For the Waterfowlers Among Us

[Mark]

Made it out on my first swan hunt of the season today. Got set up about 7:30 and at 7:45 had four giants at 20 yards, wings set, feet down headed for the decoys. Took the shot from the chair in the boat, didn't even have to stand up. Sent Tucker on the short retrieve.

My boat blind...

Tucker waiting to be sent on the retrieve...

I really enjoy watching my dogs work. Tucker is a 65 pound dog and he handles the 20 pound swans with ease...

A giant among giants, swans get me worked up as bad as a big bull. They're just incredibly large birds. And when they commit to the decoys I get that adrenaline rush that we all know so well.

I have one more swan tag to fill and plan to head out Thanksgiving day. For whatever reason, NV won't let us shoot two swans in one day. I can have two tags in my possession, but I can't fill them both on the same day. Makes no sense to me. I could have easily killed two birds out of the four today!

 

[velvetfvr]

That's awesome!
Really want to do some duck hunting but there is hardly any water in the river, none out at washoe and places with water are getting hit hard

 

[Mark]

That's awesome!
Really want to do some duck hunting but there is hardly any water in the river, none out at washoe and places with water are getting hit hard

There are no birds either! Normally this time of year I see large numbers of swans in the area. Today I saw 13 (there's 12 now). I bet I only saw 50 ducks today and they wouldn't work at all. Any new birds pushed in from the recent storms and cold snaps have no reason to stay here. They rest here for a day or two and head out.

I've been hearing large groups of swans flying over at night heading west which is why I went out today. They'll all be gone soon. They have no food or water in NV this year so they're just bugging out after a short rest too.

 

[El Gavilan]

Looks like tons of fun, I've shot greater sandhill cranes, also a very large bird and it's like a B-52 coming down, you almost expect to see flames coming off them. . Good eating too.

Mike

 

[velvetfvr]

There are no birds either! Normally this time of year I see large numbers of swans in the area. Today I saw 13 (there's 12 now). I bet I only saw 50 ducks today and they wouldn't work at all. Any new birds pushed in from the recent storms and cold snaps have no reason to stay here. They rest here for a day or two and head out.

I've been hearing large groups of swans flying over at night heading west which is why I went out today. They'll all be gone soon. They have no food or water in NV this year so they're just bugging out after a short rest too.

Got 30 or so resident ducks on our ponds at the ranch. But we need water on the Carson and the ducks to move in.

 

[Lukem]

For whatever reason, NV won't let us shoot two swans in one day. I can have two tags in my possession, but I can't fill them both on the same day. Makes no sense to me. I could have easily killed two birds out of the four today!

I'd guess it has something to do with minimizing harvest pressure across family groups. Might be detrimental to harvest parents out of a group. Or it could be totally unrelated to anything like that. I'm sure there's a reason behind it somewhere.

Cool hunt! Thanks for sharing!

 

[VernAK]

Good one Mark!

I have em come into my goose decoys each fall but we can't take swans in this part of AK which is fine by me as we get a lot of sandhill cranes. Twice this year I had bison wander through my decoys. Makes for an interesting morning!

 

[Jesse Jaymes]

Mark-

What's your boat/motor/blind set up? I see a long tail....nobody runs those anymore.

Sarcasms. Looking to invest. Cost $2000 just to ship a $5000 boat up here. And a 35hp surface drive is $7000. Makes me sick. The Backwater 35 is about what I can afford, but as I said....nobody runs Long Tails anymore.

 

[Mark]

Jesse,

The longtail (which nobody runs anymore!) is a Go-Devil Vanguard 23hp. I run short distances, usually less than two miles so I opted not to get the surface drive. I like everything about Go-Devil, from customer service to quality craftsmanship. I called a few companies and the only person that I felt comfortable talking about the motors was Warren Coco at Go-Devil. He actually talked me out of a surface drive based on my style of hunting. He was also the only dealer that mentioned the necessity of jetting the carb and changing the prop pitch for my elevation, which he did at no charge. Crating and shipping from LA was less than $300 if I recall.

The blind is a custom build that I did using 1" EMT, shade cloth and some strapping. Simple design, set up only takes a few minutes. The raffia covering is new; I've been running fast grass for several years and it just doesn't hold up. Rather than replace it again this year I bought 30 lbs of raffia from Joseph Stern Co in five different colors and mixed them up for a better blend.

The boat is a 1448 Jon boat which isn't an ideal hull for any mud motor. It's just what I had when I bought the motor. It moves okay with that motor, but with 2 guys plus the dog and gear it's a little slow at times. I can grind out of most situations, but I have had it stuck. Alone with minimal gear I can run 20mph, with 2 guys and gear 15mph max.

I'll be purchasing a 1644 or an 1844 Go-Devil mud hull next year if we actually have water. Go-Devil has a dealer in Utah which is where I'll take delivery of the hull. You can test drive the boat with any Go-Devil motor if you make the drive to Utah.

 

[HJW]

Ducks have been on fire here in Wyoming with this cold weather.

 

[Jesse Jaymes]

Mark-

Thanks for taking the time to reply. I can't say 100%, but I'm 90% certain that Waterfowling is my true passion. I am just not good at it, and do not live in a Waterfowl rich area. I have been struggling for years.

And all of the duck forums make my head spin. As well as 90% of the waterfowl boat builders being in AR or LA. $2000 to ship a $6000 boat is stupid.

I have some areas that are low water/skinny water. I have a new boat that left me nearly stranded with a clogged jet. And the other has a long shaft outboard which hangs way to low. That's on the 1648. So I am kinda straddling many fences.

Is your blind a classic "Scissor" blind and you pop a buckle or two and it falls away?

Also, how wary are birds of your boat and blind now?

 

[Mark]

Jesse,

You could get by with a 16hp or 23hp long tail on a 1648. Long tails do best on longer skinny boats (1644-1844) but either of those motors will push your boat. You're not going to win any races, but you'll get where you want to get within reason.

I feel your pain on the mud boat availability. I'll make the drive to Utah eventually rather than pay the shipping.

My first blind was a scissor blind. It was too tall and didn't sit flat when dropped. Now I have two lengths of 1" EMT running the length of the boat and a cross member at the front and the back. The sides pivot from the middle from the center of the cross members. I have a chain at the front and the back. I can email you pictures if you want to see the details.

Early season ducks pay no attention to the blind. Late season smarter birds are hesitant, but they will decoy as long as you don't move around. If I broke ice to set the decoys they just pile in most of the time.

Swans don't care about the blind at all. If they see swan decoys, they can't land fast enough. I've literally been walking in the decoys and had them try to land.