The Hard Hunt

In my last installment, I expressed how I was feeling about my situation and how it is affecting my hunting lifestyle. Now, while I still have those feelings, I am also in awe. When it comes down to it, my plight is rather small. I have a broken leg, and nothing more. I can still move around with the use of crutches, or a wheelchair, if the going is rough. And, although I will be in this state for the majority of the hunting season, come next season (God willing), I will be healed and in tip-top shape for my hunts.

What put me in awe was a group of people that I met last year at a hunting expo that I had a booth at last year in Imlay City, Michigan. The group is called Wheelin' Team 457. Their mission statement is, “to provide the physically challenged with indoor and outdoor sports and recreation”. They also strive to spread awareness. Now, the gentlemen that I met weren't in a cast like I am. They were limited to the use of a wheelchair and two of them had slightly limited use of their arms. And they were talking about a goose hunt they had been on! We talked for a bit about what they do and hunts they had been on. You simply can't help but be inspired. These guys have the passion that hunting is really all about.
And they represent that passion. They embody the true spirit of hunting and sportsmanship.

I used to take for granted how easy it was to simply go out for a quick hunt. To know what will be involved every time you hunt, and that it will never get any easier, and still have the drive to do it time and time again is something I can only hope to have for the remainder of my days.

On a different note, I am hopefully getting a wheelchair that's big enough for me (that's a whole other story) so I can get out into the woods here in the next week. Wish me luck!

Early Season Blues

We all have our "thing". For some people it's shopping. For others, it's gambling, or alcohol, or newborn babies, or any other number of things. It's that thing you live for. The one thing that, no matter how bad things are going, will lift you up. Make you whole. For me, that one thing is waterfowling. Now, don't get me wrong. I love hunting and the outdoors. But there is just something about waterfowling that makes me whole. I would even venture to say that it borders on a religious experience.

And nothing has driven that thought home any farther than this week. If you have read my previous blog, you know that I had a mishap with a deer blind and broke my leg. So here I sit. First two days of early goose season. I should be in a blind with good friends. But I am not. And, from what they and their pictures tell me, this is the beginning of an awesome season. Mike and his group have put down more that 30 birds in the last 34 hours, one of them with a band. Now, I don't want this to sounds like I am angry. I find some comfort in knowing that they are out enjoying the sport that I love so much. But I can't help but to be jealous.

In the last 48 hours, I have felt a void that I have not felt in years, not since I started hunting. I guess it is true about what they say about "not knowing what you have until it is gone". And it's not even gone. It has simply been delayed. I know that the cast will be off by firearm deer season, so I will have some regular season waterfowling to do. And if my cast "modification" idea works, I might even be able to be in field by mid next week. But that is still a week away. A week of a two week season.

To pass the time, I have tried to read up on decoy spreads, shooting tips, and any other information I can bring up on my computer screen. If I can gain more knowledge about the sport that I am missing, the I will be all the better when I recover. But I still find my mind drifting to despair. I know you probably think this sounds like a little kid throwing a tantrum. And you would be right. That's what I feel like. Our adult lives are based on what we can control. Your entire being revolves around what you make happen, be it the littlest detail or a life altering decision. And while it was my bonehead move that put me into this predicament, I fell as if I have lost all control. Like maybe there is something I am missing. Something I can be doing to make this better. But in the end I know that I just have to be patient. When this is all said and done, there will be more seasons. This is not the end, but it sure does feel like it.

Scouting... From Your Armchair

One of the most important pieces of the successful hunting puzzle is scouting. You can have every other aspect of your hunt down to a perfect science, but if you aren't where the game want to be, your chance of success is slim at best. And that is why every year we hit the woods and waters to observe. To try to pick up any indication of our game's everyday rituals so, when season comes, we can be in that right spot at the right time.

But where do we start? Starting is often where a lot of us have the biggest problem. Between work, family life, and many other commitments, we find it hard to go out and pick a piece of land and just start looking and even more so if you are scouting state land.

Now, there is nothing that will replace getting out into your prospective hunting areas. But you can eliminate a bit of leg work from the beginning of your scouting. And it can be done from the comfort of your home or office on a coffee break or commercial break on your favorite outdoor channel. Cyber Scouting is quickly becoming a popular form of early scouting, if not part of the norm. With programs such as Google Earth and MapQuest, You can get a good idea of the lay of the land. You can find where a field meets a a forested area, or a natural funnel in the middle of that prime deer spot. You can also see the elevation and where the good vantage points may be, along with noticeable landmarks, should you decide to check the area out further. And for those hunting state owned land, some programs show the hunting land boundaries and parking areas. Some programs also show coordinates so you can punch them into your GPS.

