Sloppy blogging

I apologize for my absence and tardiness. But, hey, I have been busy taking time off. Friday we did have River Road in for some Challenge Course, Climbing Wall, and Giant Swing...It, as always, is great to have River Road Middle come across the Sound to hang with us. Since their group is soooo large, I had to bring in some help from Summer Staff - but we took care of "bidness."

Last Saturday was the Waterfowl opener (late season, split #1). I took some of my staff for a little fowlin' and we struck out. The marsh was splendid, though and we saw lots of Black Ducks, which come in "season" on December 1, 2010. I'll be ready for 'em...

Since then, I hunted the flats at Bodie Island and had one good "hunt" (more on that later), and one fun hunt. There are few more historical and scenic places to throw your decoys than the Outer Banks, though. Nevertheless my "hunt" was all but...when I arrived at the check station with my crew in tow, it was discovered by the Ranger thatI dod not have my HIP certification. This is required by federal law to hunt mimgratory game birds. It's FREE and I have no idea why it wasn't placed on my license. Nevertheless, I tried to use the smart phone to quickly download it, but alas, the system was down. So I just observed and called. It was fun for me and my blind partner to "snatch" ducks away from other, unsuspecting blinds through my capable calling. My hunting companion bagged a few, though and he is fairly new to the sport. OK, I'm probably just OK at calling, but I was the best on the beach that day! Day two at the flats was hot and all ducks flared at our meager spread of plastic ducks.

Yesterday, I thought that maybe my luck would change if I revisted my bread and butter spots around the Scuppernong. Goose eggs prevailed as no ducks showed themselves within range. To understand why I saw 1000's of ducks but none within range, please google the term "skybusting."

Today I hit the ope water marsh at Swanquarter. My first honest to goodness shot at a pintail would have been legal, had it flown by two seconds later. But I waited for legal shooting time...

Wigeons also flew well this morning, but I never could get them to commit in numbers. I did bag a bluebill, which is by far, my favorite duck to harvest.

Auburn is being rocked by scandal, too - which continues to occupy my mind. Who knows what happened, but Auburn throttled Georgia last weekend, earning a berth in the SEC Championship Game. We get to play Alabama at their stadium before making the trip to Atlanta to play in the title game. Last year I posted my favorite Iron Bowl memories...revisit that fun article with this link.

Enjoy the day...