Pre-season Report.

Just what in Heston's name is going on here? I spent the morning on the golf course and the afternoon working in the yard in 80 degree heat! I thought the beginning of fall meant colder temperatures and guaranteed inclement weather. Duck weather. Instead I'm sweating while I mow the lawn for the 50th time this summer.....errrr, fall.

last week, while it was only in the 70's, I did a little scouting in the area where I hunted all last year. If you look on the map you will see Anderson Lake on the left hand side. When I pulled up Google Earth I found an area just to the northeast that looked promising. Grain fields of some kind and marshy or flooded areas just on the other side of the gravel road. A gate and sign greeted me just before. ATTN: WATERFOWLERS you are hosed. What the hell?

So here's the good news. My new style hunting partner Dallas says he has a couple spots that were reccomended to him closer and more full of ducks. Of course two of them require a boat, but I figure this just gives us a reason to get a boat. Maybe one with a nice camo paint job and a spot for a Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever. Who knows.

My biggest problem is that according to this here blog I will be the only member of the HOY7 Hunting Team that is hunting this year. Obviously due to the lack of posting from my team members I can assume that I am the only one who has any desire to slay ducks this year. I guess that's okay. My expert title will be safe from competition. Prove me wrong bitches.......

GBCH

Construction Zone

So yesterday I decided to make my own custom wader drying rack. How about them apples? Less than 3 weeks to go.....

Then I felt the need to go shoot something so I went to the range and after a little fine tuning on the ole .22 I produced this group at 50 yds. Sweet!










GBCH

Time to get my ducks in a row....

The most popular theory suggests that "ducks in a row" came from the world of sports, specifically bowling. Early bowling pins were often shorter and thicker than modern pins, which lead to the nickname ducks. Before the advent of automatic resetting machines, these "duck pins" would be manually put back into place between bowling rounds. Therefore, having one's ducks in a row would be a metaphor for having all of the bowling pins organized and properly placed before sending the next ball down the lane. Many bowling alleys still offer "duck pin" lanes with smaller bowling balls and shorter pins.

Another theory comes from the world of nature. Mother ducks often corral their young offspring into manageable straight lines before traveling over land or water. Any stragglers or escapees would be noticed as long as the integrity of this line is maintained. The idea of getting all of one's ideas or ingredients or team members in one organized line would be similar to a mother duck getting all of her literal ducks in a row. One concern with this theory is the use of the word ducks, since baby ducks are more correctly identified as ducklings or even chicks. The common expression suggests adult ducks, not necessarily younger ducklings.

There are also sources which argue the "ducks in a row" element refers to a carnival game or two. One popular carnival game involves the player using a small caliber rifle or air gun to knock down moving targets. Quite often these targets are in the shape of ducks, and a conveyor belt system makes sure the duck targets are aligned in a consistent row. It is possible that the expression came from the benefit of having all of the targets (ducks) arrive in a predictable and organized order.

Getting ready

Today I finally got Ole' Big Betty fixed and took us a shakedown run to Post Falls and the Cabellas store. She ran like a top so I figured I would reward us with some new hunting gear. On the list for today was some Greenwing Teal decoys, a new pair of hunting socks, a teal whistle, a calling CD to hone my skills, some Black Cloud 3" shells and this cool little motor to attach to the bottom of a decoy that makes it swim around in circles. Pretty good haul. They did not have decoy paint or a replacement wing for my spinning wing decoy. Guess that will have to wait.

While there I checked out "Conservation Mountain" pictured below. I'm a big fan of irony so I took this picture and figured I'd share it with you. Only 30 days left until opening day! The trigger finger is sure gettin' itchy.

A sad, sad day. I'm on the verge of tears.

http://portland.craigslist.org/clk/cto/1932768232.html