# MDHA - Lake Effect Chapter's 2nd Annual Traveling Decoy



## Duck-Hunter

Sign up Team Coot Control. Our best was 17 in one float between two of us.

Might be able to get Carl in some Arkansas timber or buck brush in nov.


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## Quaackwhacker

Terrific name...glad you guys are doing this again this year! I'll send a PM ASAP!


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## anon12162011

Hey Guys, The schedule is starting to be ironed out and is coming together now!

As of right now, our response has been large enough that unfortunately we are full (and some).

If you wish to be put on a Carl waiting list just in case any cancellations or changes occur, then shoot us an email at [email protected]

The full schedule is still in the works, but for right now I can tell you that here is October's Schedule.

*Weekend Of..*
*October 2nd: TSS Caddis, KLR, and Dedgoose-Middle Zone Opener*
*October 9th: Fullbody-Southern Zone Opener*
*October 16th: To Be Determined*
*October 20th-25th: Wavie-Saskatchewan for Ducks, Geese, Cranes*
*October 30th: MDHA Group Hunt*

*A Huge Thank You to Everyone so far for your interest!*


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## King Quack

Carl should be landing on TSS Caddis' doorstep today via his Carlmobile. I'm looking foward to seeing the pictures from his Travel around the country.

Can some one throw a silver sharpie in the box with Carl. I just realized I sent him out without a writing utensil.

Remember...FEAR THE BIRD!


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## TSS Caddis

Received


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## anon12162011

Any word from Carl?!


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## TSS Caddis

I'm meeting up with Dave this week to hand him off in person.

Carl's still recovering from having to hunt in spread manure this weekend:lol:


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## Quack Wacker

Any pictures?


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## raisinrat

any word on my email? I would like to take him down NC with me. I am sure we can get some coots shot over him while down there.My buddy has a pond that is all that goes there.:evil:


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## TSS Caddis

Pics are still on camera unless KLR posts up some from his phone.

Day 1: I think 14-16 ducks and 4 geese.5-6 ducks on a field hunt for 5 people.
Day 2: 15 or soo ducks on a field hunt for 5 people. After 1 hour packed up and hunted a loafing pond. 5 man limit of geese in about 1/2 hour.

So roughly 14 geese and 20-30 ducks for the weekend for 5 people.


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## anon12162011

*pics pics pics!*


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## anon12162011

raisinrat said:


> any word on my email? I would like to take him down NC with me. I am sure we can get some coots shot over him while down there.My buddy has a pond that is all that goes there.:evil:


 
Emailed ya back....


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## KLR

_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## waxico

Man, you guys get your birds.

Make sure to buy Dedgoose a beer.


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## TSS Caddis

waxico said:


> Man, you guys get your birds.
> 
> Make sure to buy Dedgoose a beer.


Yep, he's a good host. Best goose shoot I've been on as far as point blank shooting and they just kept coming.


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## Quack Wacker

WOW that was a great hunt. It is great to see you guys did so well over Carl.


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## DEDGOOSE

Quack Wacker said:


> WOW that was a great hunt. It is great to see you guys did so well over Carl.


It actually was quite disappointing.. We lost probably 70 percent of our ducks in the 4 days leading up too season.. So we scrambled and ended up putting a pretty decent weekend together.. Well except for KLRs Temper tantrum Sat morning. 

Carl looked pretty cool floating amongst the bigfoot floaters. :lol:


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## Blazin Guns

Nice shooting, and pics. Looks like Carl has gotten things going right from the start!!!


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## KLR

TSS Caddis said:


> Carl's still recovering from having to hunt in spread manure this weekend:lol:


I wonder if Sally ever got all of it washed out of her teeth?? :bloos:



DEDGOOSE said:


> It actually was quite disappointing.. We lost probably 70 percent of our ducks in the 4 days leading up too season.. So we scrambled and ended up putting a pretty decent weekend together.. Well except for KLRs Temper tantrum Sat morning.
> 
> Carl looked pretty cool floating amongst the bigfoot floaters. :lol:


Not bad for a plan "B"...I don't think the yahoo's hurt the other spot too bad from the sounds of things. Bet they're ready to go back to sitting in a tree now...


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## FullBody

TSS Caddis said:


> I'm meeting up with Dave this week to hand him off in person.
> 
> :lol:


We've made the transfer...Carl is in hand. Even purdier than I imagined! 

