The Day After the Mighty Vortex

The vortex had arrived and the general feeling was there would be outstanding duck hunting for some time.  The snow had not covered up the fields to the north like we would have wanted it to, but at least the big northern mallards had arrived. 

The vortex with all it's fury had frozen up part of the lake

The decoys were pulled the evening before and with the bubbler in the lake, we always have open water.  With no snow on the ground, there was plenty of feed for the birds.  The crops were out and the farmers had not yet started turning over the ground to prep it for next season's planting.  Along the bottoms, the harvest was outstanding with yields in the 200 per bushel per acre.  The ducks were able to find an abundance of feed on the ground after the harvester had been through.

The general feeling was that it would start off with a bang and we would limit out early and be on our way.  Not so.  After yesterday the sky was not full of birds.  The fear was that they had all pushed their way south riding a north wind that was really driving them. 

We were not without action and would get a single or a few to decoy, but it was not like the day before.  The weather cleared somewhat, but the cold had now become almost severe.  A hunter had better wear all the protection he owned to avoid getting cold.  While the blinds are heated, we still could not take off our clothes down to our basics without getting cold.  However, there was plenty of dining to be done, even when we were not harvesting ducks. 

Our man Duke brings in a bird

One of our hunters used his talents to bring up some fine cuts of venison.  Around 11 AM we were able to rip into some deer steaks cooked in the blind.

Gentleman hunting at it's finest. 

Too keep the feeding frenzy alive, the same hunter brought with him some fine quarter pound deer burgers.  When things are slow, there is nothing better than feeding, and on this day we all were well taken care of. 

It can't get much better than this.

Still, the action was spotty to say the least, and by late afternoon the decision was made to fold it up.  I still came home with a couple of ducks and two snow geese that wandered onto the shooting range. 

Good hunting, good fishing, and good luck.   Hank

 

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The Flight is On

It was called a vortex.  What in the world is that?  It is what the weather people were describing that was barreling out of the north into the states as deep as Texas.  Then it would move quickly to the east.   All the hunters liked the forecast of severe cold and strong north winds.  The general feeling was that the ducks would be moving well ahead of the front.  

What a beautiful morning.  But where is the vortex?

We got to the blind early.  This time "yours truly" was well ahead of the group that was coming.  Three blinds were filled.  Everyone was waiting for the vortex to do its thing and drive the birds out of the Dakotas toward the south.  The weather could not have been warmer unless it was early spring.  Sixty degrees and everyone was dressed for the coming cold weather vortex.  That term "vortex" has real power and it makes a body sit up and listen to what might be coming.  We were experiencing clear skies with warm southerly flow and wondering just where the vortex would be.

We had a few lookers, but no takers in the AM

At 11 AM, my friend John prepared a large pot of Buffalo chili.  After it had been devoured, the hunters started to leave.  They had no faith in the vortex and everyone else in the other two blinds did not either.  By 2 PM we were down to eight hunters and not a shot had been fired.  

All the comforts of a home cooked meal

  And still this powerful storm system, better known as the "vortex", had yet to appear and make itself known.   Patience is not one of my virtues.  Friends were expecting me to bolt at any minute, but the power of the arriving vortex kept me in place. 

Even the decoys are waiting for the vortex.

Then it appeared.  At first the lake went dead calm.  Then a wall of dark clouds arrived stretching from the southwest to the northeast.  Shortly after, the temperature did not drop, it plunged. It had to have plunged over 40 degrees.  That was followed by severe northwesterly winds.  We knew what the vortex was and that it had made itself known.  Wow, it got really cold and everyone was hunkered down in the blinds.  

Some geese flew over head and started to lock up, but changed their minds.  They turned and rode a northerly wind faster than any escaping bird I had ever seen.  We now had whitecaps on the lake and I had never seen it so windy before.  Periodically, it would spit a little snow that was going sideways.  We did not dare get out of the blinds.

The came, they saw, and then they got out of Dodge.

Then they came.  Ducks and geese of all species were flying just below the cloud base.  They did not come ahead of the front, but almost with the leading edge and they were really moving.

Migrating ducks are not the easiest to decoy, but when they saw the 40 acres of water we have available, they were turning from their southerly heading and dropping down to the lake.  Facing the north wind, they came down like they were on an elevator and just hung in the wind as they tried to get to water.  They were thirsty and we were waiting. 

Eight hunters limited out.

Eight hunters and we had limited out with six birds apiece in one and a half hours.  I cannot remember shooting that fast.  At times, we did not even get out of the blinds to retrieve birds.  We just let them float down to the south end of the lake where we would be exiting when the hunt was over. 

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It can't get any better than that, and it was time to head home and clean birds with my new bird hitch breasting machine. 

