# Daily Hunt Stories



## quakattic (Aug 27, 2008)

Hey Guys...need some help. I had surgery on Thursday and found out that I have cancer...they removed my left testicle....can't hunt for at least 10 days...I am waiting on the pathology report to find out how severe and then more tests, etc... to see if it spread. 

So in the meantime, since I can't hunt, it would sure help keep my mind off of my situation to hear some hunt stories....I am hoping to be able to enjoy the last week or so of the season...I think I am more devasted that I can't hunt right now than the fact I have testicular cancer....

thanks in advance for the help


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## MakoWish (Apr 12, 2005)

Prayers sent. :sad: :gaga:

Went to Harsens Saturday. Birds are too damn smart for this time of year. They would run the edges of the refuge then climb to about 300' before they flew the areas. 

Amazingly, some people were shooting at those birds:16suspect. Gotta love skybustin idiots. Oh, saw a nice breasted out suzy floating in the canal while heading back to the truck.  Way to go violating losers! 

That's about all I have for ya Get well soon!


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## quakattic (Aug 27, 2008)

300 yard shots?...its amazing the amount of people who think hunting is merely pointing their gun at anything and pulling the trigger....thanks!!!


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## Flooded Timber (Nov 1, 2006)

Set up on a hot goose field saturday morning. First flock of 6 came in and we dropped 5 of them. Four guys hunting and in no time we had our limit. Played hooky today after having an estimated 500 birds in the field saturday, and wouldn't you know it. Stayed out til 10am and seen a grand total of 25 birds. Not only that they wouldn't even look at us. Spent the next 2.5 hrs looking at some of our favorite honey holes and seen a grand total of 12 ducks between them all. Guess I shoulda worked. NAH!!!:lol:


Get well soon....


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## BeWild (Mar 19, 2007)

Went and hunted with some friends this weekend, right on the shores of Lake Superior. I can't imagine hunting any bigger water than that! We had a sweet spot, and you could see birds coming in for miles. Some birds worked pretty good, but we didn't shoot many birds. 3 mergies and 3 black ducks for the weekend. Due to a cancellation of class and a hunting acceptable schedule, I will be able to hunt tomorrow, Wednesday, and Thursday. Birds are in, snow is starting, so barring me screwing it up somehow (highly possible) I should shoot some birds and have some stories for ya.


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## William H Bonney (Jan 14, 2003)

_No Substitute For The Real Thing..... _

Been doing a lot of training with my pup throughout the spring and summer,,, using real birds, real gun fire but nothing prepared me for yesterday morning..:lol:

I got out with my dad and pup for our first morning hunt yesterday. First time for "Kid" in the dark,, man that Kid is hard to see in the dark..(my first black lab). He seemed relativley calm and cool until,,,,,, 2 minutes into shooting time we have a drake pile into the dekes, perfectly. We dump this drake and Kid takes off like a BULLET!!!! I swear he was in the "air" for the first 15 yards of the retrieve...:lol: He grabs the duck and brings it back,(not to hand) about 10 yards from the boat,, but it was still pretty exciting. As he's standing over his trophy,, another drake lands in the dekes. I call the dog, and the duck takes off and my dad dumps it,,, there goes Kid again,, like a cannon. He retrieve's that duck and takes it back to his "pile" of birds on the shore. I had to get out and get the birds myself,, but still exciting nonetheless. Anyway,, I've never seen a dog SO EXCITED for the _real deal_ in my life. The rest of the morning he was scanning the decoy's looking for something to "move",, every once in a while his eye's would play tricks on him and he "thought" he saw something move,, or didn't remember a decoy being in that spot and he'd bolt outta the boat....:lol: All in all, a great memorable morning for a pup's first retrieve's.:chillin:


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## quakattic (Aug 27, 2008)

thanks guys!!!!


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## dpossum (Jul 19, 2006)

I'll be praying for you. I hope to go for my first duck hunt of the season tomorrow morning. I get to try out my sons' boat (he is in California - warming up for his next deployment). Hopefully - I'll will have something worth talking about. Get well there chief.


