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

"Eyeball to eyeball with the man in the black pajamas"

It would make sense that there would be ducks loaded into Mud Swamp.  It's the continuation of the preserve, has identical cover and water depth, it looks right, it's really hard to wade through and the preserve is loaded right now.

I turned right instead of left, NASCAR be damned.  We headed up the road and found an empty lot at the trail head.  Upon exiting the vehicle it became obvious that mallards in the area were moving around and partying hard, it was loud.  We pulled out 8 blocks and left the boat with the giant pile of decoys behind, just two guys, two guns and one 90 pound duck hungry hound named Peat.

After a short hike in perfect sunny conditions we found the source of some of the noise.  A small hole, ringed with reeds and full of mallards.  We scared the birds up as we entered the boot sucking mud and hurriedly tossed the blocks out.  Quite a few birds came around and flared so after awhile we jockeyed the decoys around again and waited.  More birds came in and flared before landing in the next hole over.  I decide to wade over and scare them up hoping that they'd move back to the hole where Ken and Peat were waiting.

After scaring up the birds I looked back towards Ken and realized that there was a very obvious giant black lab hanging out behind a few blades of grass, it was time to find better cover.  I was about to yell to Ken to follow my tracks when a flight of 3 teal care ripping in.  They circled and dropped in, buzzing around the hole.  It was a fairly close shot and down went the first bird of the season, a beautiful green wing teal that Peat retrieved in some really thick reeds.  We found where the birds wanted to be, no decoys needed.

Peat's first retrieve of the season

After another half hour and a few missed shots everything dropped off, it was after noon and we were both hungry.  We headed into town, had lunch and decided we had enough energy to head back out around 3:30.  After sleeping in the park we headed back out, this time with a few divers and a pair of honker decoys in addition to the original eight.


We returned to the second hole where the birds wanted in no matter what.  Getting in is a little sketchy, it's slippery, thick with weeds, too deep in places and you end up standing in chest deep water the whole time.  We set up and waited as it started to rain, it wasn't long before our first birds committed, 3 more teal wings locked and feet out.  Ken and I each fired a shot and each dropped a bird.  Peat hadn't seen either of them but he took direction much better than usual and found my bird out in fairly open water.  This hen was beautiful a one of the coolest looking birds I've seen.

Soon...

 After that the action was constant, we missed a few great opportunities for some more birds but it was amazing to see.  A lone hen mallard came in feet out and never left.  A hen and drake mallard came in fully locked up about 20 minutes later, the greenie was perfectly lined up with my hide and made for the best setup I've had so far.  He was a nice mature bird, and Peat brought him in to put with the rest.

Peat, the Best retriever in the Idaho chapter.

This was the best day of hunting I've had and I'm still excited 3 day later.  We happened across the right spot, where the birds wanted to be, blocks or not.  The hole is small, so when something commits you have an excellent opportunity to shoot.  Standing in the cold water, gets tough, and moving is hard, but this is my new favorite spot.  Mud Swamp is also located under the duck super highway.  As we entered the last 45 minutes of legal shooting the birds stopped landing and then they stopped flying low.  Like someone turned on a faucet suddenly the sky was full of ducks, all on their way to do something important.  We watched thousands of birds fly over, it was the biggest gathering of anything I've seen.

 Ken and I hiked out and headed home, I think he is totally committed now.  He said he had a great time even after spending almost all day hunting from the pre-dawn to dusk.  The teal Ken downed ended up being an NR, it was too thick with weeds for Peat and we had to call him off for his own safety.  Ken made a long and thorough search for his bird, through some of the thickest stuff I've been in to no avail.  There were a few missed birds, possibly partly due to his new and before unfired Super Nova, it seems to be bent just like Bob's.  To be fair his last gun, an 870, fits and feels completely different.  Ken was disappointed in loosing his teal but he says he will be practicing for our next hunt.

I had breasted out the first teal and and put her on ice during the day.  I always pluck and clean larger birds whole, it just seems right, but that second teal was so pretty I felt obliged to do a full dress on it too.  Maybe it can be some sort of mini turkey for Thanksgiving.

I'm honored to be part of the H7HT, and I really appreciate being brought into the fold of the Best.  I hope I have another day this good again, I won't forget this one anytime soon.