Fog

I hate the fog. Only one in a hundred foggy days have ever produced any ducks in my hunting experience. Fog has created some interesting situations for me over the years, mostly bad, but nothing terrible.

Dad and I launched at Gabby Atchinson's ramp one morning in the fog and headed for Walnut Island. We got our bearings (no compass of course) and Dad said he would face backwards in the boat and try to hold a perfectly straight course from watching the wake. I thought I could see a light out on the point of Walnut Island, so I was trying to stare at that. Well pretty soon I told Dad he needed to make a course correction. Then in a couple minutes another one. Pretty soon I could see that light real well and I knew we were home free. About then we hit the bank right next to Atchinson's. I had watched first one light then another and ended up heading right for the light on the boat ramp that we started from.

One morning we just ran out the Turkeyfoot Channel to the Mouth of the Channel Blind. We set up in terrible fog and got no shooting for a couple hours. Then suddenly a duck appeared. We shot it and were at least not "skunked". Pretty soon another duck came, then another, and so on. Before long we had a whole string of ducks that had all sailed right into the decoys out of thick fog. So sometimes fog is good!

Another day at Indian Lake I was hunting by myself during Teal Season and decided to try to run from Cree Park to Long Pond in the fog. Hard enough to make that run in broad daylight. But I made it. To this day I have no idea how I got there, other than dumb luck.

I floated down the Husitonic River in Connecticut one day in a canoe in the fog. One of my more mindless ideas. After giving up on being found alive, I saw a buoy in the creek and stopped and got my bearings. Paddled toward where I thought the shore would be and came to a boat ramp. 2 Black ducks were sitting on the bulkhead along the ramp and I shot them before they could even get their wings spread.

McGee and I went out into the Pamlico Sound one morning to hunt Scoter. After we were already set up the fog rolled in on us. We shot a few ducks and Hoss retrieved them, but once he went out of sight in the fog and I got a little concerned. He could apparently hear me whistle though, because he had no trouble finding his way back. We started getting concerned about noon when the fog hadn't lightened up all. We couldn't see the shore, had no compass, and not a clue how we would get back. We had sense enough to just stay anchored and eventually the fog lifted in mid-afternoon and we left in a hurry.

Out at Hospital Point we had a pair of Eider pass us wide one morning in the fog. They were heading up the river and a little while later we heard a splash and some whistling and eventually caught a couple glimpses of them out of gun range. When the fog cleared they were gone. We were crushed.

One morning at Rhodes Point, Kelly and I were hunting in the fog. All of a sudden a big duck appeared over our heads, coming from behind. I told Kelly not to shoot because it was a Black Duck, and the season was closed. Then I caught a glimpse of it's head and shot it. I had recognized the telltale shape of a Canvasback. What it had been doing back behind our blind over the pine forest I'll never know. Kelly still hasn't killed a Can and still holds a grudge for me mis-identifying that duck. Oh well.

I have seen it many times when their are plenty of ducks around, they just don't act right when there is fog. Even if the fog burns off shortly after sunrise, it seems the day is generally ruined if there was fog first thing in the morning.