In praise of Fall

[3200 man]

You deserve what you got , with the effort you put in on that blind . Makes a hunter feel good when a plan comes together !
That hedgerow sure was convenient and with your blind , a perfect blending of old growth weeds . Yeah being able to sit
with patients , with the dog by your side , that's liven and when the birds accommodate those efforts , memories for sure !

[Mean Gene]

And the last day of my trip is in the books. What an awesome time I've had here the last few days.

[HaydenHunter]

Gene, if you go back there next year drop me a line and I will make a trip out.

[Mean Gene]

Gene, if you go back there next year drop me a line and I will make a trip out.

I'll be back. You can take that to the bank.

[Mean Gene]

I'll be back. You can take that to the bank.

Didn't figure to be back this soon, but the ranch had an opening for lodging and I took it, so my season got a 4 day reprieve. Got here yesterday about noon, put away my stuff, and went out back and set up. Geese all wanted to go across the freeway, but I did manage to convince these three to stick around.

[Fsbirdhouse]

Looks like you had a bang up season.
Wife and I are having Craig over for dinner Friday night.
If he sticks around 'til Spring, I hope the fishing is good. He didn't have much of a goose hunt in three tries.

[HaydenHunter]

Well, it looks like some ducks finally showed up around here. Gadwall and divers fresh from Canada but hey, they are ducks.

Our season ends in six days.

[Mean Gene]

Had had fun here the last couple days. Hunted solo yesterday across the road from the fancy blind. Had 5 "ups", fired 6 shots and killed 5 geese. Today is the last day of goose season here on the east side. Man, have I ever had a great time this year.

[Mean Gene]

And the last day of the season is in the books.

[Mean Gene]

Today is a milestone. It's the first time I've done any carving here at the new house, and it's also the first time I've broken out my carving stuff at all in about 3 years. I got this far on a cork body/sugar pine head hen wigeon. Her boy friend's head is done and his body will get hacked on tomorrow. After that I'll glue their heads on to their bodies and make them each a keel. I don't have any professional eyes for them, but I do have some clear half rounds, so I'll probably just paint 2 pairs of them into eyes like I've done many times in the past. Felt really good to spend the day getting dusty.

When completed these will be my first 2 decoys constructed entirely in at our new house in Montana.

[HaydenHunter]

Nice work, Gene!

[goosepond]

Nice work Gene, didnt know you had it in you. Here's a decorative pair of Canvasback's I just finished up the first of the month.

[Mean Gene]

20210204_122449.jpg

Nice work Gene, didnt know you had it in you. Here's a decorative pair of Canvasback's I just finished up the first of the month.

Excellent! I haven't carved squat for way too long. I'm still trying to find all my stuff.

[goosepond]

Thanks Gene. I got back into it just a bit over 2 years ago. I carved until about 1986 then stopped and got back into making my decoys, duck and goose calls about 2 years ago. And now that I cant hunt any longer due to my health issues, this is all I'll have left for a tie to the addiction I grew up with. Nothing better now than to go out in the shop in the morning, turn some tunes on, and let the wood fly :). A place for a little reminition and just being time.

[Mean Gene]

Thanks Gene. I got back into it just a bit over 2 years ago. I carved until about 1986 then stopped and got back into making my decoys, duck and goose calls about 2 years ago. And now that I cant hunt any longer due to my health issues, this is all I'll have left for a tie to the addiction I grew up with. Nothing better now than to go out in the shop in the morning, turn some tunes on, and let the wood fly :). A place for a little reminition and just being time.

I hear you. My patience is a bit on the short side normally, until I sit down at the bench. At that point I can be there all day and not think anything about it.

Yesterday I got the heads glued on, keels weighted and attached, sealer applied. Today I'll give them a coat of thickened marine epoxy. Won't be long and they'll be ready to paint.

[Mean Gene]

Never thought I'd be glad for a high of 15. Be the first daily high temp without a minus sign in a few days. And THEN we get back to normal.

[goosepond]

Gene, we dont have any negative temps at least so far and 1st time in ages I cant remember getting any by this time of year around here. So, by the way, who made your logo on your keels. Nicely done.

I had a fellow at https://www.branding-irons.biz/ make mine for me, Terry Desilets, owner, makes a great iron, both electric (which I have) and fire heated. He's pretty reasonable on prices too. Here's mine on a Green Wing Drake that I did last fall.

[Mean Gene]

I designed it and then a guy used a laser cutter to sink it into the wood. Only have three more made. Those will all go on birds I keep.

[Fsbirdhouse]

Why is it that the moment the season ends some of us feel we have to dive right back into tinkering with our decoys? I've had my workbench full of all things 'decoy' for weeks now, and I have to heat the garage just to pursue it.
Yeah, yeah, I know, it's February, and the season is a long, long way off, but fishing is not really comfortable for an old guy like me, unless on the ice and in a tent, and until it warms it's decoys in a heated garage.

[HaydenHunter]

It's been very cold here for over a week. Nightly lows in single digits and temps in teens and 20s. Sometimes winds that push the wind chill below zero. The ice on our end of Hayden Lake is now thick enough for ice fishing. There have been a lot of guys out there for the last 4-5 days. I was out walking Daisy and saw a guy at the boat ramp down the street getting out of his coveralls. I went over to talk to him. I told him that at any time during the 107 days from mid October to the end of January, I could be found out in a duck blind or at the very least, cruising on a lake or river to scout. And that I thought he and his ice fishing friends were straight up NUTS for getting out there and sitting all day in the freezing weather for a couple of fish. He just laughed. I told him that I generally was outdoors during the month of February only to shovel snow. Today we got 5" of snow and there were guys sitting out there fishing for the entire day. Some in ice fishing huts but some OGs gutting it out on lawn chairs.

I finished cleaning up the inside of my truck yesterday. I had it pulled into the garage and had been running the heat in there for a few days. Generally after waterfowl season is 1/2 over I abandon all effort to clean the inside of my truck until the end of the season.

My boat is a muddy mess from the last time I took it out, the day before the season ended. Sounds like a good spring project, so I am not worried about it for a long time.

[Fsbirdhouse]

The inside of my truck is reasonably clean and uncluttered, but the outside is covered with that chem they spray on roads here for the snow and ice.
The trailer is a different story on the inside.
The duck decoys are all in slotted bags, but the goose decoys are rather jumbled up as the guys were kinda sloppy loading up at the end of day, last hunt. Everything else is rather scattered on, or slid off the shelves bouncing thru pivot tracks coming off the field. They can live like that until it's warm enough to tempt me back inside to unload and vacuum out. No hurry there.
Looking for warmer weather next month for early trout, and still warmer for Bass fishing the month after that, and it will be nice to be in the old boat (Son owns it now) back after the fish this Spring and Summer.

[Mean Gene]

If I can find the motivation to finish I now have cutouts ready to go. Ordered Apoxie Sculpt for setting eyes and it'll be here this coming week at some point. Right now I'm just trying to keep the snow off the driveway. Dang wind anyway.

[HaydenHunter]

Dupe post

[HaydenHunter]

Right now I'm just trying to keep the snow off the driveway. Dang wind anyway.

Welcome to Montana! :lol3:

Although you do have an opportunity if you play it right to bug the missus for a UTV so that you can put a plow on it during snow season and keep the driveway clear.

[Fsbirdhouse]

Finally got my first Covid vaccine shot today.
Always thought at my age things would settle into some kind of order. Seems like the opposite is happening.