Late Season Hunts

Since I settled here in North Carolina, the majority of my hunting is late in the season, almost always waiting for the big migrations of birds to arrive. Some years they get here earlier than usual, some years they get here after the season is closed. I still plan my annual leave for the last 2-3 weeks of the season. Normally it doesn't get real cold down here (this year is the exception) so it isn't a big deal whether I'm gunning in November or January. When I lived up in Ohio it was a different story.

I actually hunted ducks in Ohio for 15 years. I understand that the season in Ohio has been adjusted quite a bit from when I hunted there. But when I hunted there the season opened in mid October and ran till the end of November. Then it reopened for a week between Christmas and New Years Day. Only got to hunt that late week twice at Indian Lake due to the lake freezing over. Both times it was a really good shoot.

First time I got to hunt late we had the Hermit Island blind. We had scouted the lake a few days before the season reopened and it was frozen over. We hatched some plan to attempt to hunt the Miami River close to where it flowed out of Indian Lake. We got to the launch site only to find several trucks mired in frozen mud and the dirt ramp completely unusable. We drove on up to the lake just to visit with a friend and saw some open water towards the north end. We drove around to Turkeyfoot Point and sure enough the lake was open. We launched and cruised to the blind. Lots of ice out on the main lake, but our little bay was fine. We hammered the ducks. Dad, Dennis Chaney and I shot full limits for 3-4 days. All Mallards and Black Ducks, never saw any other species. All big, prime, migratory birds. Big flocks decoyed, singles practically came in the blind with us. It was just as good as I had ever hoped for.

The second time it was about the same. Dad called a friend who lived on the lake just to see if by chance there was any open water. He told Dad that 95% of the lake was frozen up, but that there was open water for 300-400 yards right in front of our blind on Oldfield Island. We were there the next morning. Had to break a lot of ice in the channel getting out to the open water. We had the Herter's Model Yukon and it plowed through the ice real well. We just set out Mallard decoys and a few geese. There was some open water out in the very middle of the lake and the ducks were rafting up out there. Left the lake to feed fairly early in the morning and then came back in to roost sometime in the middle of the afternoon. When they were coming back to the lake, they were passing right over our blind. The shooting was fantastic. Just like the other time, the only ducks we saw were Mallards and Blacks. That certainly didn't hurt our feelings. We slayed them for 3 days until the ice shifted and a piece about the size of Rhode Island broke off and came ashore right at our blind. Had a real battle saving our decoys, and the blocks took a beating when the ice came crushing into the existing ice. But we salvaged them, a little less for wear. One of the days we killed our first ever Giant Canada Geese. The limit was just a couple but we killed all we were allowed and the 6 birds were a boatload.

So, my expectations for the 'late season' were met and exceeded. I still hear a few stories from the hunters up there about good late season hunting. Glad I got to sample it a couple of times.