Can you take another youth hunt report?

Rick Kyte

Rick Kyte

Well-known member
I've really enjoyed reading all the youth hunt stories from the past weekend--you can see the future of waterfowling in the faces of the young men--and in the case of Eric's son, the elegant words that capture the joy of discovering a new way of being in the world.

My youngest boy is now 14, so we just have one more youth hunt ahead of us. for the past several years, it's been the highlight of the hunting season for me. After next year, I'll have to find some other kids to take out, it's just that much fun.

Evan hunted the Minnesota side of the river on Saturday. I was really surprised not to see any other hunters out in our section of the marsh--had expected to see four or five boats set up in the area. Because the ducks weren't being disturbed early on, there wasn't much flying before light. But by shooting time, there were ducks everywhere. I was hoping to stretch the hunt out a little longer, but after 40 minutes he had his six, and Mickey was dead tired. He's a still a young dog, but a couple of long retrieves on cripples and no rest between retrieves had him ready to get back in the boat for a ride home.

This is the Kara we built last year. He was able to slide into a little patch of weeds about 15ft diameter and disappear; Mickey and I sat in another kara a little ways back and watched the action. 2 GWT, 1 BWT, 2 gadwall, 1 spoonie
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On Sunday we took one of Evan's friends who had never duck hunted. He was shooting an Ithaca model 37 20gauge, 2-3/4", same gun I used at his age. Hans sat with me in the Bluebill and Evan hunted out of his kara. The first ducks to come into the decoys were a pair of pintails. They took one turn over the decoys, turned and cupped their wings into the wind. Hans lifted the gun and dropped the hen. How often does a kid take his first duck with his first shot the first time hunting? And a pintail at that.

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They finished the day with five total: 2 hen pintails, 1 wigeon, 2 BWT. And a dog that's getting warmed up for the season.

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Got some water on the lens so the photos are not very sharp.

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One more shot of the kara in action. These are just unbelievable boats.
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Rick
 
When he sat on the floor he was legal; when he stood up he was illegal; when he sat on his shellbox he was probably illegal, unless he hunched over a bit.

I just LOVE the new rules. so happy they clarified them for us!

Rick
 
Rick, that Kara is a graet looking boat. I have a momarsh and it's very similiar. Is that a foam/fiberglass construction?
 
Rick
That's what it's all about! Thanks for sharing. We open the season this saturday at my son's cabin--hunting the Pestigo river area.
wis boz
 
Rick,
great shots and it looks like you have a crew of boatbuilders there. I love my KARA for the spots like you hunted with the boys. Just hide right out in that tall grass.
Thanks to all the youth hunt posters this season for sharing the hard work and rewards for all that class time.

Bob
 
Rick,
I could read a report like that every day. Great job and wonderful pictures. I see you live in the town where our grand daughter from Green Bay is now going to college.
Al
 
Very cool story Rick. The Kara turned out nice.

I didn't know MN had the same concealment rules that WI has? I thought you were hunting MN?

Mark
 
Mark,
We hunted MN on Saturday and WI on Sunday. I guess the concealment rules only apply to the WI side. I don't really see any problem, it's just that Dave brought it up.
Rick
 
Picture is not real clear but that sure doesn't look like a "hen" pintail to me. Looks like blue/gray on the beak, making it a drake.
 
Hey Rick - I looks like a great hunt. Thanks for sharing. I can't wait until Carter is old enough to participate in this hunt. Rick, do you purchase a Wisconsin resident and a Minnesota non resident license in order to hunt both sides of the river. There's been lots of times that I've wanted to venture over to "the other side" but never have. Just curious. Have a great season!

Thanks,

Joe Lane
 
Kevin,

I believe both pintails were juveniles, and you may be right that the one in the picture that Hans is holding is a drake. It didn't have a sharp separation of gray and black on the bill that the mature drake has. The two ducks were very similar except that one had a greenish sheen on the speculum and the other had more of a bronze color. Would that be distinquishing factor between the drake and hen juveniles? I don't know. I've never seen a pintail up close this early in the season.

Rick
 
Joe,
Yes, I usually get a license for both states, mainly because my brother lives in MN and I usually hunt with him once or twice a season on the northern MN lakes, and since I had a MN license I thought I might as well hunt the other side of the river once in a while. The majority of my hunting is still on the WI side though.
Rick
 
You know, there are a few things that do get old over time, but seeing youth hunt pictures and stories is not one of them. Keep them coming.

Mike
 
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