My daughter and her boyfriend have been dying for me to take them duck hunting using decoys rather than just shooting woodies. So, when she finally finished her hunter safety program on Thursday, there was no more reason for delay.
Checked all the likely spots and no fresh water ducks other than woodies, so I decided to take them coastal. Checked weather and tides and it looked like no way to hunt except a lunch to dusk hunt. With the predicted winds, I looked for a protected spot to avoid them getting wet. Settled on one that I hunted last week with some success. Figured since the birds had not been harassed all week, they would come closer to the shoreline. Loaded up and left at 7AM, but not before dolling out warm clothes for both, including more cloths than the weather really called for.
Wind was up but not too bad. Picked out the deepest point and put out about half of the decoys to see what birds would do. Parked the boat in a creek behind the point (mistake!) Built a palm frond blind on the point, pulled out chairs and we settled in for a comfortable hunt. Only had one group of buffies swing through. They both missed. Then had a stud blue bill drake swing into the decoys. I let them both shoot twice and then I killed it. Birds were flirting 500 yards out front, but there were white caps, so I was no go to set up out there. I mentioned about 4 that it would be a good time to head in and at least get a good supper. The tidal charts showed that the low should be 1.6 above normal low. Water was not moving out much and the boyfriend wasn't ready to leave until he caught up with me. About 4:30, he decided we needed to move to another spot. As he went to pick up decoys, I began loading the boat to leave. That is when I noticed that the tide, which had been slack, had really started moving out, long after the predicted movement. Tried to move the boat out of the creek and no go. We all tried to move the boat, but a sandbar at the entrance to the creek has about an inch of water and it was too low to move over it. I told them to go back to hunting and that the tide would turn and we should be able to move out by 9PM at the latest due to the predicted good high tide at midnight.
I wasn't concerned, we had snacks, beverages and the wind died and after shooting hours. We gathered palm fronds and started a fire. After we had cleaned out the point of palm fronds, we laid in the bottom of the boat out of the wind looked at the gorgeous display of stars and they watched netflix on my phone while I tried to take a nap, since I'd been up since 3AM.
At 9, we still didn't have enough water, but it was still flowing in, albeit, slowly. At 9:30, we tried again, but we were 3" inches shy of enough water. Unbeknownst to me, my daughter had taken off her insulated bib to put on her waders to help push and she was now complaining about how cold she was getting. I figured if she got out of the waders to put the bibs back on, she would get too cold before she could get the bibs back on. Her boyfriend looks at the water and say it is flowing back out. This is over 2 hours before predicted high tide. I found a mark and 15 minutes later realized that he was right. I looked at google earth and there was no way we were walking out. Fearing hypothermia for my daughter if we stayed much longer, I called 911 and asked them to send an airboat to get us. Talked with a FWC officer and he said they would get the boat and come get us. Called SeaTow to let them know I would need assistance the next day to retrieve the boat. Joel Singletary was great. He said if we hadn't heard that FWC was coming with an airboat within an hour, he would round one and come get us so that we didn't have to spend the night. She kept getting colder and it took FWC about 1 1/2 hours to get to us. What a grand sight to see that airboat coming our way. He could only take 2 at the time so I told them to take my daughter and boyfriend and I would wait with the boat and be buttoning it down for the night. Otherwise, he would be meet me at the ramp at 1:30PM the next day when the tide should be the highest. The FWC officer came back to get me and said he was thinking about pulling me off, but my prodigy was just too heavy. I thanked him and loaded our guns on the boat and took a chilly ride to the ramp.
When I got there, they had my daughter in their truck with the heater roaring and a deputy had taken the boy friend to get the truck. By the time they got the boat on the trailer, the boy friend was back with the truck. I thanked them all for their help, loaded up in the truck.
We had not had supper, but on 98 there was the new circle K market. It was nearly midnight, but she graciously cooked us a deluxe pizza and made fresh coffee. The daughter and the boyfriend had joked about whether a guaranteed pizza delivery company could get us pizza on the water earlier in the evening. Filled the truck and lit out for home, arriving at 2:30 AM, just shy of 24 hours from when I got up the morning before. We all bundled up and had a good nights rest.
Got up and drove to the ramp and as promised SeaTow met us there. They carried me to within 75 yards of the boat and I could see the bow moving in the waves. I had on my waders and my trusty walking paddle, so I lit out to the boat. Pulled the anchor and moved it easily over the sandbar. There was about 3" more water than we tried last. Just 3" trapped us for the night. Cranked the motor and running 30mph over the flats, I was back at the ramp within 15 minutes. Joel helped us load the boat and my ride was covered by my membership.
I can tell you folks, I thank God for the light show and keeping us safe, the 911 dispatch for being so kind and helpful, the FWC for coming out on a cold night and taking such good care of my daughter and Joel at SeaTwo for being so accommodating!
