Official 2013-2014 WFF East Coast Traveler

[Feelin' Fowl]

He got sent to the ship again. Not sure he even got to hunt over Sammy...

[Olly]

Well shit, now I feel like an ass.

[Feelin' Fowl]

Well shit, now I feel like an ass.

No need. He didn't say anything to the forum. Hell...for all I know he hunted it, and just hasn't had a chance to post about it.

[Feelin' Fowl]

This box is filthy! Poor Sammy...

[rebelp74]

Didn't get a chance to hunt over it. All I ended up having a chance to do was open the box. Which some asshole put a bunch of leaves in and it made a mess on my kitchen floor when I opened the box. Family decided to have thanksgiving in Tampa and I had to leave after that, gave me no time to get a hunt in.

[flight control]

Didn't get a chance to hunt over it. All I ended up having a chance to do was open the box. Which some asshole put a bunch of leaves in and it made a mess on my kitchen floor when I opened the box. Family decided to have thanksgiving in Tampa and I had to leave after that, gave me no time to get a hunt in.

yeah those leaves were in there when I got it too.

That sucks that you didn't get to hunt over him

[Weston81]

Same here, I didn't know if someone put them there on purpose or not so I just let them stay in there, or at least what didn't fall on the floor.

[Eric Haynes]

Didn't get a chance to hunt over it. All I ended up having a chance to do was open the box. Which some asshole put a bunch of leaves in and it made a mess on my kitchen floor when I opened the box. Family decided to have thanksgiving in Tampa and I had to leave after that, gave me no time to get a hunt in.

You guys didn't get to experiance Ollys packing job. Filled the fucker with paper shreddings

[Feelin' Fowl]

It's a little chilly for Sammy this morning. Warming up by the fire after breaking ice to get out here.

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[QH's Paw]

Wack'em and stack'em FF. Good Luck!

[rebelp74]

It's a little chilly for Sammy this morning. Warming up by the fire after breaking ice to get out here.

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Using the gold digger?

[Rick]

Warming up by the fire after breaking ice to get out here.

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Can we expect Sammy's face to have some Bell's palsy droop now, or did you get him away from the fire in time?

[Feelin' Fowl]

It's a little chilly for Sammy this morning. Warming up by the fire after breaking ice to get out here.

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Using the gold digger?

Hell no. I'm not bringing that thing out here.

Thought about it, but didn't want to risk it.

[Feelin' Fowl]

Warming up by the fire after breaking ice to get out here.

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Can we expect Sammy's face to have some Bell's palsy droop now, or did you get him away from the fire in time?

Only issues with Sammy are from whatever Jehler did to him.

[Feelin' Fowl]

DH...you want to come hunt real ducks?

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[Feelin' Fowl]

Sammy helped with breakfast too

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[rebelp74]

It's a little chilly for Sammy this morning. Warming up by the fire after breaking ice to get out here.

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Using the gold digger?

Hell no. I'm not bringing that thing out here.

Thought about it, but didn't want to risk it.

I don't mind, feel free to give any of em a try in the field.

[Feelin' Fowl]

It's a little chilly for Sammy this morning. Warming up by the fire after breaking ice to get out here.

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Using the gold digger?

Hell no. I'm not bringing that thing out here.

Thought about it, but didn't want to risk it.

I don't mind, feel free to give any of em a try in the field.

[Feelin' Fowl]

We're migrating south for a Monday hunt before Sammy heads West for the NCH.

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[jarbo03]

Knock the shit out of em. Send Sammy west with some mojo!

[DC727]

I'm shooting his ass at the nch

Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk

[Feelin' Fowl]

I'm shooting his ass at the nch

Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk

I should have had you come pick it up.

[Feelin' Fowl]

Knock the shit out of em. Send Sammy west with some mojo!

Do you want it Thursday or Friday? I'll send it two day if Thursday is best...

[Feelin' Fowl]

Sorry for the delay...the piccutres don't want to load right now, so I'll just repost them below.

