Long, long time ago, we shared a cabin on Indian Lake with another group of hunters. Dad was pretty much hunting by himself while I was gone playing Marine. I went home for a couple weeks leave to hunt with him. We killed some birds, had a nice time. I didn't get all that much time to hunt, so when I was home I hunted everyday, including Thanksgiving Day.
Joe didn't have anyone to hunt with that day so he and Dad and I hunted. We hunted his blind on No Name Island. I have no idea where that name came from, never met anybody that knew. Whatever, it was a pretty good blind and the wind was better for it than our blind that day. Joe was a pretty hard hunter. Got started hunting with a real old-timer. Old enough that he had used live decoys in his lifetime. Joe had been a pretty good student, and had a nice blind and a good decoy spread.
We shot a couple Wood Ducks early, and mid-morning had a small flock of Bluebills buzz us. We killed a couple of them and were pretty satisfied with the day. Close to noon, the temperature dropped a little, a few clouds started puffing up in the sky and a huge migration of Mallards showed up. Flocks of a 100 or 200 appeared in the North and sailed over the lake looking for a likely resting spot. About a dozen of them found their spot; hanging in our blind. Fantastic afternoon.
Probably 15 minutes till quitting time, I suggested that since we hadn't seen anything for a while, we pack it up. Just as a joke, my Dad said he wasn't leaving until we got some geese. We hadn't seen a goose all week, but another 15 minutes wasn't going to hurt anything. About 2 minutes later a small flock of Canadas came up the lake and landed outside our decoys. We called back and forth with them for about 10 minutes. They were slowly working their way towards our spread, but time was running out. One minute before quitting time Joe decided to shoot and scare them off the water and see what happened. Dad and I were loaded with #4 Buck. As soon as Joe shot and the geese jumped, we laid into them. 4 big Canadas fell. We didn't have a dog with us so we ran out in the boat and picked up 3 of them, but couldn't find the other one. Dad had stayed in the blind and saw the other one swimming off. He gave us a hand signal and we soon found the other bird. 3 out of the 4 were banded. What a great way to top off one of my best days at Indian Lake.
Had a hamburger at some beer joint for our Thanksgiving dinner. But it was a great holiday out on No Name Island.
Joe didn't have anyone to hunt with that day so he and Dad and I hunted. We hunted his blind on No Name Island. I have no idea where that name came from, never met anybody that knew. Whatever, it was a pretty good blind and the wind was better for it than our blind that day. Joe was a pretty hard hunter. Got started hunting with a real old-timer. Old enough that he had used live decoys in his lifetime. Joe had been a pretty good student, and had a nice blind and a good decoy spread.
We shot a couple Wood Ducks early, and mid-morning had a small flock of Bluebills buzz us. We killed a couple of them and were pretty satisfied with the day. Close to noon, the temperature dropped a little, a few clouds started puffing up in the sky and a huge migration of Mallards showed up. Flocks of a 100 or 200 appeared in the North and sailed over the lake looking for a likely resting spot. About a dozen of them found their spot; hanging in our blind. Fantastic afternoon.
Probably 15 minutes till quitting time, I suggested that since we hadn't seen anything for a while, we pack it up. Just as a joke, my Dad said he wasn't leaving until we got some geese. We hadn't seen a goose all week, but another 15 minutes wasn't going to hurt anything. About 2 minutes later a small flock of Canadas came up the lake and landed outside our decoys. We called back and forth with them for about 10 minutes. They were slowly working their way towards our spread, but time was running out. One minute before quitting time Joe decided to shoot and scare them off the water and see what happened. Dad and I were loaded with #4 Buck. As soon as Joe shot and the geese jumped, we laid into them. 4 big Canadas fell. We didn't have a dog with us so we ran out in the boat and picked up 3 of them, but couldn't find the other one. Dad had stayed in the blind and saw the other one swimming off. He gave us a hand signal and we soon found the other bird. 3 out of the 4 were banded. What a great way to top off one of my best days at Indian Lake.
Had a hamburger at some beer joint for our Thanksgiving dinner. But it was a great holiday out on No Name Island.
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