PHEASANT FARMS TO DEVELOP YOUR BIRD DOG

We pulled into the parking lot. I could hear the gravel under the tires and the cackling of pheasants in the nearby pens. The noise of the gravel was quickly drowned out by the excitement of the 106-pound yellow lab, Gunner. He was anxiously anticipating a chance to stalk a rooster pheasant. The cold December air immediately hit my face as I stepped out of the warm Ford Expedition. My friend Jordan and I both reached for our heavy orange hunting coats on the back seat for the walk to the lodge door.

The freshly fallen snow was barely stomped off of my hunting boots when the aroma of freshly brewed coffee activated the olfactory senses. The proprietor of Lone Oak Pheasant Farm, Bill Oman, was feeding hickory into the wood stove. All of these stimuli were accented by the smell of pipe tobacco.  The lodge is a perfectly decorated cabin with multiple duck mounts, old duck decoys and seven monster bucks. We can’t forget the pheasant mount! As you enter, there is a beautifully finished long wooden table with every magazine you would want to read about shooting and hunting. Bill keeps a refrigerator by the front counter stocked with soft drinks, water bottles, and candy bars. The adjacent room is the sitting room with more mounts and living room furniture.   There always seems to be a least one small group of hunters drinking coffee and laughing at the ineptitude of their shooting prowess!

Bill has a list of safety rules posted at check-in. All hunters are required to wear hunter orange, and vests are available if needed. The owner also insists on the use of shooting or safety glasses. There are safety glasses available as well. Another point made on the list of safety rules is a shot size limit. No hunter is permitted to use shot larger than six shot. A sign reads that number four shot can travel two hundred yards.

We signed in and received our field assignment. After gathering our guns, ammo, and dog, we headed for the field. The fresh snow was the reason we called Lone Oak that day. New snow makes the birds hold their position which is better for pointing dogs. If we get a runner or a crippled pheasant, we can track it easily in the white powder. My pointing lab wasted no time working the field. He was back and forth on the prowl. No commands were necessary. He knew why we were there. He worked in front of us about 20 to 25 yards. His walk was more of a bounce with a quick trotting pace. He lifted his head and sniffed the air occasionally then back to the snow, head working side to side. Suddenly, his head jerked to the left, and his entire body fell in line! His tail went up, neck stretched out, and he froze like a statue!

“Point,” I yelled over to my companion.

I let him get into position. Gunner "held point" as I walked into the brush. A robust male pheasant erupted into the air with a cackle! One thunderous response from the smoothbore of my orange-clad hunting partner and Gunner made his first retrieve of the day.

We released eight birds that afternoon, shot 9 and had 11 flushes. Gunner worked the field magnificently. The birds held for him and yes he held point! He is a “pointing lab.” I am told that some labs have a genetic predisposition for pointing. I am not here to argue that point (no pun intended), but I know his father and grandfather do not point. I can tell you that as a ten-month-old pup, I took Gunner pheasant hunting with my friend’s English Setter. The setter was a seasoned pheasant dog. We took the dogs on two public land hunts. Both times Gunner followed the setter for 4 hours when Apollo would go “on point,” Gunner would stop and sniff what was ahead. The bird would flush, we shoot it, and Gunner would retrieve it. This sequence went on for two state land hunts and one pheasant farm hunt.  We thought we had a good team. Apollo would point the birds and Gunner fetched. For some reason, Apollo would not retrieve. The fourth time out I got the surprise of my life. Gunner went on point! He has been pointing ever since. The second remarkable thing was that by the end of the pheasant farm season, Apollo was fetching birds!

I have no idea if this was bred in him and Apollo just brought it out, or if Gunner just learned it from Apollo. Two weeks before we were on Buckeye Lake duck hunting. I spent quite a bit of time training him to hunt waterfowl. Gunner jumped in the water with skim ice on it and retrieved five ducks. I tried to keep him dry off, but he had icicles hanging from his vest and fur. He didn’t care. The next week we went goose hunting. We couldn’t find a goose field, so we walked out on the ice.  He loved it, and we appreciated the dog making the long retrieves across the slippery frozen lake water!

Most of the training that Gunner has received for pheasant hunting has been through his pheasant farm experiences with Apollo. You could call it "on the job training."  There is no substitute for experience. Now when we take the dogs on state ground, or wild pheasant hunts out west, they are well-seasoned veterans. In our state, it would take longer than the average dog's working life to gain that much upland game experience.

The bottom line is, if you want to develop a versatile bird dog in Ohio, you need to hunt bird farms. There are some such farms in our state that have pheasants, chukar, partridge, and quail. Simple obedience training and basic whistle commands are a good start.

Lone Oak is located on Panhandle Road just east of Route 23- -north of Delaware, Ohio. Bill Oman can be reached at 740-363-7219. He has September hunts where he will set out a few "flagged" hens. The remainder of the season there is a three bird minimum, any combination of roosters and hens.

When Turkey Hunting Becomes Coyote Hunting

Larry and I walked very carefully over 200 yards to set up our turkey ambush. We set up our decoys in the "perfect location"  on the coal fines on Chuck's property. Our goal was to be 100 yards from the big gobbler's roosting tree. We quietly chose a hiding spot and hunkered down among the small pines. As the sun began to rise we were shocked to hear the old bird right in front of us! He had roosted across from us less than 70 yards away. Hens flew out of the trees and landed to our left. Larry was slightly to my right and back. He was doing the calling. My old college roommate has been hunting turkeys for over 30 years, and he can really make those calls sing! This is not the least bit surprising from a Quaker Boy Pro Staffer!

The big bird finally flew down but stayed in the woods. The hens made their way to the opposite end of the coal fines. Our situation was looking bleak. As Larry was whispering sweet purrs to no avail, I noticed movement off to my right. "Is that a bobcat" I whispered? Soon after the question, I could clearly see a coyote putting a stalk on our decoys. "Are you going to shoot?" I heard Larry whisper. My first thought was that I really did not want to ruin a really good turkey spot by shooting at a coyote.

A little background information should be presented here. The last time my old buddy came into town to hunt turkeys, we were set up in the same place when a coyote sneaked in for an easy meal. We both unloaded on that creature causing it to roll over several times. Ultimately, the animal ran off, and so did the turkeys. Another fact that did not escape my memory, was that there were no turkeys to be found on those coal fines during the following two weeks.

As the thoughts were rolling around in my mind, I heard "Kaboom!" I followed Larry's shot with one of my own as we unloaded on the coyote.