Nice job with him on the Z2 opener fellas...hopefully his luck continues this weekend! 

Is there a prize/ penalty if Carl takes an accidental water swat? :evil:

He had a taste of manure from the previous group...we've got a piss pond for him to sit on saturday...:lol: Poor Carl.


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## waxico

...is hilarious, looking out the window, depressed he can't fly....


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## highcaliberconsecrator

Carl is back in West Michigan. On my doorstep when I got home from work tonight. I appreciate the quick shipment!!! 

Lake Effect has got an awesome hunt planned this weekend, details and results to follow.


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## anon12162011

Here is Carl's Schedule from here on out. We really appreciate everyone's interest this year, it has been pretty overwhelming. I know there are a ton of guys who wanted to hunt it that just due to scheduling and what not, can not be put on the list as of now. We will almost need to look at the possibility of two traveling decoys next year to accomodate everyone. When making the schedule, we had to look at 1. Who already hunted it last year, 2. Logistics/Time, 3. Distance between hunts and dates.

Right now, this is the best schedule that I could come up with. If you a date you think you could slide in, either from being able to get Carl in hand from someone, etc., please be sure to let me know at [email protected] Likewise, IF YOU SEE YOUR DATE AND KNOW IT WON'T WORK FOR YOU, LET US KNOW ASAP since there are a ton of guys who want to hunt it!!

Please don't take it personal if your hunt was not selected, we are just trying to be fair to all we can, based on only so many dates on the calendar and only so many miles Carl can scoot. We tried to fill first by who never hunted it, then who was the first to reply to our initial thread, and then time.

Here is some inspiration to shoot a Coot Over Carl, this is a neck collared coot from Sweden.








---------------------------------------------------------------------
*All Dates Reflect Weekend Of Dates, Unless Otherwise Noted!*

*Sep 18:* King Quack-Youth Hunt Winner from our Waterfowl Day
*Oct 2nd:* Caddis, Dedgoose, Klr- Middle Zone Opener
*Oct 9th:* Fullbody- South Zone Opener
*Oct 16:*Fullbody/Travel Time To Wavie
*Oct 20-24th:* Wavie-Saskatchewan Hunt
*Oct 29:* BigR-West Michigan hunt
*Oct 30:* Lake Effect Chapter of the MDHA Goose Group Hunt
*Nov 6:* Roughshot-Diver hunt in the NW Lower
*Nov 13:* Duck-Hunter-Coot Shoot
*Nov 20:* Branta: Oregon Hunt
*Nov 27:* TBA (_Potential Day off for Carl due to Travel Time between Hunts_)
*Nov 28-Dec 4:* Goosemanrdk - Kansas forSpecks, Ducks, and Geese
*Dec 9 to 13:* Waterfowlhunter83 - Southeast Missouri Duck hunt
*Dec 18:* OPEN
*Dec 25:* OPEN
*Jan 1:* OPEN
*Jan 8:* Caddis, Waxico, and Others-Swan Hunt in North Carolina on the 10th
*Jan 15:* Caddis, Waxico, and Others-Scoter Hunt North Carolina
*Jan 22:* OPEN
*Jan 29:* OPEN

*Following January 29th, Carl will return back to West Michigan, unless anyone has a trip in February??*


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## anon12162011

Carl arrived Wednesday for the first time back in West Michigan, since he left King Quack's workbench. We knew for sure he would be hunting Saturday, as 16 of our local Lake Effect MDHA members will be going on a group goose hunt tommorrow the 30th.

I decided to try and throw a good hunt together on Friday since myself and several other members had the day off and see if we couldn't get Carl over some ducks.

This year I was told about a spot from a close friend that has payed off 10 fold for us. In the first 2 hunts, we were fortunate enough to harvest 12 and 13 wood ducks for a total of 25 woodies in 2 hunts. The first time it consisted of my, highcaliberconsecrator, goosemanrdk, and his buddy bill....the second time it was Quack Wacker, highcaliberconsecrator, goosemanrdk, and his buddy Jeff. The last time we hunted it was one week ago when we bagged 13, so we thought we would go give it a shot, knowing darn well that eventually the woodies had to leave that hole.

