Got into the club we wanted!!

Flatfish · 05-24-2003, 02:22 PM

Got a call this morning from a member of the club I have wanted to join for years. We are in!

The dog is doing his happy dog wiggle.

The ducks just don't stand a chance( at least those that are left).

Cut 'em boys!

Mark and the waiting for season dog.

MarlinMark · 05-26-2003, 01:05 AM

Congrats.....so tell us all about this club. I want to be green with envy.

Mark and the jealous dog.

Flatfish · 05-26-2003, 08:52 AM

It is not so much the super duper club. As it is the folks in it, and their attitude towards things. Like many folks, they had a fair year last winter. Yet when I hunted there, everyone was having a wonderful time. If someone shot a duck there was a mini celebration. As it should be.

Several members are in the various stages of retrievers, some with 6 month old pups, one very well behaved 2 year old. One in it's prime. And an old white faced chocolate that has been there and done that. None of the dogs are mean( which we had a problem with last year in another club. What good is a mean lab?), which says something about the people who trained them.

The setup is not too special-10 acres or so. Corn for feed and cover. Planted like a tic tac toe board so it breaks things up a bit. A total of 8-10 floating blinds that house 2 shooters and a dog in comfort. The guy who owns the place is a duck junkie. So the mindset comes from the top down. The blinds are partially covered so you can stay dry even on the slow rainy days.

Oh yeah, and it is 7 minutes from my front door. Which is nice when the alarm is ringing and you did not get to sleep on time.

So me and Dad get to spend another winter laughing at things and enjoying what we have when we have it.

Mark and the needs some work on his blind fetches dog.

[ 05-26-2003, 09:55 AM: Message edited by: Flatfish ]

Get Bit · 05-28-2003, 06:37 AM

FF,

Congrats on the Duck Lake !

I joined one 4 years ago just 2.8 miles from my front door ! It just makes it so easy ! You can get a hunt in and be back home before the wife and kids are even out of bed. Hope the season is a good one for you. Do you guys have any goose shooting on the new place ?

Get Bit

Flatfish · 05-28-2003, 08:36 PM

Get Bit,

it is a duck place. Which don't bother me too much. Last year the lease we were on had about 400 acres we could hunt. Wheat was up plenty high by Dec. 10, we had a total of 2 good days of goose hunting there. And one of those days was actually on the water, not in the mud. Saw several thousand almost daily. But they did not like our fields. Frustrating to say the least. They landed across the river from us for the bulk of the season.

But that's all behind us now. I am just a couple more calls away from greatness.

.

Mark and the "Oh crap! Dad got a shock collar!" dog. Tis time to clear up a few of his bad habits( he can still eat sammies when we are fishing, but let him figure that out Shhhh).

The dog and "I wish I had nipped this in the bud when I should of" Dad.

Get Bit · 05-29-2003, 06:40 AM

Its funny how those calls kind of become like fishing rods after a while..... "You can never have enough of them". What kind of call are you looking at now ? Goose or duck ?

Get Bit

Flatfish · 05-29-2003, 07:43 AM

Last year I tried a Rich-N-Tone double reed that was real ducky. Still looking for a replacement for my beloved Buck Gardner that I have had for years that finally bit the dust this winter. Buck quit making that individual model. :whazzup:

And I want a single reed that is higher end. Not necessarily looking for a competition call, but a nice clear call with low to high range.

It will look great around my neck as we sit, ducks circling overhead, and we do nothing because they are call shy!! :tongue:

Mark and the dog.

Get Bit · 05-29-2003, 02:17 PM

I bought three new calls last year. A Foiles single reed Timber Rattler, A Taylor Talker in acrylic, and a Taylor Talker in Delrin. All of them blow well. Still looking for the just the one though. My goose calls are: Saunders Guide Series Delrin, Saunders Traffic, Craig Schmitt Blackfeet Down in Delrin. THe Traffic is my favorite.

Get Bit

Flatfish · 05-29-2003, 05:10 PM

My call guru would yell at me if I bought a Foiles. They have known each other for many years now, and don't get along. Jeesh. Nice callers though.

A buddy guides geese in K-falls and he has a traffic( the high pitched one) that he does not like. So with any luck I can wiggle into a Saunders call yet.

I guess I will have to talk into a bunch of single reeds til I find one that sounds right. I really like the Big Guy acrylic, but they are too loud for my hunting purposes. But the hunt for the call is just part of the fun.

Mark and the quad laynard dog.

Get Bit · 05-29-2003, 07:59 PM

Who's your call Guru ? The Foiles calls, Goose wise, they are okay but they don't hold a candle to the Saunders. I really like my Timber Rattler though. You really need to take a look at the Taylor Talker Delrin if you want something for close work. The only call I'm after right now is a Saunders GP. The new Reload blows nice and the
price is only $60 but I just have to have a GP. You know how that is sometimes ? You don't know why but you just have to have one.

Get Bit

Leatherneck · 05-30-2003, 03:10 AM

Would love to join a duck club in the Forest Grove area. Can you guy's give me some info on who I have to talk with. I see the blind's all over outside of town.

tramp · 06-01-2003, 03:52 PM

I'd quit hunting and fishing before I'd pay to hunt or fish on private property. Club to you.

tramp

Flatfish · 06-01-2003, 04:12 PM

Tramp,

Everyone is allowed an opinion. I respect yours.

