The time has come to lend legitimacy to the camouflage wearables we display year round as this coming weekend is the opener for duck season in the Mid Coast. I could tell you how prepared I am for it with all my gear in order and decoys patched up from last season’s misguided shots and how my duck blinds are brushed up and ready for action but that would be a flat out fabrication of reality!
What I can say is that I am excited for the change of seasons and I am looking forward to the sound of wings soaring overhead in the pitch black as we patiently await the alarm sounding SHOOTING TIME! Also I can say that I have actually looked at my shotguns as they are still oiled up and tucked away safely in the gun cabinet and I have tallied the number of shot shells that somehow made it through last season without being expended. Like you may have done already, I too have thumbed through the Fall hunting magazines and catalogs making sure I tab the must haves to outfit my already overstuffed hunting closet. You know the one, outside of course and in the garage by the work bench because none of that stuff is allowed in the house by my better half. Shoot it may even still carry the smell of gunpowder and marsh mix since I am not sure I laundered it upon the closer in January!
Yes I have a mental picture and plenty of memories of hunts gone by and I revel in those because I have had some good times out in the marsh with both customers at the lodge and friends and family. There’s nothing like the work and preparation it takes to make these hunts great and memorable and it takes some serious time and effort to pull it off well. Surely you realize also there is a good amount of luck involved because as I am reminded every year, heck almost every hunt, if the ducks don’t want to be where you are then you are looking at a long flightless hunt in the blind. The key to reducing this is simple, you have to know where the birds are and where they will likely light on a daily basis. How do you know where this will occur? Scouting!
Time spent scouting birds the day before a hunt is a double edged sword. On the one hand you don’t usually have time to go out and do it, and on the other hand where they want to be is not where you are prepared to host a four man, in our case, hunt with all their gear and sometimes limited mobility. Finding the time to scout can be accomplished a couple different ways, however. I like going out and performing a quick round of high speed boating on the bay to see where the action is going to be based on the numbers of ducks observed. The other way to do this is by getting a network of guys out on the water and dividing up the bays to find them and then sharing the information. So what if you don’t have a blind already built in a good spot for the hunt? Do what we do and take the blind to the hunt! Be moble and prepare for those whom you are guiding by taking benches or chairs and definitely bring fresh cut brush with you. I said it’s all about preparedness and this is proof that all these elements will have you doing the other thing mentioned-WORK!
Knowing your way around the bay is crucial to your success down here in the Mid Coast but equally important is your ability to navigate your vessel in some of the most demanding weather scenarios. Safety is the forefront of our trips around the lodge for instance and we seldom blast off in unsafe conditions such as fog or heavy rain. Why risk someone’s life to kill a few ducks? Every year it seems we hear a report of a life or lives being taken during duck season due to unpreparedness and/or life threatening weather conditions not being taken serious enough. Let’s make the 2018-2019 duck season one that is the best it can be by slowing things down and thinking through our actions being courteous on the water and being prepared so that safety, both on the boat and in the blind are the utmost in our minds; and let’s go out there and teach what we know. Take the kids and teach them all the wonderful elements of this sport because they will surely gain a lifetime of enjoyment of the memories you make today and they will be equipped to share their own knowledge and enthusiasm with those new to the sport for decades to come.
Capt. Stephen Boriske
Bay Flats Lodge 512-589-1916
