The Merganser

     

 Yesterday I had the day off and decided the only sensible way to blow the morning was to go Duck hunting.  I woke up to no wind, unlimited ceiling conditions, and 42 degrees.  Not the weather for saltwater duck hunting.  But I had to push on anyway.

     Getting the boat in the water was a little tricky.  The ramp I normally use is "out of service" due to Sandy. The location I am using now is a very shallow ramp, and requires you to back in a little further thank i like to since i get salt water toughing my rear tires.  I did get the boat in and I was off to the duck grounds.  Before the Hurricane Sandy hit i noticed good numbers of Old Squaw, Brant, and Mergansers.  Post storm observations are not good.  I have been out two days and i have seen very little, so
yesterday i headed to a spot i usually see diving ducks working.  I was able to set out my decoys and relax with some hot coffee.  After 20 minutes a lone Merganser flew into my set up.  I swung the bead threw him and slapped the trigger. He fell the 3 feet to the water like rock and never twitched.  After retrieving the Merganser I set up again and watched a lot of nothing unfold.  I did have 5 Brant land in my decoys, but they do not open till the day after Thanks Giving.  Other than that nothing was really flying so i pulled the plug at 9 and headed home to clean the bird and take a nap.

     While cleaning the Merganser I noticed why they seem to be a very tough bird to kill.  I plucked a bunch of feathers to make my cut to remove the breast meat.  I noticed just how thick their down is!  These birds are packed with insulating feathers!  Really thick too.  I should harvest it and make a sleeping bag.