If I may ask-

1- Do you hunt ducks?

1a- If you do hunt ducks, how many days did you hunt last year?

1b- How much money did you spend , including travel expenses and lodging , hunting all those days total?

My schedule does not allow many full days off work. So a quick morning hunt close to home maximizes my time in the field. Opportunity is what a club provides me.

I have hunted ducks on public property for the bulk of my life.Tillamook. Lower Columbia. Refuges from Portland to K falls. Private property offers more time in the field for less money. I can't say that I kill more birds on private land. But I do not hunt just for numbers.

To be honest numbers is about the last reason I hunt at all. I enjoy time spent with friends and family. Where I am spending time with Dad is not near as important as the memories we are making. To me at least.

Mark and the dog who just wants to fetch ducks.

Get Bit · 06-01-2003, 05:36 PM

FF,

I 100% agree with you ! The other thing that a private club affords is knowing the guys you are hunting with. This keeps me from having to fight with the people on public land(Sauvie,etc.) with all the skybusting, getting peppered with shot etc.

Get Bit

Flatfish · 06-01-2003, 11:02 PM

Leatherneck,

Drive around til you see a bunch of blinds in a field. Find the land owner. Talk to them. It is a tough ( for us at least ) group to just walk up pay the fee and hunt. But you will find some friendly folks who will give out names and numbers. It is as good a place to start as any.

What is tough is getting into a group of folks where everyone gets along. The tough part is meeting someone in one of these clubs and getting to know them.

The club we just got into( not we as in Mark and the dog, but Mark and Dad-and the dog of course)was a team effort really. It may tke a few seasons to find something you are happy with. It will cost some money, but you have to know what you don't want as well as what you do to be content.I would have paid 3 times what they are asking for at our club, if that is what it took. Happiness has to be worth something.

The upside to this is we appear to be entering a down cycle in duck populations. Many of the clubs that were packed a few seasons back will have some members drop out. More opportunity for you.

Good Luck.

Mark and the dog.

Lured In · 06-02-2003, 01:27 PM

I am still young enough (and dumb enough) to chase ducks where they are instead of just where I live. :shocked:

Having the pleasure to hunt on a lease last year, I can honestly say..."someday, i have to get one of these!". :grin:

Tilla...I have tried corndogs and jo jo's on the road, but can't seem to find any chicken gizzards. Do you have a local source where I can pick up a few next season? Maybe i'll even save a few under my car seat for you, so you can remember 'the good ol days'. :tongue:

Rauly · 06-02-2003, 02:45 PM

Belonging to a club is not all it's cracked up to be. I don't know how many times we ran out of coffee in the blind last year. It was just horrible. :grin: Both free lancing and clubs have advantages. I belong to a club but still do a lot of free lancing, although it is nice to not have to draw a blind, no lines, no sky busting and you know everyone hunting around you. I just gotta figure how to get a coffee maker in the blind.

Rauly

Lured In · 06-02-2003, 04:01 PM

Rauly...you forgot to mention wheel chair access to the coffe cart...I mean blinds. :shocked: :tongue: :grin:

Tilla · 06-02-2003, 11:05 PM

I agree with FF and GB.
I've packed, dragged, wheeled, sludged, boated ,float tubed, swam decoys and equipment for years to hunt ducks. I had to drive and stay awake for 100's of miles both ways. Some of the time there were guys in my spot, got a lousy draw or had to put up with skybusting fools for my efforts.
Now I drive 20 minutes from Portland, go in the barn, push the electric start on the ATV, have the dog hop on and I'm in business. I get over 900 acres of hunting both duck and goose, year round dog training including on some permanent ponds. I get to hunt from Sept 1 to the beginning of March. No more trying to stay awake eating Jo Jo's and chicken gizzards as I travel down the interstate.
It is still work,I have to plan the crop, flood the fields, lay out the decoys, install and rig up the blinds, hunt with my friends and train my dogs.

Tilla · 06-03-2003, 04:11 PM

You can tell which are my hunting clothes, they're the ones with mustard, fried chicken batter and ranch dressing on the front!

Lured In- Fried Chicken Gizzard sources are strictly zipperlip! :tongue:

Rauly · 06-03-2003, 06:42 PM

The best gizzerds are over the bridge and to the left. There are some good ones on the way into town on the left also but that is for deer and elk hunting. :whazzup:

Who needs a wheel chair when I got Get Bit to haul me around in a decoy cart. :grin: He is building a bigger one than mine this summer. More room, I hope he will be able to pull me and the extra grear now.

Rauly

duck-boy · 06-03-2003, 08:46 PM

I'll say this ive been fortunate enough that my family has it's own ducklake in Roy, and the farm i have worked for the last 13 years has 3 lakes in Forest Grove i fell graetfull to wake up and decide where i'm gonna go in the morning. I chase birds as well since my parents live in Tillamook but theres nothing like a nice warm blind 8 minutes from my house, and if the duck hunting stinks theres that 5000 acres to hunt geese on. Maybe i'm spoiled but i'll take it.

duck-boy

Jim · 06-03-2003, 10:18 PM

I am curious about price here. It looks as though I will be getting some great duck and goose land. It has three, 3 man pit blinds and 5 floaters. It is in the Chehalis Valley but down near Grays Harbor so when the ducks get pushed off the big water this is the first wides spot in the road so to speak. Will make into a club you can email the price if you would like or post here.

Jim