October 13, 2008

Photos

Here are some pictures of duck hunting modifications I have been making to my Day Tripper 12 Elite and also the first duck hunt of the year!!! There area no pictures of the ducks harvested (3 wood ducks by my friends efforts) but I did scare several moccasins who did not retreat as fast as I did (and I had the gun), so we know that the day tripper is fast. You can see in the photos the ghillie suit I attached to the kayak and that the boats planes well at 7mph. The way my friends and I hunt here in Virginia is to have small groups of hunters spread out on a river and when a flock of birds fly in to the decoys and are shot at they go to the next group of decoys, typically me. The Daytripper, with its large capacity for gear (especially decoys) makes it especially versatile in this style of hunting. My friends drop me off at a predetermined location and they go to another location to set out their decoys. Near the end of the hunt I will paddle out of the location where I was sitting in place (hunting over decoys) and start jump shooting. Jump shooting is essentially sneaking up on unsuspecting birds. You can't legally or realistically do this with a motor boat. With a kayak, however, one can get sometimes within 5 yards or less to the ducks as I have done in the past. The silence of the paddle slipping in the water while creeping through a cypress swamp offers a nice end to a busy work week, especially if one calls in sick to do so. By the way, I will be hunting tomorrow too and should have some better pictures.