All I wanted for Christmas was....

Cold, cloudy weather is all I really needed from this past week. What I got was 50-degrees and sunny for Monday and Wednesday, Tuesday was soooo foggy you couldn't see your hand in front of your face.
So, Monday I did try an evening hunt, I got set up by 2:38 pm and slept until 4 which was ok because the ducks didn't come out until 5 mins after shooting time ended. So I picked up and headed home without firing even a shot, on my Christmas duck season opening day. Tuesday was spent driving around to see if any of the lakes in the area were open so I could get in a water hunt on Wednesday. With nothing open, I called my buddy in town to see if the river was frozen up or open above the dam. Jerry said the river was not frozen so on Wed. morning I packed the truck, hooked up the boat and headed to town. When I got to the river much to my disappointment it was frozen, all I could do was turn around and head home.
So, I'm sad to announce that my Christmas duck season has come and gone without even firing a shot. I guess if I had good news it would have to be this- remember last week when I said I didn't get my second hunt on video? Well, when I hooked up my camera Shazam there it was, so without further delay here it is.

It really doesn't make up for not hunting all week but, I am glad I got this video.
Anyway, I hope you all had a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy and Safe New Year. Speaking of New Year it looks like the hunting will be able to continue with the onset of some cooler cloudy weather.
And before I sign off today I have a question to pose.
My Mom sent me this.... this elf that she made. Let me ask you does this elf look evil or is just me?

gotta admit I didn't sleep too good last nite.

Geese this week, duck opens next week

Monday and Tuesday I made the pilgrimage to town, 4 hours of driving to shoot 6 geese. And I'll do it all again next week, as our duck season opens for the 1 week Christmas special.
Monday I had my second hunt at a newly acquired field, and let me tell you even though the geese weren't in there the prior couple days they definitely showed up for Monday.
I will now refer you to the video:

After the last flock left I was just about to get up and start picking up, when I had another flock come in. So I snuggled in for a well-deserved nap, while that flock fed and left. After they were gone I cleaned up and headed North.
Tuesday I hunted the same area just a couple fields over on property my buddy Thom used to own. Since the corn was planted really close to Thom's woods I just threw out my decoys and sat in a chair and hunted from the edge of the woods. As I was setting up I was pretty excited because of the geese in the area. Once it was all set up and I got my "blind" set I looked up and realized that I was going to lose my cloud cover. Which in and of itself wasn't a bad thing, but with how cold it was it just meant the geese would sit all day before flying out to feed just before sunset. And so the day went something like this, nap, wake up, stretch, nap, wake up look for geese, nap and then finally the horde decided to make it's way to me. I hit the record button on the remote but apparently, it didn't take. That sucked because the show that took place until dark was amazing.
I shot my limit and picked up my gear just like I put it out... in the dark.

Wednesday my minion and I shot over to Mongo and did a couple one-man drives to try and get him a deer. We each saw deer but neither of us was able to get a shot at them. So with that, I ended my deer season for the year. Sean might still continue at the magic 5 until he gets worn out or the season ends, in Jan.
Either way, I'll stay on call for him if he manages to drop a deer. He has actually passed on many small deer this year already, pretty proud of him to not just drop a deer to drop a deer. Anyway got my geese, guns, and gear cleaned up today and looking forward to next week already.
Yay ducks.

Free at last, Free at last....