The hunt today consisted of the same group from last week, myself, highcaliberconsecrator, Quack Wacker, goosemanrdk, and his buddy Jeff. We all met up piled in gooseman's truck and headed to the spot. Before we even got to the spot we had to pull an oak tree out of the road (camera was packed away and couldn't get a photo). We traveled to Wood Duck Utopia and threw out our few decoys and all picked our spot anxiously awaiting sunrise. At sunrise, not much was flying, and a couple of the guys managed to bag a couple right off the bat, but we were clearly seeing 1/10th the birds we had on the previous hunt. A couple more were scratched off throughout the morning as well. We stuck it out until about 10am, mainly visiting and carrying on and remembering the last 2 hunts there and how none of us could even begin to be hard on ourselves for not stacking them up a third time, we had those memories already, and we all were having a great time enjoying each other's company.

So long wood duck hole for this season...we all had memories there that we will NEVER forget and we were dang glad that Carl got to be a part of them for our third and final hunt there today. We had alot of good laughs, saw some incredible sights, an shot more woodies than any of us could've imagined out of a puddle in the woods!


*Carl sitting scared in the dark in the timber hole*










Carl being hoisted out with the decoy pole


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## highcaliberconsecrator

Thanks for taking me to the wood duck utopia spot (3 times). Can't wait for the group hunt tomorrow! Couldn't help but share this pic of when when R took us to the spot the first time....sorry, that spot is just too cool. Carl didn't believe me when I told him.


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## anon12162011

It was my pleasure and I am counting down till next years wood duck hunts! I know, that darn Carl didn't seem to believe us when we were telling stories this morning!Carl better rest up for tommorrow is all I know.

Here is hunt #2...Left to Right (highcaliberconsecrator, quack wacker, BigR)









Goosemanrdk and his dog Lucy-The Star of Team Woodie


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## Mike L

Thee imagination of the pics is just wild guys please keep it up. Very
impressive..........


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## anon12162011

*Guys and Gals, this was not my hunt, but 17 peoples' hunt! I know alot of the participants have photos, please feel free to share yours on this thread too! Thanks again to Robert (goosemanrdk) for making this happen!*

*-----------------------*

*Your Name and Screen Name (If Applicable)* :* BigR, goosemanrdk, highcaliberconsecrator, waterfowlhunter83, quack wacker, and several others whom I cant remember their exact screen name (15 total, plus 2 camera men)*

*Date Of Your Hunt* :*10/30/10*

*Weather Conditions (Sky condition, Temperature, Wind)* :* Partly cloudy, 15 mph S/SW wind*
*Approximate Location (At least go down to a region!)* : Ravenna, MI
*Number of People in the Party (and dogs)* :* 2 Dogs, 17 total people*

*Total Number of Decoys Hunted With* :* Estimated 1200, YES 1200!!!*

*Total Number of Waterfowl Seen on Hunt* :* ~800 total*

*Stage of the Fall Migration-Choose One (Early, Mid, Peak, Late, Done)* : Mid

*Number of Total Birds Harvested on Hunt (Include Species)* : 7, including 3 hutchinsons

*Roundtrip Miles From Your Home to Carls Hunting Destination and Back* : Varied for everyone
*Name something that you learned from Carl today!* : You get 17 crazy waterfowlers together and it spells a good time no matter how many birds are harvested.
*Comments/Tale of the Hunt!* :
This hunt happened due to Robert goosemanrdkwe all owe a huge thanks to him for making this happen. We all met at 4:50am and convoyed out to our hunting spot. It was an absolutely incredible sight seeing 10 pickup trucks, 4 with trailers, hauling across a cornfield at 5am. Everyone brought their decoys to make a monster spread, I believe it was somewhere in the neighborhood of >1100 decoys in the field. We pulled birds like crazy, very educated birds, and despite having 15 layout blinds side by side and 2 behind us filming, we still managed to get some geese to decoy right on in. To say there were great laughs and jokes is a vast understatement. The whole morning was surrounded by pranks, jokes, digs, and a whole lot of laughs. It was just incredible to see very decoy shy birds come from miles away to check the spread out. It was an amazing time and it was great to get the entire Lake Effect Committee together for a group hunt and to see each other outside of a meeting or event. Carl had 1100 other friends there with him, including snow decoys, speck decoys, roughly 60 dozen silhouettes, and 20 dozen plus fullbodies. We kept it alive for Carl and to date he doesnt have a skunk over him and I am sure Carl heard a few jokes today that would burn some peoples ears, its a good thing the little fellar cant talk!
*------------------*
*Carl was ornry when I got him up this morning*









