Robert Johnson (BJ)


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Posted by Robert Johnson (BJ) on March 23, 1999 at 14:13:59:

My name is Bob Johnson (BJ) ,I'm a waterfowler and I don't want a cure. Live in a unique area, that allows me a very long season because of seperate zones each of the two states I hunt have. Both NY and CT split their seasons and we hunt from sept -feb. I hunted ducks early on in the 70's along with all small game. Got really into waterowling when CT opened up their late goose season about 6-7 years ago. It was on Long Island Sound mostly and we discovered and abundance of birds using the sound for wintering over. I hunt farm ponds , creeks and swamps in the early seasons, for mostly puddlers and geese. and the large rivers and Sound in the late seasons for seas ducks ,divers, puddlers and geese. If I think I need it for waterfowling I usually get it, so I've got tons of gear, lots of guns, and I would have thought lots of decoys, until I got to this forum and heard what some of you guys got. I currently have about 230 decoys, and am going to add some more seaduck decoys during the summer. I have a three year old female black lab named Shannon, who can lay still in the slow times for hours, and then blast full bore into salt water that has been freezing onto the decoys when the time comes. She handles great and marks excellent, and only weighs about 68lbs. I also have a Brittany named Hammer, who is 8 and did all my retreiving until I got Shannon. He once went through over 100yards of tidal flat that had 2" of water and who knows how much muck to get to shore, then went another 75 yards and over a small knoll to retreive a canada. We waited for about 10 minutes before he came back over the knoll with the winged goose, and then brought it back, fighting all the way to the boat. That was the most awesome retrieve I have ever seen, and he only wieghs 35 lbs and the goose probably weighed 15lbs or more. I got the lab because Hammer suffers , sitting around when it gets below 25 degrees. I have a few boats ,2 canoes, a jon and a 16 ft aluminum alumcraft that has a closed bow and a side console. Its about thirty years old, but is fantastic for rough water . I now have a Johnson thirty horse on the boat and it will push me, a partner, the dog and 120 decoys at 22 mph. My favorite hunt is for divers, either in the Hudson river or Long Island Sound. I will jump ducks if I have to but my love is to see them come in "cocked and locked". My ambition is to hunt some Eider next season. I'm looking to buy a 3-1/2 " auto this summer, something that wont jam.I also want to purchase a layout boat this summer, to get a little close to the cans on the Hudson. I'm married with 16 year old son and a 12 year old daughter. I'm a tool and die maker, and love to dabble in gunsmithing. I enjoy all the shooting sports, but mostly handgun sihlouette and sporting clays. I've got a great hunting story. When I go duck hunting every duck I see I call in , and I never miss.....BJ