Larry and his coyote

The next day Larry and I took our talents to a different Doug's property. We set up on some birds that were a few hundred yards from us. The birds answered our calls while in the tree, but quieted down considerably after fly down. We waited patiently while making periodic calls only to be answered by an occasional crow. After an hour of silence, a gobbler answered Larry's diaphragm call. That grabbed my attention! I waited a few minutes and followed up with a soft purr. The bird was probably 150 yards away. He gobbled at every purr for twenty minutes. I continued to offer soft purrs, but his responses were less frequent. After what would be the last purr, I saw something move out of the corner of my eye. It was a coyote. He was only 15 yards and closing in without making a sound. I froze as stealthily tiptoed through the forest floor scanning the woods with his eyes and twitching his nose. At ten yards I saw enough, one shot from my 3 1/2 number five shotshell and the fur-bearing hunter was knocked off his feet. Our second coyote in as many days.
"Wow!" I said to my hunting partner, "I have been doing this coyote hunting all wrong!"
We always placed a twitching tail in a field with a speaker playing squealing rabbit noises. We were not successful very often, but it was fun. This turkey hunting was the best coyote draw I have ever seen!

Author with a Coyote

Duck Wraps

Deer Wraps

There are many venison recipes that my wife and I love! This one I first tried with duck. I loved it! Now we make Deer Wraps with either tenderloin or rump roast meat. Here is How it is done. You cut a strip of bacon in half, then cut a thin piece of meat (Duck or Deer) that is half the size of the bacon strip. Next place one teaspoon of Philadelphia Cream Cheese on the meat. Push a jalapeno pepper slice into the cream cheese, roll it up and stick a toothpick through it! Place two dozen on a cookie sheet. Set the wraps in the oven at 350 degrees for forty minutes. If you are on a Weight Watchers diet, one wrap is worth one point, about 50 calories. .Absolutely awesome!

Waterfowl Decoy Placement

I sat in a makeshift blind made of sticks, leaves, and grasses. As the dawn began to creep into the mostly flooded woodland, I noticed the first breeze of the morning. It was a cold wind straight into my face. I hiked in that morning with eight mallard decoys. They were now in the water directly in front of me. I could smell the backwater from the nearby creek, and the distinct autumn aroma of disintegrating leaves. All I needed next were the ducks!

Without warning a flock wood ducks screamed in over the decoys from behind me. A few moments later, a flock of teal surprised me from the same direction. When the pair of mallards followed the same flight path, I decided to turn around. It was not long before the wind shifted and was blowing in my face again, but now stronger! I was a young lad, but I was not naive enough to think that the wind was doing this on purpose. I turned away and pulled my coat up to protect my neck. I turned around just in time to see a flock of teal coming straight at me into the wind. The birds were cupped and committed to landing!

What I learned that day was that ducks like to land into the wind! This is true of all waterfowl. One of five fundamental tenets of decoy placement! As I hunted with more experienced hunters over the years, I learned quite a bit more about this chess match with waterfowl.  Another basic principle is, whenever possible, you should position yourself so that you are not staring into the rising or setting sun. Looking into the sun makes it difficult for a hunter to see the targets. The sun on your face also makes concealment more difficult by reflecting light off of you and your gear. Any movement by hunters may alarm the avian adversary. Along that same line of thought, it is advantageous to locate yourself in shadows to better conceal yourself against wary prey. On one occasion, I was able to position my boat next to a blow down. The root structure of the large oak created a shadow that covered my boat. We were invisible to the ducks.

This leads us to the third axiom of deploying your spread, maintaining concealment. Although this has much to do with camouflage, the position of your decoys is a factor. For example, if none of the locations that you have to choose from allow you to hide well, you are better off positioning yourself so that the birds are not staring at you on approach. "Play the wind," so that the birds will approach from the side. They will not be staring at you, but the decoys.

A fourth rule taught in decoy dispersal 101, is that the birds must have a safe approach and place to land. For example, with a stiff wind, you do not want to place your decoy spread in such a way that the birds would have to navigate power lines or tall trees to approach your fakes. There are "exceptions to every rule," and wood ducks blow this one out of the water! They fly between trees like a child playing a video game. Also, I have seen big ducks spiral down into flooded timber. Understand that flooded timber commonly has no foliage and few branches.

The next aspect of this principle is that if you want birds to come in close enough for a good shot, you need to have a place for them to land. I prefer to have space in front of me where there are no decoys to entice them in close. Some hunters will argue that if you space your decoys out, the birds will land in between the blocks (or decoys) I am not a proponent of this tactic. I have seen many flocks flare from such a spread. I will admit that I have seen singles approach this style of decoy placement unabated, but you will be more successful using a hole or landing zone for the birds.

Before expanding this thought any further, I should tell you that hunters have their own styles. There is more than one way to "cook a goose" as the saying goes. Some hunters prefer to hunt in small out of the way places with one or two dozen decoys. There are other hunters who exclusively hunt big water and deploy one hundred decoys or more. Neither side is wrong or better. It is simply a personal preference. There are just about as many variations as there are hunters. For this article, however, I will lump hunters into two categories, big and small spread hunters.

Small spread hunters have to be especially conscious of the fifth principle, decoy visibility. Visibility can be accomplished by using magnum decoys, bright colors, and possibly with motion. By using fakes with a high percentage of white or light colors, the decoys will be visible at a greater distance. For this reason, more drakes than hen mallard blocks are commonly used for visibility. A few canvasback drake decoys can also allow the birds to see your spread.

There are various ways to produce motion. One way is, if there is wind, to have at least some decoys out in the moving water to make the blocks more life-like. Today it is common to see goose hunters flagging birds to create motion. However, this technique was developed by market gunners to attract flocks of ducks. Flagging can still be a useful tool for duck and goose hunters alike. Another way to legally create motion in the great state of Ohio is to use mechanical decoys. Spinners are very effective. Swimmers and divers are also effective means of producing movement, but they can be expensive.

Large spread hunters have a visibility advantage. By the size of the spread, it is easier to see their decoys. However, the disadvantage is that the hunters must be careful not to have a gigantic collection of lifeless fakes. The birds will not be fooled, especially in the late season. Strategically placed mechanical decoys can help tremendously!

Regardless of the size of your arrangement of fake waterfowl, the mechanicals should be set near where you want the birds to attempt to land. For successful shooting, this landing zone should be close to your blind.

Another factor in proper decoy placement is the species of prey that you wish to target. Canada geese and puddle ducks behave similarly in that they will attempt to land into the wind just short of the birds already on the ground or water. Both snow geese and diving ducks will follow a line of birds to the main group and try to land on the upwind side. There are two things to take note of here. One is that these birds commonly behave in such a way that there is a line leading to the main group. The other noteworthy fact is that diving ducks do not like land because their feet are set too far back on their bodies to walk. So do not expect them to fly over land to approach your position. If you must hunt on land for divers, choose a point that projects out into the water. That will afford the most likely chance of success.

My friends and I have a favorite lake for waterfowl hunting, Buckeye Lake, and a favorite spot on that lake. The wind blows from the west most of the time, but for the purpose of my diagram, we will assume an easterly wind. We have the option of facing east or west, but we usually face south.