*He started to wake up when we left him in the field*










*Everyone taking a mid morning break*









*Carl is in the middle of the silos, near the snows*









*Group Shot*









*Goosemanrdk's dog Lucy*









*Carl with today's harvest*









*BigR with Carl and Geese*









*Group Shot, Several Forum Members in There and Carl*


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## highcaliberconsecrator

That was a blast! Thanks to all who made this happen. 17 bodies in a field was crazy but it worked. Love seeing those small geese work the sustained wind. 

Hope I can bring some more birds home hunting over Carl tomorrow, I am nervous about the hunt. I don't want to be the first guy to pull a goose egg over him!


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## raisinrat

If someone can get it to me I can hunt over him Monday Tuesday and Wednesday this week. Then I could Priority mail him anywhere Wednesday afternoon to roughshot.Or if anyone from the Lake Affect groups wants to bring him over to hunt one day I can get us on birds.

Or is that cutting things to close?

Also can give him another week of weekday hunts and hand him off to Branta for his trip in person.


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## anon12162011

For now that will be cutting it too close, as it is being hunted today, Monday and I am fairly certain knowone will be able to make the 200 mile treck over with Carl. I'll take a look at Branta's hunt and let you know if it would work out or not.


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## highcaliberconsecrator

Well, no skunk, but close! After a long day yesterday it was decided to try and squeeze out another hunt or so before sending Carl away from home again. The weather stunk and we knew we would be facing the sun all morning. We managed 2 before the morning was cut short by the big giant ball of fire in the sky.

*Your Name and Screen Name (If Applicable)* :Casey VanDyke, Eric Neusiis, Corey Dahms
*Date Of Your Hunt* :10-31-10
*Weather Conditions (Sky condition, Temperature, Wind)* :CLEAR, >32 degrees, NNW 5
*Approximate Location (At least go down to a region!)* : Central Michigan
*Number of People in the Party (and dogs)* :*3*
*Total Number of Decoys Hunted With* :*45ish*
*Total Number of Waterfowl Seen on Hunt* :250 ducks, 200 geese
*Stage of the Fall Migration-Choose One (Early, Mid, Peak, Late, Done)* : Early 
*Number of Total Birds Harvested on Hunt (Include Species)* : 2 Mallards
*Roundtrip Miles From Your Home to Carls Hunting Destination and Back* : 130
*Name something that you learned from Carl today!* : Quit being lazy.
*Comments/Tale of the Hunt!* : Hunted with two great friends. We have been hunting with this threesome for the last 5 years or so, the greatest thing is how well we know each other and who does what as far as setup and takedown. Every time we hunt things go pretty seamlessly. Except for the diver line debacle which I will not discuss any further! The morning started with a good frost and a light fog on the lake. We were setup like most of the times we hunted this spot. Strong decoys upwind tight to shore and divers out front just in case. As soon as shooting light came the fog burned off and the ducks started showing up over head. They knew what they wanted and we couldnt convince them otherwise, except that is for two we broke from a larger group that flew over low for a check just to be sure they werent missing out. Shortly after collecting those two drake mallards, the sun showed up and full force and we knew we were going to be cut off for the rest of the morning. We all had fun and it was good to be back at one of my favorite spots to hunt, still full of promise for the rest of the season.

*







*

*







*

*







*

*







*


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## goosemanrdk

BigR said:


> Goosemanrdk and his dog *Lucy*-The Star of Team Woodie
> QUOTE]
> 
> I must say BigR, I appreciate being able to go on the hunts and be part of Team Woddie!!!!!!!! I do have to toote my own horn about my Lucy though. She definiately was the star!!!!!! 3 hunts, and not a single lost bird. God I love that dog.
> 
> As for the Lake Effect group hunt: IT WAS A BLAST!!!!!!! We have to do that again. The one big thing I learned and would do different, is to move our "gunning line" further back in the spread. The birds were very willing to work over the decoys, and we would have gotten a bunch more shot opportunities had we been further back.
> 
> It was my pleasure putting that hunt together.


