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.

Greenie?

Reunion 2010 Poetry. (For day Four)

Oh great sandwich how you do please
Your meaty innards and grainy bread wrapper
The spice of mustard and creamy mayonnaise

Taking in your nourishment and flavor
Recharging a weary hunters depleted soul
Making the days chill depart in haste

All your attributes help level the day
You make us happy and help us forget
The disturbing lack of ducks we view.

Fine Italian Steel

Some Idaho Beauty

Day 2.3 Oregon Chapter

Day 2.3. Where do I start? Seriously. Lisa, Long Hike, Must have Been the Wrong Place, At the Right Time. Start Me Up. Mt. Hood In my Mind, Where!!!?? Where Do I start!!!?? Look to the picture to the left, what does it say to you? Look! I think maybe only 2 or 3 people will get this. Boot Sucking Mud. Ever hear of it? Did I mention the Hiccup with Lisa? I'm going to go at this real fast. Met Cliffy at the parking lot at Sauvies at just before 4am. Lisa no start again, jiggle some wires she fires up. Cliffy was going to climb Mt. Hood same morning leaving "base camp" at 2am. Ask him, he needs some encouragement to write. What does the H7HT do most? we learn right? I know there are a lot of questions here but there are many answers . Today Lisa reverted to the old days, stall and can not restart. Me and Cliffy hike aimlessly in the woods with packs on for one and half hours. Me and Cliffy put down in the wrong space in the wrong area at the wrong time. Many ducks and mucho geese fly over our heads but no chance for slaying, why? because no water, tides, and boot sucking mud. Tides on Sauvies? Yes learn them, they help. FRUSTRATION !!!! I know the answer, it cost me much money, will not pay again. May Heston have mercy on my soul. Speak up Cliffy you have more to say.

Idaho: Day five.

Last night I watched the weather channel and they promised me a low pressure system descending from the north, bringing with it colder temps and possible snow. I took the bait even though it is a Saturday and there should be plenty of other hunters out gunning for Greenie. I woke early and packed the truck, had a nice bowl of Cheerios and headed out into the crisp morning air. As I was leaving the driveway I made a mental checklist of all my gear but something was nagging me, something missing. About 10 minutes into the drive I realized what was missing was that after 5 solid days of 'Reunion 2010' my ole' buddy Fred G was not sitting next to me. Who would critique my musical selections? Who would marvel at all the places the ducks actually were? Who would make the morning sandwich while I watched? I guess today I was going it alone.

Nobody was out on the point at Anderson Lake as I set my decoys and settled in for the morning fly. Birds were whistling over my head in the pre-dawn darkness and I hoped to bring home a nice prize as shooting time neared. I thought back to last week and the last time I planed on coming to this point..........


Reunion 2010: Day three.

By now the tradition had been set so I walked into the room of the sleeping Fred G and woke him up with an ass trumpet of epic proportions. He was grateful. We were heading out to Anderson Lake again today and everything was going just as we planed. Of course, being the H7HT means being able to adjust on a moments notice, so when other hunters beat us to the punch on the Anderson Point we had no choice but to go elsewhere. I knew there was another way to access the shoreline form the other end of the lake. Fortunately our expert sense of direction and perfect timing put us in a secret spot I had never been to before.

Blocks were set and birds were flying. After the previous days adventure with the greenie that just would not die we were primed to put the bead on some nice ducks. We didn't have to wait long. I can't remember now if I shot the greenie or the wigeon first but I do know my trigger finger was hot! Fred would congratulate me with each kill but I knew full well he was itching to get on the board as I brought my total to 5. Then, out of the left at a rockets pace, two ducks came in hot. Fred G took two shots from his trusty old Remmy (Warren made it special for Heston's sake) and brought down 2 mergansers. The drake was enormous and as pretty of a bird as I have ever seen.

We had some more looks and some other shots but four ducks would be the total that morning. A nice sammy and we were off, back to the cabin to clean some fresh meat. A bit later in the day it was decided to head off to Killarney Lake for the evening fly and a trip in the totally sea-worthy jon boat.

I'd love to report that the Killarney trip was as fruitful as our morning trip, but that would be a lie. It was however as scenic and beautiful a spot to hunt as any around. We sat in the too warm sunshine and watched an empty sky until hunting hours expired. A quick row back to the dock and on to a delicious meal. About as good of a hunting day you can get (without a limit of fat banded greenies). That was then................


Idaho: Day five.

No ducks graced my bag today but I did have a nice mallard fly just outside my gunning distance. He slowly made his way toward my decoys and I considered jump shooting him but left him alone, better as a live decoy. He bolted when I moved from one less than comfortable seat to another and that was the only mallard I saw. As the sun started to break through (thanks weather channel) I was fixin' to get ready to head home and in true ironic fashion five big pinnys flew right up. Two landed right away and the other three circled, looking for a spot. Of course my Benelli was just out of reach as I was picking up some other hunters spent shells and putting them in my bag. Knowing full well how this would turn out I still tried to get to my gun before the other three left only to scare the first two off as well. Crap Monkey! I realized as I packed up that if only Fred G were here I would have been more patient and had the camaraderie required to stay and shoot those pinnys. Then again, tomorrow is another day, right?

