What A Duck Day

This past Saturday, Nate, Mike and myself spent a few hours sharing the best duck hunt I've had in Minnesota in recent years.  Our approach was different than most hunts, and we went to the birds, instead of waiting for them to come to us.  It was awesome!  We went stealth mode on the birds in Mike's canoe and snuck up on hundreds of unknowing birds.  We bagged our limit on this trip, which included our 6 woodies, one mallard and 11 teal.  It wasn't that we shot our possession limit, but that we did it in such a fun way that made the day great.  I also accomplished my goal of getting a perfect drake Woodie to place on a piece of driftwood.  The only problem, is that I have to pick which one I think is best.  No duck, (other than Mikes Mandarin duck) looks better on driftwood than a drake Woodie, so I'm super pumped to add one of these birds to my wall of trophies.  This was a hunt that I won't soon forget.  Everything about it including the weather was gorgeous.  Now I have to look outside at this darn rain that we are suppose to get for the next several days.  Looks like I'll be fishing/hunting in the rain for a while.  I'll keep ya posted how things turn out.

 

On a side note:  I have been doing some bow hunting lately and the deer activity has been incredible.  The past couple weeks worth of hunts, I have seen between 10 and 24 deer on each outing.  Along with all the does, I have also seen a great amount of big buck movement which I find as being pretty rare.  I have now seen 6 different bucks that I would classify as wall hangers and I have been seeing them with regularity.  I don't know if it is the weather, but they are on the move.  Last night I had 3 different bucks chasing the ladies around in the fields, and came close to flinging an arrow at two of the giants.  Pretty intense, and most of it has been on camera.

I have been hunting quite often lately, but the muskies are still on my mind.  We'll see how this week lays out for the ol' snaggle tooths.

Recent Happenings....

I wanted to post this goofy picture so I can look back years from now and remember that on October 6th of 2007 it was 89 degrees on the water and we were fishing with our shirts off getting a tan.  Not to mention the awesome time the 9 of us buddies shared on the water that evening.  It was picture perfect, we had two boats (mine and Dusty's) and we filled 9 of us in them.  The list of friends included Dusty, Wags, Miky, Jeremy, Vans, Whorl, Scotty, Nate, and myself.  We slayed a pile of above average Bluegills and Crappies for the local landowners that let us hunt their property throughout the season.  That was our goal and we accomplished it to the fullest.  Thanks boys!

While I haven't been out putting any beasts in the boat the last couple of days, I want to share with you what some of my readers have sent me, and what has been happening on the "big pond" up north.  My tourney partner and good friend Mike has been continuing his streak of giants this year, and has some real hawgs to show for it.  Kent landed this 52.5 incher the other evening and they also tied into a couple of others.  Man  they some fat fish on that lake this time of the year.  The story behind the 52.5 was awesome!  This fish chased the bait on the figure 8 for several turns before it latched on and went airborn with a foot of line out.  If that doesn't give you a heart attack, then I don't know what will.   

Also, You just have to be the happiest man in the world when you get to hold a fatty like this one.  I was sent this pic a few days ago from a past guest in my boat.  His co-worker was up on the "big pond" also and got himself one heck of a hawg.  Just look at the belly on that beast.  Another giant that this lake has been known for over the past several years.  Very, very cool guys!  Keep up the good work!  More pics and stories coming soon.....Who wants to be in them???

GRRRRRRRR........

As most of you can tell from the pictures that keep coming up on this site, I am a fishing NUT.  But, when I am not on the water, I love any kind of hunting I can get my hands on.  Lately Mike and myself have been videotaping our bowhunts for the "whitetail buck deers" that have been running around our hunting spots.  Although we haven't hunted very much this year, this was my second time with a bow in my hands, and not behind the camera.  We'll just say that things got a little interesting as darkness came upon us.  Actually, the whole evening was full of activity. 

When I was crawling up into the stand, Mike was watching two does battle each other out in the bean field.  They were doing the stand on the back legs and kick at each other thing that you can sometimes see if you go to a local bar on a friday or saturday evening....hahaha...otherwise known as a catfight.  Pretty cool to see deer doing it, pathetic to see girls doing it.  About 5 minutes into the stand we had two bucks come out into the same field.  Something must have been in the air, because they too started sparring with each other.  Very cool, AND we got it on film.  A little while later we saw another buck, and then another buck came out into the CRP next to us, followed by two does.  The does came as expected, right into our corn field, and we had camera issues, and bad shooting angles, so we let them walk. 

