Intrepid (way too many photos)

[duckboy]

I am lucky to have a few folks that I call my friends.

I guess that I’d rather have as many folks that I could truly call “friend” that I could count on 1 hand, than a whole fleet of folks otherwise.



That makes me feel pretty lucky.

Good folks are out there in the mix, and I have been lucky enough to find some to hunt with.


Good fortune got me out with my friends Mike and his son Chris, their dog Kodi and family friend Mark.

I used to use a teleporno lens for this stuff, but in the low light conditions I just went with my short (28-80 mm) and it worked pretty well in the light conditions we had. the teleporno would have been way too dark.






Today they got me out to a place that they have taken the time to understand.

We got out and set our deeks in the thick fog that rolls in and out of the River coves.

I brought a small set of Canvasbacks.

They are like the 68’ GTO at any auto exhibition,

Once you lay eyes on em, it “just feels legit.”





We had a few chances at birds, they were working, but again and again, guys around us would see them as we were working them in for a 2nd pass and take impossibly long shots at them.

It got pretty frustrating to see other boys making shots that were in excess of 85 yards, and then to keep shooting and shooting out to 120 yards or so. It was just laughable after a while.

Oh,

Part of the reason we were working them in was that one of us was hunting with a bow, and we needed to let them work in tight.



That is my buddy Mike. He is the definition of “Intrepid” look up the word, that is Mike,
that is how he operates.

After the fog started to lift, the birds started to move,

We had a fluttering of teal off and on all day, but we wanted something a bit more substantial.

Soon a set of Baldpate worked us, a couple of hens and a drake.

We all shot once, and all the birds fell.

It felt good to have a moment like that, but all such moments result in a "code Brown" alert,

aka. “Kod Brown”

Kodi hit it,

He always does.

Just a "Superdog".




Nice Widge’


Big Drake,







We were watching a single bird work the lake, it swung in low and fast and un-relenting.

It did not swerve, it did not sway its course.

All our eyes trained fast to its form as it bombed across the water and shot over tops of the other blinds unnoticed.

Soon it was directly out front, and I had a funny feeling about it as it came by.

It was different,

More sleek,

More sure.


I mounted my shotgun and shot twice, and me and the boys all went "whoa, Canvasback!" in unison, as the bird pulled up and rockted away unscathed.


I knews those 3 Deeks would come in handy,
Heck, I was happy just to be in the same county with a Canvasback..


Things started to brighten up and the fog lifted, soon we were able to coerce a few more birds into the fray.

A drake bird of spoonesque variety.
.


The dude across the way was making some really impossible attempts at birds.

He managed to scratch down a few, and we got several of his cripples, and watch several others sail off.



We had several groups of birds come in, one after the other. Mike Was ready with his bow!





A little closer,





Wait, What is that?

An ARROW~!!!!!!

Are you Kidding me?



Who knows how many birds he’s got chalked up on that recurve?

I can’t even fathom giving it a try.

Mike is just that way, he bucks convention and does things that may seem a bit extreme, and a bit out of the ordinary.



We had lots of birds come over.



And another duck falls.


Boom, boom, boom, “twang”.


Mike is a true “artist” of hunting,

He can get into a situation that requires an extra arm or two. But he always seems to get things taken care of somehow.








We all laughed about the concept.

Think about how bowhunting for waterfowl could open up totally new areas right in town.
No one would complain about the noise, hell, no one would even know anyone was hunting at all.
Except the ducks.









What a drake!




Feathers fell,

fluttering down against an Autumn sky,

Beautiful,
Free.





I got to spend a great day and finally get out on the first duckhunt of the year (for me).

Thanks Mike and Chris and Mark,'

And of course,

Kodi.

[Chug]

WOW...

great shots, Even the Flight of the Arrow..

nice!!!!...

least arrow floats.

[lentz]

Thanks for sharing!! Nice pics! Sounds and looks like you had a nice day of hunting.

[lor]

Great story and excellent photo's.

[shane&drake]

Verry nice, it looks like you guys had a great day, I saw a guy shoot a duck in flight with his bow on versus, pretty sweet, congrats on your first trip of the season. Thanks for the story, Great pics.

[SecondSeason]

holy crap.... Tred barta look out.

[redfish89]

Holy cow...Great pics with a great story...Thanks for sharing...

[steelheadslayer]

Nice shots and editorial. Makes me wish I could have been an observer of your hunt.

[GDuck]

Originally Posted by redfish89

Holy cow...Great pics with a great story...Thanks for sharing...

ROTFL...the bow and arrow are downright too cool. I wonder what the other guys thought about that.

Nice pics by the way!

G

[ampersat]

At a time when technology is fast becoming a (poor) substitute for skill and common sense (as evidenced by your neighbor), Mike The Intrepid truly embodies the spirit of hunting.

[skein]

Mike is just that way, he bucks convention and does things that may seem a bit extreme, and a bit out of the ordinary

Ask him if he'd like to go tuna fishing with me -- when I use my flyrod. Oh, and once I have enough in the box I just catch and release.

I think he and I might get along just fine.

Good hunt, by the way. Thanks for taking us along.

Skein

[thehunt]

Not too many photos, never enough of that quality!! Thank you for sharing those. I really enjoyed them!!! Tell your bow hunting buddy to get ahold of me if he wants to climb in a layout blind with that bow of his!!

[D3smartie]

Evan- I'll bring my recurve down and we can whack a few cacks with it I'll have to bring my power hunter too, opening doors and trying to get the bow up was tough, but pretty easy out of the power hunter.

[AtItAgain]

Simply awesome. Great photo essay DB. I always enjoy reading of your adventures.

[Beaver93]

I read all your posts, I'm a duckboy groupie.

[Jeremy]

Nice job on the ducks and the pictures!!!

[Wreckless]

Thanks for sharing. You even painted the "negative" (skybusters) into a positive.

Great pics...This will get me through work today so I can hunt all weekend!!!!

[Hunt'nFish]

Simply awesome! Yeah, Tread Barta look out.
Hunt'nFish

[wife&3kids]

so far post of the year......
nice job with the photos and the story..

[Cornbread]

So how many ducks did he actually get with his bow that day?

I have shot birds with my longbow but I'm not very good at it. It would be really cool to try ducks like that!

[duckboy]

Originally Posted by Cornbread

So how many ducks did he actually get with his bow that day? !

I am not going to say that he has killed a freightcar load of birds that way, heck, that is not the point.

Lets just say, he's parted a few feathers with that old recurve.

I'd love to give it a try, but I am not able to shoot a bow well enough, now, If wrist rockets were a legal means of taking waterfowl, I'd be able to get some.

See, a wrist rocket can lob a 1/2 oz steel ball berring hard! Probably 275 yards. and a guy can re-load faster and cheaper with a wrist rocket.

(I hope I haven't influenced a legion of grade schoolers to go out and take waterfowl illegally, but I'd be a flat out liar If i said i hoped I hadn't inspired youngsters to get wrist rockets and practice up for other endeavors later on with bow or gun or fishing rod).

Oh,

I sure as heck hope I haven't inspired anyone to take waterfowl with a fishing rod, as I saw my father play a mallard that was accidentally hooked on a back cast, on about a 4 weight flyrod back in 1974, that duck put up one hell of a fight, and was released unharmed, although it had some feathers ruffled.

[Tvfowlhunter]

That's really cool. Good job guys.

[duckboy]

ttt

[m16a2soldier]

that is some awesome camera work. love that shot of the arrow. what a great hunt, and a great story. very good way to tell it too