My favorite decoy arrangement for hunting in the second season is a "J" shape or "hook." Facing south with an easterly wind, we place the curve of the hook to our left and set three or four concentric curves behind it so that most of the decoys are to our left. The fakes in the "J" include exclusively puddle duck decoys. The inside bend in the hook will only be 25 yards from our location. We place a single file line of decoys close to shore from left to right in front of our boat. A gap is left to be able to get the boat in and out without running over the decoys. Downwind we commonly extend the line with Canada goose blocks and include a small group at the end 25 to 30 yards away. To cover all bases, we will use a straight line of diving duck decoys that extends from the opening of the hook out into the lake. We place one or two mechanical ducks in the curve of the "J" and one on either side of the boat. Adjusting this spread over many years, we have found this to be the most effective means of harvesting a variety of species.  We have bagged Canada geese, divers, and puddle ducks during the same hunt on many occasions using this set up.

My favorite arrangement for light and variable wind conditions can also be used for situations where the wind is at your back. I place the decoys in a square shape on either side of my blind. A wide hole or landing zone is left in between the two squares. It is important that you make each square small enough so that you can shoot to your furthest decoy.  A diver line can also be stretched out from the landing zone. Diver lines do not have to be in range.

A friend of mine created an "S" shaped path in his decoy spread in light variable wind conditions. I was amazed as I watched the ducks maneuver through the "S" shape. One advantage to that pattern is that it kept their attention away from us!

Another excellent decoy pattern is a simple "V." I sometimes use this arrangement when the wind is at my back. I have found that this spread can be very efficient and produce easy shots if you are well concealed. If your concealment is a problem try setting up so that you are not at the apex of the "V." Being offset just 15 to 20 feet can increase your success.

A "V" shaped spread can be a successful tool in shooting diving ducks. My first duck hunting experiences were just that. My good friend and his father took me to Lake Erie where we used a boat anchor and a 50-foot rope to anchor a spreader that held two 50 foot lines. Each decoy line carried 12 to 15 decoys. The opposite ends were anchored, and a dozen singles were placed near the apex. In 35 feet of water, you have to make wise use of your available decoy lines. 

In smaller bodies of water, we use straight lines into a group of singles that makes a teardrop shape. The decoy pattern is such that the diving ducks follow the decoy line to the flock. The birds try to land on the upwind side, as previously discussed. When layout shooting, we found that it is best to have the line on one side so as not to draw attention to the boat. It is difficult for a right hander to turn and shoot to their right, and conversely left handers have difficulty turning left. Since my friend Larry is left handed and I am right handed, we had a problem hunting from a two-man layout boat. We had to put out two lines of decoys, one line on each side of the boat. I sat on the left and shot to the left.

Layout shooting is difficult because you lower body cannot turn, but it is loads of fun. It offers the same challenges as shooting from a layout blind in a field. Setting your decoys for goose hunting on water is the same as setting up to hunt puddle ducks. The five tenets of decoy placement discussed earlier still apply. Most hunters will place their layout blinds in their decoy spread. That usually works, but if concealment becomes an issue late in the season, wait for snow. Wearing all white makes you invisible! If the geese flare from your decoys, you can hide downwind of your decoys. When the birds are about to flare, you will be in position for a shot.

The opposite is true of hunting snow geese. Their behavior is similar to that of diving ducks. If you are wondering how birds can see snow goose decoys in the snow, it is not a problem. If there is snow, there will probably not be any snow geese. Snow geese do not like snow! As with diving ducks, snow geese fly over their kind and land on the other side of the flock. Snow goose hunters move upwind, because that is where the geese want to land. The pattern of decoys for snows is similar to that of diving duck decoys. The teardrop is a popular decoy pattern.

There are a variety of ways to arrange your decoys. All of them follow the same basic principles.  These are the decoy spreads that I have had success using. Good hunting!

September Walleyes

We were still deciding at the bait store if we were perch or walleye fishing. The reports were excellent for both. I found that surprising for this the first day of autumn. The perch fishing can be good, but walleye in late September? So we stood at the bait store realizing that we forgot a minnow bucket! Among the four of us, Matt, Jerry, Derek and myself, nobody brought a bucket. Matt volunteered his cooler, problem solved.

The bait store smelled like a mixture of night crawlers and minnows, as one would expect. The humming sounds of the refrigerators and aerators created a perfect background noise for all the fish stories being shared by various customers. I was paying careful attention to two men talking quietly about perch fishing.

“You need to have your perch by 1:00. They seem to shut off about then.” I heard the elder fisherman explain.

This information seemed to make fishing for both a poor option today. Meanwhile, my partners had procured their minnows and were deciding on how many worms to purchase.

“The reports are that they are hitting on spoons and cranks. We don’t need any worms!” Matt advised.

Not having fished for walleye without worms, they purchased two dozen.

The group loaded the poles and plethora of assorted coolers and gear. We were on the water by 9:00 AM. The collective decision was to troll for walleyes. Matt suggested that we head for Huron. I grabbed the steering wheel as the group readied the poles, dipsy divers, jet divers, planer boards, and lures. I set a course for a position north of “The Dumping Grounds”.

We fished the area earlier this year. Walleye were caught, but as most people reported this summer, there were many two-year-old fish. The problem is that two-year-old fish are fourteen to fourteen and a half inches long. The ODNR appropriately set the walleye length limit at fifteen inches. As a result, fishermen were throwing back three walleyes to every one they could keep. The smaller fish are more active. That means the fish you cannot keep are more likely to bite your hook. Our boat did a little better than most this summer. We kept nine and threw back eight.

As we approached our marks on the GPS unit, I could see a pack of boats.

“This is it!” I slowed the boat down short of the pack.

We immediately began seeing good marks on the fish finder at twenty-four feet in forty feet of water. I adjusted out speed to 2.3 miles per hour. This speed is fast for worm harnesses but just right for plugs and spoons.

We only had two lines out when someone yelled, “Fish On!”

One of the dipsy divers was tripped open. Matt reeled in a nice nineteen inch walleye. Derek netted it, and in the live well it went. It was only five minutes later when one of the planer boards pulled back.

Jerry grabbed the rod, “This is a nice one!”

The nice one Jerry described managed to escape the cooler as it approached the boat.

“Way to knock it off Jerry!” We each took turns ribbing Jerry. It was all in fun.

Jerry tried his hand at the next fish that pulled a planer board. It trolled a realistic minnow looking jerk bait as did the first one. A walleye it was.

“This one might be close. I am not sure. It is plump though!” Matt described the fish in his hand.

I turn around to see Matt measuring a sixteen-inch walleye.

“Good enough!” Matt threw it in the live well.

Eventually, the walleyes made it into the cooler. Someone shared with us several years ago that the fish are better eating if allowed to bleed out before putting them on ice. A carefully made incision through both gill regions then ventrally gets the job done.

