What's for dinner?

Elk tenderloin, breast of greenie with duck mole sauce, brown rice, caesar salad and some California red. My beard should grow 3 inches by tomorrow.

Idaho: Day Seven.

Honey Hole defined:
A duck hunting spot that is unuasually productive. Often times it can mean an area that has the only open water around when all other water is frozen over. Ducks will flock to this spot in large numbers when conditions are right.

Today I had the honey hole. My spot on Anderson Lake is a good one when the temperatures drop and water is frozen. The Coeur DeAlene river flows by on the other side and the changing water levels in the river keep this small stretch of the lake ice free. I wanted to scout the spot just to be sure because tomorrow I was supposed to take Bartender Rocky and his Dad out hunting for the first time. I was running a little late this morning (I want to thank the good people of the Coeur DeAlene scenic bikeway trail for having the softest paper products ever seen in a remote outhouse) and by the time I got set up in the blind it was 3 minutes till shooting time. Sets of mallards were buzzing my head, landing and taking off from the honey hole every few seconds.

The alarm sounded and the first greenie I could make out in the early light somehow eluded my 3" Black Cloud shell. Not to worry because seconds later the next greenie was not as lucky. I should not have retrieved him so quickly because ducks still wanted to land as I was out in the water and had I waited more would have fallen. Two more good shots presented themselves and I missed both. That's not to say that only a couple birds flew in but I was trying to take only the greenies, and identification was tough in the low light. I would say 50 to 60 ducks flew within gunning range making it the best day for possible shots this year. If I was the skybusting type I could have shot more ducks but here at the H7HT we fold'em when their feet are down. Just as fast as the morning was, the action dried up and only a couple more ducks flew in the next two hours.

All in all I'm pretty happy with my fat greenie today. Rocky the bartender called and said he would not be hunting tomorrow due to a torso injury sustained while snowboarding. Weak sauce. Perhaps I should head out again myself?
GBCH

Day 3.7 Oregon Chapter

Old Old Spot

Today was an eye opener. With the recent closure of the Old New Spot the Old Old Spot seems to be the place to go now when it's not a Sauvies day. It was not long ago when two young spry guys first adventured into the woods to make it their own. They had the area to themselves, they had their different spots for different type of conditions, if they needed a warm up walk they had their favorite routes they would take, basically they knew the lay of the land, every inch. With the recent influx of hunters that last bit of info is vital. We arrived today at about 5:30 greeted by about 10-12 trucks already in the parking lot. We already talked about the area we would like to hunt, cross Old Spot and head West through what we used to call "the ankle crushing rock liken to walking on the moon" walk. It's changed now, over the years the rocks seemed to have either worn down over time or have been sand covered. Cliffy didn't say it out loud but I knew he was thinking it, "how the hell does he know where he is going? He is like a spawning salmon going back to once he came from." I brought him through some short cuts I'll tell ya. Knowledge is power and the years of hiking the area gave me a lot. Sure enough when we wade our way out there it was ocupado. More knowledge ensued and I was able to put us onto a nice spot. I would like to report we saw the same thing I saw on Wednesday, but no such luck. A few ducks for the morning fly and that was it. A little rain but that's it, the conditions need to be much colder with some wind, we know that (as I sit here writing I know our comrade in Idaho has slayed this morning due to extreme weather, and his greatness of course). After our bottles went dry and with the visions of sitting on the couch watching the Fins play, we pack it up. It is all we have for now without a Sauvies Sky-Busting day. I did happen to get a great picture of Cliffy, while he thought I was not looking, practicing his shooting stance so when that day comes along to shoot his first duck, just shoot his gun for that matter, he will be ready. We are not the Navy but we are prepared.

Day 4.1 Oregon Chapter Part II

Walkin back to Lisa with nothing but smiles on my face, what I just experienced was truly amazing. Unfortunately the good lord Heston may have made it my last time a that I or anyone from the H7HT enjoy the New Old Spot. Remember the "new"parking spot? Well I guess it is illegal to park on the side of the highway. Here you see I was greeted with a warning of sorts. It's only an abandon vehicle tow warning and they give you 24 hours to remove vehicle. Or do they?