Oh thank God almighty I am free at last....
Monday was a rainout day and I ended up in town all day.
I started the day on the hunt for geese and found them out West of town. After I got permission I was off to Ft Wayne Nissan to put the truck in the shop for its 20000-mile check-up. While I waited I had the shuttle driver run me over to Gander, which is closing in Fort Wayne.... again. Then I went over to Menards to pick up a blind for a couple buddies. A quick stop at the dentist to get my crown stuck in my mouth. After I was done there I went to Discount Tire for a lifetime rotate/balance and road hazard. By the time they got done, I was on my way home just like when I left the house, in the dark.
When I got home I gave Jake a call to see what was going on in the morning and if he had birds. He said he did and that he would call back after his house settled down. Well, apparently his house never settled down, I hadn't received a call by Tuesday morning either. So I waited like a puppy in the truck and when it was an hour out from sunrise I made the decision to go deer hunting. When I picked up my phone I saw Jake had left me a message at 10 pm Mon. He said he wouldn't be able to hunt this week or next.... oh, well better late than never I guess. Anyway, I headed over to the magic 5 to try my luck during muzzleloading season. The morning was a bust so I left out around 10 am to get my running done for the week. After finding out my minion wouldn't be going for the evening hunt I shot over in his stead. I had to wait until 5pm before I had 3 does come down the deer trail from my left. She saw me as soon as I saw her, I didn't move but she knew I was there. Since she was the biggest and apparently the smartest I decided she was going to be the one to ride in the truck. As soon as the other does cleared and I had a clear shot I cocked the muzzleloader and squeezed the trigger. She took off like a bolt my first thought was, "did I miss"? I wasn't until I got down and started looking for blood that I knew I had doe down. So I went back to the truck, shed some clothes and grabbed my work bag and headed out to field dress and drag her to the truck. Since it was dark by the time I started I didn't waste time with the hero pic but got this one when I got home.

My processor was closed by the time I got there, so with a low of 15 and a high Wednesday of 25 I figured she would be ok. The next morning I packed my goose gear in the truck and off goose hunting I went. I had one flock hand me my ass in the morning, unfortunately that was the only flock to fly (my way). I really wanted to stay but I had to go drop my deer off by 5pm. I left the field by 3, made another quick stop at Gander, then got back on the road to drop off my doe.
The landowner texted me not long after I got home and let me know the geese showed up shortly after I left.... 😡
I knew that would happen.
That's ok, it won't be the last time we'll tangle.

Well nothing broke...

I hunted Monday am, Tuesday am/pm, Wednesday am, and Thursday am. With only one goose to show for it. I know I always say," you need some bad days hunting to really appreciate the good ones", but I didn't think I would be getting them all out of the way in the same week.
This was Monday

The geese just didn't want to commit, we could get'em over and call 'em back but they just wouldn't do it right. The goose I got I think Jake was just ticked and took it out on that goose. Like I stated in the video Jake and I think there is someone hunting the area with a big spread and alot of blinds just shooting into every flock. Geese aren't smart but when the boogie man shows himself enough they get a little more cautious.
Anyway, Tuesday I deer hunted am and pm. I saw a buck and 2 does in the morning and nothing in the evening. They all were moving pretty good and were way out of range of my crossbow.
Wednesday Sean and I practiced goose hunting, spread setup and takedown. We went back to the field we hunted on Monday with a smaller spread and fewer blinds to see if that would work. We weren't able to really judge if it did or not... there were just no geese wanting to get within a mile of us, minus one, who didn't even give us half a chance. So just one more strikeout for the week.
 Thursday I went to the magic 5 to try and shoot another deer. I had some does come in but nothing good happened. Next week muzzleloader comes in and I really hope they come back to say hi.
Speaking of next week

If this were next week there would be a doe attached to this hair. Apparently, I misjudged the shot, it was a little further than I thought. So instead of the double lung that should've happened, all I did was give her a hair cut. No blood only hair and another broadhead needing new blades.
Hope she tries that next week....

Happy Thanksgiving

Monday I started out by myself in the field my buddy Ron oversees. He had texted me last Thursday asking if I was going to be down during the weekend because he has had people asking to hunt. I let him know I had to work but would be down on Monday to shoot it. Long story short Ron held the field for me, thanks again these hunts probably wouldn't have happened without Ron looking out for me, I really appreciate it.
Back to the facts of the hunt: wake up at 4am on the road by 5:15am hit the field by 6:15 have my first flock of geese do a flyby while still setting up at 7:10 (shooting time) get done setting up by 7:15 shoot my limit by 8:05, pack up and go home. You'll see in the video that once I shot, the pond at the end of the field just emptied out. I hung out to try and get a couple ducks.

Did you see the spinner in the lower left-hand corner kick on? It's started and stopped with a remote, this info is important for the events that unfold on Tues.
 So as you saw none of the ducks wanted to have anything to do with me. I had a flock of geese land between me and the end of the field that I waited for them to feed and leave of their own volition. I waited because after I saw what was in the area I knew I was coming back either Tues or Wed weather permitting. So once the geese left the field I gathered my gear and headed for the house.

