justmcg
FNG
- Joined
- Feb 21, 2022
- Messages
- 3
I have always hunted waterfowl as hard as I could with more emphasis on ducks. I hunt coastal BC and started hunting river estuaries and got the hang of it after a few seasons, watching tides and weather closely. Eventually I gained permission on some private land and began a new learning process again.
Then I became a Dad and my hunting became much more infrequent, harder to get away from family duties and work. I tried taking my daughter out with me in a makeshift blind that usually worked for me but quickly realized that wouldn't work for hiding a noisy kid that needs space to move. So summer project on a DIY A-frame blind and that seems to be the ticket.
Sorry for the long-winded intro...
I try to pick the nicest days to take my kids along, light rain is ok but cold doesn't seem to matter with a portable heater the A-frame gets pretty toasty. On this particular hunt my 5 year old daughter was supposed to go but the morning of she had a slight temperature and we decided better to keep her at home so I took my 3 year old son instead. My mom was free and this would be her second hunt to tag along on so also fairly new for her. We got to the field to set up and found my spot to have a couple inches of water and I could already hear the mallards calling all around us in the valley. Quickly set up a spinner and 1.5 dozen mallards and I was ready to go. I usually try to limit myself to 4-6 ducks per hunt as that's what my family can easily eat in a week but our limit is 8. This hunt started with a single drake by himself and then minutes later a flock of about 30 came in to my left and I carefully picked out 3 drakes and tripled or so I thought, I ended up with 4 drakes in 3 shots so that is always a bonus. I was now well on my way to a full limit of greenheads and I continued to be careful and pick out green for another hour or so. My son was pretty excited, as long as the snacks continued he did good, Nana was the hero of the hunt because she would make sure his ear muffs were on properly and properly entertained during the slow times.
All in all a great hunt, my first green limit and my son's second duck hunt and all in under 2 hours.
My best hunts of late have been with my kids and we have had some pretty good ones in the last 2 seasons.
Attached is a photo of my daughter from a different hunt, her first hunt that she helped place decoys and carry gear herself.
Then I became a Dad and my hunting became much more infrequent, harder to get away from family duties and work. I tried taking my daughter out with me in a makeshift blind that usually worked for me but quickly realized that wouldn't work for hiding a noisy kid that needs space to move. So summer project on a DIY A-frame blind and that seems to be the ticket.
Sorry for the long-winded intro...
I try to pick the nicest days to take my kids along, light rain is ok but cold doesn't seem to matter with a portable heater the A-frame gets pretty toasty. On this particular hunt my 5 year old daughter was supposed to go but the morning of she had a slight temperature and we decided better to keep her at home so I took my 3 year old son instead. My mom was free and this would be her second hunt to tag along on so also fairly new for her. We got to the field to set up and found my spot to have a couple inches of water and I could already hear the mallards calling all around us in the valley. Quickly set up a spinner and 1.5 dozen mallards and I was ready to go. I usually try to limit myself to 4-6 ducks per hunt as that's what my family can easily eat in a week but our limit is 8. This hunt started with a single drake by himself and then minutes later a flock of about 30 came in to my left and I carefully picked out 3 drakes and tripled or so I thought, I ended up with 4 drakes in 3 shots so that is always a bonus. I was now well on my way to a full limit of greenheads and I continued to be careful and pick out green for another hour or so. My son was pretty excited, as long as the snacks continued he did good, Nana was the hero of the hunt because she would make sure his ear muffs were on properly and properly entertained during the slow times.
All in all a great hunt, my first green limit and my son's second duck hunt and all in under 2 hours.
My best hunts of late have been with my kids and we have had some pretty good ones in the last 2 seasons.
Attached is a photo of my daughter from a different hunt, her first hunt that she helped place decoys and carry gear herself.
