Duck Wind Down

The last weekend of duck season was a workout.

Guess I’m getting a bit old. Can’t burn the candle at both ends and get away with it.

The Livermore Native Sons Big Buck Contest took place on Saturday and I didn’t want to miss it. That left Friday for a goose hunt and Sunday to pick up decoys at the Kerry Club.

Got to Webb Tract about 10:30 AM and checked the single blind I wanted to hunt. It was not flooded, which made me happy. But, the area around the blind was dense smart weed which made for tough paddling for Lola. We made it work.

The blind had not been hunted all season, so I figured the ducks wouldn’t be too shy of it. Although there we’re many ducks around, I did get chances at ring-necks twice and pintail once. Missed the first couple chances, but knocked down a ring-neck later on.

Specs were pretty active. After the first couple hours of hot sun, the birds began to work. Seemed like everything was going wrong. Hit the first ring-neck, but he sailed out of sight. Then I hit one of the sprig and it sailed away. I went after it almost certain that Lola would find it, but she did not. Could be that it never actually went down.

Lola was struggling to make it through the thick smart weed, so I actually assisted her by holding her up by her dog vest.

Specs kept coming around and finally I shot at a small group thinking there were well within range. Again a bird was hit and it sailed out of sight. I decided to calm down and wait for a shot I couldn’t miss – if there was such a thing.

Finally  a spec came over at about 45 yards and my shot brought it down. Lola swam right past the goose and I had to make the retrieve. She was not having a good day.

At least she turned around and made it back to the blind – with my assistance.

As the afternoon was coming to an end, I checked the time. There was about ten minutes left before the end of shooting time when another spec came over in range and I dumped it. After four misses, I had killed birds on my last three attempts.

After picking up my decoys, cousin Wes appeared in the Yamaha Rhino and gave Lola and I a ride. I felt better after finally connecting. We barbecued specklebellies from my previous hunt for dinner. They were fantastic.

The Big Buck Contest at Basso’s Barn was a lot of fun. The out-of-state bucks were amazing with Jeff  Zuniga winning with an Arizona Strip buck that was humongous. Clayton Koopmann won the A-Zone contest and my Inyo buck nipped Rick Escover’s nice blacktail in the “All-Cal” category.

Met my Kerry Club hunting partner, Tom Billingsley, at the K-Club about nine on Sunday and we hunted for about two hours. Knocked down a couple teal and then hauled decoys.

I won the half-mile race from our blind back to the truck. Tom did have a slight handicap. He was dragging all the decoys in my decoy sled.

Guess that’s story for 2018/19 hunting.

Now it’s time to start thinking about the plan for next season and doing some fundraising for MDF.

 

Back from Doyle (M3)

My friend Jerry Lowery and I had only two days to find a buck at Doyle. Located several four point bucks, but couldn’t get excited about them.

Here’s a couple of Doyle bucks that I photographed on Friday afternoon.

 

After that found only one other in that size range and it was one we followed on Sunday morning.

We hunted BLM land in the Long Valley, the Doyle Wildlife Area and the Fort Sage Mountains. Looked around a few other places, but didn’t want to spend time scouting with so little time.

Now my dilemma is deciding what to do for the rest of the season. Can go to Anderson Flat, but the results from last season there are dismal. Not sure why.

Goodale is a good option. Trying to figure out a plan for that. One the other hand I could fly to Washington to hunt my friend’s ranch. We’ll see what works out.

Haven’t fired a shot yet this year. I’d like to do that soon, but it could be 0 for 2018.

Modoc Deer

Spent nine days in Devil’s Garden. It was a great time. Morning temps ranged from 8 degrees up to 11. The Cargo Trailer worked well, but I would like to have had a heater.

The propane lantern and one-burner stove took the edge off, but that was about it. Went to town on day three and purchased a big sleeping bag that saved my life. I was freezing at night in my light down bags.

The cargo trailer was roomy for one person. Had a table set up at the front and rear with my cot in the middle. The solar panel supplied plenty of power to keep the battery working the lights and fan. The Rhino ATV fit nicely inside and towing was no issue for my 2013 F-150 with Eco-boost engine.

