Tom


[Roll Call ]

Posted by Tom on June 22, 1999 at 12:16:32:

I'm 34, married, have 3 sons and one senile female black lab - 14 years old. I've hunted ducks for over twenty years and have a ton of great memories. I mostly enjoy getting out there w/ my hunting buddies and don't necessarily have to kill. It's the hour before dawn that gets me going and if I happen to shoot a couple then it's a bonus.

If you've got to kill ducks each time you go out, then CT ain't your state. There's days it can be great and days it can stink. Filling your limit just doesn't happen too often.

I've owned the same Mossberg model 1000 for 12 years or more and like I said the same dog for 14 years. I can't describe the joy she's given me over the years. I can honestly say I've only lost a couple cripples (pheasants & ducks) w/ her by my side. I trained her myself including blind retrieves just for fun. She is the best behaved dog I've ever seen. How many guys do you know who can hunt w/ a lab all day and never have to call or yell at them for misbehaving. I can literally hunt all day and never have to mention her name unless we stop to rest and have a talk. Her hunting days are over, but for 13 years we've been a real team out in the field. Great memories.

Other equipment...14 ft Blue-fin w/ 25 HP. Constructed my own boat blind from tips on this forum. Duck call...single reed Rich-n-tone. I've tried a lot and this call turns mallards like no other. Goose call...tried a lot...so far have settled for Big River Long Honker.

Waterfowl sought after inland...mallards, woodies, blacks, GWT & Canadians (very rare pintail & widgeon). Down on the shore, it's a mixed bag of puddlers, seaducks (oldsqaw), divers (scaup, golden eyes, buffleheads, cans, redheads and the lowly merganser)and Canadians.

I enjoy setting out a realistic decoy spread...rarely more than a couple dozen. Some friends will set out eight dozen decoys when you never see this type of spread in the wild..at least here in CT. But foremost, I enjoy calling a passing drake mallard to have him turn and cup into the decoys. And then letting a buddy take first whack at him to see if I can "wipe his eye"!

One last item...I very rarely shoot hens. With black ducks it's tough but I always let the hen mallards and woodies fly on.

I'll continue to enjoy the forum, just letting you know CT has some serious waterfowlers too even though we aren't Stuttgart Arkansas. Hope to get there someday.