Saturday on Sauvie's...Eastside

waterfowlin101 · 10-10-2005, 04:39 PM

Seems like a few of us ifishers are hunting the Eastside on Saturday. Bill, Dan, Cody...who else I don't know. looks like a good excuse to hook up and B.S.

Sound off if you'll be out there for the opener...what unit?...and what you might be driving? Look for me in a blue Toyota T100.

Jon

billc_sbio · 10-10-2005, 04:47 PM

I'll be there (as a guest) so not sure which line I'll be in.

I'm going w/my friend, Kevin

http://community.webshots.com/photo/...11967421nnCtOP

and Miss Lil

http://community.webshots.com/photo/...86765070OUkCOC

Kevin has a white Toyota Tundra 4x4 and I have a Black one w/a DSD decal in the canopy's back window.

Say, Hi if you're an iFisher!

Say Hi anyway! :grin:

steelhead22 · 10-10-2005, 04:48 PM

Wish I could say I'd be there, but I didn't draw this year for the opener. What can ya do?

Good luck to all of you. I'm going to hit some "other" spots and avoid the chaos of first weekend.

FishTech101 · 10-10-2005, 06:07 PM

i might be there or i might take my boat out by there i dunno.

waterfowlin101 · 10-10-2005, 06:08 PM

Quote:

i might be there or i might take my boat out by there i dunno.

Do you have a res??

FishTech101 · 10-10-2005, 06:12 PM

uh no

FishTech101 · 10-10-2005, 06:12 PM

ohhhh eastside thats the state side goos hunt thing right oh well il going out on my boat then

younggun20 · 10-10-2005, 06:33 PM

No FishTech (Tim right?), there is an East and West side to Sauvie Island. On the west you arrive 1.5 hours before shoot time and you draw a chip. Then you go choose your blind based on what chip you pulled. It requires a knowledge of what blinds to choose. Or you can ask the guys at the station, but they are pretty worthless as far a picking blinds goes. The east side of Sauvie Island is by reservation only. You have to put in for reservations for each hunting period. However, if people do not show up for their blind, then it is given on a non-reservation basis, and is first come first serve. Also requires knowledge of which blinds are even worth taking. By the way, they only allow goose hunting on the island on certain days and in designated areas. If you are new to goose hunting I would suggest not participating in the goose hunt because there are lots of Duskies on the island, and you will lose your permit. The goose hunt also requires reservation. Cody

FishTech101 · 10-10-2005, 06:49 PM

yeah its tim. im not worried about shooting a dusky. i can destinguish birds really well been into birds since i could walk parents lost me for 4 hours when i was 2 years old at my grandpas farm found me in the chicken coup. i could tell you what kinda of bird it is just by the way it flies so i think im in good shape on that one. if im not possitive i wouldnt shoot. i really dont know if im heading out sat or sunday might go do the blast and cast on the john day get a steelie and maybe some pheasant sunday will probally be the ducks. could you pm me some of the good blinds though so i guess it doesnt matter i could sit in a crappy blind all day and have fun watching the sandhills. long as i had me some coffee. thanks cody.

Crooked Hook · 10-10-2005, 07:53 PM

I'll be out there with a res. for Racetrack and a friend that's a new duck hunter. I should be in a white Toyota p/u with a black lab named Shady. Good luck to you all wherever you end up hunting Saturday. Kris

Swamp Puppy · 10-10-2005, 08:47 PM

Quote:

Wish I could say I'd be there, but I didn't draw this year for the opener. What can ya do?

Good luck to all of you. I'm going to hit some "other" spots and avoid the chaos of first weekend.

you just answered your own question...if you can, stay as far way from that place on opening weekend as you can.

SI for the opener....bleh. as a last choice sure..i'd take it over not hunting, but if i had any means to hunt anywhere else...that's where i would be.

good luck to all who go. i hear tell they got a few birds in there. i'll be somewhere else shootin' mine hanging about 15 feet in front of my blind!

waterfowlin101 · 10-10-2005, 11:34 PM

Quote:

Or you can ask the guys at the station, but they are pretty worthless as far a picking blinds goes. Cody

Cody...I can't believe you think this :whazzup:. I know all of the guys at the check station on the Westside of Sauvies. They are all very knowledgeable and all very great gentlemen. They will steer you in the right direction if they respect you and know you and they won't give out the secrets of the Westside to the newbies. That's about all I could ever ask from them. Great guys!!

