Shooting in Sauvies Westside line?!

[ANDYCOHO]

Just wondering if anyone knows what happened today in the Westside line this morning. My wife and I had just started to row out to our blind on Steelman lake when we heard some shots in the check station line. There was 5 shots fired at approximately 6 am, 1/2 hour before shooting time.

When we checked out the ODFW employee didn't know anything about it.

As for hunting on the Westside today slow would describe it pretty good. I dropped one teal out of two doing a fly by, and that was the only birds within shooting range this morning. We stayed until 10:00, and that was 2 hours too late.

It seems that the number of ducks is growing slowly on the Island, just not fast enough for me.

Good luck,
Andy

[Tilla]

I used to hunt a blind on Steelman because it got me away from the crowd. My decoy cart carried over 100 decoys easily and we did pretty good. One day I had do do some work first thing in the morning and could not join my brother who went down the night before. This was in the first come ,first served days. I went down later and was able to join him just before 10 AM I asked him how he had done and he got a couple of passing shots, but not much else. I went out and re arranged the decoys a bit and told him that it wasn't "The Mallard Hour" yet and just hold on. About 5 minutes after joining him we get some shooting and for the next couple of hours we eventually get our limit. He was confounded by my knowledge of this "Mallard Hour" thing. To this day we use that term to describe the best shooting, tides etc. where potential success is greatest. Shutting out your fishing or hunting partner is what's known as your "Private Mallard Hour". I guesss you needed to know this. :whazzup:

[1pump]

The shots you heard probably came from Fazio's, which is just over the dike from Steelman. The road going in there is right next to the line, so it could have been somebody screwing around. (maybe shooting at a nutria?) Last I heard, Monday's not a hunt day for Fazio's. Back in the first come, first serve days I was in line late one night about 10:00 when a heard a shot come out of there.

I know what Tilla means.......I used to call it "rush hour" but it's the same thing. You sit around for 2 or 3 hours wondering why you even got out of bed, then somebody flips a switch and all of a sudden you're beating the birds away from your blind with a broom.

[ANDYCOHO]

Glad to hear that some one got some shooting in yesterday :smile:

I do miss the first come first serve days. Every time I hear rain on the roof of my car it brings back memories of sleeping, or should I say trying to sleep, in the canopie of my dads truck waiting in line listening to the rain fall on the roof.

Good luck,
Andy

[mallard0311]

It wasn't me, I was in the East side line. I shot at a limit and two of us took five fat mallards home. It went dead around ten. A lot of that shooting you guys heard on the West side coming from East Side was me with out my glasses and a rookie. We shot box of shells apiece. I saved so many birds lifes yesterday. If there would of been any shooting in line it might have been someone who drew #200. Not a good place to shoot someone when 100 guys around you all have shotguns.