While this will not replace the actual footwork of getting into the woods, it will speed the process along. It can also provide that little bit of needed motivation to get out to do your scouting. I know that once I see a spot that looks prime, I want to check out the new spot so bad, it feels like waiting for Christmas morning. So pull up a chair and start scouting!

2009-10 Michigan Waterfowl Dates & Regulations

The waterfowl season is fast approaching, so its time to start making our plans on the water and in the fields. I just received this email from the Michigan DNR today, outlining this up coming season...

Michigan duck hunters will enjoy three opening days this fall as the
Natural Resources Commission set waterfowl seasons at its meeting
Thursday in Lansing.

The seasons, which were recommended by Department of Natural Resources
biologists, correspond to the recommendations of the Citizens Waterfowl
Advisory Committee, which met Aug. 8.

Duck seasons will run Sept. 26 - Nov. 20 and Nov. 26-29 in the North
Zone (Upper Peninsula), Oct. 3 - Nov. 29 and Dec. 5-6 in the Middle
Zone, and Oct. 10 - Dec. 6 and Jan. 2-3 in the South Zone.

There is an open season on canvasbacks this year as well as expanded
opportunity for scaup. The daily bag limit is six ducks to include no
more than four mallards (no more than one hen), three wood ducks, two
redheads, two scaup, one pintail, one black duck and one canvasback.

Early Canada goose season opens Sept. 1 and runs through Sept. 15
statewide, except for the Upper Peninsula and Saginaw, Tuscola and Huron
counties, where it runs through Sept. 10. The daily bag limit is five.

Regular goose seasons are Sept. 16 - Oct. 30 in the North Zone; Oct.3 -
Nov. 9 and Nov. 26 - Dec. 2 in the Middle Zone; and Oct. 10 - Nov. 12
and Nov. 26 - Dec. 6 in the South Zone, except for designated Goose
Management Units (GMU). The daily bag limit is two.

In the Saginaw County and Tuscola/Huron GMUs, the goose season is Oct.
10 - Nov. 12, Nov. 26 - Dec.6, and Jan. 2-31 with a bag limit of two.

In the Allegan County GMU, the season is Nov. 28 - Dec. 21 and Dec.
28-Jan. 17 with a bag limit of two.

In the Muskegon Waste Water GMU, the season is Oct. 13 - Nov. 14 and
Dec. 1-12 with a bag limit of two.

Elsewhere in the South Zone, the late season is Jan. 2-31 with a bag
limit of five.

Hunters may also harvest other geese during the regular and late goose
seasons in their respective zones. The bag limits are 10 snow, blue and
Ross’ geese in combination; and one white-fronted goose or one brant.

Hunters are also reminded of the Youth Waterfowl Weekend on Sept.
19-20. This hunt is statewide for licensed youths 10 to 15 years of
age. Youths must be accompanied by a parent, guardian, or someone 18
years or older. The adult will not be allowed to hunt waterfowl and is
not required to have a waterfowl hunting license. The daily limits are
the same as those allowed for the regular duck season.

To learn more about hunting opportunities in Michigan, visit the
DNR’s Web site at www.michigan.gov/dnrhunting.

