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.  

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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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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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