Back to My Roots

Like the past few years, I sat out this rifle season due to my residence just on the other side of the state line and the high cost of out-of-state tags for a short season.  I was anxious to get back in the stand the first day bow season re-opened in pursuit of a few nice bucks that are still showing up on the trail cams.  I found myself 20 feet up with a bow in hand as the sun came up to a foggy morning, while the rest of the crew sat in the duck blinds with shotguns in hand.

I had high hopes for the area I was sitting in given some recent trail cam pictures, but it wasn't long before I started hearing mallards chuckling as they flew overhead and I found myself looking up in the sky more than on the ground.  I could hear the guys in the closest blind to me calling, and could picture by the tone of their calling how the ducks were working them.  It seemed like volley after volley started ringing out from the two blinds, and I couldn't take it anymore!  I did have a button buck pass by at 30 yds about midway through the hunt that kept my attention, but that quickly faded.

I only made it until about 9 am in the stand before I traded Bowtech for the Benelli.  Had a little action of the duck blind before we packed it up for the day.  Didn't see a whole lot for ducks, but what we did see decoyed well.  Sunny skies and the right winds made for some good belly shots.

We assessed the water situation after the hunt.  Had started letting water in the timber pools but then decided the river was getting low enough that we were best off just holding the water in the fields and shutting the pump off.  We need a timely rain to put a little flow back in the river if we are going to have any timber hunting this year, and it better happen soon.