Fast start slow finish... still 2020
 

Thursday afternoon Craig and I went up to the New York state northern hunting zone to explore a marsh neither of us had hunted before. My nephew had been hunting it on and off the previous two weeks with some success on teal and woodies. (He had taken a blue wing a few days prior - I have still never taken one so I was excited to get there).

We dropped the jon boat and headed upstream to a pond just outside the opening to Lake Ontario. Winds were strong out of the west at 30+. No sooner had we set up Craig started working a group of 5 mallards. He brought them right over our blocks and I was able to punish two big drakes for their mistake! (32" GHE straight grip 20 bore F/F 1oz. KM) Craig's pup made light work of retrieving them and we were feeling strong!

With that 30MPH wind and 2 in the boat in first 10 minutes...we thought we were going to fill our limits. Unfortunately, that was the last time we raised our guns. 2 hours of watching birds move far off to the east but no more shooting. Odd to say the least. A good fit for 2020.
Anyway...it was a hunt! Felt good to be out there! More to come as we get water in the marshes.

did you fill the boat with water for the return trip?

Mark, what brand of cigar are you smoking there? Always nice to have a morning stogie after taking the first ducks of the day!

Nice going guys. Glad you found some place to punish those ducks. I punished 2 blue wings yesterday here in SD. Thousands and thousands of them along with every other species known to mankind. Having one heck of a hunt this year.

Glad to hear you have things going your way out there Daryl.
What tools are you using this week to harvest your birds? Meriden or Philly or both?
A couple pics perhaps???

Daryl say hello to Mike, Jim and the Puffer ladies, tell them we are chomping at the bit to get to SD. Please warm the weather up a bit!!

We are headed back north today to try and scratch some ducks. It has been a very challenging season for us. The first split was a bust - limited opportunities with no migration. The DEC really hurt us here with their new "bright idea" of closing the season during the migration and reopening just in time for the marshes to freeze. Blaming it on complaints from deer hunters who did not want to miss the rut......Bologna.

Anyway wish us luck. If my friend does not kill a few ducks soon.......:eek:

Here is a nice black taken in a cut corn hunt with the GHE 20/32" described above. Boy do I love that gun!!!

Tough year. I feel like I have been running up hill for 2 months. Occasionally (like this morning) I reach a plateau......Tomorrow????
Last day of hunting with the 16 ga 1 1/2 frame 32" "Nightmare" this year. Moving to the 3 Frame 32" DHE "Punisher" with 1 1/4 oz # 3 TM bone breakers in morning.

Cover photo if I have ever seen one!

Big wind this afternoon. 3 frame DHE got a short but productive workout on a His and Hers decoy. Lights on Lights off with 1 1/4 oz TM #3. Travellers for sure. Heavy.

Great stuff guys, and I really like the way you’ve posed your Parkers and ducks... I don’t miss the tailgate poses we see on other sites.





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Finishing early the last couple days has allowed for better pics. I too appreciate a nice shot of the Parker and quarry.
I have never owned a Parker that I did not blood.
I hope that never changes

I had no idea when I titled this thread how prophetic it would be. We are now done with the 2020 season and it was indeed a SLOW finish......
Last six hunts on Irondequoit Bay I never lifted my gun - We had been shooting the same birds for over 15 days by then (with no migration) - they were either dead or smart so game over...but that time of the year (late December/early January) everything is shut down up here so......I just hunted anyway.....You cannot get them from the couch as we say....

Fast forward to This week and we headed down to Havre de Grace for our first time "body booting" Four of us (the usual suspects) had a 3 day hunt. Unfortunately, the 2020 curse persisted. The weather would not cooperate - flat water and the birds never really flew. We all shot a few birds but we never shot the canvasbacks which was our focus. We did what we do under those circumstances - we made lemonade, eating oysters and drinking beer and whiskey afterwards!

So.... the season is behind us. On to bigger spreads and bigger bags in 2021! We spoke about how we are all still thankful to be able to shoot these old guns at waterfowl (we carried 3 frame parkers a VH and a DHE and 1 Superfox. God Bless America and our American guns!! :usa::usa::usa:
I am counting down the days till next season already!

You fellas are True die-hards!!





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Craig looks really happy for a fella that's standing in ice cold water. I figured there would be a cigar in that equation somewhere BTW. Thanks for sharing, always enjoy the hunting pics you fellas post. Better luck next year !

You guys reinforce the idea that "it is all about the hunt" and not the bounty.