon serenaded us with his "north woods" song.

Suddenly out of nowhere Brian and I heard the bang from the shotguns of Matt and Randy. I looked up to see a duck dive at the edge of the decoys. I asked Brian, "Where did that come from?" As luck would have it, the wind shifted and we were not tied up! Oops! The boat was sailing through the decoys. I decided that we may as well go get that bird while we're out here. I had just pulled the dog ladder in when the bird popped up again. Brian covered it with #2 steel. I started the 60 HP Merc and motored my way to the edge of the spread. When I looked up to see where the bird was, I couldn't believe my eyes! It was an Oldsquaw! I saw one once 37 years ago on Lake Erie, but wow! What was that bird doing here! How Beautiful! When my brother reached down to get it I said, "Be careful! That's an Oldsquaw! That's a trophy!" I took 8 pictures of it before I gave it to Matt and Randy! What a day! I don't know how that sea duck got this far inland, but he sure made us excited!

Duck Dogs and Ladders Part 3: Perhaps the Perfect Ladder

I received my two rung extension for my WAG Boarding Steps™ just a few days ago. I could not wait until I could get to the lake. I read the instructions and located my Allen wrench set and a small adjustable crescent wrench. It was very simple to install. I was able to attach the extensions in less than five minutes. I pulled my 18' Alumacraft duck and bass boat from the garage intending to hang the ladder. Gunner was very curious about the boat coming out. His tail started to wag a mile a minute until his entire back end shook! He seemed to be saying, "Boat ride! Boat ride! Yeah let's go!"
I was anxious to see exactly how much difference two rungs would make! It did not take long. I hung the ladder and Gunner instantly took that as an invitation.

 As you can see from the pictures, my 105 pound lab climbed straight into the boat without assistance! He and the ladder did not have the advantage of the buoyancy of the water to take his body weight off of the rungs either. This was a good test!
The next day we were on the water! As I suspected, Gunner was able to enter the deeper boat without assistance. We were in six feet of water against Cranberry Bog on Buckeye Lake. He could not touch the bottom.

 Thank you Jim Perkins, of owner of Waterdog Adventure Gear! This is the ladder that I have been hoping for, and I believe all us waterfowl enthusiasts need! It is light weight, it floats, and it is easy to attach and remove from the side of my boat! Let us not overlook the best part, my dog likes it! Finding the ladder that meets my needs and Gunner's needs was no easy task! Another important feature is that since it is made of durable plastic, it does not scratch the paint on my aluminum duck boat! This is the best product that I have seen on the market, and I have seen MANY!

To all my duck hunting friends out there, as good as this product is, you still need to take your dog out on the water and practice. Some dogs need a little more than others, some hardly any at all, but don't blame your dog if you do not spend a little time with him (or her) retrieving from the boat. As a duck hunter on his 39th season, take it from me: practice calling birds, practice a little shooting, and spend some time training your dog and your hunts will be much more enjoyable!

Duck Dogs and Ladders Part 2

I find it quite fascinating that I have more readers of "Duck Dogs and Ladders" than any other post, by far! It is such an important topic for waterdog owners. I know too many people who own waterdogs who do not spend enough time with their dog on boat exit and entry. There are also quite a few others who are not properly equipped. My good Lord in heaven knows that I have made my share of mistakes training dogs, but I have tried to improve in this area. I hope the information that I share is helpful.

I am posting part 2 because I have found a really good dog ladder, better than the one I was using (or Gunner was using). It is not perfect, but it is owner and dog friendly. What I like about this ladder is that it is very light weight, and it is easy to put on and take off of the side of the boat. The most important part is that Gunner is learning to like it. He does not like change, but he is getting used to his new ladder. The only drawback to this ladder that I can see thus far, is that I have to hold the back of his head so he can reenter the boat unassisted. The ladder is just one or two rungs short of allowing my Lab to enter on his own. In the pictures below, we on Rushcreek Lake in about 10 feet of water. Without applying my hand to the back of the boat for leverage he was unable to climb the ladder.

Note how the ladder hooks to the boat.

Waterdogs love to swim!

Place your hand behind your dog's head for leverage.

The company is Waterdog Adventure Gear. The owner is Jim Perkins. Their website is getwag.com. I highly recommend that you take a look if you are in the market for a dog ladder!

STOP THE PRESSES! I just spoke to Jim Perkins and he is coming out with a 2 rung extension this fall! I can't wait to let Gunner try it!

BE SURE AND READ DUCK DOGS AND LADDERS PART 3!