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## TSS Caddis (Mar 15, 2002)

I wasn't going to post any of this for a couple reasons, first because bird estimates at the straights are vastly over exaturated by most people on the site, two because there is danger involved and the average guy on here, to be frank, does not have enough big open water experience to let him hunt there safely, three there is a limited area to hunt and lastly the birds are very, very fickle about what they do and when, it is not a spot to go and expect to light them up most of the time. Mostly it is the safety aspect and I don't want to condone someone with a 16' mod V getting wound up and putting himself in an unsafe situation. BUT having read your post, I'm going to make an exemption.

Arrived Thur. PM at St. Ignace. Waves 4-6' and full plumed drake old squaw everywhere. SOME birds around, in the corner, but no where near thousands as being reported.

Friday AM: Hunted Lake Huron, waves 2' on the way out in the dark. Spotlighted a couple hundred red heads. Waves built to 3-5'. We hunted the 3-5' waves for around 4 hours and quit at noon with 15. Lost about 3 crips due to waves otherwise we would have finished our limit. Most large flocks were out in the shipping channel and not accessable without a death wish.

Friday PM: Hunted Lake Michigan, no birds no shots.

Sat AM: Less birds on the way out in the dark. Waves 1-2' most of the day. Lot's of birds moving out in the shipping channel, but can't really hunt in 100' of water Only shot 5 along with this guy. 










I've shot quite a few immature scoter and hen scoter in Michigan of all varieties, but have never shot a mature scoter in Michigan until Saturday. This completes my scoter end table with a Surf, Black and Whitewing.

Sun AM: Waves about 2-4' the whole way out in the dark. Got out of the wind a bit due to predictions of 8-10' waves later in the day. Come light not much flying at all and waves 3-5'. First bit of weather came through with a driving rain for an hour followed by partyly sunny and waves subsiding to 1-3'. Next front came through an hour later. With lightening moving in from the west we started pulling long lines. As we pulled the wind built to around 30mph with pea sized hail pelting us in the face and covering the floor of the boat. We ended with only 3 birds. Within being back to the launch for only 10 minutes, the waves built to 4-6' and as we looked out to where we had been we spotted a water spout form and start moving across the water. I'm quite sure later in the morning waves did hit the 8-10' mark.

Great time, some nasty weather and a few birds. Could have killed a ton more birds on the Bay, but we were up for the scenery more than the kill. 

Some pics when it was calm enough to get the camera out. Probably look to be less than 2', but trust me they were 1-3' at this point. It is decieving looking at them and not being in them.
















__________________

**Last disclaimer: I do not condone hunting the straights. The hunting is vastly over rated along with the "huntable" bird numbers being greatly over rated. Unless you have quite a bit of big water experience putting out and bringing in long lines in 20' plus of water in large waves, it is NOT the place for you to hunt. If you are into killing big numbers, it is NOT the place to hunt. If you like to shoot birds, stay home, odds are you won't shoot volume up there. If you like scenery, then go and enjoy it.


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## Tightlines (May 21, 2004)

Hey Quack, First and formost, prayers are with you bud!!! Got picked about the middle of the pack, so we got a so,so pick. Birds flew great to the decoys about 5 min. before shooting time, I swear they wear watches.... I missed on one teal that landed in the decoys and we'll end that story right there! ! ! Gunner shot a nice hen mallard and then Perry, Gunner and I connected all at the same time on a Drake mallard. Of course we had the usual sky busters as the birds were working our spread, many geese flying around this am, and some fresh birds finally coming down. Just wish hunters would let them work before trying to shoot them soooooooo high. Ended up with 2, but it was better then being at work.....

Stay strong and this will pass, you can beat this and be able to spend many more years in the marsh. As you know there's nothing like watching the sunrise in the marsh, especially with good friends....