Klonapin is kicking in

Gun is by the door

Ducks will fall in the morning

Hunting the Elusive Yellow Jacket

Not long ago I decided to clean out the eaves of my cabin here in the great state of Idaho. I went in armed with a respirator and a headlamp and started pulling out the debris of generations past. Although I hoped to find a bar of pure silver or perhaps some krugerrands what I found was mostly old HS yearbooks and plumbing supplies. (Al, he's a plumber and he's into plumbing). After successfully clearing a path to the back of the eaves I pulled aside some insulation and an old dresser drawer and saw a massive yellow jacket nest and a lone YJ flying my way. It was fairly cold so his progress was slow at best. I crushed him. I looked back at the nest and saw a scene from WWII as a line of YJ's made their way down the side of the nest and, one by one, took flight in my direction. I got out as quick as possible.

Flash forward to a couple days ago. Temps in the single digits and a good day for killin'. I returned to the eves armed with a bucket and shovel. This is what I removed from the far corner. Nobody home except a couple of dead stragglers but as you can see, a fine nest with room for the whole family. Next up are some Greenies. Be ready.

Eat at Effies and Bust

Sorry for the delay on this one but I'm still having a heck of a time acquiring the original photos, so I am forced to use other peoples. While fishing southern Idaho this past year we drove past this place called Effie Burgers, I thought I recognized it from a popular TV show Man Vs Food. They are supposed to be famous for what else but their burgers. I thought awesome a good burger tonight would be great. Well we pull up front and walk in and immediately I know it's not that place. What the hell lets go we are starved. We sit down at a 6 stool bar and they have 3 more tables, a small hole it the wall. Waitress brings menus over and immediately we see that "damn these burgers are expensive." I'm thinking well they have to be really good and because it is a small town they have to make up the lack of business by charging more. Hamburger was $10.00, cheeseburger was $12.00, double cheeseburger was $14.00 and a Effie Burger with the works was $17.00!! There is a half burger for $7.00. They also serve Tots, Waffle, and Steak Fries as well as onion rings. Our guide "Steve" orders the half burger, he is cheap and old. Cliffy orders up a cheeseburger and I'm hungry so I order up a double cheeseburger. Sucker must have been written all over our faces, she could

see us coming a mile away. Pictured to the left is a single cheeseburger, could feed 3-4 people easy. Mine a double came on a 10" plate, could not see the plate, and when I inquired how much it weighed she replied "the burger weighs 2 pounds before cooking, then there is 12 slices of American cheese, pickles, onions, lettuce, the special sauce and the bun." While ordering she never once said "you guys must be real hungry cause that's a lot of food!" This is where the owners motto must be: Let the tourist order up all they want , it will make up for the lack of business. My next question is "has anyone ever finished one of these bad boys?" To she replied, "once, a local high school football kid." Bring me another beer in a mason jar I cried, IT'S ON! I take my sweatshirt off and roll up my sleeves, I portion the monster into 4 pieces to make it more manageable. Well, I would like to report that I finished the whole thing, I didn't, but I would have if they at least gave me a t-shirt or put my name on a wall or something. The dream died on the table 3 bites short. I must say though, the burger was fantastic, very fresh ingredients and a nice bun. Fries and onion rings were also very good. Beer in a frosted mason jar out of a chest freezer in the dining room. The service was what you would expect, a cute high school girl grossed out by some old man trying to outlive his youth. The next morning I gave birth to beautiful baby boy. The worst part was for the whole rest of the trip I had to listen to "Pat" our guide call me Hamburger.

