A hallowed eve

CAJUNLAWYER

CAJUNLAWYER

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On da Bayou Teche
Tonight is the eve of the most halowed day of the year-opening day of duck season in the western zone of Louisiana. I will be in a blind tomorrow. I may or may not shoot.But I will be with my buddy continuing an unbroken tradition since sometime back in the late 70's. Can't believe we've gotten so old-couple of 65 year olds just don't move around in the marsh as fast as when we were in our twenty's. After the hunt-breakfast at the Waffle House home for a quick nap and then some football.
 
Have a great day!! My last duck hunt was in 1989. Good times in the duck boat.
 
Last duck hunting was before the regulations about non-toxic shot (don’t remember what year that was, but someone will remind me). Don’t object to the change; saw plenty of evidence that lead shot was bad for ducks and geese, but truth be told I was tired of freezing my whatever off. Also didn’t want to give up my old Ithaca or L.C Smith for a new shotgun. Sometimes miss the hunt, but not often.
 
Well I hope you old farts caught some ducks! LOL! My step daughter used to ask me, " Did you catch a deer?", after a weekend hunt. I know about the cold old bones from decades of trying to catch deer. Never been in a duck blind or boat, heck I can't hit an orange clay target at half the distance of a duck.

But I'm sure you enjoyed the day even if you didn't catch many ducks. The Waffle House trip was worth getting up for.
 
Is alcohol a factor? Up here, in November, it would have to be.
Why would someone want to shoot a poor, cold, wet, miserable, splayfooted foul? Mercy killing?

73,
Rick
 
I could never sleep the night before Goose or Duck or Deer seasons. Ducks especially when huntung them on the rivers or the bay. Favorites were Cans Redheads. Wood ducks in the woods, Teal and Pintail on the big Eastern Shore marshes, black ducks and mallards later in the woods. By the 3rd day of goose season(guiding) it was just another job unless I was hunting with my friends. Had a little Pond in the woods on the farm back east that typically held 5-700 wood ducks till it got cold We only shot there for an hour or so once a week. Woodies ate acorns and beechnuts until they were almost too fat to fly. Miss that here in Wyoming. Have shot Pintails Baldpate and Mallards in the few corn fields here though. Hope you have had a GREAT opening day Caje
 
Have spent some happy mornings out duck hunting with church members. Together we've hunted just about everything that walks or crawls or flies in the SE. Currently on the coast of Ga. just above the Florida line. Some duck hunting here, but not much. Everybody pretty much is in the golf, kayak, or sitting around watching the sun set crowd. I've got one shotgun left ... one I began with ... Rem. 870 Wingmaster ... improved cylinder. Made about 68. Doubt it would work w/ steel shot. Maybe bitumen? Sincerely. bruce.
 
Amen! Doesn't get any better than that! I loved duck and goose season. And I was lucky enough once to draw a swan tag! Bagged one, too. Then one day, Ms. Judy, in all her sweetness said, "Honey, I love you, but I have a confession. I love eating pheasant and quail, but I hate eating ducks!"

Ugh. To show you how long ago that was, I still have almost a full case of shells with #6 lead shot.:(

Oh well. Have a great time. And if you happen to think of it, knock one down for me.:)
 
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At 65................

you still have some good huntining days left in you.

Enjoy the duck on the barbie if you get lucky or the removed steaks , if you don't
like to spend time plucking the feathers.

My pappy showed us how to remove the feathers with parafin wax......
or the old fashioned way, for a nice juicy meal.

It is also nice to have a camera along with a hot thermos of coffee.....
and if not shooting maybe a little "Sweetner" for that "Joe" .
while you enjoy the moments and good friendships.
 
One of my most loved memories, our yearly Thanksgiving morning duck hunt. High school kids, 2-3 best hunting buddies in the boat. After plucking the birds, time for a nap. The smell of Mom's turkey filling the house. Then the Grand Parents would come over. Dad would let me have a couple drinks with the grandpas while we watched football. Then we'd join the ladies for the feast. I thank the Lord for memories like those.
 
Now you know we really like pictures. Got any proof of success shots?
 
My last duck hunt was 1966 at Cherry Valley, Arkansas. I was an out of state guest and found out that wearing waders and wading out in near frozen rice paddies was not fun for an Florida boy. I was armed with my Browning Auto-5 12 gauge 3 inch magnum shotgun with a 32 " full choke barrel. No one told me there was a limit on ducks. The chempion duck caller of that year was in our party. When the first flock was called in and the firing began, I downed three ducks, reloaded and downed another two, the last one I shot though a tree top to get. Everyone want to examed my Browning as no one had seen a shotgun that could be reloaded that fast. Thankfully two hunters that had not shot their limit claimed my #3 and #4 duck.
 