Here is what went down with Sammy in Illinois...Hunt 1

Sammy came in on a frigid Thursday in early December. I took vacation so that I would be off Friday through Tuesday so that I could hunt over him each day. Things didn't work out as planned, but I was able to hunt the seagull a bit. Friday was to be the first hunt, but my SIL gave birth on Thursday, giving me the duties to watch my child on Friday, rather than hunt. 0 for 1

Friday night was a time to restring a few decoys, and try to prepare for the elements that we would be facing the next morning. The plan was to walk in about 10 dozen decoys. I had about five ready to go, so a few more needed attention.

Sammy supervised while I worked for a few hours to get everything ready.

We were going to be hunting public, and had to get to the blind early. The group quickly grew from 3 guns to 5 in a few short hours. I would love to say that Sammy was the reason that everyone was so eager to get out, but I think that knowledge of birds in the area was the driving factor. Because we were hunting public, we had to get there early. As I finished loading the truck, I soon realized that I had to get to bed now so that I could try to get about two hours of sleep in before my midnight alarm.

Two hours of sleep turned out to be about 1 hour, and it was time to get up. I grabbed my thermos, and headed out into the night. The single digit temperature yielded –teens with the wind chill that everyone here has so much respect for . Three of us met in the parking lot to prepare for the journey in. Three guys hauling a few decoys, guns, firewood, waders, blind bags, and breakfast took a bit of planning to get right. When we arrived at the edge of the river, and prepared to put our waders on, we discovered that we had only two guns when we started with three. Off the owner of the missing gun went back down the trail. He found the gun less than one hundred yards from where we started, and returned with a smile on his face.

Down the bank we went to find more ice than expected. The ice wasn’t all that thick in most spots, but it was everywhere. We made our way across the river to the island that would be our sanctuary for the next several hours. While crossing there was a constant bombardment of mini icebergs floating down the river. Doubt began to set in that the decoys would have a chance to stay in place while competing with the seemingly never ending parade of ice.

After setting up on the island a fire was produced in short order by Nanook (WFF member/lurker). He brought a fire starting log…light the paper, and you’re good to go. We still had several hours before we needed to throw decoys, giving us time to thaw out from the trip across the river, as well as an opportunity to prepare breakfast.

Another gun arrived as breakfast was getting started, bringing our total to four. The fifth would arrive shortly after sunrise. We ate, and continued to keep warm by the fire, before preparing to toss the decoys.

The time finally came, and we headed back into the water. We broke ice, only to find that an eddy was going to cause us a problems for the entire hunt. As we broke ice to float it down river, the bergs would circle back around in short order. In the places that the eddy was not an issue, ice would form almost as soon as it was broken. Sammy was placed at the tip of a small island, near several mallard floaters, and a group of mojos.

While trying to place the other floaters into the pattern we decided on for this particular hunt, we found that anything more than ten feet from the bank would run away with an iceberg. Tension flared as several failed attempts to form the decoys into an acceptable spread began to mount. We finally settled with getting a fraction of the decoys that we packed in, into the river only a few feet from the bank. With less than 20 minutes to shooting time, we apply our absolutely necessary makeup, and settle into our spots only to find that several of the floaters have already been frozen into position.

Shooting time comes, and we watch hundreds of ducks come pouring off of their roost, only to land about 200 yards up river, in an open spot that somehow isn’t competing with ice. The longer we sit, the more we see ducks. Some fly over a bit too high to even think about shooting, while some never come near, but all of the ducks group together just up river seemingly to mock our feeble attempt to hunt.

As the morning grows long, we start to hear geese. The river has fields to the north and south. It is not uncommon to see several hundred to well into the thousands of geese in the area. They do the same as the ducks using their cluck, honks, and moans to laugh at us.