GBCH

Fishing Time with Andy Vershaw

So a couple of weeks ago the Oregon Chapter of the H7HT did a little Steelheading on two mighty rivers, the Snake River and the Clear Water both in southwest Idaho. We had a guide courtesy to Cliffy with his expert bidding at a fish function auction. The mans name was Dave, Dave was a nice man who promised to fill our cooler with Steelhead Salmon. Every morning we awoke with Daves empty promises of putting us on some fish in his favorite spots, he's been fishing these rivers for 30 years now. Anyway, enough about that for now, there will be some more excellent stories about that later, but this is about Fishing Time with Andy Vershaw. A few years back Andy took another old man out fly fishing, for the first time no less, and look what he did. Listen to the commentary as to how excellent of a job Andy did. I guess what I'm gunning at is, who needs a guide when we have Andy? Enjoy.

The Seven Step Program

Just a little something something about my trip to Idaho, I just wanted people to know that Bob gave up the best spots to me to help insure a good time was had. Then I'm reminiscing some old video and I find this, a man named Bob DaFolder sacrificing himself so that I may have a gem of a time. Enjoy.

Guest Editor.

HA! It is I Greenie, and I RULE!

I read with amusement your posting about your so called 'reunion 2010'. By now you must know that I am just playing with you and laughing at your weak shooting skills. That's right, I flew into your decoy spread with every intention of eluding you. Surely you don't think that I would fall for the pitiful attempt at realism you tried to display. Fail! I spotted the poor decoy set from a mile away and knew it could only be one set of stinking hunters. You.

Imagine my surprise when you had the nerve to take a shot at me while I was touching down to crap in the middle of your lifeless impostors. Being that you were using only 2 3/4" shells I was able to shake off the barrage and continue on like nothing happened. The feathers I left behind were nothing more than my calling card. I hope you liked them as that is all you will ever take from me.

I'm thinking about making my way down to Oregon, or maybe staying here in Idaho, just to laugh at your haphazard hunting skills. Wherever I turn up rest assured that I will be the Kahn to your Kirk. The wet foot to your wader. The broken lighter to your fresh pack of smokes. I am Greenie, and I RULE!

Day Two OR. Chapter in ID.

"I'm Going to Put You On Some Ducks Today"

Clutch, Check. Guns, Check. Whikey, Check. We were set we were looking good on day two. Bob was confident about his spot on Anderson Lake, it is his go-to spot. A bit of a haul in the truck but the short walk down a 43° degree cliff with shard ankle-breaking rocks (is nothing easy in this state?) made up for it. Bob knows the area well and he knows the block set he wants. Feeder ducks over there, sleeper ducks there, roto there and sentry ducks there. Like I said we were set & we were looking good. No blinds needed just a crawl up into the brush and make yourself comfortable. Pre morning fly, and all morning fly for that matter is just a spectacle. The sounds are just amazing. To our left is a large duck refuge

where they know they're safe and our job is to lure them out of safety and kill the little mo foe's. The chatter all morning would drive any other hunters insane, but being the H7HT we were able to keep our emotions in check. After a few sets of divers and crap ducks fly through our spread the ever elusive Mr. Canadian Greenie shows his face. And his face I shot, I saw red and I thought he was dead. Greenie either fell for our spread or was just playing with us. He came in full tilt over the roto deek and I put my bead on him, pulled the trigger, watched him crumble, watched a cloud of feathers fall to the earth, then watched him fly away! I just put what I thought was a massive hurt on Mr. Greenie, the dude got up shook it off and flew away! what makes him so strong I do not know. A little later I think he sent his woman around to get some pictures of the looks on our faces, cause she flew in taking the same path as he did and all I could do is put a 2 ¾ little scare into her. She too was gone laughing the whole way back to where ever they are from. After another hour or so, a couple of delish sammys I look over to Bob and he don't look so good. Inquire whats up? and he says " really thought I was going to put you on some ducks today, I've never seen it so slow here." Always time for kill'in tomorrow Bob. We pack up and like a billy goat I'm up the embankment of ankle breaking shard rocks and back to the truck. Saw and heard some amazing stuff today, and know how I knew it was a great day? Cause I got to use my 870.

Winning Season Name

Winning season name "Can You Smell It?" takes on whole new meaning with Idaho Chapter and Oregon Chapter merging on Park Circle Road.