The dipsy tripped again. Matt grabbed the pole. This tooth-clad Pisces was putting up quite a tussle. Jerry grabbed the net. I watched as he attempted to scoop the walleye. Somehow Jerry managed to miss the fish but get two treble hooks in the outside of the net. He lifted the net and fish out of the water.

“Get it in the boat! Get it in the boat!” Matt repeated excitedly.

Jerry swung the net back into the boat with the fish still attached.

“Well first you knocked a fish off with your pole, now you try to knock Matt’s fish off!” I teased.

“Hey, did I get it in the boat?” Was all Jerry could muster for his defense!

We laughed. The fish measured twenty-four inches. A very respectable fish.

We trolled for ten more minutes without a bite. Matt suggested that we make a wide swing and go back through that area. A wide swing is imperative as we had seven lines in the water. Trying to turn too sharply would result in tangled lines.

I began my turn and realized that we were less than one mile north of where we fished on our last trip together. The “Dumping Grounds” were less than five miles to our south. The stretch of water that we trolled was approximately a mile and a half long. We caught fish slightly less than one mile of our traverse.

Upon return to our “hot spot”, I began marking fish at twenty-four feet.

“Here they are twenty-four, twenty-five, twenty-four…” My markings report was cut short by the attack of two fish on our lures.

Fish at twenty-four feet was our target. It proved to be consistent throughout the day. Matt reeled in a fish on a dipsy pole on the starboard side while Derek hauled one in from a planer board in the port side. Jerry stood ready with the landing net. As Matt’s fish reached the surface, Jerry scooped in for the fish. Like before, the treble hooks buried themselves into the outside of the net and Jerry swung the fish into the boat. A plump fifteen and three-quarter inch walleye was added to the box. Laughter ensued!

“You are supposed to put the fish IN the net, Jerry!” I chuckled.

“Anybody can do that!” I heard Jerry say.

Matt was laughing but worked quickly to open the snap swivel on his jerk bait. With the plug still embedded in the outside of the net, Matt landed Derek’s eighteen-inch walleye. In Jerry’s defense, he had very little experience with a landing net. He did get the hang of it.

By the time the lines were back out, we had another one on. It too turned out to be sixteen inches. At this point, we surmised that the fourteen and one-half inch two-year-olds that we caught earlier are now older fifteen plus inch fish. We did not keep all of our fish that qualified in length. We kept twenty-four walleyes. We threw back six that were thirteen inches and four that were legal length.

I never thought that September was a walleye month, but we had a blast. Do not put your walleye gear away too soon. The first day of autumn can be hot!

Planar boards in line

Middle planer board back equals fish on!

Matt with big fish

Group photo

Best Days for Harvesting Birds!

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!

If You Want to Hunt Turkeys, You Have to Get Out of Bed!

I showed up at Doug's house at 5:45 AM as agreed. We had planned to hunt right behind his house, so getting in position for a gobbling Tom would not be a problem. I parked off to the side so that they still use the driveway. I didn't notice any lights on, but I figured that he would not want to wake anyone up. I walked up to the kitchen door and peered through the glass. It was as black as the night sky. There was no sign of life, not even a cat. I hung around outside and waited to see if my host was going to appear. No dice. I decided to head out back and get in position to run to the first tree gobble. There was enough foliage on the trees that I could enter the woods undetected. As luck would have it, I heard a gobble in the opposite direction that I walked from the vehicle. Again the bird called out to the early dawn, but still, no one joined him. I decided to wait. I was certain I would hear a bird near my location. It occurred to me that the scouting report came from a guy who couldn't get out of bed in the morning! Perhaps I should rethink my strategy.  I listened intently as the birds sang their early morning tunes and the sweet smell of honeysuckle filled my olfactory senses. Just as I was about to throw my former coaching rival completely "under the bus", I heard a gobble from in front of me. "Atta boy," Doug! The hunt was on!

 I closed the gap quickly and quietly on the gobbler. I looked for a place to sit. I chose a large oak tree to lean against. This tree put me one hundred yards from his roost. I did not dare get closer. The mature forest was wide open. He would see me approach. After settling in, I made a soft "purrrrr" with my easy yelper. He gobbled immediately! I waited a full minute and repeated the soft gentle purr. He came "unglued" with a resounding triple gobble. For several minutes we called back and forth. He flew down about 6:25 AM. In an attempt to illicit a response and identify his location, I purred. No response. "Oh no. He is coming in silent. He could be anywhere!" I thought as my eyes scanned the forest floor. I made one soft purr, but in response, I received the call of a raspy old hen. She began to "cluck," cut, and carry on, as she ran to the gobbler. He gobbled at her advances. I had one chance, and that was to imitate her. I started cutting and carrying on like a whole flock of hens. That Tom turkey went crazy, but he never wandered more than forty yards from his tree. Before long he had an entire harem at his disposal, and together they wandered off.

I sat at the base of the tree for a time as the gobbles got further and further down the hollow. It was about 8:30 when I decided to head back to see if "Sleeping Beauty" had awakened. I found my buddy all rested, bright eyed and bushy tailed. "I guess I have to get out of bed if I want to hunt turkeys, aye Bill?" We laughed. Doug said that he hears turkeys in the late morning hours, so we walked back down the hill. We stood in his field talking quietly for about thirty minutes. Every now and then I would "cluck" to check for interested gobblers. After one such "turkey check" we heard a loud gobble, and he was close! We scrambled to hide. Big mistake. We should have been seated in position, but I did not anticipate the bird coming to me. I figured we would be moving to him. I am not certain if he saw us scramble around to hide like two of the "Three Stooges" or what, but we never saw or heard him after that.

All in all, it was a good hunt. Anytime you get to set up on a bird, it is a good hunt. I got to set up on two in one morning. Spending time with good friends makes for a good hunt as well. That made this day very special. Remember though, if you want to hunt turkeys you have to get out of bed!

There Is Much More to New York than Cities!

When most people hear New York they think of a city, skyscrapers, busy streets and a lot of noise. Others think of fine dining, plays, Broadway and nightlife in general. However, I think of the great outdoors. I have enjoyed camping, hiking, and fishing in the Adirondacks with my wife and kids. The pancakes and trout that I fixed for breakfast were incredible!

Well, I did have problems with the pancakes one morning! After making a dozen flapjacks and getting eaten alive by mosquitos, I decided to grab the bug spray. When I grabbed the can of "bug spray", I noticed that it was actually Pam cooking spray! Oh no! What did I put on the skillet!

Coho Salmon, Lake Ontario

Trolling for salmon and lake trout in Lake Ontario was a riot as well. We caught some absolute beauties! My favorite part was the fresh grilled salmon we ate between days of our two-day trip. My buddy Matt was the grill master and he got an A+ rating!

lake trout on Lake Ontario

Another first rate fishing adventure in New York can be found on Lake Erie at Dunkirk Harbor. I caught the biggest smallmouth of my life there. It was twenty-five inches long. (Take that "No Fish Cliff!") I caught him on a two toned wacky rigged Senko.

