Cilffy. We all know him. We all know the dude has knowledge. The other day Cliffy went out scoping North Unit at Sauvies Island. As we all know, especially Steverino, that the North Unit ain't all that. Well with the recent influx of blistering cold weather it became something and Cliffy is the one who discovered it. As I said, Cliffy went out scoping on Friday after work and he happened upon a place called Cunningham Slough. I'll leave it at that. I know you all are dying for more information, but Cliffy is now "authorized" to post on the blog, so I will let him splain about his discovery. With Cliffys information in hand I decided to head out for a morning hunt at the North Unit. I pack up Lisa and head out. It's cold, the guy on the radio said it was 28 degrees. Cold. As I'm traveling Sauvies I take in a beautiful sunrise, I also notice that there are many hunters waiting in line, it won't be me today, I drive past. I arrive at the North Unit and there are two trucks already there, could it be that Cliffys words have already traveled? I worry not, where I'm going I don't think they will be there. I was right. After a 30 minute hike along the Mighty Columbia I get to the turn off point. Remember in the past the Cliffy always had the information, but sometimes it's not always correct, this was some what the case this time as well. His idea of a lot of water is different than m
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!
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!
No comments:
Post a Comment