Its that time of year again....Duck shooting opens saturday
Posted: Thu May 02, 2024 9:49 am
This will be my 63rd year out doing what I love. Havent missed an opening day yet.
Tides all wrong this year......again....Will have water for the first 90 minutes then have to wait till the tide returns around 5pm.
Had to change my normal plans......not going to sleep in the stand this year as on tides like saturdays, the flight path moves about 800m.......so, I have converted my camo boat into a sleepout complete with bunk.
Here it is without camo....
The cover will only be put up when the sun goes down and taken down before first light. It will then be replaced with camo netting and fresh cut mangroves.
Here it is with camo net draped over it......
Will shoot where I started many years ago and if I dont have my limit ( 8 birds) by the time the tide drops I will drift down the channel to 'spot X'....
Spot X is a little side channel that, when the water drops, the boat will just fit between the banks with the sides about a foot lower than the mud.......with fresh cut mangroves poked into the bank on an angle on both sides, the boat will literally disappear.
The bonus for going to that spot is the mud is only ankle deep so I can retrieve birds......whereas in my normal place the mud is up to my thighs or deeper and retrieving birds is extremely difficult.
Here is a pic of the normal spot showing the depth of mud either side of the channel....step into that on an incoming tide and you run the risk of getting stuck with lethal consequences.
Spot X is 500m down the channel from where the pic was taken.....
Feel like a little kid going out for the first time....In all the years of hunting ducks, the excitement has never waned .....
Only 2 more sleeps to go !!!!
Tides all wrong this year......again....Will have water for the first 90 minutes then have to wait till the tide returns around 5pm.
Had to change my normal plans......not going to sleep in the stand this year as on tides like saturdays, the flight path moves about 800m.......so, I have converted my camo boat into a sleepout complete with bunk.
Here it is without camo....
- 20240502_124940.jpg (3.79 MiB) Viewed 922 times
Here it is with camo net draped over it......
- 20240502_145129.jpg (4.84 MiB) Viewed 922 times
Spot X is a little side channel that, when the water drops, the boat will just fit between the banks with the sides about a foot lower than the mud.......with fresh cut mangroves poked into the bank on an angle on both sides, the boat will literally disappear.
The bonus for going to that spot is the mud is only ankle deep so I can retrieve birds......whereas in my normal place the mud is up to my thighs or deeper and retrieving birds is extremely difficult.
Here is a pic of the normal spot showing the depth of mud either side of the channel....step into that on an incoming tide and you run the risk of getting stuck with lethal consequences.
Spot X is 500m down the channel from where the pic was taken.....
- 20210502_104734.jpg (4.04 MiB) Viewed 922 times
Only 2 more sleeps to go !!!!