Twenty-five inch smally

The trip that I look forward to the most every year is the opening of the bass season on lake Chautauqua! The bass fishing is incredible! The comradery is fantastic as well. My brother is the originator of the trip. We took our sons there fifteen years ago, and we have been going back ever since! My brother's good friends have been kind enough to put us up for a few days each summer. They have a beautiful home on the lake, and they are very generous!

My son, Will, with a nice bass, Lake Chautauqua

My six-pound bass, Lake Chautauqua

We have used a variety of bass lures on Chautauqua. We have caught some real nice fish on jitterbugs in the evening. We have caught some large bass on spinnerbaits as well. I caught a five pounder on a small white twister tail jig in an attempt in catch perch!  Smallmouth bass have been caught by our group on tubes and hair jigs. My personal favorite lure is the plastic worm. Noteworthy colors are green and black. As is usually the case, fishing around docks and weed beds is very productive. The lake is usually clear as gin. Any lure that works for you in clear water I am sure will work here!

Don't Forget the Hens!

We all love to hear the cackle of the rooster as he flies up out from cover and displays his majestic tail. The hen, on the other hand, gets overlooked. We do not shoot hens in the wild, and rightfully so! We need to try to perpetuate the species. The pheasant farm is a different proposition altogether. The birds are not normally going to survive. They are released to train our dogs and to shoot.

My pointing Lab, Gunner, does not care if that bird is a hen or a rooster. He is an "equal opportunity" pointer and retriever. He gets just as excited at pointing the female of the species as he does a cock bird! He loves retrieving!
 

Late in the winter, the pheasant farms run out of roosters. It becomes an all hen hunt. Some upland hunters decide to shelf their weapon for the year at that point. However, the "Suzie Bird" of the pheasant variety can be fun!

The one drawback to shooting hens is that sometimes they fly out rather than up! This characteristic makes it dangerous for the dog. I have had to pass on the shot because my dog was in line with the bird, but When it landed in our field when got a bonus flush.




Hens will get up, though. As you can see in the photo, this hen got up in the air quickly. Shooting hen pheasants is still better than watching hunting shows on television

STRIPERS!

Nick Mallencore and a 41-pound striper!

"Are you interested in a stripper adventure in Tennessee?" was the text I received from a good friend about seven weeks ago. I was shocked at first, then I laughed! I showed the message to several other friends before I asked Doug if he knew what he had sent! Not to worry, no jokes about teeth or smell! 

Six weeks later, I had just cleaned the area around the dryer and pulled it away from the wall. The tool box in one hand and dryer belt in the other, I was ready to tackle the job. I just backed the second screw out of the dryer when my phone rang. It was my old buddy Doug. "The stripers are running in Tennessee! Ready to go?" Doug seemed rather excited. "Uh," looking at my mess, "When are we leaving?" Doug's reply was typical of us retired folk, "How does 7:00 PM sound?" I got the nod from my gracious wife. Thanks to the time zone change, at 1:30 AM we pulled into a motel for a nap!

We were on the boat by 9:00 AM. Nick was the owner who extended the invitation. What a great guy! You can imagine my surprise when I stepped onto a boat with no gas motor! That's right, no motor. His motor was in the shop for repairs, but that was not enough to deter him. Nick is a diehard fisherman! He had a boat that was set up perfectly for fishing. He did the restoration and modifications himself. The electric trolling motor pulled us across Cordell Hull Lake to the target area quite well. Along the way, Nick pointed out huge blips on the fish finder. "These could be stripers, big catfish or even sturgeon." I was amazed to be on a body of water that had the potential to produce such a large catch! 

We trolled for hours back and forth in the target area. Nick had three stripers on at once there the day before. We were trolling mostly husky jerks using planer boards and dipsy divers. The techniques are identical to what we use when trolling for walleyes on Lake Erie. Nick spent the time telling us about his knowledge of stripers, which was quite fascinating. We followed up the encyclopedia lesson by sharing fishing stories. Nick had a hearty lunch packed, and the fish left our lunch time undisturbed.

Without warning, lunchtime came to an abrupt halt. One of the large trolling poles was bent nearly in half! The reel sang in excitement as the fishing line peeled off with a "zing." I reached for the pole as Nick yelled, "Let him take line! It's a big one. You won't be able to turn him!" The drag was perfectly set. With rod tip up high, the large pole took the force of the fish. Before it became too much to handle, the drag would release line. My job was easy, hold on. Nick turned the boat back in the general direction of the fish. "Tighten the line slowly." He instructed. The line started to slacken. Being an experienced fisherman, I knew the fish was running at the boat. I reeled as fast as I could to keep up. "No, No! What are you doing?" Nick asked. "He's rushing the boat!" I responded. "Oh no! Don't lose him." Nick's comment was as more of a wish than a command. The line tightened, and the fight was back in play! Fifteen minutes later the fish tired, and I was slowly reeling him up to the watercraft. Nick stood poised with the net, trying desperately to catch a glimpse of the big fish. I couldn't help but notice that the net looked large enough to hold an average person.  For a moment, I saw a flash of a huge dark tail in the water. At a glance, magnified by the water, it appeared that I had hooked a whale! "What IS that?!" I begged. The puzzled looks on the faces of my two partners were all the answer I needed. Finally, "Moby Dick" came to the surface! "What in the world?!" I had to ask. Nick had tried and failed three times before he netted the fish. Once in the net, I dropped the rod and grabbed for the net. Together we pulled him over the gunwale. "It's a paddlefish!" Doug exclaimed. "Wow! I have never seen one anywhere near that big!" Nick was astonished. I had never seen one at all.

Author and 38-pound paddlefish

It was finally time for pictures! I also caught a yellow bass that day. I had never seen one of those either! It was a day for firsts. Although I did not land a "striper" that day, I did have an exciting experience. We decided to cast crank baits for white bass late in the day. On my second cast, something hit my plug and snapped the line so fast there wasn't time for the drag to release line! Nick asked how it hit. I said, "Well...it was as if I was going down the freeway. Then I cast my line and snagged a Chevy truck going the opposite direction!" He assured me that I donated the deep diving sexy shad crank bait to a "big striper."

Nick shared some meat from his 41-pound fish. We all took "striper" home to eat.

What a great trip! Nick Mallencore is taking classes this summer to obtain his charter captain's license. I highly recommend Nick as a guide. Nick's motor is back on his boat, and the stripers are in trouble!

