We spent a long time in the duck blind Saturday. I mean, a long time. We got there at daylight and things were frozen up solid. It was slow. We had 5 ducks at 11 a.m., but we stuck it out and about 12:30, the ducks started to fly a little bit and it started to thaw. At 2:30, six of us had 36 ducks and a speck. What a turnaround.
We had of seven hunters in another blind close by and it was the same story for them. They started out really slow, but stuck it out and ended up with 42 ducks. Amazing. I love to duck hunt, but that is a long time to sit your bottom on a wooden seat in the duck blind, looking at ice everywhere. I couldn’t do that every day.
We are only a few miles from the Mississippi River and I believe those ducks are laying up there, then when they feel it warming up, they start looking for a place to feed. That’s what happened with us. The only place ducks can stay is in big bodies of water or deeper spots where there are so many ducks they just keep it stirred up and it doesn’t freeze.
I’m looking for more of the same tomorrow, but it should start a little earlier. It won’t get as cold tonight, so it should not refreeze. The story is — you stay late, you kill ducks. You go home early, you probably don’t.
We saw a lot of ducks flying. I think it’s just going to get better the next couple of days. We’re expecting a big rain tomorrow and Monday. That will mess it up during the rain, but the rain should go ahead and thaw everything out. It will be a warmer.
In the meantime, be safe out there. It may thaw out, but that water is still going to be dangerously cold.
