Getting an early start on a new year

Well I've decided to start my New Year's Resolution a little early this year. I decided to start a hunting log and talk about my miserable shooting skills.

Last night I drive out to Ft. Cobb, Oklahoma to camp with my brother-n-laws and my nephew and get a little duck hunting in this morning. I get there and find the camp empty so I throw my sleeping bag in the tent and decide to take a little nap. It was about 3 p.m and there where not any ducks flying so I kick back in a chair and wait my relatives return. about 4:30 pm I was awaken by the most god awful duck calling that I have ever heard. I unpack my gun and pull on my waders and approach the decoy spread. My relatives had not returned but a group of hunters had set up about 75 yards from our spread. I watched as they continued to call if you can call it that at every duck cruising by at 11,000 ft. I sat there laughing on the inside as these guys scared of every duck with in a 75 mile radius. The relatives returned and after we settled camp we went into town to get some supper. Later we laughed and joked as we drifted off to sleep. The next morning I woke up freezing about 4 a.m. I decided to just get up and get moving.

Tom, my brother-n-law got up at the same time because his dog, Gigi was crying and needed to be let out of her kennel. With it being so early and hours before sunrise we decided to build a fire. We sat back and talked about our hopes for the hunt to come. Gigi must have been hungry and went for an early breakfast. She passed up her bowl of dogfood and instead went out for breakfast, dining on more tasty things in the woods. Upon finding something very appetizing to a dog she wanted to share the experience with us and promptly came back to the fire to let us know she found a great place to eat. I inquired about the smell and we both looked at Gigi and she had the biggest grin I have ever seen on a dog.

Well about 30 minutes before sunrise, Tom got in his boat with the rather aromaic Gigi and headed to a decoy spread that was about 500 yards to the east. Robert (my other brother-n-law) and Clint (my nephew) slowly crawled out of the frozen cave of our tent.

The hunt was slow as we watched ducks flying high and those that acted like they wanted to commit to our spread would almost glide into range and suddenly a shotgun blast would send them flying to the moon. I managed to get one drake mallard on a long shot that downed the bird about 1000 yards away on the bank west of us. Coco (Clint's Lab) wanted to retrieve it but the drake just was too far away and Coco is still young. I got the boat and took Coco with me and headed towards the bank. I saw the drake laying next to a fallen log on the shore and thought it was dead. Coco didn't see it, I tried to get her on a mark and told her to go find it. Coco exploded from the boat and went to shore and went in the opposite direction with her nose to the ground. I gave her a minute or so but she vanished into the woods and went to retrieve my duck myself. When I was almost 10 feet from the duck it jumped up and waddled into the woods I couldn't get into the brush and yelled for Coco, she came and I got her pointed in the right direction. Coco found it and after some coaxing was able to bring it to me. Major kudos to her because she is young and not used to retrieving for me.

Tom got a hen mallard at the spread he hunted and that was the extent of our hunt.

Ducks seem very reluctant to decoy in for some reason this season. Calling them seems to be about as effective as standing on the bank in the open waving at them like a mad man. Perhaps they are more mature ducks or they just don't want to be where we set up this year. The same spot has produced numerous amounts of ducks on several hunting trips. Perhaps ducks know this place as the "Lake of Death" and avoid it at all cost.

I plan on going to a spot closer to home Friday morning and trying my luck there as well. I will add info here when I get back.