Take Care My Friend, Give updates as you see fit,,,,,,,

Chris
Call anytime,,,,, 313-574-4881


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## quakattic (Aug 27, 2008)

man, you guys are great, I can't tell you how much hearing your stories helps...I know there are people who are worse off then me, but when you wake up in the recovery room and the first thing you hear is that we removed your left testicle and you have cancer...it sucks the life out of you...I had the chance to go out the day before the surgery and hunt...never pulled the trigger, saw a few birds flying high, but that imagine of the sun coming up in the marsh, decoys out, dog waiting for action birds flying high...that was good enough for me. I use to take hunting for granted...I am (was) fortunate that I could get out 4 days a week, have access to private property and live real close to public land...now that I am faced with battling cancer ( I know I have to go through Radiation treatment)...I will cherish every opportunity I get...As much as I Duck Hunt, I have always stayed away from Harsens, Fish Pointe, Shiawessee, etc...always figured it would be to crowded and I was always content to Hunt the same areas that we have for years...once I get the clear to go back out...hopefully this season...I plan to go to Harsens, Fish Pointe, etc...now it is more about the experience, being with friends and enjoying each day we get to be above ground!

Thanks for the stories...keep em coming, I can't tell you how helpful they are....


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## J.Harrington (Dec 10, 2006)

Heres one that might make you smile.
Me and a buddy went to fish pt. and had a decent draw right next to the refuge. He was all excited about his new box of black clouds he'd just bought. Your only allowed 25 shells so he brought the whole box. We get set up(table, chairs, dekes). About 5 minutes before shooting ours he relieves himself and as he is buttoning up he backs up into the table and splash, Black cloud goes down! We sat there doing the hookie pookie all morning trying to find those things. Never did so I had to share my shells with him. Funny thing is, with only 25 shells and knowing every shot counts, that might have been one of the most efficient hunts we've ever had out there. Next time I'll tell you about the time my buddy Jon forgetting his gun and how I had to share that too, or the time my big friend Terry(6'3" 275lbs) stood up in my 12'er at the tawas boat launch, trying to get out, and launched it right out from underneath him and basically did a back flip into the water. Get well soon. 
Jason

I didn't know scooters were even around MI, I thought they were only on the ocean shores. Maybe I'll bring my 12fter up there sometime. Just kidding.


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## Mike L (Sep 8, 2003)

Hang tough prayers on there way !.....

Well ? I"m on my 3rd or 4th year with a short reed goose call, I blew a flute for years. But being an old fart and trying to update everything, I was encouraged to make the switch. I've called singles and doubles to there demise but never a flock. So Sat. morning we're about ready to leave when a flock comes out..(FP)
10 birds. They were going to a different section, I blew a comeback, twice then started the routine...:yikes: Yaaa here they come. I have two other guys with me and one is a newbie, we talked before and and I mentioned I'd make the call. They make the swing towards us and about 100yds out they lock up, and they are coming in silent....Oh be careful mike, one little slip and there gone, so all I give em is a low cluck blowing into my jacket to muffel it some.
At about 50yds I start to get ready,I'm waiting for the leader to clear me then call the shot...(Guys behind me) when all of a sudden I catch something out of the corner of my eye. :yikes: What ? Where did they come from. I didn't see that three other geese had come in from somewhere and were past final approach, my bro said the landing gear was out. Well when I turned the flock must have seen me and slid off to the side at max range so the shot wasn't taken, and the three picked back up and they all flew away together...... man ? I give credit to the new guy, he said he was "Ready" but waited for the call. My Bro figured once the three landed the others would follow. Wow ! It was exciting..... we all talked about it for a half hour. Another goose encounter for the books........


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## pintail charlie (Nov 26, 2007)

I am off Nov.1 thru 9. If you feel up to it you are welcome to come to fp with me. I will do all the work and take you to an easy field. The only thing you will have to lift is your gun and hopefully a full strap of ducks. Just sit on a nice padded chair and shoot ducks. The walks are a little muddy but if the water is deep enough i can pull you in my boat. Just send me a pm and ill make it happen. This ones on Charlie. I really hope to hear from you and if i dont.... Get well soon.


