My oldest son is still young but he begs me to tag along each duck season. For the past couple of years I've made a point to pick a dry day in the beginning of the season to take him out.
The forecast was for rain, but it held off long enough for us to get out for a couple of hours. It was a nice gentle start to the season and he had a great time. Not only did he have a duck to play with while we waited for more, but he found a lost decoy and a dead seagull on the hike back. He was in heaven.
We shot two green wing teal, but lost one to an eagle. It's a common occurrence up here and to be expected but my son was more than a little concerned. He screamed at the swooping bird with a level of anger I've rarely seen in him. "BAD EAGLE!!!", the veins bulging in his neck and face. I laughed and tried to calm him and help him to understand that it wasn't the eagle's fault and we would shoot many more birds in the days and weeks to come. He shared with me what he thought was a proper fate for that eagle and we discussed what federal law would have to say about that action and moved on to looking for more teal.
It was great to be out in the blind with my son and wonderful to see how much he's grown and matured in the past year. I'm so blessed to have an activity that we both love so much and I hope that I can share this with him and my other children for years to come.
Between work, family responsibilities, unexpected home repairs and medical issues I haven't even hit the half dozen mark for hunts! Friday night I called all my duck buddies and deer hunting was winning the list of "things to do". I found a friend who wasn't going to chase the four legged pray until Sunday and we put together a hunt along the mouth of a small creek that always holds mallards this time of year.
We've been blessed (or cursed depending on who you are) with almost 2 feet of snow in the last couple of weeks so there is a nice thick band of the powered stuff above the high tide zone. The tides were mediocre so I knew we could hunt the edge of the snow and not need white camo.
High tide was right at first shooting light, so we'd be loosing water from the start. No problems there, it would even make picking up decoys easier. We got to the spot and hiked down to the beach. My buddy and I set up our layout blinds in the snow to start with because we got several more inches of the stuff over night, but as soon as the water receded enough we jumped down into the exposed grass.
We were expecting a pretty big storm that evening with heavy snow and wind changing to rain. I hoped the first bands of weather would be a little early but it wasn't to be. The water was calm, flat calm so shooting light came and went without any activity For reasons I can't explain, not only did we not hear any other shooting, but no one even used the nearby boat launch, which usually produces some moment in the birds.
I just lay in my blind and relaxed as I watched my mojo turn off and on. The rhythmic hum making my eyelids heavy.
Finally the birds started to move in small spurts, but nothing was interested in swing our way. A few locals walked their dogs on the beach in the distance. I hoped they would push some birds our way.
Soon we had a single goldeneye land long and swim his way towards our decoys. He'd dive for a minute at a time as he slowly worked towards the shore. When he was within range my buddy decided to move in for the shot. He waited until it dove again and rushed to the waters edge to make up some of the distance. As he surfaced he saw the silhouette of a man and took off, living to see another day as long shot strings splashed right behind him. Darn, still skunked at this point.
We didn't have to wait much longer for a pair of wigeon to swing by. I gave them a whistle and they turned. We both sat up shooting and I knocked down the right-hand bird. I brought my kayak down the hill with me so I donned my PDF and paddled out to get him. He was winged and still very much alive. I chased him down and dispatched him quickly. I later found that he was hit in the head and chest, but just didn't want to give up.
By this point the tide was receding at a pretty good clip and our decoys were half high and dry. We called the hunt and made several trips up to the rigs with gear.
Even though I would have liked to kill a pile of mallards it was a relaxing day to spent in the field. A nice respite from the seemingly endless issues that have plagued my season so far.
The end of the 2011 Waterfowl Season closes the book on my 7th year hunting the Mendenhall State Game Refuge, located in the heart of Juneau, Alaska.
Overall it was one of my most successful seasons for ducks, but lacking in opportunities for geese. I was blessed to hunt with many friends this year and to be able to hunt both the opening and final days of the season.
One of my most memorable hunts took place on Black Friday. I was fortunate enough to hunt the storm tide with strong winds and shoot my first limit of the season! Alaska has very generous bag limits due to an abundance of waterfowl, low hunting pressure and just plain awesomeness!
I hunt out of my Marsh Rat duck boat any chance I get so this trip was originally meant to take place on one of the many islands in the refuge. When I got to my launch spot, I could tell the wind was too high and the trip out to the island would be dangerous. I opted to stay close to shore and tied up behind a log that had a nice blanket of snow that would conceal my presence.
The log concealing my boat
With the high winds (gusting over 25 knots) and the associated waves, the ducks were constantly moving and looking for secluded places to set. I had several fair sized flocks work and even dropped two of the hen pintails out of a flock of a dozen birds that nearly landed on me.
I shot my last bird just as the tide receded, leaving my boat and decoys high and dry. At that point, I was doubly thankful I hadn't ventured farther for this hunt. Dragging my boat back to my launch spot was hard enough as it was.
My limit of 4 Mallards and 3 Pintails on the bow of my boat
.JPG)