1st Duck Hunting Trip to Fish Point of '08

My morning started at 2:15 a.m. Man, it's been a while since I've seen this time of the morning. My warm bed is sitting there, trying to persuade me back to it's comfort. But not this morning. This is the morning I have been waiting for all year. This is the morning I head to Fish Point, a managed state game area by the Saginaw Bay. I head downstairs where all of my hunting gear is ready and waiting for me. It was all organized and arranged the night before to help ease the excitement and give me something to do before it was time to sleep. 2:50 a.m., the car is packed and I'm on my way to meet my hunting partner for the day, Brent. Brent is an electrician that was contracted to work at my school. A couple of talks about hunting and I knew I had found a new hunting partner. 3:30 a.m. and I am in the Meijer parking lot switching all the gear from my car to his. He is as excited as I am. Inside the truck, Lilly, Brent's golden lab, sits waiting. This is going to be her first trip out. 5:00 a.m. and we are in Unionville, where Fish Point is located. We drive around a bit to see if we can hear any ducks or geese that maybe found a nesting spot for the night outside of the refuge. Nothing. So we head over to the headquarters and register. We are party #31. After we get registered, we head to the maps and the number charts to try to make a more educated decision about where we want to hunt. The number charts are put up every Saturday morning and they tell you how many ducks and geese have been taken in each spot up to the current date. We made our list of the top 20 and waited. It was hot in there. It was the first open weekend at Fish Point, and the crowd that gathered inside affirmed that. 5:30 hit and they started to read off the rules and regulations for the areas, then they started to call party numbers. Fingers crossed. It seemed like they were reading forever. Well, we're not in the first 10. Or 20. Or 30. Man, this is getting bad. We were picked 65th. Well, do we want to see what we can get or try one of the open marshes? Most everything is gone, but we decide to go with an area of newly flooded corn in an area that hasn't been hunted that hard. 5:55, we are in our spot and it's looking nice. About 16 inches of water atop a corn patch about 120 yards long by about 25 yards wide. We start setup immediately because we only have about 20 minutes until first shot. We throw the decoys out in a sideways "J" pattern with our mojo in the middle front and the geese on point. My new Heron decoy is at point and slightly off to the side. Hopefully, he works out the way I had planned. We turn the mojo on and check the time. It's two minutes after first shot! Load up and sit back. I position myself on my swamp seat and wait. I can hear the other hunters around trying their best to swat whatever is flying by out of the air. With our eye's fixed on the horizon, we wait. I look down to grab my water bottle and take a sip. As I look back up, two mallards right overhead, now flying out of range. Damn! Can't drop my guard for a second. Okay, here we go. Eyes fixed. A couple of minutes go by and I hear Brent yell, "dang it!". A small flight of three right over his side. Okay, no more playing. We discuss what went wrong in the last five minutes and re-affirm what our sentry duties entailed. I scan the eastern horizon and listen for any sounds. All of the sudden, Brent yells out "Crap! Out front!!". I spin around and there are about 15 teals landing in our spread, maybe 10 ft. in front of me. Taken by surprise, I pull up and fire. Damn! Missed! So I pop off a second one. Damn! Okay, I'm just excited. Calm down. Take a breath. Focus. I squeeze the trigger and I see one drop. Alright! First one of the season! At the same time I hear Brent take two shots and he drops them both. Lilly bounds out with Brent, but has no idea what to do with the downed ducks. After some coaxing, she got the idea. So, back into the corn and wait. A bit later, a single flier came over top, but after two shots, she was still flying. A bit later, three mallards came over top. A couple of seconds later, the duck count was one greenwing teal hen, two greenwing teals, a mallard, and two mallard hens. For a spot that was taken out of the scraps left over from the morning, we're doing pretty good. As the morning grew longer, we heard the occasional shot here and there, but the morning flight was pretty much over. It was 11:00 a.m. so we packed up and registered our ducks at the station and looked at what was left from the afternoon draw. There wasn't hardly anything left. So we decided to go to a marsh that Brent knew of. So, after a hearty all-you-can-eat breakfast buffet at the lamplighter cafe, we did a little exploring around the refuge. Then it was off to Brent's spot. All cattails with an opening on the east side and a trench going around the perimeter. We get about half way out there and Brent says that it's getting too hard to row so we should jump out and drag the boat. Well, after a couple hundred yards of walking through knee deep muck, I was starting to wonder about Brent's spot. But, we were already on our way so no turning back now. We finally got to our spot and I could not wait to get the decoys out so I could rest on my swamp seat. Just after getting settled in, Brent decided he was going to walk over to the cattails and see if he could jump shoot some birds. And if he missed, maybe they would fly over me. Well, an hour an a half passed and no word from Brent. So I try to call him. No answer. A couple of minutes later, I call again. No answer. After four or five times of calling with no answer, I was starting to get worried. The trench that went around the perimeter was over eight feet deep. So, I started to call out for him. No answer. Just as I started to make the call to get the police involved, I heard splashing. Here came Lilly. And shortly behind her was Brent shaking his head and a big smile on his face. I ask, "well, any luck?". And he replies "Yeah, I killed my phone". He then proceeds to tell me how he tried to cross the trench in a shallow spot. He got about half way across before he realized that he couldn't make it. And at some point in this crossing, the water was high enough to spill into his pocket where his new cell phone was (two weeks earlier, he had lost his cell phone while out deer hunting, so this was the replacement phone). So, we sat for another hour or so, and not a single sign of birds. Sunset was upon us and nothing. Then, about 10 minutes before last shot, a single duck came flying by. It was a woody and he was on a mission. He was not looking at our spread and he was making a fast break for the refuge. It was a long poke, but at about 40 yards, I drooped him like a rock. We waited until shooting light was over to retrieve him. On the way back, I opted to stay in the boat and push with the oars. That was a tiring trek for this husky hunter. When we got back to the makeshift launch, we chatted with another hunter that had camped out there most of the week and done quite a bit of duck hunting and had been out that day hunting deer. As we drove home, we were already starting to plan the next outing. The sport of waterfowling is an addicting one. It is the closest I will ever come to knowing what a drug addict must feel like. Always thinking about the next time. Always setting up the fix. Now my mind is set to the next waterfowl outing. And it can't come soon enough.

The three I brought home from Fish Point