As we stroll through life we build memories all the time, some more memorable then others, this weekend was one of those more memorable times. I took someone new out one day, went hunting with a good friend the next and thought for a good while we would be performing a rescue on a couple of other hunters.
Sunday morning I met Michel at the parking lot to see if we could fool the snow geese, so far our attempts have been low on the success side. Reports said it may be windy, but until I turn the very last corner for the launch all seemed fine. The wind was up and onshore, so we’d have to try the bottom. Underway we fought some reasonable waves and just kept it slow and steady, part way out another boat passed us, yeah we where thinking the same. Waves got higher, we got slower and decided to pull in to the first legal place to hunt and try a pass shoot for ducks. The other boat passed us and I lost sight of it, but not thought. After if got brighter we found it with our binos, tied up to a piling, just sitting there. It sat there for 45min to hour and the occupants looked fine. I figured after the tide flooded in a bit and things hopefully got safer (waves were at least 5 feet crest to trough) I’d go see if they needed help. Before my need to go out they untied and appeared to be under power, it looked like they may have had motor issues but I’m not sure. I know without ever meeting them that they put the value of a few snowgeese above their own safety, and maybe lives, never a good choice, never!
The ducks where flying really well, but fast, really fast as the wind was in the 40-60 km range it made for some very interesting shooting! The tide was down and we where hunkered in a cut safe and sound and just hunted by siting in another cut. In a bizarre way it reminded my of the trenches from WWI, mud, lots and lots of mud!
We just had out some mallard silhouettes when a pair of snows came out of nowhere, they were on Michels side and if I shot I would have muzzle blasted him really bad. He shot, I coached and together (that’s me sneakily stealing credit) he brought one down first shot, second and third only brought feathers from the other one, but a good start!
I don’t remember who brought down the first duck, but I do remember watching it in the water. The tide was flooding in, the wind and waves the same direction and the bird was going out against all of it! Michel figured back eddies, me just perplexed. A short boat ride and back it came, Oh almost forgot, 3 outing with the new 20hp Yamaha 4stroke, I’m in love! but that’s another story!
We decide this spot was good enough for geese, lots of poop around so we put out the land part of the rig. The water was “too rough to feed ya” let alone put some floaters out. In case you don’t know is reference is to Gordon Lightfoots “The wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” which really registers with me having worked on superior, in November,
5 miles from where she went down. Michel had made up 40 sillys to go with my 30 something and a dozen shells, all in all we had a pretty good looking rig!