Sitting here with me mornin Tea and thinking!!!!

Shermie

Well-known member
real dangerous with a fertile mind like mine.But i was wondering and i know i think i seen it posted on the old forum many a day ago but since we have alot of new folks of late what are everyones thoughts are on what makes a great day out burdin.is it the day itself ,the first coffee and sambich,or moonpies,or is it the company you keep in the boat /blind,be it man or dawg [for the ladies]or lady.is it the sunrises and sets you collect over your dekes,or is it the home made dekes you gun over,many i suspect would say all of the above,since we have such a diverse body of hunters here from all regions of north america and abroad there is always just one thing that may stick out in ones mind that makes the day great above all the rest this is what i would think make a great conversation post.

so what is for you what has made a great day burdin for you?
 
as for me it was Daisys first swim and retrieve of her first goose ,gawd i was right sum proud,all misty eyed and everything.I thought she was ruined after i went away deer hunting for two weeks and there was no training and when i came home and started again i had to deal with a pup who like to play tug o war and chase me and keep away.then i spent a couple days putting up with the antics and said ok your going hunting you need to see what it is all about and to find out if your gonna like to hunt or not.

im proud to say she has been able to switch it on and off between hunting mode and home play,as i can haul out the goose wings and she is all business now after her few hunts.

yup its my new blind mate i get to spend hours and hours with in the future and alot of sunrises and sets with a few timbits for her once in a while.and a hot cup o tea ahhhhh!
 
Great post! For me, it's the dog. Watching him work, do things that I know takes inteligence, things that haven't been taught. To watch him make decisions on downed birds that make me shake my head and ask, "How did he know to do that" It's fantastic. After Cruiser got his throat cut late in the season, it just wasn't the same hunting without him. (but he is doing OK now)

Also, as I get older, I am appreciating the awsome power of natural "things" The sunrise, the hawk snatching that mouse out of a field, the deer running with it offspring. Beautiful stuff. Makes me glad I am out there.
 
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hmmmmmm well I wish I could say that it was being able to watch my dog work, or anyone's dog...I don't have one that goes with me right now and don't get to hunt too often with people that have dogs. when I do it is an awesome thing. For me, it's the thrill of everything. Waking up and being able to drive on the roads that don't have a million and one idiots, getting out to the marsh and knowing that I'm gonna be blessed with another day of watching the sun come up, the comraderie of my buddies and our bickering and our ragging on each other, where I decide to set up, how I decide to set up (both of which can be challenging) and then sitting back with a gun next to me, a jar of beanie wienies in my hand (or a piece of pizza) watching the world come to life. It's especially fun, challenging and delightful when you are on a chase to scare up birds without them jumping too far away from you...you have to have the right amount of stealth coupled with the right amount of speed and still giving the feel of being absolutely harmless to those birds. I guess for me, it's all about the physical and mental challenge (because by the time the birds get down to me, they have been extremely well educated) and the fun of it all.
 
For me it usually has something different from other trips. Such as the bald eagle that dropped a coot to me from 30 feet over my head the other day, the only bird bagged. Or the first goose my first lab brought in. He tackled that goose like Sargeant tackling beattle Bailey and after bringing it in literally was dancing and jumping for 10 minutes in seemingly celebration over what we'd just accomplished.
Or say the time two clients called it a day at noon after very few birds that morning and I later had a standup shootout with divers and collected a 7 bird limit in 10 minutes one being a can/redhead hybrid.
Sure there are many other trips that stand out in memory, probably a couple of books full. Like everyone on this forum, a treasure chest of bright stories that I can relive anyday I choose.
 
Just being out there and seeing the swamp come alive before first light is one of the best things about duck hunting.

I have learned the thing I don't like about duck hunting with others and that is whiners. People that constantly complain about how Alaska is not what they thought it was and that things are so much better back home in (insert name of any of the Lower 48 states here).

I have recently found some guys that have been up here for decades like myself and know that hunting here is not nearly as "fun" as shooting over a rice field. But it is not about getting your limit in 20 minutes. There is a lot more to it than that.
 
To me it is a combination of all things. It is the smell of the salt air, the fog in the face, the sight at 1st light when birds are in the air over the decoys, my dog in the boat or blind next to me, it is the look on my dogs face after a missed shot. It is not about the kill, it is the whole experence that no one but us fellow duck hunters understand. Some of my best days in blind don't include a duck in the bag. But i do come home with many stories and memories that couldn't equal a million ducks in the bag.
 
I think it's great if we just have a few ducks fly by. Ducks born way up north somewhere and not on our lease. I think these local ducks kinda got us figgered.

Ed.
 
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