Dual Purpose Duck Boats Part 2

As the saga continues for my dual purpose boat, I thought I was sold on Crestliner. They agreed to put their console in their jon boat for me. I was a little apprehensive about how far they would put it from the bench, and how this was going to turn out. Then I discovered that Alumacraft is ahead of the game. They already have a package with the console and no rear deck. Their prices are competitive. Another thing that I liked about the Alumacraft 1860 is the fact that their boat is 25" deep and transom is 21" deep. That is one inch deeper than either Crestliner or the Grizzly Tracker. I know that it is only an inch, but inches add up! That inch gives the boat a higher horsepower rating, not that I want to maximize the HP!

With this in mind I started surfing the web for new and gently used 1860 Alumacrafts. Low and behold, I found this gem!

It is a 2008 with only 114 hours on the motor! It has everything except a blind which I will be able to install no problem. I installed an Avery Quick Set blind on my 16 footer, and I can do this one as well. This is a sweet boat! I liked my Grizzly Tracker a lot, but it's time to upgrade.

With my upgrade comes friends! My buddy Randy said, "I don't need to look for a bigger duck boat now that I have an 18 footer to hunt out of!" My own brother called me and said, "Now that you have this boat, I want you to take me up to Lake St Clair to fish for smallies!" I have 6 friends who said, "When are we going fishing?" I told all of them, "I will be fishing a lot! If you want to go, get in! I don't want to hear any excuses about how busy you were and you want to go fishing sometime!"

Ducks BEWARE! I will be in my new boat, SBE II in hand until all the water freezes up this year!

Dual Purpose Duck Boats

As I sit here in my living room on this COLD winter day, I must confess of dreaming for warmer weather. The wind chill in my little corner of Ohio is a disturbing -13 degrees. There is no hope that the local duck spots are going to open up enough for me to launch my boat. The bigger rivers are open, but I can't send my dog in the water with subzero temperatures. What I can do is wait a day or two and the let go of its grip enough for both of us to hunt on the ice again. An adventure which usually proves to be most profitable from a bird bagging stand point.

Meanwhile, I sit in my favorite chair looking on the Internet at boats. What caused the resurfacing of the boat search is the 25 HP 2 stroke motor on my Grizzly Tracker. I have caught quite a few bass and scatter gunned a healthy number of birds from my boat, but this year was frustrating. The older that 2 stroke gets the harder it is to start when it is cold. Not only that, but when I do get it started, it takes forever to get it warmed up! Several times this year it literally took five minutes to start the motor and it ran horribly all the way to my duck hunting hole. While hunting, if we have a distant bird to retrieve, it takes several minutes to start it again. That is not all. We can approach the bird with incredible stealth because the motor smokes like a fog machine and there is no way any bird could see us coming! When the hunt is over and we have all of our decoys picked, which may be 30 minutes, the ol' 2 stroke proudly pushes us with ease. Well, I have had enough!

So, the search began for a new 4 stroke outboard motor. Upon looking at prospective outboards, I asked myself, "Do I want to put a new motor on this boat?" Don't get me wrong I like my 16' Tracker. I can get into places that you wouldn't expect! It is reasonably stable both for casting and shooting. The issues that I have with my old aluminum friend are that I am sick of kicking the permanent live well that some genius decided should stick up in the middle of the boat and the lack of bow seating for bass fishing. I created a removable wooden subdeck complete with pedestal seat which has served this purpose. I painted it duck boat green so it didn't look too out of place. These two problems have been areas of grumbling for some time, and now seems like the time to solve them.

In order to "fit the bill", I want a boat that has enough bow decking to allow me to sit up front and operate a bow mount electric trolling motor, however, I did not want to lose the open area in the middle of the boat due to considerable aft and bow decking. Large amounts of decking are common on bass boats but not really helpful on duck boats.

I have surfed the web for days looking for the ideal boat at a reasonable price. I decided to look at the 18' foot boats, commonly referred to as 1860. The reason I chose the 1860 is that I big water places that I like to fish for small mouth. The two favorites are inside the break wall off shore from Cleveland and my annual pilgrimage to Lake Chautauqua, New York. A larger boat would also make some of our big water duck hunts much more comfortable! At the same time, these boats draw surprisingly little water. The tiller version of these "utility boats" seemed at first to be the best option for me. They offered some bow decking and a good sized open area to move around in. I decided to discuss this search with my friends. They suggested that I definitetly will want a power trim motor which is an option on a tiller motor. Good advice! I know pulling up on a 40 or 50 HP motor is no simple task. Another friend suggested that I may be unhappy with a tiller motor in the not too distant future (retirement years), and that I should consider a side or center console. I assured him that all of the SC and CC boat manufacturers gobble up the open floor with decking. Although, he is probably right about the console. The answer might be a 20' boat, but that is just too big for my taste.

