Opening of Duck Season 2002
Page 3
Friday evening we ate shrimp gumbo and listened to high school football then went to bed early.  I slept well that evening.  We awoke around 4:30 Saturday to a warm, still morning.  It didn't take long to figure the gnats would pose a problem.  We fixed coffee and headed out to the duck blinds.

Joe dropped me off at my blind on the back canal.  I would be hunting alone.  As it started getting light I heard Joe and Dick open the season.  I would learn later that first duck was a greenhead mallard.

A little while after that I spotted a gray duck coming in low over the marsh from right to left.  He was moving quite fast and I figured he would pass over the canal, then the pond and I'd have to take my shot as he passed in front of me.  All of a sudden he slammed on the brakes, flared his wings, put out his feet and started to drop vertically into the canal behind an island.  "Oh no!" I thought.  I couldn't let him land behind the island so I jumped up and let out one shot.  It was a good shot.  I quickly jumped into the pirogue to retrieve him.  It was a great start to what would end up being a slow morning for me.

Joe and Dick's blind is about a half mile away and is located straight ahead of where I sit.  I watched as ducks came over them and fell with their shots.

About 30 minutes after I shot my first duck, three teal zoomed in low down the canal from behind me and dropped into the canal behind the island.  As I stood up and tried to see them, I spotted two big ducks heading right into the pond from my left.  I quickly sat back down.  One of them came right into the pond, flared, put his feet down to land and I had an easy shot right in front of me.  He fell 10 feet in front of me in the mud.  It was another nice big gray duck.  The other gray was out of range by then and the three teal got up and flew away from me.  I was satisfied with two ducks on two shots, but that would be all that I would bag that morning.

Joe and Dick bagged 10 ducks, mostly grays and mottled ducks.  They shot only one teal of three they saw.  We were concerned we saw only six teal all morning.

We went back to the camp and cleaned the ducks.  We then went fishing, but they weren't biting.  We came back to the camp and ate ham and eggs for breakfast.  Dick decided to leave, so Joe took him back to the launch.  Joe and I tried to fish, but there wasn't any action anywhere.

That afternoon we started listening to the LSU vs. Kentucky football game.  We decided to get in the blind early, drink some beer and listen to the game.  With the game blaring on the radio, we had duck after duck come into the pond.  We shot poorly but did manage go bag another six ducks after a short rain shower passed through.  The highlight of the afternoon was listening to LSU defeat Kentucky on a last minute 75 yard Hail Mary pass.

At sunset, we went back to the campsite, ate stew for dinner, listened to more college football, drank a few toddies and went to bed early.  That night the wind started blowing hard out of the south.  The tide rose considerably and at one point a couple of waves crashed over the island and water flowed under the tent.  Luckily Joe had brought a double sized air mattress, but we realized that perhaps we need to look for a better campsite for the future.

The next day we shot three ducks but lost two of them.  Joe's dog Annie had retrieved all of their ducks on Saturday, but Sunday she seemed tired of it all and couldn't find two gray ducks I'd knocked down.  It was a bluebird kind of day.  We decided to leave early.  We tore down the campsite and headed home disappointed in the lack of ducks, especially teal.

Although the hunting was not very good, catching those redfish on a perfect day Friday was enough to make the trip more than memorable.  Thanks Joe for another fun time in the marsh.
Joe & I Return to the Marsh One Week Later!
The following Friday, an approaching cold front prompted me to call Joe and see if he wanted to make a morning hunt Saturday.  He agreed and at 3:30 a.m. Saturday morning we met up at Gary's to get the mudboat.  We drove to Venice, launched the boat and were in the blind by 5:30.  Making a morning hunt is so easy with the mudboat.  No paddling!

The weather was perfect, the temperature was in the upper 50's, there was light rain on the trip to the blind, the skies were overcast dark gray and the wind was blowing 20-30 mph.  It doesn't get any better than that!  Luckily it didn't rain on us while we were in the blind.  By nine o'clock we had bagged 9 big ducks - 2 Mottled ducks, 5 Grays and 2 Widgeon I had shot.  I hadn't shot Widgeon in many years and it was nice to bag two of these beautiful ducks.  We probably could have shot the limit but we decided to come in early.  But it was one of those days you could have stayed out all day and shot ducks.

Joe had told me last weekend that we have to keep the eye on the weather and try to make more of these morning hunts.  He was happy I called him.  We had a great hunt and can't wait for the next cold front to blow though.  I didn't bring the camera on this trip, but hope to on the next one.