Nothing changes but the weather. It warms up just enough to keep ice from forming on our waders as soon as we walk out of the river. Every 20 minutes, someone was going out into the water to break ice again. No shots were fired, and Sammy was successful in keeping all of the ducks away…

[Feelin' Fowl]

Hunt 2

After the monstrosity that was the Saturday hunt, I know that I’m not hunting the river Sunday. I may have an opportunity for an afternoon field hunt, but won’t know until later in the day. I’m planning to head south a bit to hunt a cooling lake on Monday, so I hit the road. I didn’t get word of an opening in the field until after the beers had been opened, so we watched the Packers keep their playoff hopes alive, and took the day off.

Monday morning 01:45 rolls around, and I’m off to meet AB. We grab the boat and head to the lake. Afraid of the need to break ice, we get there early only to find that we had luck on our side. A little bit of ice on the banks, but nothing to worry about in the big part of the lake. The wind is pumping pretty hard, creating a nice rolling top for us to motor through. Five dozen ducks, a half dozen goose floaters, Sammy, AB, Milo, and a fat man pile into the boat, and head across the water to the pre-determined spot. There’s still a chance that ice is back in the trees, so we need to be prepared. As we motor through the lake, the waves crash over the side of the boat. AB’s glasses turn to a sheet of ice quickly, and I’m soon sitting in water. Bilge pump won’t turn on. Frozen? Broken? Nerves set in…

Thankfully we’re close to where we want to be when it looked its worst. We pull up, and discover that the ice situation is that there is none! Relieved that there is one less hurdle to jump through, we unload, and AB takes a look at the bilge. Turns out there was a stick clogging the pump. The stick removed, and the pump starts pumping. We’re back in business! Now all we need is ducks. We know they’re on the lake…today is going to be a good day.

AB uses the buffer time that we gave ourselves to break ice that wasn’t there, to get dried out. The boat ride in was brutal for the captain…Soon it was time to start setting up. It’s nice to be able to walk in a lake, not sink into the mud, or have everything freeze instantly. The spot looks great. Sammy is hanging with the goose floaters, and we being to wait.

Nothing.

Then the sun rises

Then three ducks fly by. They respond ever so slightly to the quacks from a prized CCC, but don’t come in.

Breakfast time. AB breaks out his homemade biscuits, bacon, and eggs. Delicious samiches are coming right up. We eat, and watch the skies. Every once in a while starlings, and seagulls would grace us with the presence while I wished that they would magically turn into ducks. We ate some more, and then it happened!

We know the ducks are not far away. They are sitting in the warm water just over a tree line…a half dozen appear, and THEY. WANT. IN. These ducks are on a suicide mission. I can’t believe that after hours of nothing, we have ¾ of out mallard limit coming right at us, and we’re going to kill those bastards! The calling starts, and the ducks start to work. The six split into two groups of three working in opposite directions. They are working beautifully. Circling behind us, getting set up to land ten yards out. We can’t miss from this range. IT”S GOING TO HAPPEN!!!

Then………………..they are gone.

The part of the story that I failed to mention was AB was crouched in front of the boat blind the whole time that the ducks were working. Just moments before the six pack appeared, AB climbed out of the boat to make a pee-pee. Murphy’s law on that group…

We sit, and talk as hunting buddies do. Nothing else flies, and we decide to call it a day.

So…the traveler came to Illinois, and successfully scared away a bunch of ducks up north, and sat by watching AB and I try to work a flock of ducks that wanted to die, unsuccessfully. Although no ducks were harmed, a good time was had by all.

[Feelin' Fowl]

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[Feelin' Fowl]

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[quacknstack6]

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Sammy did not leave us empty handed. Should get a couple more hunts in with him before he goes to rick.

[quacknstack6]

Day two with Sammy, a shit storm of rain came in with boat problems to start the day. Ended up shooting a mallard hen and lost her because of wind and the boat motor fucking up. After we fixed the boat I scratched out 2 redhead hens and then the rain really started. Ended up being a pretty good day, killed my first redhead so I couldn't be mad.

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[Rick]

Big bundle of tape with what might be a box under it arrived today, so I'm guessing Sammy is here. Will do a Cesarian on it in the morning at the camp with Flightstopper and Mrs. Flightstopper to free Sammy before heading to the blind.