After two weeks of preparation the day had finally arrived. We awoke at 4 a.m. got dressed and headed for the marsh. Met up with Lunkerhunter,his son and KennyC. Got all the gear loaded on our backs and started our march to the pond. Lunkerhunter and I had scouted this pond out earlier in the week in the daylight but this was our first time in the dark. For some reason our landmarks didn't stand out quite as good in the dark but we still only had to back track once although we did miss the bridge and came in on the wrong side of the canal.and had to hike around the long way to get where we wanted to be. Lunkerhunter immediately got busy setting the deeks up as I busied myself with loading the gun and giving some last minute instructions to my 10 yr old daughter. 6:41 arrived and immediately we had ducks dropping in on the deeks. She is shooting and shooting and missing and missing. Even had ducks landing in the decoys it was pure pandemonium. Then she tears up and says my feet are cold in the hectic scramble to get everything set up for legal shooting time I had forgot to put her waders on. DOH dad is a dummy. I removed her boots and wet socks and put her waders on she took a break had a snack all the while ducks are still coming in. About 9:30 the geese started coming in and she did manage to smack one just not solid enough and he flew off into the horizon after rocking a little. I would like to thank Lunkerhunter and KennyC for accompanying us. Also a thanks to Mojo1 for lending us his goose decoys. Also a thanks to Gee LeDouche and Stuckduck for your generous offers of decoys.I would also like to send out a big thank-you to .45 as none of this would have been possible without your generosity. How do you measure the success of a hunt? My little one gained invaluable experience and she will know more of what to expect on the 2nd. I got to spend quality time with her and good friends. In my mind it was a successful hunt because of the memories made and the lessons learned.
Wed Jan 23, 2013 6:46 pm by 