Happy Thanksgiving

From all of us on the Hoy 7 Hunting Team to you

Have a Safe and Happy Thanksgiving

Day 4.1 Oregon Chapter Part I

What a morning. It was everything it was supposed to be and more. Before you all start worrying about your precious duck totals, let me tell you y'all safe, for what I experienced today was better than slaying. Cold this morning I tell ya, my fingers are still tingling with frost bite. Arrive at the Old New Spot this morning at about 6:15, remember it ain't no Sauvies no need to get there early and wait in line. Pull up to the "new" parking area, got the whole place to myself. Put a few shells in the gun just in case the cougar is awake and waiting for me. Hike out with our good pal TJ, break out to the water and experience what Bob did a few weeks ago, a hundred geese jump and scare the crap out of me, a sound that will ring in my head for a long time. I drop some blocks, water is perfect up but still able to walk out a good ways due to the new sandbar. Smoke and a drink to start the day, hunker down in some grass, 10 minutes to the bell. I'm checking out the blocks and notice that there is a little diver duck swimming around the blocks happy and content, kind of reminded me of the submarine duck in Idaho. So I had that going for me, then 3 mallards join the party swimming down the shore line and float on in. My 9 blocks are now 13 and very realistic. Actually with a little wind from the east 3 of my blocks were swimming in unison and looked very realistic. Then it started. It sounded like jet planes flying over my head and all around me. Set after set of mallards and pintails flying in and out of my spread at mac speed. This is what we always dreamed of the Old New Spot to be. No shots were taken just a little to far out and they seemed a little weary. I started to count in my head the number of sets and ducks I saw so I may report to my comrades just what a spectacle it was, but I could not keep up.

The cold weather from the north is doing it's job, pushing many ducks. Some time passes it's quite, then it happens a Mass Migration. Severe weather will occasionally trigger a mass migration of waterfowl also known as a Grand Passage. In early November 1995, millions of migrating ducks and geese jammed radar systems and grounded flights in Omaha, Nebraska, and Kansas City, Missouri, following a severe blizzard in the Prairie Pothole Region to the north. As Larry Reid recently wrote in WF Mag "The waterfowl term "Grand Passage" had been credited to internationally know waterfowl biologist Frank Bellrose. According to Bellrose, each fall, usually in November, a mass migration of waterfowl occurred during a 3 day period. He concluded that the Grand Passage was based on three factors: advancing winter weather, food availability and the birds' physical status." And then it happened. About 200 mallards came from the northwest at a very high altitude, and suddenly flew through my spread. It was an amazing sight, but proved to be only

an appetizer for what I would witness for the next hour. Throughout the next hour bunches of mallards and pintails, numbering from 50-200, continuously coming in, flying around me, landing and jumping, jumping and landing, just not around me. They would fly into those small ponds on the other side, and just over the trees towards the Columbia. In all the years I've hunted, I had never seen this many ducks. I sat there flabbergasted unable to pull my trigger or even get my gun off my lap. I could only imagine the look on my face. When I did take a shot it was undirected. I could have just kept pulling my trigger like Warren taught me and ducks would have rained from the sky. But I could not even do that. When it was over I was exhausted. Time to wade my way across and try to find this mass of ducks. I bring may bag of shells and leave everything else and head to the other side. Being stealth was almost impossible, the combination of my frozen waders and frozen grasses around the small ponds. But I think even if I do scare them up there are so many that some would have to fly my way. Nothing! Where the hell did they all go? I am stymied. Hundreds of ducks gone. I make it back and settle in for the rest of the morning. During the next hour and half a few stragglers, I'm cold, time to pack it up. It wasn't the usual pack up when you see a greenie fly over or into your spread, no I look down to the Old Spot and jumping and landing are mucho patos.

Sky Busters Unite!!

I was there on this day...in Mudhen, what happened?

EASTSIDE	BIRDS	HUNTERS	BIRDS/HUNTER
Johnson	45	10	4.5
Footbridge	24	5	4.8
Deadwillow	62	15	4.1
Mudhen	84	30	2.8
Rentenaar	67	11	6.1
Pope Lake	0	3	0.0
Hunt	70	27	2.6
McNary	28	12	2.3
Aaron	12	5	2.4
Malarky	10	2	5.0
Racetrack	37	10	3.7
Stutzer	3	5	0.6
Reeder	2	1	2.0
Oak Island	0	0	0.0
EASTSIDE TOTALS	444	136	3.3

Could Only Mean One Thing

19 degrees and clear as I sit here, could only mean one

thing...Old New Spot. Old New Spot loves the cold. High

tomorrow in Troutdale 34°. Lisa!