I got home and called Jake and my buddy Cliff from work.... you remember him I took him to Erie this summer.

Anyway, he had mentioned that he would like to try hunting so I figured this would be an easy/warmish hunt for his first. With all the birds in the area, he should have a pretty good time. With Cliff being the newby I know they want to help, and other than hauling stuff I'm kinda very particular on how the setup and takedown go. So with that being said, I dole out very easy tasks for new people and as they hunt more the responsibilities and understanding of how and why I do things grow. That being said first hunts usually start out the same: help pack as much gear as possible, then get stubble to stubble the blinds with- just keep getting stubble until we tell you to stop. Now take that stubble and stubble the blinds. That is usually the extent of their help, I usually have everything else handled. However, this year as you saw in the video I have employed a spinner into my spread. I gave Cliff the responsibility of turning the spinner on and off with the remote. When we had geese working the spinner needs to be off. Ducks eat the spinner up, while geese don't really like them and they will skirt your spread and land wide because of them, in most cases.
With Jake having to leave earlier than we did I put him on the left as it would be easier to re-stubble the ground where he was, with the birds coming in from right to left. I also had Jake call the shot on this hunt, usually, if it's your field it's your show. With Jake on the left, he would have a better idea when to call the shot.
Ok, let's get started.... We were set up and ready just waiting for the fog to lift a little for the first flocks of the day started.

Usually, with fog on the ground they wait to fly until it burns off, today however we had some anxious geese that decided to fly early. Now, keep in mind the spinner was going because usually the ducks fly off and feed before the geese do. So with the honk, we heard from behind, the: turn off the spinner chant started and do you remember who's responsible for that????
Yep, that was Cliff. The geese came in for the first pass looking to land.... the spinner was still going, turn off the spinner. They came around on the second and the flock was trying to break up and have 5 land off to my right, I was on the right side, but we picked up the calling and they stayed in the air.... turn off the spinner. By this time it looked like Cliff was trying to dig a tunnel in his layout blind, the doors were bumping up and down and he's goin' crazy trying to do the 1 important thing that he was responsible for. By the time the geese were on the third pass, we were still working the geese and they would've done it....TURN THE DAMN SPINNER OFF 😡, they finally slid off and I told Cliff to open the doors and find the remote, and finally, the spinner was off as we watched the flock fly out of range and away from our set. Lesson learned, if at any point during the rest of the hunt you asked were the remote was, Cliff had it in hand.
Jake relayed a story about James (hunted my first early season hunt with him) where if the spinner wasn't shut off he would take care of it,😱 (shoot it) and buy you a new one. No joke, and trust you me he would do it without hesitation.
Well, with the first flock well on it's way to a less frantic field we were left to wait for the fog to burn off and discuss what had just happened. I got up to shut off the video and this is what I saw....

facemask on upside down

facemask wore the correct way

It didn't take too long and the ducks were in the air. With ducks on the way I turned on the video only to think, Jake will probably call the shot before the video starts anyway. Well, if you saw the video above that's how the ducks came in, all at the same time. They just kept circling and landing in the decoys still no call to shoot. Even as this lone goose landed to my right at only 5 yards still no call. As the horde circled and landed in the dekes I saw one black duck and one spoonie in the mix of mallards. So I kept my eyes on the black whenever it came around. After we hit the 5-minute mark, (I'm guessing), I asked Jake if he was waiting for the ducks to land in the blinds before calling the shot. Just then the black landed in front of the spread about 15 yards, that got my attention. It was only a little bit after that, that Jake called the shot. The first and only duck to fall from my gun was the black, of course I squeezed the trigger 2 more times out of sheer joy I think. I never got on another duck that I can recall but I did unload on them. Jake was happy he said he got 2 and Cliff was ecstatic because he dropped his first and only duck. With the guns empty and smoking we laughed and joked about the scene that just unfolded as I got up to turn off the video.... the video was not on. I MISSED THE WHOLE THING 😰. I felt sick.... even as I write this I'm still kickin' myself for not getting the duck display on video, it was truly awesome. So even though we didn't put a bunch of feathers on the ground, everyone had a super fun shoot.
I hope.
Well, it was time for Jake to leave so I got the hero pic, he packed up and took off. No geese, just ducks.

little rigo set in.... the drake on the right is a beast

After another hour and a half passed Cliff and I picked up and headed home.

