Joe Fladeland
12-31-2006, 03:31 PM
DATE: December 30th, 2006
LOCATION: North Dakota
WEATHER: Heaven for a Waterfowler
TEMPERATURE: Once again, Heaven for a Waterfowler
WIND: 5-10 from the North
EQUIPMENT USED: Avery PowerHunters, Avery Pit Bag, Cabela's Real Image Mallards, Greenhead Gear O/S Canada Goose Floaters, Avery Floating Decoy Bags, Avery Waxed Cotton Logo Hat, Avery Fleece Turtle Head, Avery Fleece Yukon Hood, Avery Fleece Skull Cap, Avery Fleece Pullover, Avery Neoprene Caller's mask, Avery Neoprene Decoy Gloves, Avery Floating Gun Case
HUNTERS: Nick Bury, Avery Youth Field Staffer Joe Fladeland
JOURNAL NOTES:
"The Last Day":(
After a good Mallard hunt on the 28th of December I got greenhead fever. I wanted to get more mallards but I also wanted to give the Mallard hole a break to let the birds rest. I woke up on the 29th and the snow was falling, and it continued to snow the entire day. My buddy and I made plans to get out the next day because there were only 2 days left until all waterfowl hunting would stop:(. That night I picked up a 4 pack of O/S Rester Canada Goose Floaters because I thought it might put the ducks at ease. I also recieved my new Avery Neoprene Handwamer, my Fleece Turtle Head, and my Avery waxed cotton hat from Mack's that night. It turns out I got the Neoprene handwarmer just in time. That thing saved my hunt. Without it my hands would have gotten frostbite for the 2nd time this season. Well anyway, we woke up the morning of the 30th and it was still snowing, by now we had several inches on the ground and it was still falling in full force. We slowly made our way to the hunting spot due to the poor travel conditions. Once we got there we got all of the gear ready and once again made the 1+ mile hike to our spot. It was a beautiful day for hunting, there was fog lifting off the water and because there was hardly no wind at all, everything was blanketed by several inches of snow. Not to mention the sounds of ducks and geese coming through the thick fog. After what seemed like an eternity we got to our spot and set out the spread. I soon realized there was a problem. The snow was falling so fast that our decoys soon resembled snow geese. Every 15 minutes I went out into the water and kicked the snow off of the decoys in my waders that had a hole strategically placed in the boot so that my foot was numb within minutes of our hunt. At shooting time there were ducks flying and we pulled in a few lone drakes but the visibility was a problem because not many ducks could see our spread with the fog and heavy snow and once they did see our spread they noticed that there was a good amount of snow on each decoy. All in all it was a great adventure we had that day. We managed to get 5 big Greenheads and it was definitely a hunt we will remember forever.
This hunt put an end to the most amazing hunting season yet. I shared hunts with some really great guys. We had some good laughs and even better hunts.
Here are some pics of that day.
Some shots of the spread.
http://img75.imageshack.us/img75/6482/goosehunt86smallfu1.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img75.imageshack.us/img75/5430/goosehunt89smalluc4.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img75.imageshack.us/img75/668/goosehunt87smallxr2.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img75.imageshack.us/img75/411/goosehunt90smalldr4.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
The hero shot.
http://img75.imageshack.us/img75/9177/goosehunt91smallzy2.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
LOCATION: North Dakota
WEATHER: Heaven for a Waterfowler
TEMPERATURE: Once again, Heaven for a Waterfowler
WIND: 5-10 from the North
EQUIPMENT USED: Avery PowerHunters, Avery Pit Bag, Cabela's Real Image Mallards, Greenhead Gear O/S Canada Goose Floaters, Avery Floating Decoy Bags, Avery Waxed Cotton Logo Hat, Avery Fleece Turtle Head, Avery Fleece Yukon Hood, Avery Fleece Skull Cap, Avery Fleece Pullover, Avery Neoprene Caller's mask, Avery Neoprene Decoy Gloves, Avery Floating Gun Case
HUNTERS: Nick Bury, Avery Youth Field Staffer Joe Fladeland
JOURNAL NOTES:
"The Last Day":(
After a good Mallard hunt on the 28th of December I got greenhead fever. I wanted to get more mallards but I also wanted to give the Mallard hole a break to let the birds rest. I woke up on the 29th and the snow was falling, and it continued to snow the entire day. My buddy and I made plans to get out the next day because there were only 2 days left until all waterfowl hunting would stop:(. That night I picked up a 4 pack of O/S Rester Canada Goose Floaters because I thought it might put the ducks at ease. I also recieved my new Avery Neoprene Handwamer, my Fleece Turtle Head, and my Avery waxed cotton hat from Mack's that night. It turns out I got the Neoprene handwarmer just in time. That thing saved my hunt. Without it my hands would have gotten frostbite for the 2nd time this season. Well anyway, we woke up the morning of the 30th and it was still snowing, by now we had several inches on the ground and it was still falling in full force. We slowly made our way to the hunting spot due to the poor travel conditions. Once we got there we got all of the gear ready and once again made the 1+ mile hike to our spot. It was a beautiful day for hunting, there was fog lifting off the water and because there was hardly no wind at all, everything was blanketed by several inches of snow. Not to mention the sounds of ducks and geese coming through the thick fog. After what seemed like an eternity we got to our spot and set out the spread. I soon realized there was a problem. The snow was falling so fast that our decoys soon resembled snow geese. Every 15 minutes I went out into the water and kicked the snow off of the decoys in my waders that had a hole strategically placed in the boot so that my foot was numb within minutes of our hunt. At shooting time there were ducks flying and we pulled in a few lone drakes but the visibility was a problem because not many ducks could see our spread with the fog and heavy snow and once they did see our spread they noticed that there was a good amount of snow on each decoy. All in all it was a great adventure we had that day. We managed to get 5 big Greenheads and it was definitely a hunt we will remember forever.
This hunt put an end to the most amazing hunting season yet. I shared hunts with some really great guys. We had some good laughs and even better hunts.
Here are some pics of that day.
Some shots of the spread.
http://img75.imageshack.us/img75/6482/goosehunt86smallfu1.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img75.imageshack.us/img75/5430/goosehunt89smalluc4.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img75.imageshack.us/img75/668/goosehunt87smallxr2.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img75.imageshack.us/img75/411/goosehunt90smalldr4.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
The hero shot.
http://img75.imageshack.us/img75/9177/goosehunt91smallzy2.jpg (http://imageshack.us)