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## roughshot

Can't wait to hunt with Carl this weekend. Its shaping up to be a sweet diver weekend.
Carl appears to be a seasoned hunter at this point in the season, so I don't think he will need much coaching. Tell him to bring more shells and if he can stop by cabela's warehouse and bring my backordered waders as well.


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## highcaliberconsecrator

roughshot said:


> Can't wait to hunt with Carl this weekend. Its shaping up to be a sweet diver weekend.
> Carl appears to be a seasoned hunter at this point in the season, so I don't think he will need much coaching. Tell him to bring more shells and if he can stop by cabela's warehouse and bring my backordered waders as well.


Too late!!! I would have told him to pick them up! You should see him today.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Branta

BigR said:


> For now that will be cutting it too close, as it is being hunted today, Monday and I am fairly certain knowone will be able to make the 200 mile treck over with Carl. I'll take a look at Branta's hunt and let you know if it would work out or not.



I don't think it'd work for us that week. After Carl goes Postal on on his brethern the 13/14th.... his butt's on a plane the 17th for Central Oregon to hopefully shoot some dinks and cottontops!

Big R: I'll work with Duck-Hunter on logistics since it might be tight. He's over just over in Brighton and I work in Novi, so it shouldn't be a huge issue.


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## roughshot

He'll be working with me the next two days, then we'll be off to the "deep" water.


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## Quack Wacker

roughshot said:


> He'll be working with me the next two days, then we'll be off to the "deep" water.


 
Good Luck!


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## anon12162011

*HAIL CALL TO ROUGHSHOT (Travis)!!!*

*Carl's Shipping info is now in your inbox...Sorry its running late!*

*Duck-Hunter (Justyn)...Carl is coming your way!!!*

*Can't wait to see your pics when you get a chance there Roughshot...Make sure and post them to this thread!'*

*Ryan*


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## roughshot

BigR said:


> *HAIL CALL TO ROUGHSHOT (Travis)!!!*
> 
> *Carl's Shipping info is now in your inbox...Sorry its running late!*
> 
> *Duck-Hunter (Justyn)...Carl is coming your way!!!*
> 
> *Can't wait to see your pics when you get a chance there Roughshot...Make sure and post them to this thread!'*
> 
> *Ryan*


Got it.
Carl will be in the mail this evening.
I will finish up my log sheets as soon as I get some additonal photos from my partner.
Weekend was decent, killed birds, had some laughs but boy, none of it went as planned.

more to come.......


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## TSS Caddis

roughshot said:


> Can you see them now?
> I guess I had the photos set as private, I have since changed to public.



Yep


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## Quack Wacker

Great Pic's Roughshot!


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## Duck-Hunter

*11/11/10*
*Your Name and Screen Name (If Applicable)* : Justyn Gafford &#8220;Duck-Hunter&#8221;

*Date Of Your Hunt* : 11/11/10

*Weather Conditions (Sky condition, Temperature, Wind)* :fog, light and varible ESE wind
*Approximate Location (At least go down to a region!)* : South east MI
*Number of People in the Party (and dogs)* :3 including myself

*Total Number of Decoys Hunted With* :7dz FFDs

*Total Number of Waterfowl Seen on Hunt* :100-130 geese, 25 mallards

*Stage of the Fall Migration-Choose One (Early, Mid, Peak, Late, Done)* :I wish I could answer this question&#8230;.it really never started yet

*Number of Total Birds Harvested on Hunt (Include Species)* : 3 candian geese, 2 pigeons

*Roundtrip Miles From Your Home to Carl&#8217;s Hunting Destination and Back* : 70 miles
*Name something that you learned from Carl today!* : Shooting up a farm only last so long until the birds wise up, just so happened when Carl arrived.
*Comments/Tale of the Hunt!* :
The hunt wasn&#8217;t all that bad. We havent been doing to hot on ducks around us. So we figured we would take Carl out to the goose battle area. We shot over 100+ birds off this farm this season. We knew that our luck was about to run out on birds sooner or later. The three geese we got came right in, we had the best confidence decoy around Carl the coot! The first bird we shot was in the fog and it was flying silent. Gave him a few clucks and he spotted carl and whipped right in. That bird was a prime example why I kind of don&#8217;t like hunting geese in the fog, geese tend to run in stealth mode. We should have had that one land because when I called the shot there were two geese cupped up gliding in and just breaking the fog until we opened up on the single. Little while later we had a pair come in and they both hit the dirt within feet of Carl. We also got a couple city ducks.














