s that nothing flew today except a few geese. We saw 2 divers the whole time we were out there and they landed right in our water. Came right in like it was the only hot spot in town (which it is). Other than that, nothing. So we pulled it up and walked over the snow covered lake back to the truck. Of course as we crossed the bridge over the CdA river a lone Pinny flew over our heads and made his way down to land in the only water in town, ours. Perfect. Hope for the next time I guess. Perhaps I should call "The Expert" Fred G and ask him what I am doing wrong, surely He would know, He's "The Expert" after all. Until next time...
With the weather the way it has been it has to be good, right? This morning I head out to old faithful, Old New Spot. It's cold, weather dude this morning said 19. Cold. I pull up and two trucks are there before I am. I pack up and head out. When I get down by the water I hear a fellow slayer, sounds like a 10 gauge. Nice I think action! I break through the woods and onto the peninsula. I greet the other guy, he has big spread filled with wind deeks and a nice chocolate lab named Winsten. The guys buddy is hunting the other side of the slough, his name is Dave, and he just winged that duck and it's swimming away. His dog Gunner, (we met Gunner a few years back he helped us retrieve a few ducks of our own) was in the water doing what he does retrieving. The wounded duck swam into the middle of the slough and gunner was after it, but he did not have a bead on it and Dave saw this. Gunner was about 50 yards out searching and searching for the winged bird. After about 5 minutes Dave got nervous, the cold weather and the 20 mph winds blowing east, Dave started to try and entice Gunner back to shore. Gunner being who he is had no part of it, he was going to find that winged duck if it killed him. I turned to the other hunter and said "he's not going to stop until he has that duck." He turned to me and said "of course not that's Gunner." After a few minutes more Gunner spies the downed duck and within seconds it is in his mouth, gently of course. By now Gunner is now more on our side of the slough and the Dave wants us to call Gunner over to our side. So after another 5 minutes of coursing we get Gunner on shore, he is whipped and he does not want to give up the duck he so eagerly retrieved. Gunner sat on shore with a huge smile on his face, "this is what I do" he thought.
who fixes up dem poor peoples houseses. I set my blocks get back to the blind and start to put another layer on, it's cold! My waders are around my waist, my head is going through a thick turtle neck and I have one arm in a sleeve when three greenies fly into my spread. Startled and pleasantly surprised I pick up the Benelli and unload 3 shells, only feathers my friend the elusive greenie survives another day. Wait the day does not end there I just got there remember? Some diver ducks then fly into my spread and land. No shots taken who wants to clean and eat a diver duck? They are happy and content, I could walk around the blind, jump up and down they do not care. I'm also happy they are there what is better than live deeks? So now I have a Nike swoosh and some live deeks and I have to tell ya my spread is looking good. Soon enough more ducks are flying, just as they were at the end of last year, open water it is. I hear shots down the way, my fellow comrades are slaying, it is on! You know what Sancho Clause rides every Christmas to deliver them there goodies for all those girls and boys? Well Sancho dropped a massive hen mallard right into my spread and that's right the answer is slay. One shot, goodbye. It's Only Natural that I am the Expert.
We did a poor job of hiding in the short grass on the point but it didn't matter anyway, nothing flew near us. Must be that with all the lakes and waterways frozen solid the ducks have gone somewhere else. I kind of figured with the conditions it would either be epic or nothing, we got the nothing. So after an hour and a half we pulled it and headed home for the day. Lame!By Heather Hintze
CORVALLIS, Ore.-- Staff at the Chintimini Wildlife Center say it looks like a Civil War prank went too far after someone spray painted a duck orange. "We all think this was obviously some prank done by some Beavers fan who did this as some sort of insult to the Ducks which unfortunately is really awful," says Animal Care Director, Cyndi Leech.
The duck--which is now being called Bill--was found on Thursday before the big game. He was completely covered in orange paint, and his legs were duct taped together.
After a couple days and several baths, traces of orange paint could still be seen on the duck's feathers and bill. Staff, however, say they're worried about the long-term affects the paint could have. "Birds preen, they use their beaks and their mouths to preen their feathers and keep them in good condition so he's ingesting all of that paint. These people were actually careless enough to spray paint it on his face and in his bill, so it got into his airway so we don't know how much of this he actually inhaled into his lungs," says Leech.
Beaver fans say they're disappointed someone would go outside the lines of friendly compeition. "The duck didn't do anything wrong. The duck's not a Duck fan," says Beaver Believer, Max Geiszler.
Staff at Chintimini say Bill will likely have to stay at the center until the spring because the paint stripped off his feathers' protective, oily coating. "He's doing well. He's eating, he's a healthy weight. He is a healthy, healthy bird to start with. So his prognosis is good," says Leech.
The duck was found near Linn-Benton Community College. If you have any information, contact the Albany Police Department.
ine. In the past I have seen the Cunningham Slough completely filled making almost a small lake, what I found was flooded marsh land. The rest of his info was spot on. Remember it's cold, really cold. That flooded marsh has a good crust of ice over the top, walking is a little difficult. The sun is now peaking out and I spied in the back of the slough right where Cliffy told me, mega waterfowl. I mean Mucho Holmes. But there were several downfalls. One being the crust of ice, travel was not easy and I was not able to find any open water. Fourth, it is a wide open area next to where the ducks are no real blind per se, so I had to set up about 100 yards from where they were hanging out and bust through some serious ice to put my blocks out. Click on the picture to left to see my ordeal. I'm set, I'm looking good now. Yo check me out! Birds are flying everywhere. If it were goose season and I could pass the damn goose test, I could have shot my limit ten fold. Mallards, maybe 100. Pintails, also 100, easy. They were in some open water just picking up then dropping down again, the cold had them on the move. When they flew overhead they flew in flocks of 10-30. So little ole me with my small hole in the ice with 5 blocks was not going to entice any birds my way. Or was I? After several hours of watching all these ducks frolic in front of me I'm thinking of hanging it up. Just then a hen mallard flys into my meager spread, bam! Folded. Folded right onto t
he ice, she's dead and she ain't going nowhere, I now go into "Oh My God!!" mode. When I shot her it scared up about 100 ducks. I'll work her little friends that came along for the ride, but my head is spinning, they are everywhere! I'm not able to entice them into my little pothole. More time passes and more and more ducks don't want anything to do with me. I bail. With a beautiful walk back to the truck, Mt. St. Helens all lit up, I think of Sunday. It will be about 10 degrees warmer. Yes!
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e next door. There was hardly any action at all and we packed it up without taking a shot at 10am. Bummer.
hunting buds, we hope. Also with Cliffy out for awhile maybe he could pick a book on photography. I did all I could do with this picture.
