Eyes!!!!

 
  I am just in from one of the most memorable hunts i have ever done.
  Today was another one of those beautiful winter days with a low hazy sun and no wind.  The scenery was incredible.  Snow blanketed the Ct and NY shores and gave everything a winter wonderland look.  To top it all off this morning was one of the calmest mornings i have ever been on the water, and not to toot my horn, but i have spent a lifetime on Long Island sound.  I do wish i could have shared the morning with a hunting buddy. 
     Ok, i know you all want to know how much steel was put through the air, so here it goes.  I started the morning a little rough.  The ramp was not cleared of snow and i had to use the 4 wheel drive.  I considered launching over the sand but that had more snow on it.  I had to move around a giant drift to get the boat in.  For those of you that do not know CT was blanketed buy at least a foot of snow on Sunday night, and combined with 40mph winds made for a memorable storm.  My brother plows for the town and i am sure he is going to go Kimber shopping next week. 

     After a short ride out to the Diver grounds i started putting out my rig: 16 blue bills, 6 buffle heads, and two mergs.  I anchored the boat, sat down, and herd 4 shots to the north and in the same harbor.  I scrambled to get my gun out of the case and  load up.  As i am fumbling i could hear the whistling of wings and i knew the Golden Eyes i was after were on their way.  I no sooner got a shell in the chamber when 2 broke off the flock of 10 or so.  With one swing i dropped the closest one.  WOW!  5 minutes into legal shooting time and i have my first Golden Eye really dead on the water.
About 20 minutes later another one came in and i dropped that one too.  A beautiful drake!  One of the best looking birds ever to grace the sky.  Then a bunch of buffle heads came in and i missed them horribly.  I missed a few more easy shots, but i finally managed a hen buffle head at 9.  To be honest this was a great day.  The weather could not have been better.  My sub par shooting skills could use some improvement, but there was a lot of birds in the air.  So i took my First golden eyes today.  I wish i had some extra loot to get the drake mounted, but hey i got some nice pics.  Now to see how they taste.