Fri Mar 18, 2016 9:50 pm
Yesterday was a lot slower. Almost nothing flying in the AM except specks, pintails, and mallards. It was cold, overcast, and insanely windy. A fair number of modest-sized flocks in the PM. We ended the day with only 4. The guide suggesting that the birds have a hard time landing in such high winds. We ended up finding a few more birds in the decoys from the prior day, so we ended up with 78 for the 3 days.
For all the criticism of guides, they worked hard scouting and setting fields. The first guide was more patient letting the birds work more than any I have previously used. He let many birds pass well within range expecting a bigger group to be in range in moments. He was usually right on, waiting until we would see a whole line of targets right in our face. It was incredibly exciting. From my perspective, especially considering my lack of equipment and experience, I think I got a good value.
One of the advantages of this type of hunt is all the people one meets. We had a person from Alaska, one from Florida, and later 2 from Wyoming and 3 from Maine. I also met a potential business partner from Stillwater. The lodge had a very comfortable common area and we had the opportunity for many interesting conversations.
I slept in late this AM and heard several flocks over the lodge. But I saw no snows driving the back roads towards home. Lots of Canadas though.