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## just tryin to fish (May 31, 2004)

hey man i hope everything goes well for you and wish you a fast recovery. but tonight is the last night of work till friday. so i will be out in the marsh hopfully a few times and i will update as much as i can. no garantes that the stories will have and birds being killed do to my low ability to shoot and hit ducks this year but this is from sunday night we headed out on the river and were set up by 3 ish with it being sunny when we left we fiqured that we would leave the rain gear at home. BIG opps on that call set up in a calmer spot and had birds flying as we set up. then came the hail storm and let me tell you hail that is slightly bigger than peas coming at you with a 30 40 mph wind really hurts:yikes: but the birds were working us in the hail my buddy ended up getting a female pintale. after her we had a few more groups of 2-4 work us but never comit. then we hear quaks right up the pipe come a hen mallard it was like she was on a string and quess what we MISSED. how do you miss a 12 yard shot? but any ways we ended up having a few more birds work us and i did manage a hen mallard for the night. 

good luck man 
nick


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## quakattic (Aug 27, 2008)

thanks again...your stories are great!!!...I can't tell you how helpful this is...once I start Radiation Treatments, I am debating on writing an article to send into Wildfowl Magazine about Duck Hunters and the Duck Hunting community...I will use your input as examples on the spirt of Duck Hunters...I gonna have to do something between throwing up and ****ting all the time...so what the hell, it keep my mind off feeling miserable!

By the way, I don't want people to think I am feeling sorry for myself...I intend to beat this!!! I have two sons (15yrs & 18yrs) a wife of 22 years who has been an angel and my GSP that is wondering why we aren't hunting like we use to...there aren't too many people who understand the addiction to Duck Hunting and this set back is driving me insane...I discussed with my Doctor about delaying my surgery until after the season...well that didn't happen...but this is very theraputic...so thanks!!


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## pike_mazter (May 18, 2008)

Have hunted Holly twice a week or more and have just had tons of fun with the woodies. Man they are fast! In fact they are so fast that when we finally had a mallard work the decoys I missed becuase of the monster leed I put on him like I would the woodies. This year we have worked harder than ever getting back into little mucky stinky coves with nothing more than a canoe or on foot. We have had a great experiance with other hunters this year. Not to much sky busting or fighting over what birds were working what decoys. All and all a great year so far. Looking forward to something other than woodies now.


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## just ducky (Aug 23, 2002)

Hang in there man. You have the right attitude. Not sure I could be as positive, so you're a better man than I 

So many stories in almost 30 years of duck hunting, but I'll pick a couple comical ones that have really nothing to do with shooting ducks in hopes of brightening your day...

First story...a few years ago a buddy and I were in a two man layout boat on Saginaw Bay off of Fish Point. At the time my buddy had a job that kept him very busy and stressed 24-7. His cell phone was constantly vibrating from someone calling or leaving a message. I mean every 5 minutes he was feeling a buzz. Every time we hunted together I was bitching at him to leave his cell phone in the truck. We were only in about 2 feet of water, and after a couple hours in the layout boat, we needed a stretch. So we hop out the sides and are standing around. My buddy feels the need to relieve himself, so he fumbles around to get his waders down, and does his thing. After a bit we hop back in the layout, and are there about 5 minutes, when he frantically starts "patting" his side pockets through the waders, and says something like "oh ****...my phone!" Yep, you guessed it...apparently when he dropped his waders to do the deed, the phone fell into the drink. And it's his work phone, so he's really pissed. He got out of the layout and started feeling around on the bottom with his foot in some kind of desperate attempt to locate the thing. I was laughing so hard I was about to pee myself. I made the smart ass suggestion..."why don't you just call your phone and listen for the ring?" obviously you'd never hear it under two feet of water. And I told him there was no point because even if he did find it, it was toast by now. No luck finding the thing, and we finished out the day hunting. But that's not the end of the story...a few days later, I called him at work, and left this voicemail message...."this is charlie tuna calling chicken of the sea...we found your phone on the bottom of the lake, and need your password to check for messages" :lol: We still talk about that caper. 