I don't know why the blog didn't post this sweet photo

Idaho: Day Six

So there I am at the highway exit for Rose Lake, the turnoff to go to my old slaying grounds outside Harrison. I still have another 30+ miles to go and it's complete whiteout conditions. Plows have yet to cover this stretch of rural byway because it's 5am, a full half hour after I left my house. The highway trip that should have taken only 10 minutes took a half hour. The snow is about 8" to 10" deep and coming down full force. I still have 1 1/2 hours until shooting time for the 40 minute trip but I have to wonder if this is a smart way to discover if Reccos Automotive really did fix my 4x4 system correctly, or if they missed something like before. I push on.

I make it to Anderson with just enough time to set up before first light. 4x4 engaged at 35mph the whole way. Twice the blowing snow allowed me to see nothing beyond my wiper blades for seconds at a time. Very long seconds. The snow is still coming down as I throw my decoys into the water being careful not to make tracks in the snow that would seem out of place to a passing mallard. It doesn't take long for the ducks to fly in, it's cold and slightly windy and the snow is pushing the ducks down from above. I shoot at the first duck and miss. The second time a mallard comes by I shoot and miss again but this time I have a good second shot chance. When I pull the trigger again my new, warmer Cabellas glove is stuck in the trigger guard not allowing my trigger to fully release and, even though there is another shell in the chamber, not allowing me to shoot. More divers pass and some land and then twenty or more Canadian geese glide right by gunning range. Nope, I'm waitin for Greeinie.

Then low and slow, straight at me, into the wind slowing him down, feet extended comes a lone greenie. The perfect shot. I miss again. Once again the second shot is stymied by the glove in the trigger guard but this time I free the glove in time to take another shot, which I do. By the time this all happens he is farther out than sensible but I wing him and he falls to the water still very alive and swimming to get away. By the time I get into the water and have a chance to finish him he is well beyond me and I wade out until I'm chest deep, the bird is now at least 50 yards away. Shit.

Regular readers will be familiar with the picture on the right, it's my Grandpa Clyde. He looks happy sitting there on the back patio with some Heinz ketchup and whatever else is on the table. At this time he has no idea his grandson will someday take a foolish and ill-advised shot at a mallard and have no choice but to watch it swim away to likely die without being fire grilled or combined with fresh ingredients in some way. If he did know I think there might be a scowl on his face, a sign that he is NOT happy. According to my dear Mother he would never let a downed duck get away.

After that I had one more good shot but I never even took it. The duck was over deeper water and I wasn't going to risk wasting another duck. I had tried to walk the shoreline to see if the wind had brought the duck in but the deep snow and thick reeds made progress slow. By the time I got back to the blind I knew my day was likely done. Soon after the snow tapered off and I packed up to head back. In what has become far too typical fashion as I was throwing the last of my decoys in the bag a fat greenie landed in the shallow water just twenty or thirty yards to my right. He quacked at me three times and flew off. Hmmmm?

GBCH

defying the odds

Contributing member, Cliffy V, has been training for Aconcagua. As ducks are flying, I have been climbing (fortunately for Greenie). My latest venture took me to the second most climbed mountain in the world, Mt. Hood. I started off hung over, with my well rested companion named Steve, at Timberline around 10 am heading up to our high camp at 9,200 ft. Cold and cloudy weathertook its toll on us (me), taking 5 hours with a 60 lb. pack in knee deep snow. At close to 4 pm with our tent dug in and snow a meltin', the cloud base finally descended below us and we had clear skies. Sisters and Jefferson were the only thing staring at us as we had the mountain to ourselves. A rare and gloomy feeling. Our plan was to start the rest of the ascent to the summit at 6 am and claim victory at 10 am. Steve started rumbling in the tent around 4:30, and I had to remind him about the 6am start. Thank Heston, he just had to pee and it was so cold we decided to push back our start time to 8 am, a blessing in costume. With temps around 15 degrees, we started our push. Insulated water bottles froze on impact outside our sleeping bags, but we still kept pushing. Nothing but clear skies 'till we hit 10,400 at the Hogsback. Then it came in on us. Temps dropped, wind picked up, and we were in a whiteout. So glad I wasn't on the summit at that point, so glad!!!!!!! With Steve leading the search for our tent, his footprints disappeared three steps ahead. Without a missed ridge, we were at our camp in an hour struggling to pack our packs for the trip down with our gloves on. We would take the gloves off for one minute to put something in, then gloves back on for ten minutes to thaw. This process went on for two hours. Brutal. When we finally got to start the descent, my glasses had frozen over. So every fifteen minutes I had to take the "glove warmer" out of my glove and place it on my eyes because my eyelids were freezing shut. Ya, that cold. Using my GPS, we made it down the Palmer and to the car in another 2 hours. We high fived and cracked a beer, but the beer was frozen. Ya, the beer in the car was frozen. Thank Heston I had whickey leftover in my backpack. Thank Heston! More to follow as I can hunt this weekend!

