Nesting success!!

Woodduck box inspection

I took the dogs hunting tonight for a short hunt.  I got home from work and had to do something with the hounds, so we headed into the magical world of the duck marsh.  I never pulled up on a duck.  Some hen woodies flushed on the way in and I was loaded, but I felt like giving the local hens a break.  In turn, the rust stayed in the gun barrel.  Oh well.

 

A flock of about 50 woodies flew over the marsh and were heading south.  They looked like they were going somewhere to feed.  I'll have to do some scouting to find out where they were going.  I had Drake, the yellow lab, in the boat and that was an experience.  He's old and his breathing sounds like a freight train when he gets winded or excited.  For 45 minutes I heard the train's chugging until he finally tired and laid down.  He is almost completely deaf, but at times he must have heard me calling, so he'd stand back up, start panting, and get excited all over gain. 

 

I don't have any bragging pics to share, but on the upside I checked a woodduck box I built about a year and a half ago.  Inside there were duck feathers!  Last year I had installed it poorly (it was leaning at about a 60-degree angle) and there was a larger bird of prey feather, probably a hawk, inside the box.  Birds of prey need places to nest and contribute to the marsh's health, but I'd rather have a woodduck make a home out of the box.  I have another box that I'd like to check, but may wait until winter when the water is frozen. 

 

The boxes are installed on private land and I gave them to the landowner in appreciation for letting me hunt and trap on his land.  The landowner isn't a hunter, but he does enjoy watching wildlife.  The box I still need to check is in front of his house and was put there in hopes he would be able to watch a brood come of age in the summer.  Letting landowners know you appreciate their generosity can go a long way towards access. 

 

Take a kid hunting!

First hunts of the season

Renewing the Bond

This week I renewed my bond with the marsh.  There's something magical about watching and listening to the marsh waking up.  Those that don't hunt don't understand it.  It's a value we hunters have.  Its a connection to the natural world that we are a part of.  Being a part of the O-dark hours of morning and watching it go from black to gray to sunny is a special experience.  It starts off with dead silence and complete darkness.  As a little light starts to arrive the birds begin a few morning notes of their songs.  Woodducks let out a few "weep weep's" and the geese warm up their vocal cords.

 

I try not to add too much noise.  I try to keep my paddling silent as a I churn a few strokes from my blade and a few plunks from my decoys hitting the water. 

 

As the sun keeps coming up a few teal can be heard whistling by along with a few woodies.  A distant hen mallard lets out a few quacks to let us know she's happy and looking for friends.  The opening of hunting hours came and went without me firing a shot.  It took me a bit to get on my game and to be willing to disturb the peace.  After a few ducks whistled through my spread and  pair of geese came well within range, but for a reason unknown to me didn't even incite a flinch from me.  Sometimes I'm almost too patient when it comes to wanting a closer shot. 

 

These are the moments that make getting up way too early for a normal person worthwhile.  I shot my first ducks of the season and got to watch Olive make her first solo retrieve.  The last two seasons she has hunted with Drake, but his better days are behind him and will only see limited action this year.  Olive got a little too excited on the first shot and jumped out of the boat right away.  The enthusiasm is a good sign, but she will have to get used to hunting with me because not every shot results in a retrieve.  Drake used to stare holes in me when I shot and there wasn't anything for him to fetch.  Olive will learn.  The second opportunity for me gave Olive her first opportunity.  She brought back a beautiful woodduck.  I was very proud and loved on her after I pulled her back into the boat.

 

We also managed to jump shoot a mallard.  From my Backwater I was able to drop my paddle, pick up my shotgun, and drop the mallard with a single shot.  I didn't attempt a double because the mallards are in eclipse plumage and our bag limit in Wisconsin is a single hen mallard.  I'm an OK duck identifier when they're in my hand, but have room for improvement for duck ID on the wing.  I also got a double from my Backwater while hunting over decoys.  The boat is more than adequate for doubles- nary any movement. 

 

Enjoy the below pictures from my hunts, but please don't live vicariously through me.  Get out there yourself!!  Take a kid or a buddy hunting for the first time.

 

Olive with a duck

I felt bad.  She got some lily pad roots wrapped around her and really slowed her down.  It looked very hard.  But she slept well at night.

It's about the simple things in life- sunrises in the marsh, a skiff, shotgun, and some coffee to enjoy while soaking it all in.

Olive with our hunt's booty.