The other good one...we were hunting a pm draw at Shiawassee River a few years back. It was November, and probably 45 degrees. There were four of us, and we picked one of the closer in fields, so we had two canoes to take in. Now mind you, if you aren't aware, the ditches at Shiawassee are deep...you don't have to go far into them to be over your head. My two buddies got in their canoe and started down the ditch, while my brother and I were just about ready to head out in mine. My brother, who is a bit...shall we say..."topheavy" :lol: and not too agile to begin with, starts to get in the front of the canoe. Now he's not new to canoeing...we've done it since we were kids. But he's put on weight since we were kids, and as he got into the canoe, he made the fatal mistake of not getting his weight down on the seat fast enough and the center of gravity was too high. Even though I was kind of hanging on to the back as he stepped in, there was no stopping the boat going over when 200lbs starts sideways. I managed to grab the canoe as it tipped so that it just got some water in it and we didn't lose any gear. But my brother does a swan dive, and goes right in up to his waist. He quickly comes up spitting water, and walks out of the drink dripping wet. Probably only in the water for 3 or 4 seconds. Fortunately he had neoprene waders on, so he didn't get really wet from the waist down, and fortunately for him we were right at the parking lot, and he had a change of clothing in the truck, so he quickly got reasonably dry. But the funniest part of the whole thing was there was a guy waiting next to us to put his boat in, and as my brother did his swan dive, the guy calmly turns to me and says in a low voice "that's not good" :lol: I could've died laughing. Obviously I didn't laugh much because this could've been a serious issue had we not been right at the truck. But I still recall the blank look as my brother came walking up out of the ditch with water dripping from everywhere. 

There ya go...two of my favorite memories that have absolutely nothing to do with shooting ducks.


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## melvvin (Nov 21, 2007)

I don't go on this site much because of the attitudes of a couple of know it alls that jump all over everyone else. If only they were in your shoes. Maybe they would see whats really important. I don't think your feeling sorry for yourself its just the opposite your showing lots of courage. I am going to catch you up on my season. The first weekend my son got the flu so I went upland bird hunting with some sucess. Took a day off mid week to hunt shia and picked 4th now were talkin. Took a zone in s. prior got set up and had 4 str. hens come in that I passed on. Had small flocks start working picked off my 4 greenheads all to quickly and a greenwing because I can. Had a friends wife with me she also shot her mallards but 1 was a hen even though I told her not to :lol:. Me and my son hunted the bay in our layout boats last weekend saw very few ducks and never fired a shot which is not good because right now I can't miss and with my history that won't last long:lol:. Yesterday went by myself to shia. got in the draw there were a lot of parties drew 50th went home grabbed the dog and headed for the bay instead. Dumb move I have leaky waders from last year that I have repaired a million times and won't hold. The problem is I have owned them for 2 years and paid top dollar for them hard to give them up but I did order a new pair should be here any day now. When I left i just grabbed a pair of hip boots because the water has been shallow well the wind changed and blew water in to my spot so Iwas soaked just putting out a few dekes. I passed on a few hens shortly after I set up but off shore the bluebills were putting on a show they sure are pretty in the sun and the bay was covered with em. Never fired a shot but still was fun to see how long I could put up with cold feet not as long as I used to. I'm gonna try the afternoon draw at shia today I'll let you know how I do later. Hey hang in there I'll pray for ya every night I promise. When ya get better and you can hunt if you go with pintail charlie I would want to go to don't know em but my son does and I'm sure it would be a blast. GOOD LUCK:chillin:


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## buckhunter14 (Oct 10, 2007)

Hope your doing well! Been thinking about you in this trying time.


This morning I was out in my tree stand (yes, deer hunting). I figured I had been duck hunting a lot of there aren't much numbers around, and maybe the rut will be kicking up.


Now, my deer stand is in a peninsula between two lakes about 15 acres each, both of which offer good duck hunting. I am sitting and shooting light comes around and ducks are everywhere. Singles, Doubles, a couple small flocks of Four and Five. Ohh, I was laughing at my pity.


This morning I had Mallards, A few Woodies left, and a couple Buffleheads landing right where my spread usually is.

And to boot, I didn't even see a deer .

I love hunting!



Take care!!!!!


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