Opening Day Blast

The stars weren't exactly aligning as the 2011 Duck Opener approached.  A Saturday opener left us contemplating the benefit of a camping trip.  With only one huntable day within a three day stretch it became apparent that a single overnight at Rabid's abode and a less labor intensive plan would suffice.  So thus became the master plan:
Target a beaver flowage between two larger bodies of water
Allow those lakes to suffer early on skybusting
Wait a bit after legal for the pressured birds to arrive
Begin shooting

What I chose to neglect here was that Rabid needed to scout out the area, set up the blind, and ready my decoys that he has had on loan for three years now.  In addition, I expected all the efforts no matter how large or small to be finalized.  After all, that's how I ensure his trips Downeast are always top notch.  So with a mild degree of recognition, thumbs up to the Rabid Outdoorsman for doing the highly possible without a fair degree of haughtiness.  We'll see how his angle presents itself upon this publication.

The plan was simple... Access the pond, creep in at legal shooting, if no ducks are present then move along cut trail to blind...

As anticipated the ducks were not in the locale so Travis (a friend of Rabid) and I quietly scurried to the blind.  Behind us was Rabid who yielded in his capacity a gun, MoJo, gear bag, a dog, and a collection of cursory murmurs that apparently were directed towards my lack of interest in shuttling all things pursuant of fowl.  I secretly enjoined this underground effort to punish the golden one for his repeated and surgical jabs at his good friend over the years on this thing called blogging...

Our morning after that was typical, a little flurry here and a little flurry there.  Mallards hit the water, teal went from zig zagging to free fall, and the wood ducks proved a tad absent.  Nevertheless, the overcast and precipitant morning amongst three hunters and a black dog slowly produced what I would call a good day....

Then the mallard flurry began with Travis and I pounding a pair who thought MoJo was lonely.  Then another pair found out how fast the Xtrema2 can cycle.  Poor Rabid sitting there with his autoloader struggled to fathom the logistics and mechanics of such an unfair technology.  Not even the occasional Celiac crack would deter or hinder my shooting, except the teal...

I had pounded one down which almost landed onto Rabid at approximately 57 miles per hour but when we had moved out of the blind for a quick retrieval, Rabid alerted me of an incoming projectile.  The baseball size teal was approaching from the right as I prepared for an anti-aircraft engagement from left to right.  Too fast, too small, and not even the lightning quick spray of number six heavy steel could target the avian missile.  I knew this would be one of the efforts of Rabid's attack as the press waited for the duck season opener installment...

In all, the day was what I considered to be top notch and in all honesty, more enjoyable than our traditional two to three day camping trip on the pond.  Maybe less is more and with the personal day I saved by having the opener on Saturday, I look forward to when the Rabid Outdoorsman frees up his calendar to get downeast for I've issued an executive order:  Mr. President will not travel to central Maine until the Rabid one makes his first visit in over two years...



I fear the 2012 opener much like the world several months after that, is already doomed...

For the unreliable alternate set of truths, feel free to check out the Rabid Outdoorsman...