Boundary Bay before the deluge

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Spent yesterday out in the bay hunting ducks including this nice mallard drake. People asked how I could persevere when we had a 50mm deluge of rain that day and I think there are some days I was glad I could pick up and head for cover, head for home or even just go to the nearest pub to get warm and get hot food. But all our veterans had no option. They're fighting, marching, just surviving and getting bombed and shot at. Or people in those lands who no longer have a home. And me? That's nothing. I choose to and sometimes even enjoy a bit of misery. It's nothing when I can just go home. Anyway a little reflection.

This was a nice day prior to the downpour. I had a chat with a member of the local riding school on the dyke and she said "low cloud must be good for you right?" Absolutely. Low cloud pushes down birds and it was absolutely a ducky day. There were big clouds of wigeon and flights of fat mallards. Not much goose until near the end.

It was high tide so I brought five floaters which after a struggle untangling I threw out at the waters edge and then sat down to wait. Before too long birds starting giving it a look but my seat position wasn't ideal. I sat perpendicular to the flight path so after one duck went down and after whiffing a couple crossing shots I picked up the chair and moved to a spot where I would be head on to ducks coming in. This worked wonders as in the next three hours I got to see ducks work the spread. Bigger flocks just gave them a sniff but I limited out on singles and doubles opportunities.

There was another moment where I thought I would bust a limit right away. The wigeon have taken to rafting just out of legal shooting boundaries on the west end of the bay. At about noon an eagle started taking a pass at them and just like that easily two hundred of them picked up and came right for the foreshore. What felt like a glorious opportunity, however, didn't happen as the eagle as if by design came right over my spot, driving the wigeon everywhere but where it was shootable.

I had some follies worth remembering. I put down a hen cripple and when I walked out to collect her saw she was still up. All it took was an instant of looking down to reload and she plopped into the water, dove and that was the last I saw of her. Still later walking back to my decoys after strolling to my bag for a sip of hot tea I noticed a handful of teal were in among the dekes. Too late I went for the gun and they picked up and were gone. Lastly, I had almost packed up to go home after limiting (counting the cripple I never recovered), a flight of snowies came in directly overhead. When I lined them up for a gift shot - click nothing. I hadn't checked to see if my gun had ejected the last hull. Bah. What a missed opportunity.

In the parking lot after two new hunters said they admired my shooting that day. I said it wasn't the shooting; it was the decoying. It's how bad shots like me can limit out. Set them up and get them bailing over the spot you can shoot them comfortably. Still... those mistakes I'll remember!

Great times shooting decoying birds.

Good eats there. Your efforts payed off

Great story! Really enjoyed it. Thanks for sharing.

if you’re ever looking for company out there and willing to impart some knowledge drop me a dm. I don’t have decoys but I’ve got the rest, and would really appreciate learning from someone that knows what they’re doing. I’ve been hunting for six years and while I’m decent at deer hunting, I have very limited knowledge when it comes to water fowl. I have been out before quite successfully with a hunter who knew what he was doing. Really enjoyed the experience and the meat.

once again thanks for sharing

Lelantos, PM me. I'm flattered but really I am not a great shooter, just I try a lot of things and I have my opinions. As for taking out newbs, honestly, scheduling is keeping me from taking new waterfowlers out on opportunities so don't be surprised if we cannot connect. There were already 3-4 who wanted to go out this year and it just hasn't happened yet. What I am saying is don't let it stop you from going out and making your own mistakes.

Some tips I should mention from what I've observed of new hunters in this area.

1. They get camo, but then they don't stay still! They walk around, stand up. By doing so they are limiting their opportunities. Birds can see you moving. Why would they come close to anyone who is just standing in the open? It is counter to reason. Even if you don't have decoys or calls, stay hidden and stay still!

2. Be conservative when you shoot. #1 complaint of all seasoned waterfowlers. We see hunters take shots that are 50, 60y and it is laughable. At those ranges you would need a heat seeking missile to pull down a bird. Of course I have witnessed birds coming down due to skybusting and even seen some wonderful shooting from veteran hunters at those ranges - but if one is starting out and taking those shots you must hate ammunition and money more than you like taking birds. Worse, you are educating birds to stay away from the area to the detriment of other hunters who have the patience to wait for the guaranteed shots.

I am not a great shot! I repeat. I miss way more than I hit. But the ones I do hit, it's because they came down so low and close even a poor shot has a good chance at pulling it down.

3. Before you set up, watch the birds and what they are doing. That'll tell you where to plunk down. I don't have honey holes; I just know in general what they like to do and I wait. And if you don't have decoys to draw them in, then you will be doing much like you would with deer. You would find the likely areas and be patient.

If all hunters respected #1 and #2 we would still have room for four times as many duffers like me all the time in that area. But all it takes is a group just walking around like idiots to spoil the shoot for everyone else in the area.

1 other side to that story is showing someone where to shoot and coming the next weekend and finding him and 4 of his buddy's in the spot. It spoiled me from ever taking out other people thanks to Derio. Prime west coast goose spot.
I stopped telling people about fishing and hunting. I prefer to hunt and fish with my betterhalf now. If and when she comes out.
I put the miles on my shoes finding the spots. 5+ years of looking for some.

I never said anything about showing anyone honey holes.

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Originally Posted by silveragent

Some tips I should mention from what I've observed of new hunters in this area.

2. Be conservative when you shoot. #1 complaint of all seasoned waterfowlers. We see hunters take shots that are 50, 60y and it is laughable. At those ranges you would need a heat seeking missile to pull down a bird.

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Last time I was at Boundary Bay, some joker was shooting at kites! :mrgreen:

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Last time I was at Boundary Bay, some joker was shooting at kites!

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Ridiculous! I'm sure I've never seen that 8)

It doesn’t matter if it’s a honey hole or not, IMO, if someone takes you to a spot you don’t show it to anyone else without the original hunters permission. Still I can appreciate it’s difficult to trust someone you’ve never met, and harder still to tell if someone is paying lip service to good hunting ethics.

The parts I would care to show someone are geared toward accessibility for the new hunter. If I wanted to scare them off I would show them the ones where the effort to get there is extreme (but is rewarded by the fact you are away from most hunters who don't want to make the effort to get there).

I am fine with sharing techniques and ethics because all hunters benefit from others who share the same ethics and become hunters you are fine with competing with. I've converted a couple hunters to decoying by having them share my set up after watching them skybust the whole morning. If they show up the next day with decoys, that's fine. At least they're not filling the air with no hoper shots.