There are many excellent boat manufacturers. Some of them do not have dealers anywhere close to me, which is a problem. Some of them have dealers who are about as interested in selling boats as I am in selling Girl Scout cookies, which is another problem! Some dealers believe that their boats are lined with gold. I am not interested in a gold lined boat! The two manufacturers that I liked the best are Tracker and Crestliner. I carefully studied the design of their various boats, thinking, "why can't I have what I want?" I want the open area, bow deck, and console. Even when I went to the BUILD YOUR BOAT link, I was unable to choose all three options. Then it hit me, what if I just email them and ask them if I could get a side console installed on a Jon boat meant for tiller operation. By doing this I get less decking, the console, but enough bow deck to operate the trolling motor! Crestliner jumped all over it! I can get what I want at an affordable price. I presented the proposal to the financial committee, my wife, and it is approved! I am sitting in the living room in the frozen tundra and happy as a lark!

Before I actually pull the trigger and buy this boat, I want to reach out to any readers of this blog. Is there something that I have not considered? Is there a better boat? Do you have any suggestions? Please do not hesitate to comment!

Oops! Wrong Dog!

One of the truly fun things about waterfowl hunting is that you get all kinds of ammunition to make fun of your hunting buddies. Unfortunately, I find myself providing fuel for their fires upon occasion, so I rarely miss an opportunity to share the wealth!

On this particular occasion, my only regret is that I was unable to be in attendance. I had to get the story second hand. That does not make it any less hilarious though! A little background for the story will be helpful. You see, my buddy Randy was the owner of both of my dog's (Gunner's) parents. Lacey was a beautiful black Lab. She was of the "American" variety, characterized by having a more narrow head and long legs. The father is a majestic looking chocolate Lab, Hunter. He is more of the "British" version with the big block head and stocky build.

Father (Chocolate) and son (yellow)

 Unfortunately Lacey was tragically killed. Randy.s daughter, having grown up around labs, decided  she wanted a dog at college. She got a black female Lab. Strangely her father is taking care of the dog. I am not sure this was coincidence! Anyway, Randy has two dogs again!

One morning Randy got up ridiculously early to get a "good spot" on Buckeye Lake.  Randy got up and let the dogs out while he got dressed for the bitter cold December wind chills. He grabbed his Benelli SBE and headed out the door. He called load up Hunter, and the two of them were off to the lake! Our fellow waterfowler, Matt, met Randy at the dock. Randy put the boat in and Matt tied it up. It was a race to the duck spots. It happens every Saturday. There were already three boats on the water, one guy launching on the other ramp and two more waiting in line. Randy drove to the closest parking spot while Matt started the 25 HP 4 stroke motor. Randy made a brisk walk to the dock with the dog when he looked down and said the words, "oops wrong dog". Instead of his trusty companion, Hunter, somehow Anna made her way out of the house and into the truck.

Oh well, Anna is here and the boys are hunting, so, Anna is hunting. The guys got their camo Polar Kraft headed for their favorite spot. They got their 80 fakes out in the water plus 5 Mojo stands. The next step is always to pop up the Avery Quick Set Blind and have a brownie with a chocolate milk chaser! All is right with Randy's world when he is sitting in his duck boat with his chocolate milk freezing at it runs down his beard. The three of them sat quietly as the boat gently rocked with the waves. The dog looked surprised when the two hunters pulled up their face masks and loaded their guns. I am not sure what she expected. Did she think Randy was really a bank robber? Suddenly three fat drake mallards appeared cupped over the decoys. Six times the guns roared and ducks lay in the water, but the dog made a mad dash to try and hide under one of the pedestal seats! Before the "Men in Green" could untie and retrieve their game (since obviously no canine in the boat would help) more ducks appeared. I can imagine the dog thinking, "These two men are quacking like ducks! What else could go wrong?" The immediate bark of the 12 gauge shotguns was it! It was more than she could take! She jumped over the blind and hit the ground running. Randy looked for her and called out for 10 minutes! He finally found her and walked her back to the boat. If that wasn't bad enough they did it all again 10 minutes later! One of them was a slow learner!

Matt and Randy finally had enough. They took her back to the truck and everyone was happy. I could just hear that poor traumatized dog on the back seat saying, "Bet your butt, 'wrong dog'!"