Apologies for the previous laziness and any confusion caused.

*********************************************


Sunrise and water



Kelp (scientific name unknown) and ice (H20) with a bit of salt (NaCl)



Dog (black), rocks (hard), ice and water (see above)



Ice, rocks, water and red structure (manmade) for aiding mariners in avoiding # 2 above



Ice, rocks, water, more rocks, small boat and big boat



Water and oldsquaw (seaducks not derogatory term for aging native American tribeswoman)



Rocks, water, seal, two boats and seagull (sex unsure)



Ice, water, two boats, several (6 odd orange men and one camouflage humanoid (homosapien), a seagull



Boat, water, ice and three humanoids



Boat, ice, water, rock, wooden structures designed for human habitation, trees



Four seasons worth of sludge in shotgun guts



Salt marsh vegetation and sky



Geese using feathery appendages to move through air



More plants and sky, clouds, bright light in shape of soccer ball



Hunter, dog, plants, water, black ducks and mallard



See above reference to poor gun care and maintenance



Ibid



Ibid

Very nice, but still no reason to live there.

Very nice pictures. Looks like you are having a good winter.

Great photos. Sea duck hunting is something I've never done, but always had some interest in. The closest I've ever come is hunting Black Brant, but the weather was in the 70s, sunny and warm, not that ice-bound stuff you're showing.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Great pics.

What was going on with Coast Guard sequence ???

Great photos. Other than one, I don't think I saw anything that looked like decoys (except maybe the one thru the weeds before the gun pics). Were they just not shown? Or do you not need them? Down here we wouldn't get far without those..we've even gotten addicted to robos..

quote:

Originally posted by Shack:
Great photos. Other than one, I don't think I saw anything that looked like decoys (except maybe the one thru the weeds before the gun pics). Were they just not shown? Or do you not need them? Down here we wouldn't get far without those..we've even gotten addicted to robos..

DLS: waterfowl hunting in 70 degree weather? Sorry, but that simply does not compute to this New Englander.

Collector: a kid I know and sometimes hunt with had a deadman/kill switch issue while setting blocks that day. He's a seasoned mariner and at 22 or so holds a 100 ton master's ticket, but that in and of itself doesn't help when you're stuck in an extremely treacherous inlet to the Atlantic with a dead motor. I called the coasties just to be prudent, and he was glad I did. Large sheets of ice in the river could easily have picked up his hook and unstuck him, and he'd have potentially been heading out the mouth to the Atlantic in a hurry. Worse, a large sheet could have flipped that little 14' tin boat. You go in the water here at this time of year, especially in a place with a wicked current, chances are excellent you're not coming home. People die there every year--and most of those happen during warm weather.

Big thanks to the CG people, BTW. They're wonderful and save lives every day. I can't say enough good things about them. Anyway, they went out and grabbed him up. First question was from a southern guy, who asked, "WTF are you doing out here, man? Don't you know it's FREEZING OUT HERE?"

Their Merrimack River Station is less than a mile upriver. Oh, and being a fellow waterfowler, I of course chose to document his tow of shame.

Shack, there are no decoys in any of the shots. We use them, but with many of the places we gun having heavy currents, by the time the dog gets to the birds, we're far away from the blocks. It's all I can do sometimes to huff and puff downstream to get an action shot. Next time I'll see about getting a few blocks in the pics for you.

Merry Xmas to all the watermen here.

KG

Merry Christmas back..to all waterfowlers, bird hunters and forumites.

KG, I was fascinated to hear the description of the dangerous conditions. The closest comparison I know is hunting the Mississippi River. I can remember when almost every year a boatload of hunters was lost out there. Dogs get lost too if they get too far out in the current. It's just as dangerous as the ocean. No kidding. Many don't believe that until they see it. It's about a half mile to cross the main current and barge lanes, then more to get to the hunting areas on the other side. Imagine that in the pre-dawn darkness in a johnboat with several hunters wearing chest waders and weighted down with shell vests and whatever. And with some boats, not much freeboard. Then add bad weather, floating log and debris piles the size of a house flying down a 10 knot current thru the night, bank cave-ins, quicksand and gumbo mud that has no bottom, sandbars that appear overnight and disappear as fast, enormous barge tows with monstrous wakes and wheel washes, powerful whirlpools and undertows, and fast moving ice flows. And no way for the CG to help. But, there's no end of waterfowl after the Big Freeze shuts everything else down.

What all we do for a duck...

What is with the picture of the bolt out of the gun and it looks like the receiver has one side caved in?

The pictures in themselves are great, but a caption on each of them would have really made this post great.

Thanks KG,
Wow, you saved his butt for sure. Those CG guys are awesome. Hunted with a CG captain long time ago in Kodiak, boy did he have stories to tell about Alaskan rescues.

Great pics! I'm still jealous... And chomping at the bit!

Cool pics KG, thanx for posting.
David

That lab needs a neopreme vest!

465H&H

awesome pics as usual my friend