P.S.-I had to pry the remote out of his hand.

My black duck, I hemmed and hawed about whether or not to get him mounted.... in the end he ended up as supper. When I got home I checked out what the $ would be to mount him... 3 bills was about the norm. I'm going to start a "mount it" fund. Of the ducks and geese I have shot there are 3 I should've had mounted. The black above...

in 08 I shot this mallard-pintail cross

and of course my spec from last year.

I'll be ready for the next one.

Back to the grind

 With the end of firearms season next week I'll be doing the 2 a day's (ducks in the am and deer in the pm) until I get another deer to please my landowner (summer sausage), and all the little whisper'ers in his ear. But that starts next week, this week was duck only and it seems all the ducks that were in the area bailed for now. I did get out Monday to Big Turkey and pulled one mallard from the sky.

Like I said it just seems like since the weather warmed the ducks went back North, just like I like when they get pushed out on a cold front around here. Then on Tuesday I was at BT again and let another Suzie ride in the truck.

With these two ducks, in the past two weeks, I have nailed down a limit of mallards. I sure hope the rest of the season runs a little better. I don't need a limit every time but it sure would be nice to clean 2 or Lord forbid 3 birds in an outing. Oh, well everyone has dreams I guess. Along with the 2 a days next week, goose opens up again, and I cannot wait for that to happen. There are a ton of geese in the area right now. I don't know if they'll stay in the area after this weekend but they sure are here now.

Another D and D week, more D than D

With the cold front looming, I set out to Loon lake just 5 minutes from the house on Monday. As soon as I got set up I was farting around in the boat and I had a dozen or so wood ducks land in the decoys. So with all the stealth of a drunk ninja, I loaded my gun, stood up in the boat and dropped what I had thought was a drake only to find out it was a hen wood duck. Oh well, they both eat the same but I wish I had shot a drake, anyway after an hour the snow started and never stopped. By the time I had everything picked up the vis was down to... well, being able to see my hand. I managed to get the boat back to the landing and onto the trailer and back to the house without breaking anything so that was a plus. I didn't get a pic because I COULDN'T SEE ANYTHING. After I got home I winterized both of my motors on the big boat, so they are ready to go in the spring.
So on to Tuesday, I went to Big Turkey and wow did the weather push new birds in. The numbers of ducks and geese were amazing, and after my traditional late start, I ended with 2 drake mallards. The day went through the whole gambit weatherwise from sun to snowsquall, to a mix of both with some wind thrown in for good measure.

The morning was absolutely beautiful

This squall just passed through you can still see it in the background

A flock of geese landed and swam around my decoys, of course, goose is closed right now.

The weather just kept switching like someone was channel surfing. And like I mentioned earlier I did get 2 mallards....

Yep, that's snow behind me we got 4 inches Tuesday

 If you notice I got a new set of waders this year, and man are they awesome. I honestly think these waders were not designed by PETA, they kept me dry, warm, and comfortable throughout the hunt. In fact, the last time I slept that good was in a layout blind.
Now Wednesday I was all primed to get back to Big Turkey after all the ducks I saw on Tues.
So I got to bed early, got up a little late and made it to the lake right on time. Only to find out overnight the landing and whole bay froze over. Well CRAP, my boat won't break any amount of ice so I did what anyone else would've done. I bolted back to the house changed clothes grabbed my crossbow and went to freeze in a stand for 3 1/2 hours. The only thing I saw were squirrels no deer just squirrels. I did get buzzed by some very happy mallards.
Jeff's day started with a little deer hunting, and all I say was squirrels and ducks again. However, on the way home I went around the backside of the property and saw the biggest buck I have seen out on that property. He was hanging close to a doe in the middle of a field, and with gun season starting Saturday his days might be numbered. I gotta drop a doe, sooner rather than later. Then I can stop deer hunting and focus on everything else I need to be hunting.

