Where's Clider?

Well.  Today was great.  I shotten a Greenie and won $5 in the process but that is just a portion of the days story.  I'll start at the beginning and work chronologically onward.

Called Clider last night after talking to him a couple days ago.  We had discussed the possibility of going out to slay on Tuesday or Wednesday of this week and all systems were a go for a long overdue North Idaho Chapter meeting.  He mentioned that when he last went out he saw the waters in Anderson were thawing and the channel was mostly clear.  Why didn't you hear about this?  Well, I guess because he never posts anymore, just like Cliffy.  Anyway, poor Clider had to work today so I did the only thing I know how to do, I went to The Point.

Super foggy drive was no problem at 40mph because I left extra early.  I had been awake since 3:27am anyway after reading all the new info on the Blog.  (Special thanks to the Cali Clan for stoking my read with your Mutual Destruction of all things south of the Heston-Dixon line.)  Even my million candle power spotlight could not penetrate the fog to show me which side of the channel to set out for.  I chose The Point.  I found a perfect blend of high open water and ice blocking the entirety of the rest of the lake.  I set out a beautiful spread of mallards, teal and geese with a new addition to the world of decoys, the pull string.*

Soon after the morning fly of birds I could hear but not see, the action began.  A lone diver landed in my spread and swam within 10 feet of me as I was perfectly camoed with a white jacket against the snow and my regular camo lower section against the bank of the channel.  I briefly considered giving him the ole' Boogely Boogley Boo and shooting his bottom feeding ass, but then I let him live to work in and amongst my blocks.  He did a great job of bringing in a merganser and then 3 buffleheads, all of which I passed on. 

52.6 yards out

This is the point when Clider would have come in handy.  15 geese came out of the fog and locked up left to right over my blocks, spun back and then landed, all within shooting distance of me.  My name is Bob D, and I only shoot Greenies.  It took a while for me to justify that statement while time passed and I moved very little thinking that the perfect spread, with live ducks and geese, would surely pay off.  It did.  5 minutes later another 8 - 10 geese came straight in over my blocks, turned once, and landed even closer.  Clider would be throwing 2 shot like crazy at this point, surely already having 2 fat tankers in the bag and perfect shots on lots more.  I felt bad for him as I waited but it wouldn't be long.  The 3 mallards came from my right side flying low down the channel and I had the time to line up the fattest bastard in the bunch.  One clean shot brought him down and I kept my bead on him while I waited for the others to come back around.  They didn't, and everyone else left too, except my friend the diver, who stayed put like he was part of my decoys.  Knew I shouldn't have shotten him!

A group of Mergansers flew over my head low and fast but other than that it was only geese that came by.  I decided to pull up after the fog semi-cleared and the birds stooped moving. 

I hate it when people use the word 'literally' when they clearly mean 'figuratively'.  As a winner of the GMC award for Excellence in English** it done be pissin' me off, yo.  But as I was pulling the last of my decoys up a set of 8 geese literally tried to land on me.  I could have swatted them with a long stick.  I actually had to yell at them to make them peel off because I thought they were going to swoop down on me and peck my eyes out like they are known to do.  Once again, Clider should have been there, he hates geese.  As an aside, I fully suggest the white jacket when hunting in or around snow.  I think they thought I was a hunk of ice.  Dicks!
GBCH



*Pull string.  Long line that flows out with the water to be pulled back towards you, looking like ducks swimming in. Only second to the Hunting Umbrella as a true H7HT invention.
**Not to be confused with an award that has any value.