by Rick » Sun Sep 24, 2023 3:44 am
Don't recall ever trying to sit in a blind sunup to sundown, but it doesn't sound appealing.
I got serious about duck hunting during the period when I ordered eight years of my life around following pointing dogs through the ruffed grouse woods part of most every (Oct-Feb) open day we weren't on the road to hunt they or something else. So waterfowling was mostly an early morning warmup to that.
Once down here, upland soon took a back seat to waterfowling, which wasn't apt to require more than a (usually very) few hours to limit. And guiding soon meant getting parties back to camp for brunch or lunch, though I was usually off again with another party on afternoon hunts. Was even a ten year stretch when it was ducks in the morning, preserve birds in midday and finishing the day with geese. And the days before wild quail faded from the land and the dogs and I could hunt they and woodcock between morning and evening waterfowl parties were heaven on earth.
Moving to a blind with a 9:30, lease mandated, marsh curfew and the deterioration of our region's upland and afternoon waterfowling opportunities shortened my hunt days more than I often wished over these last 14 seasons. But it sure beat sitting here during an open season wondering when the drought will break and water return to SWLA fresh marsh - as well as if I'll have a spot there when it does...