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Bit long winded but. Speaking of coots..I was antelope hunting out in Montana back around 1980. Guy I was hunting with introduced me to a bunch of mostly cowboys. We talked about duck hunting when they found out I was a waterfowl guide back east. One guy piped up and said He knew of a prairie pothole that was full of ducks and of course the hunt was set..Not even a need for one drinkie poo. Well we got loaded up in 4 Pickups..off we went. Well they said lets sneak up on 'em and we can blast 'em...their place...their rules. We came over the bank and holy, Toledo. They started shooting and birds started flying and I did shoot 3 ducks..1 pintail and 2 baldpates. That pond was packed with birds...99% were coots. With no place to go they came back and those guys ended up shooting over 40 of 'em. I was amazed. The breasted them out and took out the gizzards. Later that evening we ate antelope, Oysters out of the Chesapeake and those darn coots. No fish to eat on that pond and the breast meat was surprisingly good. We had a big ol party at a well known Bar called The Jersey Lily in Ingomar Montana. Everybody from miles around. Ate 2 gallons of oysters all those coots and the whole antelope. We imbibed in that watering hole. My wife and my sister(the local school mar'm) got a little ripped and did a few scenes from Gone with the Wind for entertainment. I had never eaten a coot or seen my wife and sister do what they did. But all seemed to have a good time...even my wife. Till the next day... for she and my sister:eek:
 
Skeet 028 said:
Bit long winded but. Speaking of coots..I was antelope hunting out in Montana back around 1980. Guy I was hunting with introduced me to a bunch of mostly cowboys. We talked about duck hunting when they found out I was a waterfowl guide back east. One guy piped up and said He knew of a prairie pothole that was full of ducks and of course the hunt was set..Not even a need for one drinkie poo. Well we got loaded up in 4 Pickups..off we went. Well they said lets sneak up on 'em and we can blast 'em...their place...their rules. We came over the bank and holy, Toledo. They started shooting and birds started flying and I did shoot 3 ducks..1 pintail and 2 baldpates. That pond was packed with birds...99% were coots. With no place to go they came back and those guys ended up shooting over 40 of 'em. I was amazed. The breasted them out and took out the gizzards. Later that evening we ate antelope, Oysters out of the Chesapeake and those darn coots. No fish to eat on that pond and the breast meat was surprisingly good. We had a big ol party at a well known Bar called The Jersey Lily in Ingomar Montana. Everybody from miles around. Ate 2 gallons of oysters all those coots and the whole antelope. We imbibed in that watering hole. My wife and my sister(the local school mar'm) got a little ripped and did a few scenes from Gone with the Wind for entertainment. I had never eaten a coot or seen my wife and sister do what they did. But all seemed to have a good time...even my wife. Till the next day... for she and my sister:eek:
Click to expand...
Coota (aka flying gizzard, aka poule d'eau) are not fish eaters-that's saved for te merganzers and grebes. They are vegatarians and contrary to popular belief are not bad. Oh and sneaking and blasting is a time honored tradition especially for coots. We used to have contests as to how many you could get with one shot. I got six one time!!
Bald Pate????? the french name for them is Zin Zin or for you westerners, the Widgeon, a most magnificent duck-one of my favorites
 
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I was a commercial real estate broker in a previous life. I had a new
6 month old Chesapeake Retriever named Burt. There was a wealthy
guy in town from California who wanted to buy some investment property,
so to get on the good side of him I asked him to go duck hunting with me.
Early next morning I pick him up. He is all decked out in the proper
cloths, hat, boots, gloves, the works. So after a while we are sitting in
the blind waiting for the sun to come up. I heard a chomp chomp chomp
and wondered what that was. It was Burt eating one of the clients gloves.
Oh how I loved duck hunting.
 
Heh.:)

A friend and I were hunting once in separate blinds, out of sight from each other. He kept blasting away all morning, while I never saw a bird. :mad:

When we met at the truck, he had a limit of coots! (15 in Florida at that time)
He then said " Hey, they're pretty challenging to shoot, I missed one" :rolleyes:
 
Skeet 028 said:
Bit long winded but. Speaking of coots..I was antelope hunting out in Montana back around 1980. Guy I was hunting with introduced me to a bunch of mostly cowboys. We talked about duck hunting when they found out I was a waterfowl guide back east. One guy piped up and said He knew of a prairie pothole that was full of ducks and of course the hunt was set..Not even a need for one drinkie poo. Well we got loaded up in 4 Pickups..off we went. Well they said lets sneak up on 'em and we can blast 'em...their place...their rules. We came over the bank and holy, Toledo. They started shooting and birds started flying and I did shoot 3 ducks..1 pintail and 2 baldpates. That pond was packed with birds...99% were coots. With no place to go they came back and those guys ended up shooting over 40 of 'em. I was amazed. The breasted them out and took out the gizzards. Later that evening we ate antelope, Oysters out of the Chesapeake and those darn coots. No fish to eat on that pond and the breast meat was surprisingly good. We had a big ol party at a well known Bar called The Jersey Lily in Ingomar Montana. Everybody from miles around. Ate 2 gallons of oysters all those coots and the whole antelope. We imbibed in that watering hole. My wife and my sister(the local school mar'm) got a little ripped and did a few scenes from Gone with the Wind for entertainment. I had never eaten a coot or seen my wife and sister do what they did. But all seemed to have a good time...even my wife. Till the next day... for she and my sister:eek:
Click to expand...

Roundup, Melstone, Ingomar, Forsyth. You weren't at the Lazy Double Deuce on Whiskey River rd by any chance. One of brother in laws comes from that nick of the woods. Well. nick of the sagebrush. Not many woods round there. Those little country bars in the middle of nowhere can be special though.
 
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