 
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Good hunting, good fishing, and good luck.   Hank

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Duck Season is on and Booming

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Duck hunting started off with an outstanding teal season for the club north of Tekamah, Nebraska where I hunt.  This was followed by a really successful small duck shoot that ran all the way up to the 2nd week of October.  That is the good news.  The bad news for me was my wife and I were on an over seas trip to South America and Patagonia  This is the most beautiful place on earth as advertised.   Still I was able to follow the progress the club was having thanks to the internet and modern computers.  You are never out of touch, if you do not want to be, regardless of where you are in the world.  Then the reports changed.

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The last two weeks of October and first weeks of November just dried up.  The weather turned  balmy and stayed warm and stable for these weeks all the way to the Canadian border.  The ducks were not going to come down with that kind of weather.  What we needed was about twelve inches of snow on the ground from South Dakota north, and freezing temperatures.  It was okay that we had mild weather, but not into the northern states.  The birds would come down and stay with us as the corn and beans were all picked.  

Click on the pic to buy from Gander Mountain.

When my wife and I got back the first of November, I was ready to hunt, but to no avail.  There just weren't any birds.  A big cold front was needed to push them out and that was what happened next.  One afternoon the boys had some great shooting after the front had passed, and the wind was forecast to be out of the northwest the following day.  I was ready. 

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I arrived at the Big Chicken Restaurant and gas station at 6 AM.  No one was there except one hunter.  He told me the group had left early to get into the blinds.  I asked how many hunters were there and it appeared the entire club and some guests had showed up.  That would more than fill up the three pit blinds and left me a little cold.  Still, after some breakfast, I drove up.  There were a lot of cars in the field south of the blinds.  The wind had a really strong blow out of the northwest and it appeared this could be it.  

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There was no hurry to rush up to the pits, so I planned to wait until there was a break when everyone would get out with their backs to the wind.  That would give me time to walk in.  As I sat in my warm vehicle, I used binoculars to keep track of the activity.  There wasn't any.  A few Canada geese tried to come in, but the shot was high and they left unscathed.  A couple of small groups of ducks worked over the blinds but they never locked up nor gave any indication they would come into the water for a drink and a bit of relaxation.  When I saw this, I felt these were local ducks and had their bottoms burnt before.  They know just how high to stay.  

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A person has to wonder when this happens, and there is a lot of calling going on, if the ducks just don't say to each other, "Let us circle awhile.  Let them call their lungs out, and then we will leave."  Any way, this is highly unlikely as a bird with a brain the size of a quarter probably cannot think. 

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The boys came out for a break after two hours of no activity.  The decision was made to drive south to Fort Calhoun and check out the turkey situation.  Anyway, I could visit with my good friend and see if there was any turkey movement on his farm.  

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Click on the link above or the pic and buy from Bass Pro.  If you season is over, stock up for next year.  This is the shell I shoot.

I do have an important announcement if you shoot 12 guage, 3 inch Hevi-Metal and Hevi Steel shotshells.  Please go the the Hevi-Shot website as there is a recall on specific lot numbers.  You could have a stuck wad on the first shot as the wad may not clear the barrel.  More explanation is available on the website.  I checked all my lots and I was okay.  This is an important safety announcement by the manufacturer.  Their website is ( http://www.hevishot.com/). Please check this out.

Tomorrow is another day. Good hunting, good fishing, and good luck.  Hank.

 

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Northern Pike Like I Have Never Caught Before

I could not believe it.  I was looking at patches of blue sky on my 5th day on the tundra.  It was a beautiful sight to see. No mist, no fog and a light breeze out of the south.  It would be a warm day.  After harvesting my second Caribou, I took the next day off and just hung out at the lodge with a couple of the other hunters who had also limited out.  This is what is known as a bull slinging session. 

The chance to go fishing was then presented.   I grabbed right on to this opportunity.  With a high pressure and beautiful weather we should be able to hammer some big northern pike and lake trout.  There were two hunters from Ontario that had limited early and had spent the balance of their time fishing for lake trout.  Commonwealth Lake also held Arctic Greyling.   I hoped to smack into a few of them.  We tried, but it was not to be.  

We worked the bays as the fish had been caught previously in the shallows.  The lake trout spawn in the fall and we worked hard in the shallows, but only one lake trout was caught by a guide that came along with my guide and myself. 

This was a nice size laker, but unfortunately it was the only one caught.  It was estimated to be around five pounds.

If you look at the sky behind the guide you can see it clouded up again.  We were concerned there was a change coming, but it broke into scattered to broken clouds with a lot of sunshine pouring through. 

We ran into two of the fishermen from our lodge and they were not catching any trout either. 

After about two hours, I had not caught one fish nor had one hit.  It was time to change lures.  I had been fishing with a red and white spoon and had switched to a Five of Diamonds.  Still nothing, and did not even have a hit.  This was not the first time in my life this had happened.  Switching to a Len Thompson spoon that had to be 30 years old, I started smacking one right after another.  The spoon was dark green with black diamonds like the five of diamonds spoon.  We could only keep northern under 30 inches. Since it was fresh fish for dinner, it did not take long to have all the lodge could eat for an evening meal.  

Typical eating size northern.  There was no trouble catching this size, once they started hitting.