There were plenty of deer, but I didn’t find a shooter buck. Here are my best deer photos.

This is a typical group of does and fawns.

Here’s a small buck in rut mode.

This 4×4 crossed the road in front of me.

This 3×4 had a harem.

This guy was competing with the buck in the previous photo.

This was the best buck I saw, but not good enough. I figured he was about 24 inches wide. He was close, but the decision wasn’t hard. He came by on the next to last day of the hunt, following a doe.

This group of deer crossed the road about 100 yards in front of me early in the hunt. The buck is a 3×4, but a small one.

This is a typical group of does and fawns.

Here’s a small buck in rut mode.

This 4×4 crossed the road in front of me.

This 3×4 had a harem.

This guy was competing with the buck in the previous photo.

This was the best buck I saw, but not good enough. I figured he was about 24 inches wide. He was close, but the decision wasn’t hard. He came by on the next to last day of the hunt, following a doe.

The horses were there as well.

On the final day of the hunt, I wanted to sit by a tank and wait for deer. This is what showed up.

Between the skittish horses and swirling wind, it became  clear that it was a bad day to hunt the water hole, so I passed. It was time to head home anyway.

Next up, Doyle.

2018 Duck Opener

Arrival at the Kerry Club was unimpressive. As I passed the Ingomar Packing Company ponds, I was surprised that there were zero ducks. When I reached the Kerry Club, I could see a limited number of ducks on the ponds, but not as many as I would normally expect.

Once in camp, I began to look around and I could see some birds working. It was mid-day, too early to arrive at any conclusions about duck numbers.

Other hunters began to arrive about the same time as me. Enthusiasm was high.

Everybody let their labs loose and it was mayhem. My Airstream was in sad shape after a long off-season, but a quick clean-up put it into acceptable shape.

The traditional dinner was excellent with surf and turf with all the trimmings. Parking was at a premium. Camp was about as crowded as I’ve seen it.

Here are some shots from Friday.

 

Mike Hill’s two year old male was pumped up. He had lots of company. Lola’s almost twelve. I kept her out of the fray.

From camp, there wasn’t much sign of ducks during the afternoon.

About a half hour before sunset, birds began to arrive by the thousands. Optimism was restored.

The sunset over Ingomar Grade was a hot one.

Being in the “senior” group, I laid myself to rest at 9:00 PM. The younger group was still going strong.

Not a sound could be heard at 5:00 AM when I turned on the Airstream lights, but it wasn’t long before the camp came to life and several more hunters drove up ready for the hunt.

The walk to blind 4 was pleasant. Most of the other hunters rode ATVs so Lola and I were about the last to settle in. My partner, Tom Billingsley, was working so I had the blind to myself. I took my time.

Just after shooting time I snapped this photo of the horizon. As you can see, Lola was ready. She’ll be 12 in January.

As is the norm, the ponds were void of ducks by the time everybody was in place, but it wasn’t long before birds poured in, mostly teal and shovelers, but there also quite a few pintail.

My first shot was at a drake pintail. I missed on the first shot, but hit him on the second. He started down, but I lost track of him in the mix. Lola hadn’t seen him.

Bad start. I unhooked Lola and climbed out of the blind, heading in the right direction. After the water cleared of birds, I had no idea where the drake had disappeared. Rather than search, I opted to head back to the blind. Didn’t want to ruin everybody’s hunt.

After my first screw-up, I proceeded to miss the next eight shots at teal. They were humming, but the problem was me, I knew I was aiming and that never works.

Finally I got my sighting figured out and knocked down a teal. Lola made the retrieve.

From that point on, my shooting was better. I passed on a boat-load of teal while trying to get a good shot at pintail. Finally I dropped a drake sprig dead and Lola made the retrieve.

Next I knocked down a green-wing that was a swimmer. I turned Lola loose. She was within inches of the bird, but could not catch up with it. After she turned the corner into some tules, I followed but lost sight of the action. Last year she would have retrieved this bird, but I wasn’t sure where it went and I didn’t want to stay out of the blind, so I called her off and she reluctantly returned to the blind with me, birdless. The fact that she was willing to give up was a sign of her age.

