I Have Good Friends

 

America!

 The calendar year is just about over.  People are preparing for parties and making resolutions they will never keep.  My friends and I, on the other hand, are busy making fishing and hunting plans to keep us busy all winter long.  This morning I got a call from a friend who wanted to do a combo duck hunt clamming adventure.  How could anyone pass a day like that up.

     Long story short.  Tons of sea ducks.  We tried a new spot and we were off the"X" and only shot two birds.  Clamming was hot and heavy, because they don't move around.  Happy New Year!

Well, That Escalated Quickly

 

The other day I had a  few hours to hunt in the morning.  I got up and out of bed.  As i went through my normal morning rutine of making coffee and brushing my teeth my hunting buddy sent me a text.  He was not able to make it.  I thought for a second about going back to bed and how good that would feel.  But as I looked out the window i could see the flag hanging stright down like it was in a picture.  The high temps for the day were going to be around 50, so i could not pass the day up, and besides, the boat was all ready hooked up to the Jeep.  I got going and had no problem getting the boat in.  On the ride out i was debating weather or not I should go over to my honey hole or try something new.  I decided to try a new spot that I have always seen birds frequent.

   The tide was almost all the way out when I got to the spot.  I was glad to see that, as black ducks and brant like t frequent the uncovered rocks at low tide to feed on the exposed vegetation or what ever else they can find.  It made the task of setting out the decoys a little tricky, but i got it.  I decided to run 15 Old Squaw decoys mixed with 6 of the foam Herters decoys that I painted to look like Old Squaw on 2 long lines.  Now I could tell the weather was nice and the surface of the Sound looked like a mirror.  I know when it is really calm the Buffleheads come out of the harbors and zip around the open water.  I threw in 4 Bufflehead decoys as well to pull a few of them in.  I anchored the boat 10 yards from the decoys and got the blind up.
      It seemed to take forever for the first bird to come in.  I just got done loading the gun and 3 were already landing in the decoys.  The first shot folded up the Drake and the hen next to him.  The second shot killed the other hen.  I was about 3 minutes into the hunt and i just downed 3 Old Squaw with 2 shots.  I would have let the third hen go  but its hard now that I no longer have a pump gun.  Running a semi-auto is cool.    Here in CT we can Kill 5 sea ducks no more than 4 can be Scoter and no more than 4 can be Old Squaw.  I had several more flights come in but I just didn't want to end my hunt in 10 minutes.  As the sun got a little higher I could see birds flying around all over.  My day dreams were filled with images of a golden eye, scoter, scaup, bufflehead, or merganser coming in, but all the birds flying were old squaw.  It was like someone shook a bee hive.  Finally, I had a nice drake come into the decoys and I shot him down.
    Sea Ducks are a separate limit from ducks and geese so I decided to stay out.  I didn't have to wear gloves and the jacket came off.  I did notice a pair of black ducks land about 100 yards away in the rocks.  I was hopeful they would paddle up to my boat so i could jump shoot one but they went the other way.  Some brant flew by but not with in range.  At 830am  i packed it in.  What a great day it was.

Sea Ducks!

   Sea Duck hunting is getting a lot better.  Today was just a great day to be out on the water, and I am glad I took advantage of it.  This mooring saw temps in the 40's and no wind.  It felt so nice when the sun hit.  Even better, the birds were on the move.  I was able to kill 3 Old Squaw drakes in about an hour and my friend got one as well.  so for a 1.5 hour hunt before work it was great.

If it Flies it Dies

Waterfowl hunting the saltwater is not for the faint of heart.  Cold temps, big water, wind, snow and ice are all conditions you will encounter, and you must be prepared for them.  Unlike summer, when one can see many boats out, winter is a ghost town out there.  The reward?  Several different types of ducks which like to decoy and lots of spent shotgun shells.  

   My season started with a bang.  Right after legal shooting time a nice Scoter came into the decoys and I was able to lay it out with no problem.    My partner for the day had never been duck hunting and it did not take him long to take out a bufflehead.  We ended the quick mooring hunt with 1 merganser, one Old Squaw, 1 Scoter, and one Bufflehead.  Weather was cold, but we had zero wind!

    I would also like to mention i was shooting the Kent Silver Steel which I now love and since it is cheaper than the Black Cloud I will be shooting that from now on.