An Icy Plunge

A good friend of mine, Luke, and I and our friend Kyle were out on the lake behind my house in the middle of February in a canoe fishing for catfish. Mind you that the ice has just come off the lake about a week prior to us getting out there. After a un successful trip we headed to the bank. Kyle gets out on the dock with the only paddle we have and shoves us out into the water.

With some quick thinking i stand up and cast my pole out on the bank and start reeling it in, pulling us toward shore.”Granted this is my version of the story Luke tells it a different way, that water was so cold it probably rattled both our memories as to hat really happened”. Luke stands up to pee and the boat flips. I go under and come up grabbing everything I can trying to save it. The icy cold water instantly numbed me. The next thing I here is luke crawling out of the water yelling “every man for himself” and sprinting toward my house. When I got everything to the bank I collapsed, caught my breath and started the icy cold walk. I never thought I was going to make it. I returned to my property to find Luke wrapped in a towel hugging a propane heater in my shed.

Both of us looked at each other and started laughing, Kyle in the meantime was nowhere to be found. Its stories like this that make what I love to do worth doing.

The one that About did us In

The alarm went off at five and I rolled out of bed and got my eyes open. I walked drowsily out of my room into the kitchen, the floor creaking with every step. I opened the fridge, ate something that looked like a left over slice of pizza and got dressed. In the garage I gathered my supplies and headed out the door. Dave and I met up and parked the vehicles on the edge of the road, suited up, grabbed the dogs and took off with the canoe. The air temperature was about 18 degree’s and the water temperature was bordering 32. We loaded in the canoe and off we went. The creek which was latent with boulders and tree stumps just inches under the water seemed to push us along effortlessly. We made it about half way and hit some fast water which spun us around and sent us coasting at a log jam. After deflecting off of it we were back on course.

A little while later we ran into some rocks in the water, As the water sloshed around like a washing machine Dave and I looked dat each other and said at the same time, “Hold on man! “. I tried hopping out which in turn about flipped the tipsy canoe. We both steadied ourselves and off we went spinning in circles and slamming into every rock in the water. Finally after we got the color back in our knuckles we made our way to the honey hole. After a brief tossing out of duck decoys we were ready. As lite broke the sky the ducks were in the air. A half hour after shooting time we were heading home with our limit of birds . The hunt that almost killed us, was the best hunt of my life.

Cold

 The weather outside is cold, tolerable but cold. This means the birds will soon be here. I love waking up in the morning and firing up the old diesel and listening to it chug as it roars to life. I push snow in the winter with my truck and i love doing it. Where else can you make sixty bucks an hour and sit on your can. I can also multi task while pushing. while i’m out on call i look for ducks and geese. I figure out which way they’re flying and what holes their hitting up.

  Hunting when it is this cold out can be dangerous. A person must be prepared at all times. One wrong step and you can be over your head in sub-zero water with no help in sight. I keep an extra change of cloths close to me at all times. A heating element or pad and a space blanket is also kept handy. you never know what to expect while hunting so I try to stay prepared. If you go into the field and something happens and you’re not prepared, its life or death. As I found out this weekend you suffer miserably if you’re not prepared. I under dressed and froze my ass off all day and there was absolutely nothing I can do about it. I realised , i’m not proving anything to anyone sitting here under dressed freezing to death. It makes the hunt so much more fun and enjoyable if you’re nice and warm.

Hang Out For the Weekend

  Well another weekend is fast approaching and I believe I may stay down here and try and get caught up on some school work. With an english argumentative essay due in the near future and multiple test on the way. I have to sit and do some hard-core studying.I am going to try and jump on it with all fours. I wish I could get into school work like I do hunting.

I am majoring in Conservation Law which has been somewhat of a childhood goaL. I love being outdoors and helping people. It has been a passion of mine since I have began hunting. We are only given a limited number of resources to enjoy and when people abuse this they take everyone elses chance to enjoy them out of the equation.

I live in a small town south of Indy called Mooresville. My house is about 2 minutes away from a public boat ramp that allows access to white river. I have spent countless hours of my child hood their and spend numerous hours there come duck season. unfortunately many see the public ramp as a public dumping area. I have seen couches, fridges, tv’s, just about anything you can think of. I try to do what I can to keep the ramp clean but it is hard when it seems as thou you’re the only one doing anything about it.

In short, I hunt and many others do also. Many others enjoy nature by just being in it. Be a good sport and do what you can to keep our outdoors a better place for everyone in the future.

The Meaningful Trips

  There is always a little surprise during duck season. Wether it be a duck in the bag that you don’t usually shoot every season or a moment caught in your mind forever of your hunting buddy slippin out of the boat and gettin soaked in the drink.There is always something I take away from every duck hunt.

  I just got word from my dad and he is setting up a hunting trip this year in Nebraska. I vacationed out there this summer and I tell you its some of the most beautiful country you will ever lay eye’s on. Rolling hills of corn stubble and grazing cattle, sky lines as far as you can see. Gravel roads that are washed out from rain and melting snow and no road signs or houses or any thing for that matter for miles. A little cabin sitting three or four hundred yards off the “road” is the destination.

  The plan is to vacation, enjoy ourselves and hunt some critters. The whole property as far around as you can see is fair game to hunt. The little towns scattered here and there are another great thing to visit after trollin around all day tryin to kill some quackers. Heck, drivin the roads and lookin at the landscape is a ball.

