Regular Season 2021

[Duck Engr]

Spent 6 days in Montana with the wife and friends doing some skiing. Felt a little tired last Saturday but chalked it up to skiing a lot the day before. Skied again Sunday feeling fine. Got home Monday night and had a little fever. Sure enough. Covid. Didn’t do much to me but has had the wife in bed most of the week. She’s better now so tried a hunt this morning. Didn’t get far from the ramp at all and as I was in mid river bend my throttle lever snapped into 5 pieces (will never understand why go devil puts a $5 plastic throttle lever on a $6000 motor). Wouldn’t have been a big deal usually but the river just happened to be spilling into the woods right there. With no power above idle to turn, the current grabbed me and put me right through a downed treetop. After I got turned around the treetop had a hole in it that looked like wile-E. Coyote had gone through a wall. I’m sure it’ll make the next guy down the river laugh. Was able to reach back with two fingers and give it a little gas as I limped back to the ramp. Had a spare plastic lever in the boat but decided to put it on the trailer and call it a day. I was going to miss the early wood duck flight by that point anyway.

I’d ordered a stainless Bps lever a while back but didn’t realize till it arrived that I had to order their throttle cable too for it to be compatible. That’ll teach me to procrastinate. New cable is on order now.

With having to work remote this week with my covid diagnosis, I don’t know if I can swing getting off of work toward the end of next week for a Last hurrah trip out west as I’d planned.

[BGkirk]

Update us after that throttle lever. I’d like to do the same on my GDSD


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[Rick]

None of our Go Devil throttles, long-tail or surface drive, have plastic levers, other than a ball at the end, but cables are apt to break if iced up inside. Locally sourced replacement (not GD's) cables have broken just to be mean. But we've no current or trees...

[Duck Engr]

Made a little mock hunt at a local lake with my 3 year old son yesterday afternoon for a couple hours. I never even loaded my gun. He enjoyed the boat ride, paddling with his “dinosaur blaster” (piece of flex conduit I had leftover from a plumbing job), setting decoys (he insisted pintails only), picking up decoys, and even driving the boat for a short stretch before we bumped a stump and he got scared. Must have had a big time, because he was asleep before we pulled out of the boat ramp parking lot.

Saw one hooded mergangster.

[Rick]

Sweet!

[DComeaux]

Nice outing.

[Duck Engr]

Would post a couple pics but Tapatalk seems to be acting up.

[Rick]

If you can get it going, please post the pics. Has to be worlds more interesting than a pile of dead ducks.

[Duck Engr]

IMG_9728.jpg

OK Dad, decoys are out, now where are the ducks?

IMG_9729.jpg

Little man's decoy placement.

[Rick]

I was right.

[Deltaman]

Nothing like quality time DE!!!!

[MARSH BEAR]

Enjoy them now - they grow up and know everything

[Duck Engr]

Thanks guys. I try to make a point every day to sit down with them on the floor and soak it up. Doesn’t always happen, but most days.

[Duck Engr]

Date: 1/26/22

Time: morning

Location: local river

Cloud Cover: clear

Wind Direction and Velocity: light northerly

Temperature: pleasant. Mid to upper 30s.

Moon phase: didn’t see it.

Special Notes: quick woody hunt before work.

Waterfowl Activity: poor

Waterfowl Responsiveness: N/A. No decoying this time. Ducks were on a mission elsewhere.

Hunters: me with boss Al observing (see malfunctions)

Guns: took my 20 gauge M2 this morning. Really enjoyed it.

Malfunctions: Al, a casual duck hunter, forgot to remove his turkey choke from his gun and didn’t have another. If I’d had my 12 gauge I would’ve had chokes he could’ve used, but alas, I had the 20. He didn’t feel comfortable shooting steel through the extra full choke and I didn’t complain.

Dog(s): Legh made a nice retrieve across a strong current.

Special Equipment:

Curses: If I had to pick something, just the lack of game but that’s to be expected around here.

Kudos: 20 gauge reached out and touched the duck I killed. I’m not known to be a great shot, but if you swing enough you’ll eventually hit one or two.