Ducks and Deer

I would normally be asleep by this time, with it being Jeff day and all. However, I have had a million things to take care of today and have left the house 3x's today, I KNOW 3X'S. After I took my shower and was ready to go to bed I saw that I haven't done laundry yet so with that here I am. I was going to wait 'til next week to write this but since I found some time....
 All week was the same thing Ducks in the morning and Deer in the afternoon and all but Wed were the same.
Monday: Was a treat, we still have standing corn and there is nothing that is more fun than to shoot out of the corn. I saw many geese and got a duck.

40 geese could've landed for a shot. 2 clucks and a moan and they were lookin' for a place to land

 

 I did shoot another but I couldn't retrieve him, try as I might. I hope the corn stands 'til goose season comes back in.
When I got home I went deer hunting at the magic 5 and had a small doe within' 5 ft of me. She knew something was wrong just couldn't figure out what it was.
Tuesday headed to Big Turkey Lake and shot a duck.

I did shoot a drake but he fell in the glare of the sun and I lost him after an exhausting search. Then that evening went back to the magic 5 and watched a spike meander around for 15 minutes.
Wednesday was the only day I didn't shoot a duck, much to my dismay. However, I could've shot a nice 8 while deer hunting that night at the magic 5.
Well, laundry should be about done and I'm tired, stay safe and take care 'til next week.

The Geese are here

Monday I went with Jake to his pond we shot a mallard and a wood duck. What we lacked in action we made up for in knowledge. I know it's hard to believe, but we gained alot of knowledge like..... where we were going to hunt Tuesday. We watched and heard a shload of geese just a couple fields down from where we were hunting and knew nobody was hunting them. So we got in early with Andy and Sean and this happened.

Limits and I'm the only one smiling?

Yep, we had a great day, shot limits and were done by 9:15 AM. I did get some video but I don't have it put together yet.... Oh, what the heck here's a preview.

 Wednesday we added one more to our crew and hit a field 1 mile straight behind us. We didn't shoot limits but we did go out in the rain and get everything cold and wet. Right now in my house and garage I have 5 fans drying out my gear, we did shoot birds I think we were 6 birds shy of a limit. There were just as many geese, but after the butt whoopin', we gave 'em the day before they were a little warier. We did have a couple ducks in the spread early Jake and I both shot wood ducks. No pic today... did I mention it  RAINED  all day?
Today... well, today is Jeff day as is every Thursday, and I would've gone with Jake back to shoot more geese at the first field we were at, but he has to stay home with the young ens today. I would go turkey hunting but it is still raining a torrential downpour out there and we all know how much I love hunting in the rain. So I stay at home today get ready for work tomorrow and prepare for next week's adventure.

Deer, Turkey, Ducks, and Geese

Monday started off with an invite to Jake's pond for a duck and goose shoot. I would've had a pic but the rain came in sending everyone scrambling to get packed up. We were also trying to get me to my dental appt on time.... didn't happen. So between Jake, Any, and myself, we ended up with 4 Mallards and 2 Geese. We would've done better but while I was out retrieving 2 ducks the mondo wad of ducks wanted in, then a dozen geese were looking to land. The ducks didn't like the whole look if it and never even got close, the geese were fixin' to land then noticed the dead duck belly up on the water and they slid off. Oh well, seed for the next shoot.
Tuesday I went to Big Turkey in the morning albeit a little late and shot 1 more mallard to add to the pot.

she did it right circled once then came right in, one shot one kill

Tuesday evening my minion and I went to the magical 5 acres to try and get him a deer. We did have one come through but his name is Larry and he's not even 1 yet so he got a pass. Oh, by the way, this is why you should always practice your crossbow in front of a larger immovable object.