As this just happened, darkness was getting close to falling, and we could see what didn't appear to be a deer standing about 100 yards away.  After some whispering back and forth, we decided it was a Yote and I gave a few squeaks from my mouth.  Instantly heads started popping up out of the CRP and we new we were in for some trouble.  That's right, A whole pack of the darn things came at a full sprint at us.  It was sooooooo intense, but as they came into our cornfield, it became hard to pick the shot.  They were running everywhere.  This guy in the picture stopped perfectly, and it found out what happens when a four-blade broadhead doesn't like it chasing the deer around.  Just like on the movies, I drilled it and it made the most ear-piercing growles and barks I have ever heard.  This one was hit, but the action didn't stop there.  There were so many coyotes running around that I knocked another arrow.  After a few squeaks, they all came right back in.  Being very dark, I knew that I was shooting if I could, and shot number 2 sparked on a rock just under the coyote.  As I was grabbing for my last arrow (#3) Mike stopped another one in the shooting lane, I knocked it and got off one more shot before it left the field.  Same result, "Whack" of the arrow on the hit, and more growling and barking, it was hit also.  At that point, We were feeling like we had just shot a 200 class buck.  We had only seen such a thing on the movies, but couldn't believe what had just happened.  The most intense hunt of my life "I Swear."  We had dogs running everywhere, but figured there to be 7 or 8 of them within 30 yards of us at one time.  Unfortunately we only found one of them, but I think they will think twice about chasing the deer and pheasants in that area again, at least I hope.  I have hunted for many years and never seen such a wild pack of beasts on the hunt, it was almost scary.  It is starting to make sense why the deer have been acting as goofy as they had been on the previous hunts.  It is very apparent now.....I have COYOTE PROBLEMS!

We did capture some sweet video of the deer, but the light just wasn't enough to film the remarkable pack that came in.  What a night.  8 deer, 4 of them bucks, and a whole pack of raging beasts! 

Yesterdays Muskie trip was postponed due to the heavy morning rain, but there are more coming soon.  Check back to see what we are up to in the next few days.  Man I love this time of the year! Ducks, Deer, Geese, Coyotes I guess, and best of all.....HUGE MUSKIES!

Pete's 42 and a Sweet Mandarin Duck!

In hopes of preparing themselves for the hours of casting they have ahead of themselves, Pete and Mark decided to come out and give their arms a workout before the big trip.  They leave in a few days for some famed Wisconsin waters, but wanted to put one of the elusive 50 inchers in the boat that we have been so fortunate to catch lately.  Well, it's tough to plan on catching one over 50 each time out, but we did our best, saw a few nice sized fish, and Pete landed this nice 42 incher.  Most of the action came from Pete's bait, but Mark had an explosion on his topwater after the sun set that we will never know about.  I do however think that it was larger than a perch, and the last fish out of those weeds measured in at 50.5, so who knows.  It was a great evening on the water, who would have guessed it would have been 82 degrees at sunset on October 7th.  Thanks for the fun boys, and good luck in Wisconsin.

Look at the duck that Mike shot yesterday morning.  I'm no duck expert, but after doing some research on it, it is called a Mandarin Duck.  Native only to Asia, China, Japan and some surrounding European Countries.  There are very few of this specie in those countries, and are known to be numbered in only a few thousand worldwide.  How did it get to Carver County Minnesota????  Who the heck knows.  But it is sweet, and will look good on the log above the fireplace.  I plan on doing a bit more research on this bird, and if anybody knows anything else about this duck, please let me know and I will put it on this site fore everyone to view.  I think the MN DNR would also be interested in this rare specimen. This duck was definitely wild too, it was flying with all the other wood ducks and mallards that Mike kept on missing.  For 16 or 17 shots that you missed on that morning, you sure picked the right duck to fold up.  Well done.....Add one more to your wall of fame!

50 Inch Mike, Front & Center!

Sweeeeeet Baby Jesus!  Another 50!  Congratulations Mike for making it front and center just like you said you were going to do.  This was such a sweet fish for Derek and I to watch as it came at Mike's bait.  We both saw it crash at the bait on the first strike and miss, and the funny part about it was that we said "Mike, you got one," and he did the ol "Huh, what, where, who me" thing that I love hearing every time.  Within about a half of a second, it came back for round two and just punished his bait.  After seeing a mid 50 incher in that spot last night, we had our hopes very very high while casting.  A few casts before this fish came up, a mid 40 incher followed to the boat, and then jaws latched on.  The rest is history, and the pics are once again being thrown up on the brag board.  Man I love those big beasts.  Myself and my guests are truly getting spoiled at times with the amount of huge fish that keep coming in the boat.  They say it isn't suppose to be that easy.  I love it, Love it, LOVE IT!  I am thinking that I am going to have to create a 50 inch club for some of these bruisers.  What a day, and way to capitalize on the chance of a lifetime Mike!  I enjoyed every second of it yet again!  Thanks to Derek and Mike for another great morning on the water.  Until Next Time Y'all, Keep on Livin the Dream!