Birds By Species: 1 wood duck

Photo Ops:

Lagniappe: last run for my boat this season. Am hoping to get out west this weekend but will be in a buddy’s rig.

[Duck Engr]

Date: 1/30/22

Time: morning

Location: farm

Cloud Cover: clear

Wind Direction and Velocity: light southerly

Temperature: 25 or so. Skim ice on shallows of pond.

Moon phase:

Special Notes: finally started feeling human again yesterday afternoon so decided to make a hunt with Dad last minute to finish the season. Glad I did.

Waterfowl Activity: much better than anticipated. Dad said he’d just been seeing a handful. We saw north of 60.

Waterfowl Responsiveness: no calling or decoys. All ducks we saw were headed our way. Think skim ice in backwaters and swamps benefitted us.

Hunters: Dad and I

Guns: M2 12 gauge and Dad’s 1100 that has to have a bent barrel.

Malfunctions: none to speak of until Dad decided to drive the cart down a road known to be the last place on our property to dry out. Me being the low man had to get out and push while Dad punched the gas, covering me in mud. Have had much worse malfunctions, but a malfunction nonetheless.

Dog(s): Legh, a day shy of her tenth birthday. Another driving factor of dragging myself out of bed was Legh’s age. With labs, much past ten years, you don’t know what kind of shape they’ll be in come the next fall. Wanted to get her another one in while she is still pumped to do it.

Special Equipment: Heater for dad.

Curses: Not a one from me.

Kudos: nice to see as many birds as we did, though most landed on the other side of the hole. Had a fine time together.

Birds By Species: 3 wood ducks (by way of my gun). We had ample opportunity for our 6. Combination of dog in the water, ducks below tree line in low light with my bad eyes plus dad’s good but well used eyes, bent 1100 barrel (maybe), no shell in chamber click, and yes, even the good old chamber of commerce group of 5 as guns were unloaded. I can write pages of excuses.

Photo Ops: didn’t take one unfortunately.

Lagniappe: Dad and I were scheming on a little blind for the middle of the pond before we left. Back in my teenaged days I’d cut a few saplings and stick them in the mud to hide out there. Made silhouetting ducks much easier against the skyline as they came over trees and then when they tried to leave. With Beau at 3 years old, I want to have something sturdy out there to get him out of the water and put him in the middle of the action in the next couple years.

[Rick]

Lagniappe: Dad and I were scheming on a little blind for the middle of the pond before we left....

That's the way to end a season: with plans for the next.

[Deltaman]

Glad to hear you are feeling better DE, and got to end the season with a hunt!!!!!!

[MARSH BEAR]

We have 3 blinds in the middle of ponds and they are usually our most consistent blinds.

[Duck Engr]

Thanks guys.

Good feedback on that MB! Thanks.

[Duck Engr]

Addendum: Legh made a nice chase and catch on a diving cripple due to yours truly being a little high and outside on his shooting. Duck dove 6-7 times during the swim chase in the deep end of the pond. Was fun to watch. Then a group of 5 ducks landed (in a safe direction from Legh) and I pulled the trigger on an empty chamber. Was too late once I got my head on straight.

[Deltaman]

Made me laugh, and we've all done it!!!
Some days we are the windshield, other days, the fly

[Darren]

Lagniappe: Dad and I were scheming on a little blind for the middle of the pond before we left. Back in my teenaged days I’d cut a few saplings and stick them in the mud to hide out there. Made silhouetting ducks much easier against the skyline as they came over trees and then when they tried to leave. With Beau at 3 years old, I want to have something sturdy out there to get him out of the water and put him in the middle of the action in the next couple years.

YEP!

Can relate to the treeline effect from the bunkie farm, lot of our traffic comes right over the trees and drops below them, can't see the birds early til they're about in the blind. Sounds like a promising scheme you've got in the works, look forward to hearing more and seeing it

[SpinnerMan]

That's always tough to see ducks first thing in the morning, but it is really hard when you have cataracts. I hunted with a guy pushing 80 for a few years. He had a terrible time seeing ducks first thing in the morning. One morning we had a cripple right at shooting time. My dog was chasing after it and it was on his side of the blind. We were telling him to shoot it because he had a plenty safe shot. He didn't shoot and we ultimately lost the duck.

