Fish Catching Travel
Ducks
Now I really am mad. As you know if you stop in and read my stuff, I have been on a couple of duck hunting trips. And I enjoyed both the hunting, and the company. So today, off Chris and I go. There is nothing like getting up at 3 in the morning, but as with a lot of great outdoor stuff, it comes with the territory. So I guess I will spend the summer learning my ducks, buying all that cool duck stuff, and then scouting in the fall. So why am I mad? I may have a new hobby that cuts into fishing time, though cast and blast will be in my dreams until next year.
We left from the Seadrift ramp and headed back to the Mission Lake area. Chris wanted to hunt more on the main lake where we saw some Pintails and Redheads on the way back in last time. Interesting enough, I received a response to one of the stories I wrote on our duck trips, and he (a 2Cooler), suggested that to kill more of these kinds of ducks we needed to stay on big water. That is exactly what Chris had in mind.
We set up in the dark with a breeze and it stayed cloudy and dark well past shooting time. The wind was not quite right, it was blowing across our spread, but the ducks came just like Chris said they would.
Right off the bat we both missed a couple, then Chris started whacking them. I finally managed to kill 2 with Chris killing his limit. There was quite a bit of difference in shooting them coming right at me like last time, and hitting them in a high cross wind.
As my late friend Tad Shaw used to say, “Here is what 2 grown men did all day.”
We had Blue Bills, Redheads, and Pintails. Some came in singles, others in small tight flights, many from almost behind us, which made it interesting. Some would set wing and land, others just were not having it. All in all it was a great time watching Chris work a few with the call, seeing some of them drop to the spread like a rock out of the sky, and just enjoying something different.
By time we called it a day it was blowing about 20 right in to Mission Bay. We cut across the bay and headed in via the barge canal. As we rounded the corner heading to the ramp it was rolling pretty good. I must say that Gheenoe handled that rough water great, of course we got a nice saltwater bath, but it got us back just fine. And just a reminder, wear your life jacket. We all need to do that more than we do, so give your family members a break, even if you won’t give yourself one.
In my couple of trips in that Gheenoe I have come to appreciate how functional that boat is. I can see slipping into back lakes and ponds where others fail to tread, it would be a real advantageous multiple use boat in our coastal area. So somebody call my wife and let her know that I really need one.
We are lucky here in Texas, where the great outdoors is exactly that. To be able to leave the house and in less than an hour be fishing the Gulf, or shooting a few ducks, maybe catching some bass, catfish, crappie, kill a deer…..well you get the picture. The old saying that time fishing is not subtracted from your life is a little to exclusive. It should be time in the outdoors, no matter how you enjoy it, is not subtracted from you life. I know how hard it is to make time for the outdoors, and I am fortunate enough to have the time. But no matter what time you have, remember to spend some time with family and friends in the great outdoors.
Good Luck and Tight Lines.