Missed it byyyy that much

 Wednesday I was going to do the same thing as Tuesday but my deer was done, so I got to sleep in and get some stuff done around the house and then head to the processer to pick up my deer. Then we went deer hunting/turkey hunting, yes turkey season is open but I have yet to bag my bird, fortunately, bow season stays in a llllooonnnggg time.
That being said I went turkey hunting this morning also, and since I knew there weren't any birds at the magical 5, Jake had given me the OK to hunt his prop while he was away. So, that's what I did, I went this morning and unfortunately didn't see a bird I did, however, spook a couple bucks which one of them is really lucky I'm tagged out and wasn't greenlighted for deer anyway. He came back 3 X's to try and see what he smelled, it's very true that curiosity could'a killed the deer. I only hunted 'til Bob and Tom got done at 10am then I packed up my gear and headed to the house. Once I got here I had to make my sammiches for the week and also cook my suppers for the week since Jake and Andy were nice enough to give me the ducks and geese from Monday, I made duck in bacon and goose kabobs minus without the kabobs. MMMmmmmmm.
I normally don't take pics of my food but.....

Left to Right: deer heart stroganoff, duck'nbacon, goose kabob's without the kabob

I'm pretty much in a meat coma right now, might have a salad a little later... well I'll give it a thought anyway.
Take care for now.

Overtime

Last week I was talking to my buddy who lets me hunt his property and he asked me for some summer sausage when I get my deer back. Now, normally that wouldn't be a big deal except I didn't have summer sausage made when I dropped off my deer at the processor. I don't have a problem trading meat for the opportunity to hunt but I kinda gotta know. So this week was spent trying to tag a doe before waterfowl season starts, for me that's on Mon. Turkey shotgun season even opened this week and in my quest for another deer, I have been hunting down the hill from where I shot my deer at. Well, unfortunately, that's where the turkey's roost and on Tues. I busted out 9 birds in the early am. I stayed all day hoping they would make their way back to me so I could get a shot, archery season has been open since the first. Well, with no tags getting filled and with duck starting next week I needed to get the garage put together so I can get the boat in and out. So I had to finish this.....

 Yep, finally got the carpet and hatches put on the front of the boat. I had to finish this to get it back in the boat and off the sawhorses that were in front of the duck boat. Now with the front and back done all I have to do is winterize it next week and I can forget about it 'til next year.
Today being Jeff day I was going to go hunting this morning but couldn't get out of bed so I stayed home got ready for work did some chores and completed a couple more projects I had been putting off.

put a lid on this bag for a dozen new floaters.

satchel for my silhouettes

Now I'm ready ....
I think starting Mon. it'll be duck in the morning and turkey in the evening until I tag out, then deer in the evening until I tag out again.
Or wait til muzzleloader season....
gotta keep the landowner happy.

Long hard season

Well, yesterday morning saw the end of another hard deer season. I didn't hunt last week because of the heatwave we were in. This week was the week, Monday however was not, I just couldn't make it out so I got all my running done. Tuesday found me sitting in my deer stand in the magical 5 acres, watching a yearling doe browse around, lose interest and finally just wander off. Wednesday I was sitting in the same stand at sunrise and there was a distinct sense of success in the air. It had everything to do with the 6 deer that wandered into my woods from the beans just a little after sunrise. There were 2- 2-year-old bucks with maybe 8 points between the two of them. There were 2 yearlings, one 2-year-old and one monster doe. Needless to say, I was going to let them all walk except for the big doe, she was so big I started shaking. Well, she must have realized what I had on my mind and wandered off to the North. Meanwhile, I was watching one of the bucks and a yearling browsing and laying down 60 yards in front of me. The other yearling and the 2-year-old doe were hanging out to my right 50 yards out. The other buck meandered up behind me when I lost sight of him. After what I can only guess to be 30 minutes, a buck bolts down the hill on my right, I try to grunt stop him with no luck. The next option is to try a shot, so I loose the arrow, it looked like a clean miss. But this buck turned and started back toward me, all the while I was cocking my crossbow and nocking a fresh bolt. When I was able to get a clear shot, I loosed another bolt, this one found it's mark. The buck reeled over backward down the hill flipping head over ass 2 times before I lost sight of him. After a couple minutes to settle down, collect myself and police my gear I got down and made my way to the truck. I put up my fun gear and grabbed my work gear and headed back to claim my prize.

He had 9 points and dressed out at 165 pounds

Come to find out, the first shot actually hit him in the rear. He made the wrong choice to turn around and find out what had bitten him. In his last-ditch effort to cause me pain, he was able to destroy both of my bolts, one of my nocturnal nocks and broke off and lost a brand new rage broadhead😡. But he did get to ride in my truck.😄 : ) 😄

work, work, work

ATTENTION LOYAL BLOG SUBSCRIBERS and those of you I forced into signing up for my blog.