 

First frost of the season

This week in the Antigo, WI metro area we experienced our first frost of the season.  It's bittersweet for me.  I covered up my garden to try and get a few more tomatoes in the coming days, but I also LOVE hunting on a crispy frost-filled morning.  There's something about watching the sunrise in the swamp with the crystalline coating on the rice, cattails, and other plants.  The quacks seem to be crisper and the wings whistle a little sharper.  Sure, there's the risk of cold hands, but I love having that slight bite on my cheeks.

Olive is here!!

Olive is available and ready for shipping.  Olive is also the chocolate Lab in the pictures, but she is staying home, though.  This is the second color we have available.  Depending on your habitat types and backgrounds olive or reed should suit your needs.  If not, we are able to do custom colors.  Consider how or if you will be applying any camouflage paint to your boat when deciding which color will suit your needs.  The boat color will serve as a background and may not be the most dominant color when you're done painting. 

 

 

Below is also a picture of a black Backwater that we experimented with.  It's a one-off and not stocked, but we can accommodate a special order for this color. 

 

 It's fall and its harvest season.

 



Camouflage Paint Job

Camouflage Paint Job

 

In anticipation of the upcoming waterfowl season (it starts on September 21 in northern Wisconsin) I painted the Backwater in digital camouflage.  This was a home spun project with readily available materials to demonstrate how easy adding camouflage can be added to a Meskousing boat.  For now, we don't offer a factory camouflage option, but most waterfowl hunters have access to spray paint.

 

Before starting the painting, I had to decide on which pattern to choose.  There are many stencil patterns to use and many have a lot of eye appeal.  My belief, though, is that a lot of the popular patterns are appealing to human's eyes, but ducks don't care about beauty.  They're looking to pick-out outlines and shapes of things that don't belong.  Along this vain, I think a lot of boats are painted to sell, not conceal.  As a result, I chose a digital camo stencil.  If the US military's Special Forces are using it in combat, it will probably work for ducks in combat. 

 

I found a digital camo stencil online that was reasonable and was 10 mil mylar.  Two 9"x12" stencils were included for less than $20.  Below is a picture of the stencil after using it for a while.  I taped the two stencils together in a manner to prevent the pattern from repeating in the opposite page. 

 

 

 

In choosing a stencil, be sure to avoid stencils that have small pieces of mylar connecting other pieces.  These can break during use or cleaning.

 

My next choice was to pick the colors.  The Backwater I was painting was already in reed, so I wanted to pick colors that would complement the background. The first color applied was black to add a shadowing effect.  I had two different greens, so I thought I'd experiment with how they played into adding depth.  The last color added was a darker brown to contrast with the reed color.  If desired, a person could easily get away with two colors.  I do suggest using a darker black or green to help create a shadow effect.

 

Prior to painting the boat was cleaned and wiped dry.  It wasn't scuffed, but can be to help the paint adhere better.  Scotchbrite pads work great.  It was painted outside over the course of a couple of days when the weather was warm, sunny, and low humidity.  I got lucky with the weather, but any non-rainy weather will work.  The better the drying conditions, the faster you can work.  I worked on a couple of different days because of other commitments that prevented me from working straight through.  Also, I was playing a bit with a few techniques and patterns on the hull.  From a practical standpoint, there is no reason to paint the hull unless you plan on turning the boat upside down while hunting.  Skipping the hull will also save you paint.  I masked off part of the hull in an experiment, but later did not.  Skipping the masking saved time and helped in overlap from one part of the boat to the other without creating a line between the two parts for ducks to see.

 

I began with black for a shadow effect..  I started by painting in a typewriter (left to right) fashion.  After a bit, I realized that I could go faster if I jumped around a bit to allow the paint to dry from one area while painting another.  It also created a more random look.  In the below picture, you'll see the typewriter pattern and spaces between the stencils.  Later, I went back and filled in the spaces.

 

I applied the black and then the green in a similar fashion.  Painting corners and seams took some patience.  Again, two colors would probably be sufficient, but I added a dark brown.  Below are the pictures as I added colors to different parts of the boat.  The hull was painted with a brighter green and the deck with an olive drab green.

 

The above pictures is with the black and green layers.

 

The above pictures is of the hull.  The top portion has all three layers and the bottom has the black and green layers.

 

This is a close-up of the black and green layers.

 

The boat was propped-up on its side for a better angle for the spray paint.

 

I didn't paint the inside of the boat.  This may be advantageous in some situations, but I chose not to for simplicity.  Also, there is a good chance that I'll be sitting in it (in camo) or my dogs will.  Also, the paint is likely wear out the fastest in the cockpit.

 

If anybody else has any pictures of their Meskousing Boat to share, please post it.  I'll be curious to know what others use as their paint scheme.