I love these trips, now that I am older I can really remember these good times spent together with family doing what I love to do. I believe I may even bring the pupper, Miss Dixie 🙂

New Ground

  Moving away from home and coming to a new area and spend most of my time studying and at school messes with my hunting time. School is the most important thing to me right now but I really would like some more free time. At home i can go out and look for birds and find where they are and hunt them the next morning. Here I have to study, study, go to class, read and sleep. I get some free time but I feel guilty not doing school related things with my free time. It is too bad I can’t get graded on how many muskrats I can catch in a week.

  At Vincennes I have to find time to explore and be efficient while doing it. Finding places to hunt and trap down here is another obstacle. All of my equipment is at home and It takes up a lot of space. Space is limited in my dorm so if I am going to hunt and trap it must be done small-scale, which is better than nothing. But I have come to the conclusion that school is more important and I must focus on that.

  Finding the money to do these extracurricular activities is also a challenge. I worked at home and had money to “have fun” with. Down here I don’t have enough time to have fun let alone work so that is another road block. I guess I will just have to put things on hold and do my thing on the weekends.

Get Togethers

 Waterfowl season is slowly moving to an ever nearing day and I can’t wait! I was invited to a banquet this weekend by some friends for Ducks Unlimited, a orginisation dedicated to preserving and making wetlands for waterfowl habitat. I had a blast.  The banquet was more of a now generation theme. They also had some things for the youth. There were people there my age and everyone seemed to be really nice. I also ran into some  people there from College that I had no idea were coming. The event sported all kinds of raffle prizes and many chances to win some nice gear.I entered into several different raffles for decoys and a layout blind and a gun. I was drawn for the decoys, so I didn’t leave empty-handed. The dinner was amazing and all home cooked. I had to go up for seconds! After dinner we all sat around and talked until it was time to go home.

 It is get together like these that make hunting fun. You get the chance to meet new people and share stories and memories made in the field. Families get to spend time together and it is just an all around awesome thing. there aren’t many places two hundred people in cammo can go and have that much fun. I strongly support Ducks Unlimited and what they do. They are a great organization and I believe everyone should join. the more wetlands that can be conserved today can make a better tomorrow.

The New Generation

  After watching a video in English class about electronics, I realised something. Almost all of us are dependant on electronics. I grew up without a cellphone and I was ok. I never had an Ipod or a laptop or a Facebook and I managed just fine.

  If you havent figured out by now from reading my previous blogs, I hunt and I love it. Looking now at how we hunt and the different methods we use to hunt are thanks to electronics. I never got on Google Earth and looked at land, I just went out there and walked around and scouted. People don’t have to do that now a days, they can sit on there can and look at it on the web.

My specialty is duck hunting. We have hunted ducks for hundreds of years successfully but now people want to use electronics. They make decoys now that have flapping wings and turning heads and they spit water. These creations are all fine and dandy but has any one ever stopped to think, hey what if these decoys work too well. Trail cameras for deer are also popular. These cameras are hung from tree’s to capture images of animals as they walk by. What’s the problem with sitting in the woods and finding out for yourself.

  These new ideas and inventions are all fine and dandy and serve the people who use them but I am old school and like to do it the old way. If this means shooting a few less ducks then so be it but I don’t feel like I cheated.

The Next Generation

I sorta lucked into duck hunting. After a series of unfortunate events i met a good friend who got me hooked. That is the chopped version of my story. More importantly is passing on the traditions and knowledge that I have attained over the few several years I have waterfowl hunted. The chance for me to pass this knowledge down is by taking kids duck hunting. There is some things you can’t learn from a tv.

  Many kids would like to go hunting but never get the chance, whatever the reason may be. I like taking all sorts of people out, old timers , kids you name it. I get a kick out of it all. they just take in every moment of it.

  Younger people are all about video games and tv, I grew up loving the outdoors. I love taking kids out hunting. There is not many things cooler than seeing a kids face licht up when birds come over  the horizon. They get so excited and when they get one its something else. There are many tricks in waterfowling, how so set up your spread, how to add motion ect. Many of these things are trial and error but eventually the theory’s get perfected.

  Hunting isn’t always about getting the biggest buck or who shot the most ducks, to me it is about time spent with friends and watching people have fun. Watching the dog work is another beautiful thing and that’s why she comes along with me every time I hunt.

Why I Hunt

Hunting to me is a way of relaxing, a way of getting away from it all. You don’t have to listen to your roommate gnaw on peanuts and guzzle Dr. Pepper as you blog for your English assignment. Or get honked at in a parking lot or have to push your way thru a line to eat. It is my way of becoming one with the outdoors.Waking up in the wee hours of the morning and making your way out to where you hunt, getting there and doing the morning routine of drinking coffee and setting up the spread before the sun comes up is just the lead up to the morning. Sure its great when you harvest an animal but even if you don’t it is time well spent. Where else can you find a river lazily rolling past you and the glow of the sun as it breaks the horizon thru the morning mist. Where else can you not have a care in the world and spend time with your friends. Where else can a dog run free and do what it is bred to do and retrieve. The answer to that question is nowhere, at least no where I have ever been. Don’t get me wrong I like being around others and doing what I do every day but that break I get when season comes is well needed. Even if you’re not into hunting, go sit outside of an evening in the woods and listen. That sound you hear is nothing. Many say nothing isn’t a sound but it is to me when every day all you hear is noize.This why I hunt.