It seems there was a glitch in the Matrix on last weeks blog and all you may have received was a paragraph. Well, there was also some pics and a video (well worth another look). So you can either go to this site or you may be able to just scroll down. However you want to do it, I would highly recommend checking it out.

Now onto this weeks action..... there was none. I mowed the lawn, washed the boat, got the vinyl laid... oh yeah that was action. If you consider me cursing at the flooring, action. It did turn out pretty good for an amateur.

It actually has a really thin foamish back on it so when you walk on it it's kinda squishy. But that was the easy end, the front will may be next week. I got my on-board charger out and almost ready to send back. Why?  Well, it took days for it to charge my trolling batteries where it should've only took hours. Since it's a Noco Genius and is well under warranty I just send it back and they'll send me out a new one. I also got my garage cleaned up a little... ok, enough to get my duck boat out. Oh yeah, I was also able to get my battery into the duck boat and got it ready for this duck season. WOW, I really did alot this week and that's just the stuff I can remember. I probably did alot more that I already forgot about.
So, next week should be: winterize motors, install keel shield, carpet the front deck, and install vent visors on the truck, not necessarily all in that order.
Gotta go make some salmon for supper now.
Take care 'til next week.

Early season all but over for me

With early goose season opening on the 14th this year I took Sat. and Sun. off. I got an invite to hunt with Jake and a few of his friends on Sat. It was a great way to start the early goose season. One of the guys who hunted with us works as a crop duster, apparently, his boss found out where he was hunting on Sat. This may have been only a close flyby but unfortunately, there was a full moon out in the early morning and the pilot took exception to it...

 Once the hunt was over and everything was packed up we were short a couple birds but it will be the hunt to top this year.

 From left to right: Cody, Tucker, Aaron, Chad, Nate, James, Zeb, Me, John, Jake


From there it just went downhill we just didn't have any birds.
Jake, Sean and I went to one of Jake's spots on Sunday. We shot a couple geese in the morning then Sean and I shot over to Mongo to try to get on some teal I found there a week prior during a dove hunt. We didn't find the teal but Sean got a dove...

Monday stayed home and got some chores done, Tuesday more of the same from Monday. Wednesday Jake and I hunted the same pond as Sunday. We didn't get anything but there were more geese in the area. After the morning hunt, I headed home caught a quick nap and shot over to Mongo to try some pass shooting. Sean and I saw where the geese were flying through to get to a feed just East of Mongo. So I signed in and got set up, I did get one goose but that was all that came close enough for a shot. Sorry, no pic forgot to get one. Thursday I was going to go hunt a lake nearby but I just couldn't get out of bed. So essentially that was my early season goose hunt. It was a pretty busy week but it really got me ready for the second season, in a month. Before that starts though we have opening fall turkey and deer archery season, I'm looking forward to both of those.

Do I have another trip in me???

So, I went to Erie yesterday rollin' solo, none of my bros could get free. Before I went I told myself that I had 2 trips to Erie left in me before I winterized the boat and focused on shootin' stuff in the face. Well, I fished hard all day and only ground out 2 walleye

 and one 18" largemouth

 I just checked my path on google pro and it said I traveled 23 miles trolling yesterday, it seems huge but I believe it. I fished for 16 hours, ending at sunset, it was a long hot day to bring home my 2 fish. It was pretty bumpy out all day the wind pretty much had its way with me. The lake was pretty tore up, with eelgrass floating all over and on top of that, the spiny water fleas were in pretty thick.
 
 With those 3 things going against me I should be happy I boated the couple I did. Seems like I was cleaning lures and line every 15 mins to a half-hour, then staying on course was a bear...
That being said next week is the opening goose, needless to say, I won't even be thinking about fishing....
I might be up for a trip the week after, but I'm saying now if I can't fill the passenger seat I'm going to be done for the year....


