| A "Smorgasbord" of Duck - Jan. 2004 |
| You just never know how a weekend hunt will turn out. The one thing we did know was that every weatherman in New Orleans was calling for a 100% chance of rain on Saturday. With this in mind, Joe made arrangements for us to stay at the trailer in Venice. Knowing how miserable it is at the camp site when it rains, I was happy at the prospect of not having to sleep in a wet sleeping bag and staying wet all weekend. I had been excited all week about this trip. The last weekend of the season had not been the best for duck hunting the past couple of years, but just a chance to get back into the marsh had me looking forward to being there. So on Friday, January 16, 2004, Joe and I met at Gary's at 10:00 AM CST. Dick had decided not to come this final weekend of the season, so Joe decided to take only the mud boat. The weather was mild and the temperature was near 60F as we headed down Hwy. 23 toward Venice. After a quick stop for gas and air in Port Sulphur, then another quick stop for bait in Empire, were pulled up to the trailer in Venice at 11:30. There was no one at the trailer and Joe informed me we would be the only ones there for the weekend. We unloaded the truck and set out for the launch. It was a gorgeous day. We knew this would be our only chance to fish. Before going fishing, Joe decided to look for a new place to hunt. As we headed the mud boat toward the Gulf of Mexico, we scared up several hundred ducks in one particular area. There we found a nice location where we could pull the boat into the canes for cover. We set out the decoys and went to find the fish. For as nice of a day as it was, the fish just didn't want to cooperate. Joe caught two redfish, but the only thing I caught was a mild buzz from the toddies were drinking. Around 3 in the afternoon, we gave up fishing and drove back to the canes. Joe pulled the boat through the canes and we hunted from the mud boat. We didn't see a lot flying, but we did bag a pair of Mallards and a pair of Widgeon along with some teal. Anytime you can shoot Mallards and Widgeon, it's always a quality hunt. As it got dark we headed back to Venice. Joe fixed filet mignon and a baked potato for dinner. We ate and were asleep by 8 p.m. We got up at 4 a.m. and headed back to the launch. We were early, but it was nice to get there before anyone else did. The tide was very low that morning and we couldn't maneuver the mud boat into the canes as we had the previous day, so we came in a different way and moved canes in front of us for cover. It didn't take long for it to start raining. It was mainly a light rain with some harder rain but no big downpours. I shot the first duck of the morning - a solo teal over the decoys. Joe followed up with yet another greenhead and a couple of huge mottled ducks. When I saw the mottled ducks low over the decoys I didn't shoot because I thought they were too big to be ducks. Big mistake! Joe was on target again on Saturday. The only thing he missed was a gaggle of geese that happened to come in over us. They were pretty high but Joe was hoping to bring one down. They were just a little too far out of range. We had spoonbills flying all morning but we didn't shoot them. We let them fly and land in the decoys. They were fun to watch and they attracted other ducks. On the way back to the launch that morning, it started raining hard. The tide came up fast and the warm front that was expected to bring all the rain was quite evident. Back at the trailer, Joe fixed hamburgers for lunch and we took a nap. |
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| An Unforgettable Saturday Afternoon Hunt |