Member Login

"My editor told me not to say too much about the experience because he thinks he can sell it to Hollywood as the next major motion picture COMEDY of the year. I on the other hand think it is much more of a tragedy.

GP was accommodating 34 parties.

I drew a 28 - which actually gave us ~22nd pick overall.

I lurked around the window while the other groups picked their spots, trying to overhear where they were going and what spots were still available.

When it was our turn, the guy said they had spots open in 6 and 5. My first question was north central 5???? Of course not, that was one of the first spots spoken for.

We ended up going into the well-head.

We dumped the boat in the water and loaded all our gear. I took my seat at the helm and was about to crank the motor when I noticed we were taking on water. Knowing that I had absolutely, positively, certainly put the plug in (not that I have always done that) I knew the water must be coming from somewhere else. Turns out that the water was coming in from the pump for my live well.

We tried to tighten the hose clamp but just couldn't stop the water. I backed the trailer down and we loaded the boat to take a better look.

Turns out the fitting on the pump that the hose connected to had broken off. There was nothing left to connect the hose to.

We considered leaving and going to a private hunting spot 30 minutes away, but we had one person in our party that had never hunted GP before so we thought we would stick it out.

And as any good duck hunter knows, you don't go to the field without a roll of duct tape. It can be used for many things…….from fixing leaky waders to fixing a leaky boat. We found a stick the right size and length, wrapped it in duct tape and shoved it in the intake for the pump, and then wrapped more duct tape just for good measure.

By now the sun had started to rise and shots had been fired. We tried to remain positive, telling ourselves that this is not all bad, with the sun coming up it will be easier to see as we set up, and besides there was a lot of ice and it will be a slow start anyway.

Dumped the boat for the second time and everything looked good. I went to crank the motor and got a slow rrr……rrr…..rrr. Now I was about to lose it because I had put the battery on the charger for several hours the day before (should have left it on overnight).

Considered jump starting the boat, but then how would we get it back to the ramp after hunting???

So we packed light and started walking down the levee. We found a spot that seemed somewhat huntable and accessible. After wading around for 30 minutes trying to find open water and cover we settled in on a very small hole of open water with a little cover (what else would you expect right)

I walked back to the truck to get my dog, and something for him to sit on, because there was absolutely no dry ground, at least none that had cover and open water.

As I was wading back to get my dog, I noticed my right foot was getting a little wet. The more I walked the wetter it got. Seems that busting ice for 30 minutes had torn away a patch on my boot (maybe I should have used duct tape). I tried to block it out of my mind……I was here to hunt!

Fast forward a few minutes…..By now it is 8:15, I just got settled on my hunting stool, the dog is sitting on his seat. It's 25 degrees and I don’t have a coat on, all the walking has kept me so warm…….except my foot, the water in my boot is no longer warm, it is getting cooler!

8:45 - my foot is COLD. I am about ready to head to the truck when we get a small group of mallards eying the decoys from a long way out. Cupped and coming in! They flare a little at the last second but come around for another look. After teasing us for a few minutes they fly on. I forgot all about the cold foot……for about 3 minutes.

9:00 - Without a shot fired, the dog and I head for the truck, and not a moment to soon. For the last 200 yards of the walk my foot is killing me.

I DID GET A NEW PAIR OF WADER OUT OF THE ORDEAL. I spent more time at Rogers trying on waders then I did at my last duck hunt."

Posted by Mark Thompson, who is proud to support Smithville Marine, Skeeter Boats, Yamaha Motors, Mustad, 724Outdoors.com, Dave’s Custom Baits, and The Buck Stops Here Taxidermy .

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18