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| 'DQM' Shhhhhhhh. |
Thanksgiving day is just the kind of day you want to spend with friends and family. Sitting around the fire watching foosball after a fine meal of factory raised turkey and canned cranberry sauce. Clider and I did just that, but not before going to the spot I like to call 'Double Question Mark'. Once again we paddled out to 'DQM' in the kayaks and set up in the reeds about 300 yards from where we were the last time we went out just the day before. Remember that that day Otis and Clider were at their near limit of cil'n fun, and I, Bob D. even shottened a duck or two. That day was going to be different. Just the two of us and a minimalist spread of maybe 15 blocks and my spinner. The morning fly was way less than the day before and for a moment I thought that maybe I should have slept in. Those thoughts didn't last long.
The action was incredible. As Clider likes to say about 'DQM': "When it's on, it's on. When it's not, it's not." Well, it was certainly ON. Ducks were dropping out of the sky trying to land in our little spread like they were on fire. From the left, right, front and especially from behind. I had a hard time keeping up with all the action as I forgot not only my chair for the kayak, but also my chair for the blind. Even kneeling in the reeds I was able to shoot a quick passer from the right that turned out to be only the second ever Woodie shotten by the H7HT. He was beautiful and filled me with pride while 'The Expert' gave me a big thumbs up for dropping him so late in our season. It was so crazy that I stopped shooting after two greenies, a henny and the little woodie. I already had ducks in the fridge from the day before and the prospect of making 100 duck snacks for my friends left me satisfied at the morning thus far. Clider on the other hand was not satisfied until he had shotten his limit. If I remember correctly, 6 greenies and 1 henny. The kayaks were full and the paddle back was happy with the exception of my bruised and hurting knees. What a day. 'DQM' did not disappoint.
(side note. After making about 50 duck bites I gave a batch to my neighbor Chris the CIA operative. We discussed that neither of our SigOth's will eat duck due to the taste,cruelty,gamey,wild nature of them. We shared a laugh that earlier that day we all had no problem stuffing a factory raised bird with bread and celery and ate it down with abandon while the wild and humanely murdered duck was shunned. He painted a picture of men in bulldozers herding the turkeys to their ultimate fate which I can picture in my head all day. I now refer to my ducks as "Bulldozer free".)
Fast forward to today.
The snow in Idaho has not been flying and rather than doing my new job of grooming snow for fast skiing on perfect corduroy I have instead been helping to fix snowcats. A job better suited to strong young men rather than my weak-ass body. I am, after all, in what Clider likes to refer to as my 'twilight years'. So after a day of doing nothing other than recuperating on the couch watching foosball with my sweetie I knew I needed my other day off to be a hunting day. After calling Clider he went scouting and decided that Anderson was the place to be. He claimed bunches of geese and ducks sitting out on the lake and while there, it was snowing and windy and full of potential. Neither of us checked the moon phase so when we met this morning to head out we hoped for the best. The full moon was shining brightly and the forecast of cold and fog was nowhere to be found.
The kayak in was easy and delightful. We set a great spread that included his new splasher decoy. A decoy he spent top dollar on just days before. Other than 'splashy' freezing up from time to time he looked great splashing out there with some goose blocks, my spinner and my Dakotas. Only one problem plagued us today and that was the lack of ducks needing to move around after a night of full moon feeding. The only shot I had all day was a perfectly set up greenie that my first shot missed and my second shot was not taken because I was looking right into the sun. Clider on the other hand had no problem knocking down two geese. Both times they floated right into the spread and I had to question, once again, why it is that I don't shoot those things. Maybe it's time to learn to make jerky. They are, after all, bulldozer free. We pulled up and set out for home waiting for our next hunt. Maybe someday my other H7HT teammates will tell you aboot their hunts but rest assured you will hear about mine as soon as they happen.
GBCH.
