Saturday, December 5, 2009

Too funny to hold back!!!


So my best man, code name Sniper, and Littlefield make the trek Downeast for some eider action and I can't help but believe these two are the next coming of Harry and Lloyd. First they decide to travel 12 hours all over Maine yesterday, get home at midnight and then get up at 3 a.m. in order to get to my neck of the woods before legal shooting. The only thing missing was they came in a truck, not a moped. I suppose they were men of priority, because there's no way I'd carouse around like they did especially when a promising hunt was is the forecast. But that's the least of their trials and tribulations...

Obviously they were a little overdosed on caffeine or suffering from insomnia for they were shooting faster than Tom Knapp. I'll be honest, the eiders looked superb but my concern was that they were fast approaching their prospective limits rather quickly. I didn't even have a chance to load my gun, get a cup of coffee, or even get the camera out. These quack addicts apparently needed a fix, but I needed to put them in detox. Yours truly needed a few shots and I got them, then the two machine gunners were able to finish out their limits with restraint. When the smoke cleared, twelve eiders lay in the floor of the boat and we elected to try another spot for some scoters and old squaws. But this isn't the best part of the story...

I had kept informing both men to keep track of which birds they shot for two reasons, one obviously was to keep track of duck limits and the other was to see if any possessed the prize band that adds to essence of the hunt. I've said many times that a banded eider is the 8 point buck of sea ducking, and getting one is always exciting. However, my boys either weren't listening or too bent on unleashing the cannons of pain and suffering. As Sniper was confirming the first two limits of the morning, he exclaimed that one drake had a band. I knew for a fact that I did not get it as every duck in my quarry had been throughly inspected. That put the band in the possession of my two hunting partners...

To know that one band existed between these two yahoos was an internal treat to which I held my satisfaction well. The best part was that neither could prove who had in fact, shot the duck. The only comparative element was that Sniper had taken all drakes while Littlefield had one hen in his bag...

We acheived our limit shortly thereafter and our day had been limited in roughly one hour and fifteen minutes. After a quick phone call to my wife, we moved to another spot without any success. By 11:00 a.m. we were back at the landing...

The captain of the ship took the band, it now is a treasure by committee. Plus I now have a wonderful fire starter for any future engagements where all of us will be in a crowd. Their blunder has and will become my pleasure...

In addition, I tricked them both into a photo op with the prize eider. It was a great day and I'm still smiling as I finish with these words...

Have a great one,

The Downeast Duckhunter

Was it Sniper???

Or Littlefield???

Guess we'll never know!!!

1 comment:

Jon Roth said...

Sounds like a great day in the bay. Congrats on the banded bird (whomever shot it!).