Next morning he told me he had nightmares that he shot my dog. He told me the reason he didn't shoot the duck. He couldn't tell the difference between my dog and the duck

He got his cataracts taken care off in the off season and all the sudden he was seeing the ducks no problem and his shooting went for poor to very good. It really helps when you can actually see them

Then I realized, he was driving himself in the dark every morning and couldn't tell a dog from a duck at 25 yards

[Rick]

How will you be accessing that mid pond blind? If it's wading, might want to rethink it - or install some sort of hard walkway.

[Duck Engr]

That's always tough to see ducks first thing in the morning, but it is really hard when you have cataracts. I hunted with a guy pushing 80 for a few years. He had a terrible time seeing ducks first thing in the morning. One morning we had a cripple right at shooting time. My dog was chasing after it and it was on his side of the blind. We were telling him to shoot it because he had a plenty safe shot. He didn't shoot and we ultimately lost the duck.

Next morning he told me he had nightmares that he shot my dog. He told me the reason he didn't shoot the duck. He couldn't tell the difference between my dog and the duck

He got his cataracts taken care off in the off season and all the sudden he was seeing the ducks no problem and his shooting went for poor to very good. It really helps when you can actually see them

Then I realized, he was driving himself in the dark every morning and couldn't tell a dog from a duck at 25 yards

Yikes!

A little funny until you think about the driving part!

[Duck Engr]

How will you be accessing that mid pond blind? If it's wading, might want to rethink it - or install some sort of hard walkway.

We’re cursed in some regards and fortunate in others to have a pretty hard clay bottom. We drain the pond each May to plant, so it has time to dry during the summer months. Also, pond is only 70-80 yards wide, so looking at a 30-40 yard walk tops. I’ll float my son and any gear in a beavertail slough boat I have. If I’m smart I’ll make the blind wide and tall enough to be able to stash the boat under the blind, but don’t give me too much credit.

[Duck Engr]

Update us after that throttle lever. I’d like to do the same on my GDSD


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BG I haven’t forgotten about this, just been a little busy. I’m going to have to do a minor modification to make it work. When I went to attach the motor end of the throttle cable, there’s too much distance between the end of the cable itself and the end of the black sheathing that gets clamped down. I’m going to have to drill a new hole. Unfortunately I have to unbolt the exhaust to get to where I need to drill the hole. Just haven’t had an hour free at one time to do it. I’ll post pics and a write up when I’m finished.

[Duck Engr]

Date: 2/26/22 -Quail hunt with Dad

Time: afternoon

Location: farm

Cloud Cover: mostly cloudy. few peeks of Sun.

Wind Direction and Velocity: light from the north to nill and back again

Temperature: little warmer than I like. Upper 60s

Moon phase:

Special Notes: was able to slip out of the house to go “ride” as Dad calls it and run Dad’s English pointer, Sadie.

bird Activity: moved 2 coveys of 20+ and a couple singles.

Hunters: Dad and I

Guns: None. So few wild quail that we rarely shoot anymore. Just working dogs.

Malfunctions: Dad’s horse bucked a couple times before we got away from the barn. Need to sell that knucklehead.

Dog(s): Sadie. She’s 6 years old and has turned into one of the better dogs I’ve seen Dad have over the years.

Special Equipment: Canadian trooper saddles on top of Tennessee walking horses (Elvis and Jackson) for our ride behind the dog.

Curses: Neighbor was burning their pine trees so parts of our ride were Smokey. Hard for the dog to smell a quail with smoke around.

Kudos: Real nice day to spend with my Dad and had a couple of nice finds to boot.

Birds By Species: Didn’t shoot, but were tickled to find two big wild coveys.

Photo Ops: phone stayed in my pocket.

Lagniappe: With my duck habit and kids, I don’t get to ride near as much as I used to. In high school and college I’d be in the saddle 30-40 days a season. Now it’s 3-4 days a season. Makes me appreciate the rides more.

[Rick]

Mighty pleasant just reading that.

[Duck Engr]

Thanks Rick