*11/13/10*
*Your Name and Screen Name (If Applicable)* : Justyn Gafford &#8220;Duck-Hunter&#8221;
*Date Of Your Hunt* : 11/13/10 AM & PM Hunt
*Weather Conditions (Sky condition, Temperature, Wind)* :* Low *fog, light ESE 
*Approximate Location (At least go down to a region!)* : South east MI(Private inland lake in the AM)
*Number of People in the Party (and dogs)* :3 including myself, Friends dog. PM: Kcud-Killer and myself
*Total Number of Decoys Hunted With* :6dz
*Total Number of Waterfowl Seen on Hunt* :30 geese, maybe 20 mallards, 2 Bufflehead
*Stage of the Fall Migration-Choose One (Early, Mid, Peak, Late, Done)* :I wish I could answer this question&#8230;.it really never started yet
*Number of Total Birds Harvested on Hunt (Include Species)* : AM: Big ol Bagel"0", PM: 4 Coots
*Roundtrip Miles From Your Home to Carl&#8217;s Hunting Destination and Back* : 80 miles
*Name something that you learned from Carl today!* : Coots wise up quicker then we thought! Dont hunt over a breaking dog..
*Comments/Tale of the Hunt!* :
This past week/weeekend has been a rough week. A lot of fog, no wind and stale birds. Carl and I helped/guided a hunt saturday in the AM. We had a problem with the clients dog breaking as soon as it would see the birds. I usually just tell the clients I have the dog work covered unless they presist on bringing there dog. I have hunted with this dog a couple times since it was a pup I dont know what the deal was this morning with him. We should of had a few in the bag but thats why its called hunting and not shooting. we had a great time and Carl got to hang out and work on his sun tan when the sun came out.

PM:
Kcud-rellik and I headed out for a coot shoot like we have done a few times in the past. We went from having 300+ coots on this lake a week, week and a half ago to having maybe 100. we also didnt have much wind. The conditinons werent ideal, we would start floating into the coots and they would start to spread out once in range. we got two the first past and two the next past. after that they were on to us. Our record coot shoot was 23 coot in two passes with two shooters. We were hoping to that again or shoot or a limit since Carl was in town. 

AM Pics:

































*11/14/10*
*Your Name and Screen Name (If Applicable)* : Justyn Gafford &#8220;Duck-Hunter&#8221;
*Date Of Your Hunt* : 11/14/10 AM & PM Hunt
*Weather Conditions (Sky condition, Temperature, Wind)* :* WSW 10-20mph WSW*
*Approximate Location (At least go down to a region!)* : South east MI
*Number of People in the Party (and dogs)* :* Myself, little brother and my dog Grace*
*Total Number of Decoys Hunted With* :* 2dz mallards, 2 dz geese*
*Total Number of Waterfowl Seen on Hunt* :* 300 geese, 3 mallards, 1 bluebill*
*Stage of the Fall Migration-Choose One (Early, Mid, Peak, Late, Done)* :I wish I could answer this question&#8230;.it really never started yet
*Number of Total Birds Harvested on Hunt (Include Species)* : AM: Big ol Bagel"0", PM: 1 coot
*Roundtrip Miles From Your Home to Carl&#8217;s Hunting Destination and Back* : 65 miles
*Name something that you learned from Carl today!* : Carl never gives up, when the going gets tough he keeps on pushing.
*Comments/Tale of the Hunt!* :
After a long couple days Carl still had the itch to hunt. We hunted the AM with my little brother, my dog Gracie and myself. We have a spot on state land that produces some big numbers of geese and late in the season a lot of mallards. Mallards werent in but the geese were. needless to say we were getting short stopped on geese from hunters that thought they were shooting a rifle at geese.
























PM:
Went for round two on coots. Had my little brother on the turret. He managed to shoot two coots and one got away. The conditions were a little better this day but the coots still remembered us from the day before. We set up on a pothole that usually produces a lot of mallards if they are around. we had 3 come thru and never really gave us a shot.


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## Quack Wacker

Nice work on the Coots!


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## anon12162011

*Any word from Branta yet??*

Email sent to ya Branta regarding Carl's shipping info...he needs to get a move on it so Goosemanrdk can have him for Kansas!!

