I thought long and hard... at least one second, before I replied, "See you at daylight. I'll see if Mike wants to go as well."
My good friend, Matt, along with Mike, and I have hiked to the secret lake for a duck and deer hunt before with good duck success.
Mike was "all in" and we met at his boat in the morning with daylight burning a hole in the darkness.
We raced out to the end of the road boat launch and, of course, forgot the life jackets, (Ok, so we are all getting old) and had to make a quick trip back to the garage.
The boat ramp was busy with anxious deer hunters. It had been raining for nearly a week, so with the clear skies, the deer should be roaming the beaches. Our plan to hike for them was a little different.
Mike raced his boat to our anchor spot and we "Indian" anchored the boat. That is a system of anchoring for rising and falling tides. The last thing you want, is to arrive at the boat after a long days hunt, to find it sitting high and dry on shore from the tide going out.
Mike has a neat 100 foot bungee cord which allows him to drop the anchor a good 50 feet from shore motor the boat onto the beach, unload his gear and himself and then let go. with a second tie up line in hand attached to the boat you watch the boat spring back into deep water. He then ties the line to a tree and upon returning to the shore, he just pulls the boat back in.
Matt, Mike and I load our backpacks with decoys, lunches, and deer hunting items. We load our shotguns with buck shot in the event of a close encounter with a hungry brown bear. Mike is carrying his deer rifle. Jasmine, my yellow lab, proudly leads the way through the brush.
We hike for just about two hours, stopping every time we come to a muskeg (a swamp like clearing in the under brush and trees) and try calling for deer. All the muskegs have deer rubs on the little pine saplings indicating that there are in fact deer in the area. Nothing.
We hike and call, hike and call. Across creeks, over blow down logs, busting through head high brush, and sometimes even walking on bear trails with very fresh bear tracks. With sweat running down our faces and backs, we make the final steep climb to the little mountain lake.
Mike parts company to go deer hunting, while Matt and I set up our big spread of four duck decoys. It is just too difficult to pack in more than that. It is a beautiful lake that we doubt very many people even know exists. It took Matt several years to find a way into it after a Coast Guard chopper pilot told him of it.
We sit and chat, eat lunch, and visit some more. We watch swans fly over on their fall migration, and visit... waiting for ducks. Nothing.
After a couple hours Mike comes back from his deer hunt. Nothing. did not see a deer. Hmmm... sounds like a couple duck hunters I know of.
It is nearing 1:30 in the afternoon. We have got to get going. The daylight is leaving so quickly this time of the year. We quickly pack our decoy spread and head back to the boat.
We try calling a few times for deer, but with the light fading, need to keep pushing.
We arrive at the beach with the daylight fading quickly. We bungee the boat to us, load our gear and the dog, and race for the boat ramp.
I arrive back home right at dark to my wife's question, "Well... did you get any?"
"You know," I told her, "If any ducks would have flown, or if any deer would have shown themselves, we sure would have!"
I doubt that anyone will ever do a much harder duck hunt than that one. I guess it is not in the getting of the game but in the chasing it.
We all agreed that we did have a great chase!
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