Checked all the likely spots and no fresh water ducks other than woodies, so I decided to take them coastal. Checked weather and tides and it looked like no way to hunt except a lunch to dusk hunt. With the predicted winds, I looked for a protected spot to avoid them getting wet. Settled on one that I hunted last week with some success. Figured since the birds had not been harassed all week, they would come closer to the shoreline. Loaded up and left at 7AM, but not before dolling out warm clothes for both, including more cloths than the weather really called for.
Wind was up but not too bad. Picked out the deepest point and put out about half of the decoys to see what birds would do. Parked the boat in a creek behind the point (mistake!) Built a palm frond blind on the point, pulled out chairs and we settled in for a comfortable hunt. Only had one group of buffies swing through. They both missed. Then had a stud blue bill drake swing into the decoys. I let them both shoot twice and then I killed it. Birds were flirting 500 yards out front, but there were white caps, so I was no go to set up out there. I mentioned about 4 that it would be a good time to head in and at least get a good supper. The tidal charts showed that the low should be 1.6 above normal low. Water was not moving out much and the boyfriend wasn't ready to leave until he caught up with me. About 4:30, he decided we needed to move to another spot. As he went to pick up decoys, I began loading the boat to leave. That is when I noticed that the tide, which had been slack, had really started moving out, long after the predicted movement. Tried to move the boat out of the creek and no go. We all tried to move the boat, but a sandbar at the entrance to the creek has about an inch of water and it was too low to move over it. I told them to go back to hunting and that the tide would turn and we should be able to move out by 9PM at the latest due to the predicted good high tide at midnight.
I wasn't concerned, we had snacks, beverages and the wind died and after shooting hours. We gathered palm fronds and started a fire. After we had cleaned out the point of palm fronds, we laid in the bottom of the boat out of the wind looked at the gorgeous display of stars and they watched netflix on my phone while I tried to take a nap, since I'd been up since 3AM.
At 9, we still didn't have enough water, but it was still flowing in, albeit, slowly. At 9:30, we tried again, but we were 3" inches shy of enough water. Unbeknownst to me, my daughter had taken off her insulated bib to put on her waders to help push and she was now complaining about how cold she was getting. I figured if she got out of the waders to put the bibs back on, she would get too cold before she could get the bibs back on. Her boyfriend looks at the water and say it is flowing back out. This is over 2 hours before predicted high tide. I found a mark and 15 minutes later realized that he was right. I looked at google earth and there was no way we were walking out. Fearing hypothermia for my daughter if we stayed much longer, I called 911 and asked them to send an airboat to get us. Talked with a FWC officer and he said they would get the boat and come get us. Called SeaTow to let them know I would need assistance the next day to retrieve the boat. Joel Singletary was great. He said if we hadn't heard that FWC was coming with an airboat within an hour, he would round one and come get us so that we didn't have to spend the night. She kept getting colder and it took FWC about 1 1/2 hours to get to us. What a grand sight to see that airboat coming our way. He could only take 2 at the time so I told them to take my daughter and boyfriend and I would wait with the boat and be buttoning it down for the night. Otherwise, he would be meet me at the ramp at 1:30PM the next day when the tide should be the highest. The FWC officer came back to get me and said he was thinking about pulling me off, but my prodigy was just too heavy. I thanked him and loaded our guns on the boat and took a chilly ride to the ramp.
When I got there, they had my daughter in their truck with the heater roaring and a deputy had taken the boy friend to get the truck. By the time they got the boat on the trailer, the boy friend was back with the truck. I thanked them all for their help, loaded up in the truck.
We had not had supper, but on 98 there was the new circle K market. It was nearly midnight, but she graciously cooked us a deluxe pizza and made fresh coffee. The daughter and the boyfriend had joked about whether a guaranteed pizza delivery company could get us pizza on the water earlier in the evening. Filled the truck and lit out for home, arriving at 2:30 AM, just shy of 24 hours from when I got up the morning before. We all bundled up and had a good nights rest.
Got up and drove to the ramp and as promised SeaTow met us there. They carried me to within 75 yards of the boat and I could see the bow moving in the waves. I had on my waders and my trusty walking paddle, so I lit out to the boat. Pulled the anchor and moved it easily over the sandbar. There was about 3" more water than we tried last. Just 3" trapped us for the night. Cranked the motor and running 30mph over the flats, I was back at the ramp within 15 minutes. Joel helped us load the boat and my ride was covered by my membership.
I can tell you folks, I thank God for the light show and keeping us safe, the 911 dispatch for being so kind and helpful, the FWC for coming out on a cold night and taking such good care of my daughter and Joel at SeaTwo for being so accommodating!