Still, small fish are fun, but I have never caught giant northern pike, and here I am in northern Manitoba where they live.  That thought soon would be gone as a giant pike took hold of the spoon.  Standing there, I just held on as he went where and when he wanted to go.  Peeling out line, he circled the boat more than once and then would make a run.  Reeling him back to the boat,  I could tell he was beginning to tire.  Finally, after getting him up close to the side of the boat, he looked like a log.  The guide reached to grab him along the back of the neck.  He did not go for that at all, spun back 180 degrees and cut the line.  He was gone, but did I ever have a good time!  I shed a tear for about 3 seconds after losing one of my favorite lures, but there was still a lot of fishing and catching to do.  We had just really got started.

They started getting bigger and bigger.

Since the big boy bit on a green spoon with black diamonds, I grabbed a chartreuse spoon with black markings horizontally down the side and started back casting into the shallows.  All heck broke loose and we were all picking up really big northern pike that had to be thrown back.

Blue Fox Strobe Spoon Kit

The chartreuse with the black strips is the killer. Click on the link or the pic to buy from Bass Pro.

We caught northern pike routinely this size and bigger and threw them all back.

Finally, the killer lure was lost and all three of us in the boat had caught lots and lots of fish that were mostly thrown back.

This was dinner.

It can't get much better than this. 

 
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Good hunting, good fishing, and good luck. Hank.

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The Limit is Filled with Another Caribou

The morning was greeted with a low overcast, but good visibility and no mist or visible moisture in the air.  It cannot get any better than this.  In addition, it was a fairly light wind day.

Looking out the front porch of the lodge. This is a major improvement.  Notice the lack of white caps on the lake.  The overcast will just keep the sun out of our eyes.

My plan had been to hunt for two days, take a day off to recuperate, then hit it again.  However, when my guide saw Caribou on the hill behind us, the blood began to become energized.  I was ready to hit it again regardless of the pain that might be ensued.

The camp manager had a surprise for us.  We had been visited by a grizzly bear during the night and his tracks were in the sand down by the lake.  With all the meat hanging out next to the cabin, everyone was amazed he had not eaten his fill and destroyed what he did not eat.

This is how the meat was hung next to the lodge.  We were all amazed the bear did not tear into the tender morsels.

 Again, safety was the rule of thumb.  I was grateful the camp manager gave us specific warnings and instructions if we saw the bear during the evening.  His instructions were to yell like it was the end of the world and holler, " Bear!" numerous times.  The guides and the manager would take care of the problem.  Most likely he would be scared off, but then again it was a grizzly.

My footprint is against the bear track.  I wear a size 12, so that can give you an idea of the size of the animal.  Members of our group on hunting trips had seen bigger tracks, but this was representative of a descent size bear.  I wanted nothing to do with this animal.

It was the usual spot and stalk as we moved the boat along the shoreline from the lodge.  With the good visibility, they could see us as well as us seeing them.  Sometimes a little fog is a good thing.  After about 45 minutes some decent size Caribou was spotted right along the shore line and close to some of the pines that grew there.  We moved downwind from the five that were spotted and beached the boat.  Moving up to the bank was easy and we stayed close to the trees as we moved toward the Caribou.

At about 150 yards, we stopped.  There were two within an easy gun range.  The guide had me set up, but just before the shot was taken, a smaller animal walked right in between me and the bigger of the two animals.  I had to wait.  I was concerned the better animal would walk off, but he stayed right in the general area where a shot could be taken. Slowly the smaller animal wandered off to my right and the bigger animal was totally exposed.  With the cross hairs on the sweet spot, a round was sent.  He dropped like a sack of bricks.

This is the smaller of the two Caribou I could have taken.  The one taken is off to the the left of the picture and you can just see the white of his back end.  The animal just stood there after the shot, then slowly walked off.  When we got within 50 yards, he then ran. It was amazing how long he stood and stared at us.  He probably had never seen people before. 

The time was 10 AM on the third day, and I was limited out with two Caribou.  Neither one was trophy, but they were acceptable.  I am a meat hunter and not really interested in a trophy animal which would be old and not as tender as a youngster.  The best part of this shot was the animal was dropped not more than 20 yards from the lake's edge.  The guide and my hunting partner went to get the boat and after the caribou was deboned, it was a short walk to the boat. 

Very acceptable and I will get a nice two sacks of meat off the animal and enjoy him with friends and family. Look at the beauty of the tundra behind me.  It was spectacular, but to really appreciate it, you have to experience the beauty in person.  I was constantly amazed at the various plant life that grew on the barren landscape.  The white is the lichen,.  This is the main item in the diet of the Caribou.

I had the choice of staying with my guide and my companion hunter, but decided to fold my tent for the day.  My fellow hunter was after a trophy animal, and my needs were easily filled with meat and a great experience.  I did not want to be in their way as they spotted and stalked for a trophy.

 
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Good hunting, good fishing, and good luck. Hank

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