Well after an unsuccessful big game season I wanted to get out and do some duck hunting. Went out for a Snake River blast & cast.
The night before my buddy realized one of his trailer lights wasn't working so I went and bought a set for him and went over to help install..installed one and they were working and we should have left well enough alone but replaced the 2nd one then neither of them worked..after a few hours we found that it was a blown fuse so finally got them working.
Morning of we head out nice and early get to the boat ramp 1.5hrs before shooting light and he does another inspection and his throttle is locked up. We take things apart and after an hr it finally works..not sure if it was frozen up from the cold but we got it. Then we get into the water..I go and park his truck and come back and see that there's is water at my buddies feet..he forgot to put one of the plugs in..we wait another 30 min for it to drain out then finally take off to the island.
On top of it all there was some heavy fog. As we approach the island over 100 ducks fly off at the sound of the jet boat approaching..I get out and toss out a dozen decoys and get settled in.
Set my decoys and noticed that they were being moved by the current even tho they had 6oz weights..had to move my spread to the end of the island where the current wasn't flowing as much. You could not see anything in the distance so if one flew by or into my decoys you wouldn't see it until last sec. I managed to drop 4 ducks but 2 of them landed at the edge of my spread where the current was moving quickly and they got taken down current before I could get to them. Shot a hen mallard who was landing in my decoys then got a nice drake a little later. I had to double tap him and he started to flow down. I made my way in after him and after going about 65 yds down river in chest high water I had to use the end of my barrel to stop him. Realized once I turned around I was walking against the current..felt a little dicey but made it back to the island safely.
My buddy was off getting his lines went then came by to pick me up around 10am so we can move spots and go to one of his sturgeon holes.
Unfortunately the sturgeon weren't biting but we had a nice fire going on the shore as we soaked some bait. Overall it was fun to be out there and bring at least a couple ducks home for dinner even tho it felt like everything was trying to stop us from going.
Cooked them up with some elk backstrap I got from my uncle. Made a cowboy butter to go along with it.
The night before my buddy realized one of his trailer lights wasn't working so I went and bought a set for him and went over to help install..installed one and they were working and we should have left well enough alone but replaced the 2nd one then neither of them worked..after a few hours we found that it was a blown fuse so finally got them working.
Morning of we head out nice and early get to the boat ramp 1.5hrs before shooting light and he does another inspection and his throttle is locked up. We take things apart and after an hr it finally works..not sure if it was frozen up from the cold but we got it. Then we get into the water..I go and park his truck and come back and see that there's is water at my buddies feet..he forgot to put one of the plugs in..we wait another 30 min for it to drain out then finally take off to the island.
On top of it all there was some heavy fog. As we approach the island over 100 ducks fly off at the sound of the jet boat approaching..I get out and toss out a dozen decoys and get settled in.
Set my decoys and noticed that they were being moved by the current even tho they had 6oz weights..had to move my spread to the end of the island where the current wasn't flowing as much. You could not see anything in the distance so if one flew by or into my decoys you wouldn't see it until last sec. I managed to drop 4 ducks but 2 of them landed at the edge of my spread where the current was moving quickly and they got taken down current before I could get to them. Shot a hen mallard who was landing in my decoys then got a nice drake a little later. I had to double tap him and he started to flow down. I made my way in after him and after going about 65 yds down river in chest high water I had to use the end of my barrel to stop him. Realized once I turned around I was walking against the current..felt a little dicey but made it back to the island safely.
My buddy was off getting his lines went then came by to pick me up around 10am so we can move spots and go to one of his sturgeon holes.
Unfortunately the sturgeon weren't biting but we had a nice fire going on the shore as we soaked some bait. Overall it was fun to be out there and bring at least a couple ducks home for dinner even tho it felt like everything was trying to stop us from going.
Cooked them up with some elk backstrap I got from my uncle. Made a cowboy butter to go along with it.