HOW TO BREAK A DOG OF GUN-SHYNESS

The only dog that I ever had who was gun-shy was a golden retriever named, Benny. I became his proud owner when he was already a year old. He was deathly afraid of loud noises! I immediately made inquiries as to how to correct this issue. One friend of mine, Chuck, said that he went through several beagles trying to find one that was not afraid of gun noise. He was so desperate that he went to the pound for several weeks to find a beagle. He took the first one out in the field, and fired his gun. He never found the dog! Five times this happened and five times the furry rabbit hunters disappeared. Oddly enough, dog number five looked eerily similar to the first dog. Chuck looked at me very sternly, “You know. There might be a good reason why these dogs are in the pound!”

To a man, every hunter told me that a gun-shy dog was no good. They simply cannot hunt. I took this as a challenge! After all, this wasn’t the first dog I had ever trained. At the time, I was a successful track and football coach. I could motivate and train kids, why not dogs?!

I acquired Benny, because he would not stay out of his neighbor’s chicken coup. This was a good attribute for a bird dog, but not for one that wants to live very long! I was happy to take him in, but the wife said that he could not stay in the house. What a laugh! Not only was the loveable golden retriever permitted in the house, he was on the couch with “Mommy” in no time!

Benny entered our lives in April, and he had never hunted. Right away I started retriever training. I bought a new duck trainer dummy and duck scent. The training was going well. He loved to retrieve, and was eager and willing to learn. After a week, I decided to test his noise sensitivity for myself. I tied him to the end of a fifty foot rope, and led him into a field. When I fired the 20 gauge light load he nearly pulled me down trying to get away! He hated it!

The training emphasis had to be changed immediately!  Teal season was five months away, so I had that long to get him ready for my 12 gauge. Six weeks after that I would be shooting my 10 gauge for the opening of duck and goose season. Luckily for me Benny loved to eat treats! His two favorites were hamburger and cheese. Well, who would turn up there nose at a good cheeseburger? I was unable to locate any magic cure for this ailment, so I had to develop my own plan, so I developed a schedule. The amount of time for each Phase and for each step was a mystery, but I had a workable plan with measureable goals. One key to the training was that he had to be trained every day without fail!

Phase One of my plan was to use a cap gun outside. I wanted to avoid pots and pans or anything other than the gun looking noise device. I was going to need to retrain his visual response to the sight of a gun as well as the sound of a gun. Step One: I took Benny outside on the end of a fifty foot rope, while I held a cap gun. When he saw the gun, he stretched the rope out to fifty feet six inches! Day one, I pulled him to me for a piece of burger after the shot. The next day he stretched the rope, but he came to me eagerly when he saw the treat! The first few days he would cower waiting for the noise. At the point where he was no longer cowering at the anticipation of the cap gun, he was ready for step two. We had been working on “Sit and Stay” commands since his arrival. I was able to apply that training in the next step. Step Two: Benny was able to sit and stay while I walked away to twenty five feet. He was not fond of the sound, but he came to me immediately after the cap gun report. After I was pleased with his response at twenty five feet, he sat at twelve feet, Step Three. Step Four followed at six feet. Step One took three weeks, but each subsequent step was shorter and shorter. I did not eliminate retriever training drills, but they were reduced to three days per week and shorter in duration.

Phase Two of my plan was still with the cap gun, but conducted in my garage in order in intensify the noise level. I was able to begin Phase Two in mid-June. Step One: The dog was commanded to sit and stay at the opposite end of the garage, approximately twenty two feet away. From the other end I fired the cap gun, no rope was used. He was not able to escape as the doors were closed. He flinched significantly at the intensified gun shot as I suspected. He was still eager to come for his treat, but not until I put the gun away. At this time in his training I began teaching him hand signals. As I had done previously, I pretty much followed Richard Wolter’s book, “Water Dog”. Step Two was to have him sit and stay in the middle of the garage. Step Three was to have him sit next to me in the garage while I fired the cap gun. By the end of July he was able to sit next to me and turn his head away waiting for the shot. He quickly turned to me painting and wagging his tail for his treat when the noise ended.

Phase Three was outside with a 20 gauge shotgun. My son, Will, had the dog on a leash seated at one hundred yards, and I fired the gun. After the shot, I called Benny to me for his treat. We repeated this three times in a row. When Benny seemed comfortable with this distance, we moved him to Step Two at fifty yards. Step Three followed at twenty five yards. Finally, the third week of August, Benny sat next to me while I fired the 20 gauge, Step Four. Steps Five was a repeat of Steps One through Three with a 12 gauge shotgun. He passed Step Five in three days. I probably did not need it, but I followed the plan.

Three days before the start of teal season, we introduced Phase Four. I sat on a bank at a local pond. It looked very “ducky” with cattails and duck weed. The golden retriever sat next to me while my son hid in the cattails behind us.  Will threw the retriever dummy over our heads into the water in front of us. As the bird passed overhead, I shot into the air. When the bird hit the water, I yelled “fetch him up”! Benny took off like a rocket! It worked! He did not flinch at the noise at all. From the time he saw the bird, he was totally focused on the retrieve!

On opening day of teal season, Chuck and I were poised to shoot as the sun rose. Fifteen minutes after shooting time, Benny retrieved his first blue winged teal. It was a textbook retrieve.“Now that is a miracle!” my hunting partner marveled. He was right. It was a miracle. This miracle came with much time and patience!

The Great Goose Hunt that Wasn't

As I stood knee-deep in swamp muck and duck saturated water, I was glad I wore my waders! What a strange hunt. We were hunting a corn field for geese! Randy's dog, Hunter found the black duck, unbelievable! I forgot what a good nose he has. "Hunter! Come here, boy. Fetch it up!" Oh no! He's not coming to me. That rascal his heading straight back to his owner!

This expedition was spawned in the imagination of my good friend, Randy. He was remembering a hunt that he and I had twenty years ago. On that day we visited his high school cross country coach who has a farm near Sandusky Bay. We went on a hunt there in late November and bagged a pair of giant canadas in the one goose zone. One goose per day was our rationale for not returning sooner, but the limit has since been relaxed. It was time to try it again.

It is a three-hour drive from my house to the Bay. Consequently, it was an "early morning" that November day. Anyone who is a serious waterfowl hunter has rolled out of bed in the middle of the night in order to reach that magic destination. We are usually willing to make this sacrifice for the opportunity for good shooting. There is no such thing as a guarantee in hunting. This hunt was no exception. We had no "intel" on the current goose migration, only a forecasted cold front moving in from the north. I received a call from Randy that Matt and I needed to join him on Wednesday before Thanksgiving for a goose hunt at his former coach's farm. That meant that we had to pack up 100 full bodied goose fakes and shells. It took a few minutes to load all of those dekes in the back of Randy's truck, but we managed. We loaded our guns and two dogs and were on our way!

