Hunting some NY backwaters

**Mike Bard** · #1 11-15-2007, 03:41 PM

DATE: November 10th, 2007

LOCATION: Central, NY

WEATHER: Partly cloudy with snow

TEMPERATURE: Mid 20’s- low 30’s

WIND: Light wind from the north

EQUIPMENT USED: Avery® DIY Lanyards, Avery® Skull Cap, Avery® Caller’s gloves, Avery® Floating gun cases, Avery® Pit Blind Bag, Avery® Sportsman’s Camera Bag, GHG® Hot Buy Mallards, GHG® LS Mallards, GHG® OS Blacks, GHG® LS Wood Ducks, and GHG® LS Pintail decoys

HUNTERS: Rick Murphy, Ron Zega, Arliss Reed and Avery® Pro-Staffer Mike Bard

Retrievers: Rick’s “Coot” and my “Moxie”

Journal Notes:

As New York’s Southeastern zone’s 2nd duck opener approached, Rick, Ron and Arliss invited me to join them in their blind located in some back water off a small lake here in Central NY. The morning’s weather was perfect, everything a duck hunter dreams of…cold, spitting snow, and some wind. I met up with Rick and we then headed off to meet Ron and Arliss at the blind. After an hour’s drive we arrived at the lake and loaded our gear in Rick’s canoe. After 15 minute paddle along the lake’s edge and back into the backwaters we found Ron and Arliss adding some extra cover to the blind already, so Rick and I deployed the decoy spread.

Once everything was set, we watched ducks zip past us and land in the decoys, as awaited legal shooting time. The time arrived and in less than a minute, Ron downed the first bird of the morning and the action only got better from there. Green wing teal and wood ducks weaved and somersaulted through the leafless trees racing into our spread. The teal continued like this all morning, it was amazing to watch pairs to groups of 10, pour through the tree limbs offering point blank shots, never seeing the blind. It wasn’t long until the mallards, blacks and even some widgeon joined in the morning’s flight and all of them seemed mystically drawn to the GHG® decoys and calling from our little hole amongst the trees in the back water.

Midway through our relatively quick morning hunt, a single drake mallard banked in over the tree tops and slid perfectly past the blind. It was Arliss’ turn and he made a great shot, dropping the “chuckle head” with one squeeze of the trigger. As Rick’s dog, Coot, delivered the bird, a nice shiny piece of aluminum shined on the drake’s leg. Arliss had his first band of the season! Shortly thereafter, we wrapped up the hunt on a group of widgeon that completed our daily limits.

Now that the hunt was over and we had picked up the decoys and gear, it was time for Ron and Rick to go to work. Both are biologists for the USDA and one of their current projects is collecting swab samples from waterfowl and testing them for bird flu. Back in the parking area, I was able to help out and we tested all of our birds from the day, as well as, another group’s bag who had hunted in the area.