Jon

MarshBum · 10-11-2005, 06:25 AM

Rob on the West side now, formerly on the East side, never did me or my buddies wrong when he worked the East side. I'm sure he's doing the same on the West side.

Good luck to all of you out there. I'll be on the lower Columbia both Saturday and Sunday trying to fight a -0.3 tide. I "think" that there will be enough water

I expect full disclosure after the weekend!

MarshBum

Chinooked · 10-11-2005, 12:35 PM

Rob is a great guy and a good one to have on your side. I hope everyone going to SI has a great shoot and westsiders where your lucky underwear :grin:. Is the island open on sat and sunday this weekend? Just wondering, I will be on the coast for some duck, salmon, and crab action all weekend

.

Swamp Puppy · 10-11-2005, 02:51 PM

Rob is a good guy..and Ron is another outstanding individual on the west side.

younggun20 · 10-11-2005, 03:01 PM

I was talking about the guys on the East. They are ALL great guys, just didn't help me much when I was trying to learn the area. They are great about telling you how to get to a particular blind, but not that good about helping you to pick a blind. That's just in my opinion though, and like I said I really like all the guys out there.

"you just answered your own question...if you can, stay as far way from that place on opening weekend as you can."

Why? Sauvie Island is awesome on opening day, and for the whole season for that matter. Last year my dad, my lil bro, Dan(duckintheblood), and I killed 27 birds and lost one cripple due to having no dog. The zoo is part of the fun for me. Cody

Swamp Puppy · 10-11-2005, 08:18 PM

Quote:

The zoo is part of the fun for me. Cody

whatever floats your boat man...

i know SI has some good hunting. i spend alot of time out there myself when the lower river slows down, but i would never be able to call myself a 'hunter' if i chose drawing chips in the duck lottery over getting out in the marsh and pitting my own knowledge and insticts up against the birds.

it doesn't take a good hunter to kill lots of ducks on SI. all you need to do is know what blinds shoot well and get lucky enough to get in one. the rest is just managing not to screw it up and hope you shoot straight.

waterfowlin101 · 10-12-2005, 09:05 AM

Quote:

it doesn't take a good hunter to kill lots of ducks on SI.:

Your right to a degree. But there are some days where it does take a good hunter to take the extra step and consistently have very good days at SI.

There are days where the birds are not working well, and I try several things unsuccessfully before having one work just right.

Not everybody does well at SI. I have hunted next to some of the very top blinds who shot horrible on a given day because they weren't experienced hunters. and I can't count the days that I've had a below average blind and outshot the lake because of my style of hunting.

There are little trick that some of us, including you Ed

have learned over the years to turn those average days great, or to pick an unsuspecting blind on just the right weather conditions.

As we all know...opening day in most any location that holds birds, the lower river, SI, Summer lake, costal bays...etc, is gonna be a duck shoot, all you gotta do is get out and hunt. The skill and the "hunt'" so to speak comes after opening day.

Jon

billc_sbio · 10-12-2005, 09:33 AM

Quote:

The zoo is part of the fun for me. Cody

whatever floats your boat man...

it doesn't take a good hunter to kill lots of ducks on SI.

Hmm...not a very well thought out statement if you ask me.

I mean what "is" Duck hunting?!!

Are you going to say that it doesn't take any skill to belong to a good/great duck club and just go out there and shoot the ducks that come in?!!

To me, that's the epitome of "easy" hunting, however even that takes skill, to know "how" to set up a club to be attractive to bring in those birds.

And even with all that, all those $$$ to work with and have everything "your way", I know of super clubs out on the island that haven't done all that well in recent years.

So the next rung up (in difficulty) or down (in ease/quality of "easy" hunting) might be the WMA on Sauvie Is.