Looking forward to seeing the photos from Oregon!


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## Branta

I'm Back!

got in at around midnight last night.

Pretty good gunning out west and I'll have a story to tell shortly.

Whacked 'em pretty good!


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## Branta

Ok, maybe Branta left him in the truck at the airport parking lot! 

was running late leaving the office on wednesday to catch my flight out to Oregon. Grew a brain (so I thought) on the way there and called my buddy out west to see what gear he had I could borrow if need be. Talking to him as i speed into the parking lot, shuttle dude is waiting for me as I ask for a minute to sort bags. the plan now was to fit everything I needed into a carry on to scoot on through.

so as Im talking to my buddy, throwing sheet left and right , I finally zip it up and we're off to the united terminal.

at the gate when I opened up the bag again to check on carl and... "oh [bleep]!! NO CARL!!

I could just see him back at the truck, secure in his bed of camo bibs and coat!

Call the future mrs. to jet down there, pick it up and then fedex him out west. But of course, she's already gone up north and unavailable.

so? I guess Russell wins the "COOT of the year" award! 
for leaving Carl in De-twa whilst stackin CARL'S birds up out west!

the Rules of the Road say to be creative, so I thought I'd put a band-aid on this whole cluster [bleep]. here it goes...

~~~~~~~

day one: took the long ride in the truck to the duck pond - less than 2 minutes.

we stacked 'em! 2 man western limit of 7 each (you're even allowed 7 drake mallards if you can pull it off)










Teal, pinners and Mallards.... and carl(?) :cwm27:


Gerd "the Ghost" - buddies chess. this dawg's coloration is SPOT ON camo for this area. I call her "pred" (of Predator fame) - she's spooky stealthy in those weeds.











next day, we moved to one of his fields to beat up the geese.
and we did with a limit shoot. (just love the scenery out here)










day 3: back at the pond, but we got a later start and the birds were already piling in. still managed 11 or 12 ducks consisting of teal and mallards (and I love me some teal shooting!)

pond pic looking easterly-









house is in the background there on the left by the butte. So you can see our drive time was terrible! 

not sure if you can see the geese working his back field


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## Branta

day 4: let's go kill some more geese!

went back to the same field as the geese were hitting it hard, but we had cows in there today. should've thought about moving them and gating it off. If you've ever hunted right in with cows, you know that they're a curious lot and honestly... a pain to deal with!

Jimmy shooing (trying to) them off.











looks like we're going to lose 2 more out there ...








carl hanging out with JImmy.

so they messed us up a bit as we were caught out in the field dealing with them a couple of times vs. working birds. As some tried to light, they'd just bugger off to the next field over. Well that's a problem... a grOWING problem. 

we still did OK with 6, but nearly every flock thereafter sucked right over about a 1/2 mile away. probably 1k+ .... and very frustrating to me.
so I talked to the girls there later about their behavior and asked "_who here wants to go work for the clown (McDonalds)? someone's going to pay for this."_ (followed by a nervous laugh from my buddy!):evil: 

on the way back to the house, we saw this small herd of Mulies out in one of his fields.









not a bad deer and I asked if it was a shooter. his reply with a bit of disgust; "probably. If you're a road hunter." my reply; "a deer like that or the other small buck there wouldn't stand a chance in Michigan!"

got around the bend and to the house to look out and find this other herd in the opposite end of the field.










day 5: leaving at 11:20 am to head back. Need to pack yet, eat some breakfast and drive the half hour, 40 minutes to the airport for the flight so.....


Plenty of time for a duck hunt!

Carl and his booty; 12 souls









had a nice shoot, cleaned up, packed, cleaned birds, had some bacon n eggs, and still sat around early for the flight back east.

another great trip to visit my best friend from grade school. and every year, I leave there just reaking of Jealousy!! 

did I mention the 20-30 pheasants I flushed out of the ditch! (love that place!)


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## Mike L

What a piece of heaven your bud seems to have, so your re-locating when ?
Need someone to carry your bags ?........Sign me up.......


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## Big Honkers

This has been a fun thread to watch. Thank you to all involved for your efforts!


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## anon12162011

Looking forward to seeing goosemanrdk's pics from Kansas when he gets back!!


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## Quack Wacker

Nice shooting Branta, and great job on the photoshop


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## waterfowlhunter83

