"Magellan Hunts River Run - Day 2 and 3"

DATE: 1/3/2011
LOCATION: Beaver Run
WEATHER: temps (24 low, 50 high), Sunny, South wind at 5-10 mph
KILLS: 3 Greenheads and 1 Hen Mallard, 2 Blue Geese
FRIENDS: Jimmy Cobbs and Jared Mott

After a freeze, we didn't rush out of the camp at daylight.  Rather, we slept in, cooked some breakfast, cleaned up the camp, and finally left for the fields about 9:30.  Magellan was one of about 250 decoys we put out after breaking a good-sized hole in the "Middle Middle" field.  Jimmy had left me know that Magellan had acquired the nickname "Magician".  Well, he lived up to that billing.  After flying a thousand miles, I was looking forward to some hunts in my old stomping grounds, having heard Jimmy describe tales of quick limits and fast shooting the prior two days.  Well, the "Magician" flat made all those ducks disappear.  We languished in the "Middle Middle" field until about 2 p.m. without so much as a snapping off of a safety.  Finally, we decided to move to the next field to the east.  We picked up ALL the decoys and moved 'em.  We were ready at the new spot by 3:30, just in time to watch mallards pour into the neighboring property.  We were able to peel a few off, shooting four.  It took a lot of calling, but I was able to drop a few birds, including some seriously wayward snows in the spread around Magellan.  Frustrating day, but it was good to salvage some birds in the last two hours.  But the "Magician" wasn't done.  Returning to camp, we discovered a dead snow goose on the roof of the camp, apparently the victim of a neighbor shooting from his yard. 

After a heated bout of "Rock/Paper/Scissors" to see who was going to clamor onto the roof of the double-wide before the stinking started, I climbed a table, a chair and the roof of the deck before gaining access.  A few tentative steps later, the goose was tossed down and I managed to extricate myself from the roof without breaking any bones. 

Better tomorrow, and hope springs eternal.



Day 2

DATE: 1/4/2011
LOCATION:  Beaver Run
WEATHER: 40 degrees, partly cloudy, SW wind
KILLS: 2 Greenheads, 2 Drake Wood ducks
FRIENDS: Jared Mott, Jimmy Cobbs

The morning started off with a flurry of wood ducks giving passing shots, but no shots were taken.  I shot a greenhead landing in the decoys early.  All of a sudden, no birds were flying.  So during this time Jared decides to start calling the park service in Maryland to reserve a blind for Saturday morning after his return flight home.  After he gets a blind, we do some old school hunting as 5 wood ducks start swimming down the ditch behind us.  We shot two drakes.  Then only one greenhead works the decoys and we get him.  Now it's time for us to make the annual trip back to Oxford to eat at the Pizza Den.  Will do some scouting  after eating some food.  Maybe the ducks will cooperate after Magellan leaves and before Jared returns back to Maryland.