Our merry band pulled off the road beside some corn stubble barely before shooting time. The decoy bags had to be carried some 200 yards off the road to a small mound in the field. It is important to be respectful of a farmer's property and not drive in their fields. As I picked up the last bag, it clanged. "What in the heck do you have in this bag?" I asked Randy. "It weighs a ton!" "I saved that bag for you!" Was his response. "It has some mojo mallard decoys and poles. I thought they might add some movement." "This bag will have plenty of movement when I hit you over the head with it!" I said with a grin. Randy was smiling from ear to ear listening to me complain about being his pack mule! All in fun, we rib each other and laugh all the time. You have to have fun, because life is too short.
It was cold, below freezing, but the ground was still soft. We had no trouble inserting the silhouette stakes into the ground through the thin frozen layer. As we plunged the mojo poles into the field we could detect the faint odor of manure used to fertilize the field.

Shooting time came, but no birds were in sight. This was not terribly disturbing as goose peak movement hours are usually closer to 10:00 AM, especially when it is cold. The sunrise was beautiful. The beauty was short-lived, however, as dark gray clouds moved in rapidly from the northwest. It wasn't long until the dark gray clouds of autumn dominated the sky. "Perhaps this cold front will bring in some migrators!" My wishful thinking was echoed by my partners. The wind picked up as predicted and the temperature seemed top drop even more. Randy was babbling on about the flight times of geese and suddenly paused. "Are those ducks?" He added to his monolog. I turned my gaze in the same direction to see a flock of hundreds of ducks approaching from the north. "Let's get in position!" I mumbled as I flopped down. Everyone quickly took their places among the fakes. We did not have room for our layout blinds in the truck, so we used corn stalks and weeds as cover. The feathered migraters coasted high overhead to our chorus of hail calls. To my surprise, the flock made their way downwind and began to turn. They swung wide around our blocks still too high to identify, but we knew they were big ducks. They kept turning and now clearly descending on our party of pretenders. The made a tornado of ducks! It seemed like it took ten minutes for them to get close enough to see clearly, mallards! Without warning four ducks broke out of the swirl and locked their wings straight at the mojos. "Take'em!"Randy yelled. I hesitated because of the vast numbers of birds hovering overhead. The scatterguns sounded off and all four mallards were on the ground waiting for our two eager labs, Gunner and Hunter. "Alright!" Randy barked out playfully."Who shot the hen?"  I stood up, both literally and figuratively, "I did! It was the only one left!" my late arrival to the party resulted in a brown mallard, frowned upon by our group. "I thought I said pick out a green head!" Randy pronounced judgment. "You did not!" The ribbing did not have a chance to last very long. I was saved by another huge flock of ducks. This group followed the same pattern. They drifted downwind and began to turn until they formed an avian tornado descending on us! As the hoard of ducks circled out of range two green heads broke off and came screaming in just off the deck. "Let these go!" Randy said what we were all thinking. "We want green heads, Bill, but bigger groups!" That was Randy getting a shot in at me. I didn't have to look at him to see that ornery grin! The pair coasted on through. I followed them until I couldn't turn my neck any further. When I looked back I saw a group of eight dropping right in our laps! It seemed like a shame to shoot at groups this size and educate hundreds of ducks, but you have to play the cards that are dealt you. I picked out a green head, sat up and folded him up like a bath towel! My hunting partners did likewise. "Why did you shoot?" Randy looked at me as if in disbelief. "I said no small flocks. I didn't say take'em!" "Who died and left you in charge of this expedition? I don't need you to tell me when to shoot!" Matt just stood there and laughed at us. It is all good-natured kidding when you are scoring waterfowl. Matt announced that he removed a black duck from hunter's mouth. It is not unusual to find black ducks in flocks of mallards. The good news was that we could shoot more ducks. We were allowed four mallards and one black duck each. It was time to take inventory of our duck pile.

We counted our collection of six mallards (one hen) and two black ducks and discussed our limit options. After twenty minutes of watching one humongous flock after another pass us by, we finally had one small flock look our way. The small flock was about fifty ducks. my trusty lab, Gunner sat on my left. He blended in well with the corn stubble. He watched intently as the ducks circled. Each time they got downwind they would glide motionless like a kite, then move on. One hen mallard left the circle parade and drifted in slowly into the wind. "Bang!" A gunshot shattered the singing of our feeding chuckles. Randy shot the lone female! "What?! What happened to pick out the green heads! You want to talk about shooting into small flocks! That hen was alone! You gave me ten miles of grief, and you pulled that stunt!" I was letting him have it. All randy could do was lay there and laugh. he had it coming and he knew it!

Shortly thereafter another large swarm of ducks slowly cruised by at high altitude. The tornado soon formed to our serenade of hail calls. Several times there were small groups that dipped own out of the flock but did not finish. All we could do was lie on our backs and feeding chuckle with an occasional "Quack". Gunner joined in with a soft whine as he shook with excitement. Twenty ducks finally committed, and four stayed behind upside down in the decoys. A fifth bird fell out of the sky on the far side of the field.

Those birds made five for Randy, so he went to the truck to eat and get warm. Matt decided to walk across the field to see if he could find the duck that fell. I elected to stay put as I only had three on the day. No sooner than Matt was out of sight, but forty ducks were in my face coming straight in. I waited, but they didn't want to finish. As they started to drift off to my left, I sat up and unloaded my gun. I could not believe it as I watched them flying away! I almost did watch long enough when one bird fell straight down out of the flock! It wasn't pretty, but I didn't get skunked! Randy came walking out in the field, "Hey! Do you have any dead birds on this side of the road?" I said, "I believe so. Why?" A black duck crash landed into that timber on the other side of the road. Well, Hunter found that bird and Matt found my drake mallard on his way back.

My shooting might not have been great, but I filled my limit. At any rate, it was a heck of a "goose hunt" for not seeing any geese!

The Most Spectacular Double Retrieve Ever!

I became the proud owner of my first retriever when I was in college. He was the runt of a litter of fourteen pups. This little guy was unable to fight his older siblings for a place at "the dinner table" for mother's milk. At twenty four hours old, the owner found him cold and lifeless in a corner of the box. She warmed him up on her hands and her responded. The med student then fed the infant golden retriever with an eye dropper. He perked up. I had expressed interest in a puppy, hence the phone call. If I wanted to care for him, I could have him for free! It was a lot of work, but after three weeks of feedings and wipings, I had a cute little golden retriever puppy. He ate with such voracity that I used to say that he eats like a champ. Therefore, I named him Champ.

