Re: Preseason
Posted: Sun Nov 15, 2020 2:03 pm
Blake and I got up early yesterday morning like we have for many opening days of duck season, but there was a big difference with this one, we weren't together at the camp. I picked him up at his home before daylight with the urgency to be in the blind before LST as a nonissue. We drove down to Grand Chenier watching the morning light break the horizon over the marsh and the sun rise open to a beautiful day. It was a bit heart wrenching for me but I think I'm coming to grips with the realization of this years hunting situation.
Blake and I swept the entire slab again, cleaning off hurricane Delta's lighter mud cover that had dried, and we dug up and found existing conduit for water and electrical conduit that may be reusable. There were a few hunters out and all we saw or talked to were hunting north of hwy 82. Some did well and others struggled. The guy we lease from hunted on a well managed, high dollar piece roughly 4 miles east of our camp and north of 82. Two blinds, five people limited by 7:15 with one banded mottled duck. He will be hunting there this season.
We had planned to make a trip in our marsh after his hunt so I hooked up to his boat and we took off. It doesn't looked good for that and the adjacent marshes for the future. At the current water level, which is almost normal, we could make it from our boat launch into the gulf 3 miles away without much issue. We had the option to hunt our blind this year but seeing only one dogris on the entire ride, the open water and dead vegetation my heart isn't in it. Not having the camp there and no electricity for possibly months to come makes that decision easy.
We will see how things develop over the winter and into the spring to make a determination on whether we keep or drop that lease. It's fairly clear that I may be looking for a new place next year and possibly selling our camp space, if we even rebuild in that time. Meeting with the parish on Dec 12th will be the determining factor.
This is more than likely Elie's last year be in the blind. She still has a lot of spunk but she's getting old. I think this bothers me about as much as everything else does. I'm going to have to find a place to take her here locally to pick up a few wood ducks.
What a screwed up year this has been.
Blake and I swept the entire slab again, cleaning off hurricane Delta's lighter mud cover that had dried, and we dug up and found existing conduit for water and electrical conduit that may be reusable. There were a few hunters out and all we saw or talked to were hunting north of hwy 82. Some did well and others struggled. The guy we lease from hunted on a well managed, high dollar piece roughly 4 miles east of our camp and north of 82. Two blinds, five people limited by 7:15 with one banded mottled duck. He will be hunting there this season.
We had planned to make a trip in our marsh after his hunt so I hooked up to his boat and we took off. It doesn't looked good for that and the adjacent marshes for the future. At the current water level, which is almost normal, we could make it from our boat launch into the gulf 3 miles away without much issue. We had the option to hunt our blind this year but seeing only one dogris on the entire ride, the open water and dead vegetation my heart isn't in it. Not having the camp there and no electricity for possibly months to come makes that decision easy.
We will see how things develop over the winter and into the spring to make a determination on whether we keep or drop that lease. It's fairly clear that I may be looking for a new place next year and possibly selling our camp space, if we even rebuild in that time. Meeting with the parish on Dec 12th will be the determining factor.
This is more than likely Elie's last year be in the blind. She still has a lot of spunk but she's getting old. I think this bothers me about as much as everything else does. I'm going to have to find a place to take her here locally to pick up a few wood ducks.
What a screwed up year this has been.