-maybe-

HUNTING SEASON IS HERE

Yes, the 2019-2020 has officially opened, I spent opening Dove on a mix of private and public properties. I will say I did better on public but it was awesome to be able to shoot lead again. On all public properties, you can only shoot steel, which sometimes isn't lethal. Nuff 'bout that, I shot ok and brought down 10 doves over the course of 2 days. 2 on Tuesday

 I only shot two because of all the usual excuses: shot poorly, the wrong spot, started late, forgot my chair, tired......
Wednesday same as Tuesday, I started on private and transitioned to public. I not only shot better but I was in the same field and was where the dove wanted to be. In waterfowl lingo, I was on the X. I didn't get a pic of the 8 doves I shot on Wednesday because it was pretty late and I went to Jakes to make poppers out of them and deep fry'em. While I was cleaning them I was on my second to last bird and low and behold it was banded...

 This is the info...
 Dear Jeff Kimber,
Thank you for reporting Band #: 1843-32069A confirmation email has been sent to you.
See below for the banding information for the reported bird:

Date	08/01/2016
Species	Mourning Dove
Age	HATCHED IN 2015 OR EARLIER
Sex	MALE
Location	NEAR MONGO, LAGRANGE COUNTY, INDIANA, USA

 This is my second dove band, they are rarer than waterfowl bands.
Super awesome start... the poppers were also really good.

Not long now...

The days are getting shorter, the nights are getting cooler and most (sane) people are making plans to put the boat in storage for the year. I'm one of those guys, you know the guy that just waits on the leaves to change so I can switch a fishing pole for a gun or bow. I should still have a couple fishing trips in me yet, but I'm sure they will be separated by HUNTING.
OK so with that put out there, I ended up at Tippy lake this week. It was a pretty rough out there, really windy and pretty hard to find fish. This is the time of year that I hate fishing the smaller lakes. The lake really shows it's wear this time of year, with all the tore up it's really rare to not bring in seaweed with every cast. Anyway enough complaining, I didn't get skunked but it was close. I went to Tippy for the white bass and couldn't even hook a small one. I think someone's telling me I need to start hunting. I did catch a bass almost worthy of a picture and only got one to prove I was fishing this week.

 It really wasn't a cold day but with the wind, I kept this light hoodie on until I loaded the boat.
Next week hopefully pics of some doves, I might even take a pic of the cooked side of dove hunting. Mmmmmm, Wish me luck...

As of today.....

Last week I did go fishing for a couple hours, I caught some fish but nothing really worth taking a picture of. I did, however, save a life....

 This little guy hung on the whole time I was fishing. When I got back to the launch and loaded the boat, I was strapping the boat down and he was on the back of the kicker. I was going to put him on a nearby fence but he flew away on the way over.
This is how hectic my summer has been:
Today I had all intentions to get up and head to South Haven and see if I could get a king or two. So when I got home yesterday, I ate, set my alarm for 3am and headed to bed. I awoke at 6 in the morning, freaking out cause I was late for work until I realized it was a fishing day, not a workday. Then I was ticked cause I wasn't going fishing on fishing day. So I will get some stuff done around here, hopefully, work tomorrow and maybe go fishing after work for a couple hours.
But next week salmon fishing is on.... unless I go to Erie. I'm going to be trolling on a big lake somewhere.

Best intentions

I've been fighting a cold for the last couple of weeks. When I got up to go fishing at 3 am on Monday I felt terrible, so I went back to bed.... until noon. The same thing happened on Tuesday, on Wednesday I worked and today I feel pretty good. So even though I didn't get out this week I think it was time well spent. Next week.... boy next week I'm going to get 'em, I just can't decide where yet.

Couple hours for my biggest bass this year

Between the rain that was supposed to happen Mon and Tues and trying to get my extra day at work in, I wasn't sure when I would be able to get out and go fishing. As it turned out I worked on Wednesday morning and decided to go fishing after work. I went to a lake really close to the house, in fact, it's a lake I wanted to check out for duck season. It might be doable for duck season but I'm sure I'll go back to fish it again. It has alot of carp but also a pretty decent bass population.

This was my fist frog bass of the day

 It also has a surprising number of laydowns in the water which is where I hooked up with this guy.

He choked my frog so deep you can't even see it

This was the second bass on this plastic lure

Pretty good fishing for only a couple hours.