Champ grew to become the biggest dog of the litter. He was a tall ninety five pound brute. That dog was one hard headed and determined animal. The later served him well as a hunter. I was busy with school as Champ was growing up, but I took him bird hunting every chance I had. One day, my good friend Matt, and I went hunting in a local creek. I knew ducks followed the creek to the nearby reservoir. I did not shoot particularly well that day, but Matt harvested two wood ducks. From that day, he is forever known as "Woody". The second of Woody's two birds landed in a thicket that surrounded a dead tree on the outside bend of the creek. Champ laid down on the ground and belly crawled into the thicket. Meanwhile, Woody and I scanned the sky looking for more ducks and told stories. After five minutes I heard a commotion in the thicket. I said, "Here Champ!", and went on telling of my adventures. Several minutes later here came champ with the duck firmly in his mouth. I can still see that beautifully plumed drake wood duck with his head up looking around. I can only imagine what he was thinking, but I know I was thinking that was a heck of a retrieve!

I hunted that creek as often as I could because it was public and no one hunted it. On one late October day, it was just me and Champ. I put six plastic blocks on the straight stretch of the creek. The sun rose majestically on the horizon, but no ducks showed interest in our party. It was a beautiful sunny day, not a cloud in the sky. I knew if I could see well, the birds could see better, So, I constructed a blind beside a log using area vegetation, but no birds fell for our invitations. Without warning, which is often the case, three mallards glided down the creek. I swung my 1100 Remington through the targets, and squeezed the trigger twice. Two birds fell, both upstream on a shallow bend in the creek. I gave the fetch command, and the long haired retriever was off like a rocket! As Champ approached the shallow water both ducks righted themselves with heads up. The shallows had a gravel bottom, and shallow enough that the big dog was able to run rather than swim. As he was only three feet from the first drake mallard and closing fast, the duck had plans of his own. The mallard leaped into the air and started to flap. Champ leaped in response. What happened next I have never seen before or since. That dog grabbed that duck out of the air and brought him down! All I could do was clap in amazement! "Atta boy Champ! Fetch'em up, boy!" I believe that it was at this point that I realized that the other bird had disappeared. I scanned the bank, but to no avail. As I took the bird from dog's mouth, I looked up in time to see a greenhead swimming just under the sparkling clear water, just 15 feet away. "Fetch that bird!", I commanded. Champ hesitated, turned his head, and sprang into action. A few seconds later he came back wagging his soaking wet hairy tail with another drake mallard in his mouth! In the forty years that I have hunted ducks that is the most spectacular double retrieve that I have ever witnessed. One duck out of the air and one duck retrieved from under the water. What else can you ask of a dog?

Lesson #1, Sandusky Bay Layout Hunting

We were on Sandusky Bay at the perfect time in December. We saw huge clouds of ducks flying on the horizon. We got to the bay at sunrise which is no big deal targeting divers. They fly through the middle of the day. Larry, Hoss and I arrive at the Dempsey Access in time to see a spectacular show to the east. It was motivation to get the boat in the water and get the blocks set for the day. The wind was "nor'easter" was blowing cold and steady. We were somewhat protected at the ramp so all was good. The ramp was steep and not very long, a good thing for rough water. We had to lift the home made two man layout boat off the tender and carry it in the water first. Next week launched the 17-foot tender boat and tied the layout boat with ski ropes for towing. It was too heavy to leave it in the tender boat. We loaded up, parked the truck, and headed out. Larry drove us far enough out off shore to get in the flight path of the birds, but not so far as to get into white caps. The first order of business was to set the boat, then place the dekes around it. Larry showed us that the boat would be facing downwind as the birds would most likely be coming upwind. He showed Hoss the cowl that we made out of canvas that could be pulled up if it started to get rough. This would keep the waves from breaking into the boat from behind, theoretically. This was all very fascinating to me. Although I helped Larry with the construction of the boat, I had never been layout shooting before, nor Hoss for that matter. Larry explained to us that the divers preferred to follow the line of dekes and land at the "head of the class" rather than fall in behind like puddle ducks. Therefore we needed to stop the line short of the boat and put a ball of dekes for attraction. Also, since Hoss and I were both right handed, we would have limited range to swing right. The best spread for us was to run the line slightly to the left, or port side, of the boat so we could get better shots.  Later, when Larry was to get in the boat, we would move some decoys to make a line on the right side or starboard, since he is left handed. It made perfect sense!

The line was set, we transferred ourselves and gear to the low profile boat and loaded up. I barely closed the action on my semi auto when three bluebills made what looked like a strafing run down the line. They came in and were gone so fast, we only took one shot each! Laughter ensued as the "black heads" (as they call them in North Carolina) gave us lessons! Not long afterward, a small group of scoters were caught cruising our line. One shot each, as before, now produced two floating prey. Before we could gloat too long a single ruddy duck glided in, teetering back and forth as he coasted down the line. Bang! One shot and Hoss had his first ever ruddy duck! We waved the flag, which was the signal to the tender boat operator that we needed his assistance. I saw Larry creating a large wake as he ran the boat our direction. For no apparent reason, he stopped. After a short pause, it hit me why he stopped. I shouldered my Remington before looking. There they were, all flock of buffleheads screaming straight at us! Kaboom ! Hoss and I shot simultaneously, followed by one more each. Three birds lay dead as the rest flew straight over our heads so low that I probably could have hit one with my gun barrel. "Ho, Ho! This is a blast!" Hoss was really impressed. Larry motored in and picked up our birds with a landing net. He drove close by enough to yell, "Put up your cowl!" We were having fun and did not notice that the wind was picking up speed. We lifted the cowl. which was primarily to the stern, where it was needed. If we lifted the bow end, we couldn't see. We reclined for comfort again, when we saw a flock of ducks in a line fly overhead about 75 yards up. Then another, and another, they just kept coming. It occurred to me that the birds had longish tails although we couldn't see the colors well, we surmised that they could have been pintails. Looking back on it, they could just have easily been oldsquaw. After 20 minutes of that, we had a lone goldeneye cup its wings, ride the wind, and glide in according to plan. Hoss added his first goldeneye to his list of firsts, and it was high-five time. We laid back down as some mergansers teased us by flying across out of range. Whoosh! Suddenly, someone just poured a bucket of ice water down my back, as if I had just won the next big game in my coaching career! What the heck! The wave was big enough to break over the cowl. I had water right down my back inside my coat and into my waders! The boat wasn't "full" of water, but there were hulls and stuff floating in it. The flag was up! "Come on buddy, get us out of here!" I thought. Whoosh, another wave broke over the stern. Hoss and I quickly abandoned the stern in an attempt to tip it up slightly. "Did you guys put enough floatation in this boat?" was Hoss's obvious inquiry. I assured him that we had plenty of foam. There was no way we could sink. It seemed to take Larry forever to get there.

He arrived. We were soaked, but never in any real danger. We bagged up the decoys and set the bags in the layout, tied it off and slowly motored toward Dempsey. On the way in Larry told us that he could feel the wind building the waves. There was no way there was going to be time to move dekes and take a turn, so he was content to let us shoot. The truth is that the rascal probably figured that he would get in there just in time to get soaked! He isn't stupid, but neither are we. Our first lesson was to be mindful of the wind! I vowed to never to let that happen again!