Day 3.2 Oregon Chapter

Two Down None to Show

The day started at 2:15 this morning. The morning

weather predicted early morning showers turning

into snow showers. Arrived ay Sauvies at about

3am, with a full moon, in line and looking good. After a several hour wait I pull up to the check in station. Several good options but one stands out, I say "I'll take Mud Hen 7" The woman behind the counter says "how about number 9?" I ask why and she informs me that the water there is good now and it's at the end. I walk out with some Hawaiian dude who said he had 9 last week and he limited out. He also mentioned the lack of crap ducks and how the influx of mallards and pintails in the morning fly was up. Visions of grander dance in my head. I throw out my blocks all the way to the left to entice some action at my own "private" end. The hawaiian dude said that the ducks will fly out of the corn field just behind me to the left early beware. The weather was just as predicted, far off in the distance the hills slowly being covered with a blanket of snow, soon the temperature will drop and it will be snowing here as well, much anticipation, the "perfect storm". The hawaiian dude had everything right. At first light the flight was furious, many passes with which I should have have taken some "Sauvies Pass Shots", looking back on it now I should have taken those shots because later in the morning it changed. Mallards and Pintails changed to Widgeons and Gadwalls with a few mallards peppered here and there. Remember I'm at Sauvies, it starts, sky-busting, frustration, my H7HT shooting skills are out the window (see fine Italian Steel video), I see red and they are not dead. In my short time I see four birds shot out of range go down and never and tried to be retrieved. In my short time out there I pumped out 14 shells. I winged two birds the birds greenies cause it was all I was really going for, don't get me wrong if a Widgeon or Gaddy came into my spread feet down I would have taken them, but I'm not going to sky-bust them. So the two birds I winged were coming into my spread, I shot and they were not clean but enough to bring them down slowly. Both times they flew towards the reeds in the middle, that's when the "dudes" across from me decided to shoot and retrieve my birds. REALLY!! The first time I was actually in the water by the time the other "hunter" decided to put a shell into it. "Hey Vern look that duck is coming in real slow I'm going to take it." It'a 10 am, a beautiful morning, lots of flight, a light snow, I have four shells left and not a lot of whikey, hence the 14 shots. Would I go back? Of course I would, there will always be sky-busters, it's beautiful, it has ducks.

Tomorrow

Weather for Harrison Idaho. Sounds Ducky eh?

Tonight: Snow showers likely, mainly after 10pm. Cloudy, with a low around 22. North wind between 8 and 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New snow accumulation of 1 to 3 inches possible.
Monday: Snow likely. Cloudy, with a temperature falling to around 13 by 5pm. Wind chill values as low as -4. North wind between 5 and 8 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New snow accumulation of 1 to 3 inches possible.

Weather for Portland Oregon

Bob hate to chime in on your post but we as well have some duck weather coming our way and Monday is a Sauvies day. Stay Tuned.

This Afternoon: Showers. High near 42. South southwest wind around 5 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%.
Tonight: Showers, mainly before 10pm. Low around 32. West southwest wind around 7 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%.
Monday: A chance of rain showers before 10am, then snow showers. Snow level 600 feet lowering to 200 feet. High near 37. West wind between 7 and 11 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible.
Monday Night: Snow showers likely before 10pm. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 27. Northwest wind around 9 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible.