We were waiting all week for this nasty weather in Kansas. Our hunt had been a good one up to this point, but we knew this storm would bring in the mallards! It was a cold twenty degrees. The wind was supposed to be 25 mph out of the north with gusts possibly reaching 40 mph. The weather forecasters rarely "get it right"! They were "spot on" this morning. As I drove to the boat ramp, I could feel the wind pushing my boat and SUV. It made me shiver just thinking about how cold it was going to be! We agreed that taking the boat off and back on the trailer was going to be interesting since the ramp faced north and we had a north wind.
After pulling in, it was business as usual, unstrap the boat and load it for launch. I could hear the waves smashing against the rocks. When I bent down to loosen the tie-down strap the wind was strong enough to blow some sand in my face. The cold was bad enough without that! I crawled up in the boat and Randy assumed his position behind the steering wheel of my vehicle. We have done this so many times that we worked quickly without speaking. As Randy backed the boat down the ramp, I could see that waves were rolling up at me. My science teacher background told me that I had to get that boat out of the surf zone as quickly as possible. I needed to get into deeper water where the waves would break high over the stern and swamp the boat. I just sat my gloves down beside me on the boat when "BAM"! The biggest wave of the morning came crashing into my back! The wave washed my gloves forward coming to rest ten feet away and soaked. I had the motor started and quickly slammed into reverse. As the boat retreated from the trailer, I flipped the bilge pump switch. I didn't need to look to know I needed it. I took on a little more water, but I was able to get the boat far enough away from the shore that the next big wave did not do too much damage. I turned the 1860 Alumacraft and headed for the courtesy dock. However, Murphy's Law got me again, and the motor stalled. I frantically turned the key and uttered "words of encouragement." With the Mercury EFI outboard there is no choke to push or pull, just wait and hope. The usually very reliable motor sputtered and coughed, but made it to the dock before it died yet again. I put my legs over the gunwale to catch the dock with my feet. A few minutes later the motor fired up, and we were on our way.
We crossed the lake against the strong headwind. It took a little longer than usual. Visibility was low even though we were heading toward town. The sleet, snow and wave spray made it impossible to find our destination without the aid of our GPS. The electronics guided us safely to our cove within the tall grasses. The wind was at our back making this an ideal location. We set the fake Herter's ducks in the shape of a "U," giving the birds a wide open landing zone. We drove the boat into the cattails and waited. The wait was for ducks because we barely got our guns loaded when shooting time arrived. The mallards did not disappoint us. The first single cupped his wings at 150 yards and coasted all the way in without hesitation. Gunner just finished shaking off from the retrieve when another single joined the party. I shot a blue bill, and Randy shot a teal. Other than that it was a mallard day. We bagged our limit of ten mallards with only one hen in the boat. What a great duck hunt! We finished the day with three green heads out of as flock of ten.
The weather was cold and miserable. It made hunting difficult and boating treacherous. Those are usually the absolute best days for harvesting birds!
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