Some of you know that I took off Friday and Saturday to duck hunt in King & Queen County. Wouldn't you know it, a Nor'easter hits late Thursday night and stays until Sunday morning. Now, for those who don't know what a Nor'easter is, it is similar to a low grade tropical storm, with a bunch of rain and wind, but unlike a tropical storm, it will stick around for a few days. I still went out both days and shot some teal and wood ducks (no pictures, something about a camera not liking rain
). However, when you're getting rained on and the birds really aren't flying well, you tend to think. I got to thinking about what I learned while hunting in a Nor'easter and decided to pass this information on so everyone can learn from it and not get soaked to the bone.
What I learned (or relearned) while hunting this past weekend:
1. Waterproof clothes...aren't.
2. Blind bags WILL hold water.
3. Make sure that nothing in your blind bag is adversely affected by water
4. One word when you decide to wear those 5mm, 1600 gram thinsulate chest waders...don't. The idea is to roast a duck, not yourself.
5. The amount of rainwater collected in your boat is at least double the amount of rainfall. For instance, if it rains 1 inch, there will be at least 2 inches in the boat.
6. The boat will always be in a position to not allow you to drain off the water.
7. The weight of water will always exceed what you can lift.
8. Always have a bilge pump for your boat.
9. A 20 oz. Mt. Dew bottle is not an acceptable alternative to a bilge pump.
10. A wood duck is bullet proof.
11. Never leave you ammo out where your friends can get to it and remove the shot, thus making you think that wood ducks are bullet proof.
12. The probability of your spinning wing decoy not working is directly proportional to the amount of money spent on the decoy.
13. Waterfowl can read and have a copy of the game laws. That's why you can't find a a goose during the early goose season, but have to beat them off the end of the gun at other times of the year.
And finally..
14. By duck hunting in a Nor'easter, you prove that Robert Ruark was correct in his statement "You've got to be crazy to be a duck hunter."
! Glad you got out there and back safely and had something to show for it! Congrats!