As the morning wore on it was mindful of other Kerry Club openers that went down in a similar way. There was the debate about whether to shoot pintail first or last. There was the amazing difficulty of hitting shot-at teal that never slowed down. There was the worry of shooting a spoony by mistake.

I got my second sprig, my sixth bird. It was getting late as we began the wait for a seventh bird. As sun rose higher, Lola was finished and so was I.

We closed out one shy of a limit. As we neared camp, Bob Smallman drove his ATV out to give us a lift. It was hot and the ride was appreciated.

The sunrise was complete as I chased after Lola and a swimmer teal that we never found.

Lola with a drake pintail.

Opening day hunts are a small portion of a duck season. Unlike most other duck hunt  days, they are generally predictable. The emotions, the ducks and the shooting.

 

 

Last Weekend A-Zone Deer

Headed to the ranch this morning, but not to hunt.

Needed to pick up a lawn mower and an ATV. Also decided it was time to shoot my  muzzleloader.

Did all that, and managed to take photos along the way.

Took this photo through my windshield, so the quality isn’t great, but there are about eleven pigs in the photo. They ran across the road in front of me. Two are mature sows, the rest are piglet.

 

This rutting buck paid almost no attention to me as I sat in the truck waiting for a good profile.

This buck was about the same size as the first. He used this screen of brush to limit my view.

This little guy as accompanied by a spike.

Three bobcats crossed the road in front of me, but not of them slowed down for a photo.

Managed to fire the muzzleloader. That’s the first step towards hunting Devil’s Garden come November.

Deer Season About to Start

Deer season could have started in July, with the A-Zone archery season, but a series of mishaps and also some planned trips wiped out the A-Zone season for me.

The last weekend of the A-Zone starts tomorrow. I’ll probably go to the ranch, but mostly for purposes other than deer hunting. With about 150 pounds of fish and assorted other game in my freezer, the last thing I need right now is a deer carcass.

So… I’ll gather up some stuff stored at the ranch, pick up the Honda Rancher ATV, shoot my muzzleloader and maybe my .30-06 and then return home in time for dinner.

On Monday, Linda and I will drive to Alamanor for a week of relaxing.

The real season begins on about November first when, with my Open Zone Tag in hand, I’ll make the first trip of the season. My objective will be X-2 where the Devil’s garden muzzleloader season will be open. It runs until November 11th so I should have a chance at a nice buck.

If that doesn’t work out, I’ll hunt the Doyle muzzleloader hunt and maybe the Bass Hill archery hunt. I can reach those areas while staying at the, newly aquired, Lake-House at Almanor.

It has been a full summer. Now for a full fall – without any surgeries.

Did make some progress today by taking the Airstream trailer down to the grasslands where it will remain at the Kerry Club until February. It’s looking pretty good for (it’s age) – 62. I’ve owned it for 32 if those years.

More on Fishing Southeast Alaska

 

 

 

 

This was my most unusual fish of the trip. It’s a 29 inch yellow-eye rock fish. Limit? One per year for non-resident anglers.

Mason netted Bob’s silver while they fished from one of the skiffs.

Lingcod are most often caught while fishing for rock fish. Lingcod will grab the rock fish and hold on until it hits the water’s surface. Many let go and fall off at the last second before they would be caught in the net. This lingcod is too large for the slot limit and too small for the upper limit, so it went back.

Black rock fish are pelagic, meaning that they can live suspended at depths from the surface to the bottom. This is about a 2-pound rock fish caught on a fly while Mason took a break from salmon fishing.

Halibut were found on the bottom in water 100-250 feet deep.

Bears are no problem when fishing in a boat.

The herring were feeding on krill, a small shrimp-like crustacean. These krill were about half an inch long and nearly transparent. The herring chased them to the surface where they often jumped out of the water in their attempt to escape.

The guide boats travel at about 20 knots, so they can run ahead of the mother ship or catch up easily if necessary.

Back at the dock, herring were plentiful.

Robin’s halibut was about 56 inches long. The weight estimate was over 100 pounds.