The Hog Blog

I spelled it right.  Fowl… as in water… as in ducks! 

I had pretty much written off any duck hunting this year, what with the guided hunts, out of state trips, and everything else.  But as the season wound down, I caught myself longing for a chilly morning in the marsh.  When my friend, Scott, called me up last week with an invite to meet up at Mendota, I couldn’t turn it down.  The storm front that was blowing through CA on the weekend made it even more irresistable, as I knew the birds would be flying.  Sure, that weather made problems for lots of other people in this state, but for duckhunters, it was a definite blessing!

Well, I no more hit the road Friday night than the storm abated.  By the time I arrived at Mendota, about two and a half hours later, the stars were peeking through big gaps in the scudding clouds.  Would Saturday morning turn out to be a bluebird day?

I woke at 0330 Saturday morning to the sound of a car alarm.  A car alarm?  Totally disoriented, it took me a while to realize I wasn’t still at home in the city.  By the time the alarm was turned off, I was wide awake.  I rolled out of my bunk and brewed a cup of coffee and had breakfast.  The sound of raindrops pattered on the roof of the camper.  It was gonna be a good day!

I’ll save you all from the detailed story of the hunt.  Since Scott and I spent about nine hours in the marsh, that would make for a LOT of detail.  So here’s the short version.

Just at first shooting light, we were swarmed by birds.  A few shots later, we both had limits on canvasbacks(2 birds each), and started working on the other ducks.  Spoonies (Northern Shovelers) were being their normal, suicidal selves, and Scott and I each hammered a few, then started holding out for some “quality” ducks like pintails or mallards.  Unfortunately, constant shooting from the ponds around us kept the pintails and mallards high in the sky or headed for parts unknown.  Time after time, a group of sprig would start that slow, spiraling approach to our decoys… and invariably, just as they set wings for one more pass, someone nearby would shoot at something and flare the birds back into the stratosphere.

In the meantime, the cans and spoonies continued to dive bomb us throughout the day.  By about 2:30pm, we were ready to go, so we decided to fill out our bags with the little kamikaze spoonies.  Final tally, five spoonies and two canvasbacks each. 

Unfortunately, I failed to do any photos or video of the hunt.  I didn’t want to take the video camera out in that weather, and I forgot to grab the still camera from the truck before we went out.  Oh well… I promise to have pictures or video of my next outing.