Day 1, Part 1 of 2 of 1/2 of the Idaho Chapter

The dark is dark

I have been anticipating the first for quite awhile now, the boat has added to the excitement and the nervousness.  Bob was supposed to join me but last week he decided he'd rather work than go sailing on opening day, boats make him nervous.  Luckily my good friend Ken decided to join me for the first day of the season, with all his new gear as this is his first year ducking for real.  You might recognize Ken as the man who got a Norther Shoveler on his first/only hunt last season.

We loaded up the boat the night before and in the morning we set out for the Other Point.  With all the blocks we were still able to cram 2 people and a giant smelly dog in, after all, the more decoys the better.  We set out an impressive spread complete with the Jerk Rig Mark II and a small flock of geese.  We had the immediate area to ourselves and it was feeling like everything was coming together for a perfect hunt.

Blocks as far as the eye can see!

The Best flocking!

Ken manned the jerk and I did a little calling, waiting for the banded greenies to start funneling in.  Birds were on the move, and the spread was working perfectly.  Perfectly for seagulls.  We sat listening to the all out war that appeared to be breaking out on Round Lake. Sky blasters, no doubt gong through case after case of  shells, wounding countless birds.  We settled in and watched some high flyers, it started getting sunny and soon it was t-shirt weather.  We loaded the blocks back on the boat and headed back to the dock, figuring we'd stop by the point and do a little scouting for my first day out with Bob.  Anderson was completely deserted so we loaded the boat up and hit the road a little after 10:30.

It had been a great morning, the boat hadn't drown anyone, Peat stayed nice and warm, and we got to watch a few ducks move by.  I'm just a little curious about Round Lake now, it sounds crowded, but maybe not during the week?  As we pulled out of the boat ramp I noticed the preserve was completely full of birds, and they were moving back and forth between the little swamp areas.  Maybe we had time for a little hike into the Mud Swamp? Bob and I had hiked out that way last year and it's basically a continuation of the preserve that's legal to hunt, it's in the main flyway and had looked promising before. Part 2 soon...