Latest Migration Information

Dear Fred,

A roller coaster pattern of storm fronts has brought freezing temperatures
to the north and then risen to record highs in some areas. Despite the
radical changes, the weather has provided a steady stream of ducks and geese
to all four Flyways this season.

While waterfowl hunters in the northern third of the U.S. have not been
filling a limit everyday, there are enough ducks to make shooting
interesting and keep hunters heading to the field. The great news is there
are still plenty of birds to the north and good shooting to come

For the latest migration information, visit http://www.waterfowler.com today.

Lisa and the New Old Spot

This was only a test. As we all know by now Lisa had a really bad summer, a summer filled with hiccups. Alternator, rear brakes, parking brake, rear end differential and carburetor all replaced this year. It's hard to get into a truck you love and drive even 25 miles without the constant nagging in the back of your mind "is she going to make it?" Well after much speculation I decided to take her on the road to the Old New Spot. Thinking an evening fly would do just the trick, go scope out the water situation and drive during the day so if something were to happen it would not be 5am. Remember the trepidation I felt having to cross the great Quinipiac River in the last post? Well I'm having the same feelings now as well sitting out there by the river. Well happy to report on a few things: Lisa was a champ! we all knew she would be, but.... and the Old New Spot was just the same as we left it last year, and as well all know "new way in and new way out". The water is up and due to some nice sand migration able to walk out a fairly decent way to put blocks out and retrieve ducks when the time is right. (sorry TJ we will need you soon enough) So after a few passes by some Brants and a hunting Baldy, which did better than me, I pack it up. Day two Old New Spot.

Just a quick shout out to some people that make it all possible, Bradshaw Motors. They love Lisa almost more than we do, they took really good care of her this year and it shows. And when they forgot to bleed the air out of the brake lines after replacing the brakes they were very apologetic and sincere, I even later got a letter in the mail thanking me for my business. Thanks guys.

Pay Up Suckers

Strictly Ceremonial

With the first slay of the year and the first greenie

a well deserved 20 in his hand by 5am

(still awaiting your 20 Cliffy)

Day One OR. Chapter in ID.

Truck stuff aside on day one, it was a very majestic introduction to hunting in the HO. As Bob said we did have to cross the river Nile to reach this spot, after we crossed the river I then thought to myself, "we should really be wearing some blaze orange!" It was a good 15 minute trek through woods, and with the amount of poo on the ground it looked good enough to slay some elk in. We scared some diver birds up on the approach, find a nice spot and throw out some blocks. Not a lot really happened after that, not even some enjoying of some fine whikey or chokes on my behalf, with the crossing of the Bering Strait looming on the way out I was a little hesitant on the consumption. With some fine encouragement from my hunting buddy I make it across the grand Mississippi with out any problems make it back to the car and we enjoy some fine sammys with talk of how much we are going to slay this coming week.

Reunion 2010

For the last week the founding members of the HOY7 hunting team have been reunited in the great state of Idaho with one goal in mind, Slaying ducks. Rather than try to contain all the thrills and chills in just one post I will start at the beginning and work forward in a cohesive and potentially entertaining manner. Here's how it all started.

I'll begin with the story of Reccos Automotive here in my home town. Just as all H7HT members are fluent in folding ducks, we are also experts in our everyday jobs. Normally when you go to work in the morning you do your best to not only accomplish the basics of your job description but also strive to do that job well. Apparently at Reccos doing most of the job is good enough. Last week, at great cost, they replaced the slave cylinder and clutch in ole Big Betty. Trusting the job was done right I just drove home and parked, took the Volvo to Spokane and picked up Fred G at the airport. Drive home, have a good meal, maybe a beverage or two and get ready for what will surely be one of the best days of hunting ever.

4:00am. Although I never intentionally set out to create a special morning wake up for this trip I had no choice but to wake my friend with what can best be described as the Bronx Cheer. (He is a Yankee fan after all) I'm not sure it was appropriate but to me at least, it was hysterical. Breakfast and a quick packing of the truck and we are off to Anderson lake. The clutch felt a little out of sorts and by the time we got off the highway it was inoperable. I jammed the truck into gear and limped back to Reccos where we were able to coast into the middle of their parking lot and abandon not only the truck but also any chance of morning fly. The 30 min walk back to the house at 5:30 was quiet and uneventful.

We took the Volvo to Kingston and tried to hunt the river and small pond nearby to no avail. Even though the scenery was great the duck action was not. The best part of hunting that area was crossing a fairly good sized waist deep river with a swift current. Regular readers will know that at least one of us was not happy about that. After a couple hours of reassurance that this was not indicative of Idaho hunting we headed back to Reccos where they returned my truck with a statement of "yep, air in the lines". Not to be mistaken with "we're sorry, we forgot to bleed the lines before returning it to you" or maybe "sorry to F up your day of hunting", more of a statement than an apology for not being thorough. Bastards!

Well, that was day one. Stay tuned for more. GBCH