Date: 12/25
Time: morning
Location: Mudhole
Cloud Cover: raining off and on
Wind Direction and Velocity: SSW light to moderate
Temperature: mid 70s
Barometer: 29.96 slowly rising
Moon phase: Full
Special Notes:Waterfowl Activity: Surprisingly slow, given rain that usually stirs them, though at least one of the more easterly blinds finished with 11 teal and a big duck very quickly.
Waterfowl Responsiveness: Not too good. All three of us were calling, so I'll blame it on that - but it may just have been that what big ducks we saw knew the blind...
Hunters: 2, old friend, Byron, and his son, Brandon, aka: Tooks.
Guns:Malfunctions:Dog(s): Took the pup, and Marsh Fire was definitely lit. Was making marks he'd have missed yesterday. Didn't try more than the most basic handling, but was tickled by how well he was putting it together.
Special Equipment: spinner and mmm
Curses: none from me
Kudos: We had a fine time, and another friend who was to come with us but needed to leave early hunted closer to the trucks and was blessed with much more opportunity and very quick limits. So that adjustment worked out great.
Birds By Species: 2 bw teal, 2 gadwall, 7 gw teal, 6 ringnecks and 1 shoveller
Photo Ops: Dreary day but snapped a shot of one of Marsh's retrieves, a gray day gray:
Lagniappe: What's wrong with this picture?
Here's a hint:
After dropping off our friends, Marsh and I cut some canes and went back out to prepare the blind for its return to commercial service tomorrow. Was working on the blind when I heard a dog whine from the pond, which made no sense until I saw that a rare SW breeze had blown the boat and pup out of the boathide and off across the pond.
The good news being the warm weather we've been cursing for weeks and subsequently tolerable water temps. The bad news being that I was reminded of what the poor dogs deal with, as there was no swimming in the muck, which even with exceptionally high water reaches close enough to the surface that it was piling up above the water in front of my chest as I plowed my way across the pond. Note to self: tether the boat, no matter how briefly you expect to be out of it.