Just knowing when and where to be out there is the real "trick", not to mention being able to GET one of those desireable spots and competing with others who range from rank amateurs to experienced experts... You say there's no "skill" in doing that?

So then, your first choice, knowing of and having access to less crowded and more open public or private lands...WHO wouldn't like that?!!

Knowing when and where to go, and what to do once you get there...that's the trick with ALL these different scenarios of hunting...

Whatever flavor you choose!

younggun20 · 10-12-2005, 11:29 AM

Ed I am really surprised by some of those statements. Usually what you write I agree with, and is pretty knowledgable. But to be quite honest those are two of the dumbest statements I have seen posted in quite a while.

First of all I hunt the East side almost exclusively. I am not on a random draw. I use my experience and knowledge of the area to choose my blind, or roam unit. Like Jon said, you have to know what spots to go to on what days depending on the water, weather, time of year, etc. Is that not skill? Then you have to know how to set up your dekes, call, and shoot. Like Jon I have seen guys ruin a great blind by not having the know how. I have also been in less than great blinds, and out shot the entire lake. It also takes skill to go out and consistently come back double or more over the average of birds per hunter, or a limit. As far as the statement of not being able to call yourself a real hunter, I am not even going to get started.

If you ask me, I think it takes MORE skill to go to a public area where the birds are shot at every other day. They get decoy shy and call shy, and you have to learn how to fool them. Not to say that hunting a great private area doesn't take skill either. It takes being a good hunter to consistently kill a lot of ducks no matter where you hunt. Cody

billc_sbio · 10-12-2005, 12:00 PM

And when I say inexperience/unknowledgable hunters I'm referring to...

On an Eastside Opening day in what seems like a far off land and long ago....

2 hunters, hunting on Mudhen #10 (WHO can remember that?!!)

And my buddy and I WANTING to go out there (cuz they wudda/shudda limited out and been back IN...long ago!) in the worst way...

But they didn't come back in!

Finally, the guys from #7 came out with limits, and we reluctantly took that one and went there.

The day was a rainy one and what did we SEE when we got out there?!! :shocked:

The 2 guys on Blind #10, sitting out there...birds circling around...WANTING to come in...BUT they were sitting under a big, ORANGE, tractor umbrella :shocked:

and the birds just couldn't bring themselves to buying into it!

THAT is just a sampling of the "challenges" of hunting out on the WMA!

When you can bring back a limit (better yet, a limit of MALLARDS) with all that going on, then, I think there's some skill involved!

:grin:

duckintheblood · 10-12-2005, 12:55 PM

hey jon i am goin to let cody and ed duke this one out but i will be in my black ford ranger, see ya out there.

Swamp Puppy · 10-12-2005, 03:14 PM

Cody - Jon,

i'll stick by my statement that you don't need to be a good hunter to shoot alot of ducks on SI, however, i also agree that a bad hunter can ruin a good spot. seen it myself many times.

Jon, yes. there are some little tricks that a guy can learn after spending enough time out on the island. no doubt it helps when the birds aren't co-operating. and yes, i have one or two up my sleeve.

still, at the end of the day i won't ever trade a day in the marsh for a day on the island.

gimme a call on saturday Jon and let me know how you did..i hope you can make it down on sunday.

Lured In · 10-14-2005, 07:45 AM

First rule of Sauvie is to know where the birds want to be. Yes there a lots of birds and lots of places out there, but each unit will have its sweet spots. Second thing is to know which spots will do what on a certain day/time of year.

If you think about it, that sounds just like the skill it takes to hunt any other area. The only 'gotcha' at Sauvie is that you often can't get the sweet spot due to draw or reservation issues.

Any yahoo can look online and see what blinds/units are shooting well. The trick is to be able to still pull in birds when you are not in the sweet spot. That takes experience and skill as in any other hunting area with decoys placement and judicious calling.

Sure some folks get lucky, others consistantly get their birds regardless of where they are on the island.

All that said, Sauvie is convenient and has pretty darn good hunting for only being 30 minutes from downtown. But, there are tons of other places to hunt that don't require the 'hoo-haa' of getting in at Sauvie and you don't have to deal with the wacko's on a regular basis.