An Outdoorsman's Journal

    Duck Hunt on the Turtle Flambeau Flowage

Hello friends,

   You know that you have seen a few winters when you have been spending 55-years enjoying outdoor experiences at one of your favorite getaways. My mood was excellent today as I pulled up to a landing at Iron county’s, Turtle Flambeau Flowage with my War Eagle in tow, a canoe inside of it, and a very happy golden retriever who knew she was in for a weekend of fun.

   Friday, September 26th
   High 76, low 46

   As usual I was fighting the sun clock but knew I would have enough time to scout for ducks as I pretty much was planning on hunting where I do every year for the opener. There were other hunters at the landing, and I really enjoyed the positive mood that everyone was in. As usual I was going to sleep in my boat which is not comfortable, but I still like it.
   I went scouting with my canoe and watched literally at least a thousand ducks that were pretty oblivious to what they were going to wake up to come first light.
        I am going to mention something that happened just before 9 and went on for at least 3 hours. Two boats that were pushed by mud motors came into every bay and marsh that the drivers could find and shined lights in each bay for at least 10 minutes. At first I thought they were looking for a spot to hunt and were really stupid as I am sure they flushed many of the ducks in the entire area. Something that made me think was that the driver of one of the boats about swamped me twice and it made me think evil thoughts of this person. The mystery of what they were doing will probably never be solved. Sleeping on the floor of my boat was comfortable but tight quarters and as usual I had to have lots of tarps to prevent the dew from soaking my sleeping bag.

   Saturday, September 27th
   High 82, low 51

   I was in my canoe at 2:00 am and paddling to paradise. Four hundred yards before I got to it I saw a mud motor powered rig heading to it, the race was on and it is one that I generally lose. I literally won by 50 yards. After that it was time to watch the world of a marsh, and other hunters who were evenly spaced in the dark. I had made the decision that I was not shooting teal or hen wood ducks for the first 2 hours. An hour after shooting began, I had not fired a shot and a drake mallard flew over and I dumped it. Red exploded out of the canoe and made a perfect retrieve until she dropped it 2 feet from the canoe.
   It did not take long to realize that whoever did all the driving/harassing from 9-12 last night had moved a lot of the ducks out as I was getting very few shooting options and that was the case for everyone around me. At about 9:00 I dropped a teal, Red swam to it, looked at it and swam back to the canoe without it. This was not good but I also knew it would not pay to lose my positive attitude.
   For the last 3 months I have been casually working with her in my pond and she has been flawless.
   For the evening hunt I literally has a blast, I dropped two woodies and a teal but my Red dog did not perform well. No worries, I honestly believed I could fix this when I got home. When Michelle passed away, Red was 8 weeks old, and I had no dog training in me other than basic obedience. I have had 7 golden retrievers before Red, and everyone was excellent at retrieving ducks, pheasant and grouse.

   Sunday, September 28th
   High 82, low 53

   I had a very enjoyable evening in the boat both before I slept and was very comfortable living on the water when I hit the bag. This morning’s hunt was about as interesting as the last time the Vikings won the Super Bowl. In other words, for myself and every other hunter near me the ducks outsmarted us and I did not see one dropped and to be honest did not care.
   On the way home I hunted bear and when I got home if my memory is correct the Packers had a ho hum game against the Cowboys.
   My dad introduced me to this place in 1970, we would camp on an island from Friday until Tuesday for the walleye opener in early May.

For me it's all about the tradition and the experience, the flaw with Red will be cured!

   Sunset