3:30am Back in college 3:30 was a "late night". This morning it was time to get up. The third split of the North Carolina waterfowl season began today so it was up and at 'em way before the crack of dawn.
4:25am I meet MarkW, MarkM, Keith and Ken at Ken's house and lump my two bags and floating gun case in Mark's already stuffed Suburban. Funny how awake you can be as you cut up and reminisce with good friends. I hope a tightened the lid down on the thermos. Hot chocolate does very little for hunting garb or shotgun shells.
5:15am Only two other vehicles at the public ramp. That's either a good sign or a bad one. 40 degrees but 15 mph winds make it seem a lot colder.
5:30am Blind preparation and decoy presentation
6:00am The wait begins. Someone was supposed to bring provisions to make breakfast. This would have been a great time for that if only...
6:45am Time to load the guns and pull down the face masks. Legal shooting begins in 10 minutes and with weather surely ducks will pour into the setup momentarily.
6:55am Nothing
7:30am Nothing. Time for some hot chocolate.
8:00am Nothing. Time for some snacks.
8:30am Nothing. Ike (MarkW's lab) wants to play fetch. Search begins for the retreiving dummy. Some hot breakfast would be nice...
8:45am Nothing. Ike tires of playing. Licks hot chocolate off thermos.
9:00am Another flock of commorants skim the decoys. Sea gulls are flying really good today.
9:15am Nothing. Keith find an old soccer ball lying by the blind. Soccer game ensues.
9:20am Nothing. It's hard to play soccer with waders on.
9:30am Nothing. Time to go. They're still serving breakfast at the diner.
9:35am Just finish picking up decoys and some mallards fly right over the boat.
10:00am Boat loaded, suburban repacked. Five "hunters" head to breakfast, empty-handed but happy.
4:25am I meet MarkW, MarkM, Keith and Ken at Ken's house and lump my two bags and floating gun case in Mark's already stuffed Suburban. Funny how awake you can be as you cut up and reminisce with good friends. I hope a tightened the lid down on the thermos. Hot chocolate does very little for hunting garb or shotgun shells.
5:15am Only two other vehicles at the public ramp. That's either a good sign or a bad one. 40 degrees but 15 mph winds make it seem a lot colder.
5:30am Blind preparation and decoy presentation
6:00am The wait begins. Someone was supposed to bring provisions to make breakfast. This would have been a great time for that if only...
6:45am Time to load the guns and pull down the face masks. Legal shooting begins in 10 minutes and with weather surely ducks will pour into the setup momentarily.
6:55am Nothing
7:30am Nothing. Time for some hot chocolate.
8:00am Nothing. Time for some snacks.
8:30am Nothing. Ike (MarkW's lab) wants to play fetch. Search begins for the retreiving dummy. Some hot breakfast would be nice...
8:45am Nothing. Ike tires of playing. Licks hot chocolate off thermos.
9:00am Another flock of commorants skim the decoys. Sea gulls are flying really good today.
9:15am Nothing. Keith find an old soccer ball lying by the blind. Soccer game ensues.
9:20am Nothing. It's hard to play soccer with waders on.
9:30am Nothing. Time to go. They're still serving breakfast at the diner.
9:35am Just finish picking up decoys and some mallards fly right over the boat.
10:00am Boat loaded, suburban repacked. Five "hunters" head to breakfast, empty-handed but happy.
A motley crew of camo clad warriors await the arrival of some ducks.
Snack Time! Vienna Sausages (correctly pronounced Vy-ee-na) and granola bars make an excellent gastrological experiment.
Ike launches with reckless abandon to fetch a retrieval dummy.
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