Well old Carl got a real scare yesterday...sitting in my office, getting close to 5, I get an email from Christian Curtis telling me he has to cancel my hunt. Apparently one of their levees broke and they lost a bunch of water. So here a year of planning this hunt, which my wife gave me as a gift, is about to go down the drain. So I gave Christian a call and left him a message basically asking if he knew of anyone else in SE Missouri that he could recommend. I knew it was probably a long shot being so close to my hunt and really I didn't expect a call back from him. Not more than a half hour later my phone rings and it is Christian, he had a hunt lined up for me with another guide, a guy that had guided for Allen-Curtis in the past. Needless to say I was shocked that he was able to pull something together and take care of me by lining up another hunt. I really can't say enough about Christian and what he did for me...I know that takes money away from him and probably most guides wouldn't have done that. So my hat is off to Christian and Allen-Curtis Wildfowl Adventures for pulling some strings and making sure myself and Carl get out on a Missouri duck hunt.

Chad
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Quack Wacker

Good Luck Chad!


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## King Quack

I love Branta's Photo shopped Carl Pics...Now that's creative!:lol::lol::lol: Good recovery Russ.


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## anon12162011

*Any word from Carl and his escapades out West*


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## goosemanrdk

Anyways, just finally getting back to reality after a long Honeymoon/hunting vacation in Kansas followed by a little hunting back here at home.

Received Carl from Branta on Wednesday 11/24, and after his escapades of being left behind for Branta's trip, Carl was very cranky. Especially when Erin(QueenB), my wife, and I told Carl that he would not actually be hunting until Thursday 12/2. After a heated discussion, Erin threatening Carl with the 12guage and promises of a good trip Carl settled in to relax at the house prior to our departure on Sunday 11/28. 

On Sunday morning we awoke to find that Carl had everything packed and ready to be loaded in the truck:









With that we were out the door. We made a quick stop at the Hammond Cabelas for some needed items. However, Carl was feeling pretty sassy after his days of relaxing, so he was left in the truck while we shopped. We had concerns of a scene being created in the store. We had heard several "chants" from Carl about whar he was going to do/say to those "production" decoys.









Carl enjoying the ride down to St. Louis, as we were staying there for a few days prior to hunting Kansas.









Carl enjoying the view of Busch stadium from our Hotel.









Then Carl realized why Coots migrate at night. AFRAID OF HEIGHTS!!!!


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## goosemanrdk

So we arrived to camp(Central Kansas) on Wednesday night and embarked on our first days hunt Thurdsday 12/2. This hunt was to be in a field for "little" geese. Canadas, Snows, Blues and our prize target Speckbellies!!!! Well, the Specks did not cooperate(only got a marginal shot at one), but the little Canadas worked awesome. We were able to harvest 13 for the 5 of us that were hunting. Unfortunately, my camera acted up and I did not get a harvest photo, but should get one soon from the guide.

Carl chillin' with the 600+ decoys. By the way the vast majority of the birds we shot tried to finish on Carl's head.









Carl relaxing mid morning with Erin:









Day 2 found us hunting a marsh looking yet again for Specklebellies. Well, yet again the Specks didn't cooperate much, but the ducks, well I think Erin will be talking about this hunt for a LONG, LONG time. We had 7 of us hunting including several that were videoing for quite awhile as well. We finished with 42ducks and 3 geese. We had 35mallards(only 1 hen), 5 drake Pintails, 1 hen Wigeon, 1 Drake Goldeneye, 1 Speck, 1 Blue and 1 Little Canada. It was simply AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Carl hanging out to the side of the decoys. Which yet again proved to be where the birds wanted to land(which put them right in front of Erin).








Erin wating on more Ducks.








Was finally time to retrieve some of the bodies from the ice.
Nice little hanfull to get to pick up.








Erin and one of her 2 Prized pintails she shot.








The group shot with the ducks.








Couple of Pretty Geese shot by yours truley.








Me, Erin and our host Zach.








My Favorite picture from the conclusion of our "honeymoon"









All in all an outstanding Kansas trip!!!!!!!!


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## Quack Wacker

Nice work man, I dream about shooting that many mallards in a hunt


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## Mike L

Wow...nice pics goose. Sounds like good times for sure, I agree the last one is a very nice picture.............That old coot is gettin some traveling time
for sure......


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