Youth Season Excitement

Hello again everybody it's that time again.  Time for another story about the Ditch.  With the lightening and thunder Saturday about drive away time, it seemed like the right choice was to stay home the first day of the Youth Weekend.  Little did we know that just 25 minutes after LST would it be over, oh well.  Sunday was the call we thought so we pulled out early this AM wondering what kinda shape we were going to be in when we got to the Ditch.  Deeks blown around and water as high as the Missouri River is what we found.  A couple inches of rain a week or so really filled up the pond.  We were overflowing on the west bank so it was time to quit pumping.  The bottoms are completely soaked right now.  Mud everywhere and water sitting in every crevice.  We took a couple young men with us this morning who were more than willing to answer the 5AM wake-up call.  The bird action started right away and there was no disappointment to be found.  The boys ended up bringing home 4 birds, 2 teal and 2 smileys.  Had about 6 kaboom booms and the entertainment was second to none.  Each volley went about like this...Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom..."got ONE"!  It was great.  Being the only dad there without offspring on sight, I only had breakfast to really worry about.  Seeing the boys nailing some great shots and hearing ducks thump in the water really got my blood boiling.  Between the two of them there was a full box of empties lying around after just 2 hours.  We packed it up right at 9AM.  There are alot of teal and smileys around.  We had bunch after bunch buzzing us for a strong hour and a half.  Saw just a few bigger ducks and two small bunches of Can's getting off some of the local water.  Next week is the opener and the season is finally here, you can sleep in again sometime after the first of the year.  If the ducks and geese decide to migrate our way this year and they set up shots like the boys took today it could be a fun season for us.  Looking forward to getting back here to write.  That's all for now.  Check back for the latest and greatest and thanks for all the hits.

People Really Read this Crap

It's been a while since the last post.  Been kinda lazy I guess.  For those of you who have been "checking back for the latest and greatest", I hope you haven't given up. While flipping around at the Waterfowler's Weekend Events at the local hot spot (cabela's), a friend of Muck Bottom, aka SR, was sporting his highly sought after and well recognized Mock Neck Long Sleeve Mid Season Advanced Muck Bottom Outfitter's one of kind and field tested Shirt.  You know, those 5 shirts we paid a professional designer to design and logo and print that were like $500 cause we thought we had something, yep those shirts.  The highly recognized and unmistakable Logo got the attention of some passers-by.  Well, at least the attention of the guy standing over the urinal next to him.  Seems as if people actually read this stuff.  And they laugh! Amazing to me! But then again, we're all nuts!  Appreciate the compliments and interest.  Hopefully we can continue with the antics this upcoming season.  Know this, we will continue to operate and report with the utmost integrity and sincerity, knowing that not a single story is embellished, or exaggerated.  You can count on us, One is always One, and Two is always Two.  We cannot, however, say that all the reports we receive contain the same levels of integrity.  We are aggressively seeking an actuarial professional to provide expert assessment and to evaluate the likelihood of the said events that allegedly happen in "other" ditches across the country.  If anyone knows of someone that may have actuarial talent and can mathematically and sensibly turn One into Ten and Two into Twenty, please refer them our way.  We pay in high quality T-shirts and large amounts of B.S. 
The Youth season is just 3 1/2 short days away and we're looking for some great action those two days for our youngsters.  We got a call form the Gate Keeper and he said we had about 1000 ducks laying all over the pond Monday AM.   There was also a report of about 100 Can's floatin' right in, like they owned the place, over the weekend.  You combine that with some minor migratory movement of cormorant and teal Sunday afternoon in the drizzle and wind, it should be a great Youth Weekend if the shootin's straight. 

That's all she wrote, for now.  Check back for the latest and greatest and thanks for all the hits.

Mixed Bag Day

Hello again all my technologically advanced and well-connected waterfowl enthusiast friends.  Sunday morning led way to an invite from DucksNBrown Dogs to hunt teal at the Leshara Ditch.  Yes, of course.  The morning was spent with DNBD, Sure Shot Sr, and "The Don".   The action started and stopped at the same time. Saw just 3 bigger ducks and some local geese floating around. No Shots Fired!  Today about 1130AM an email came with pictures, Ducks N Brown Dogs wrote:
After two days of not seeing anything, today 9/6 we got into a nice good sized flock of teal. I was helping my boy take the first shot and he shot his first teal, pretty exciting for him. Sure Shot Sr. was out again today along with "The Don" and ended up dropping 10 total out of that flock. Stuck around but didn't see much else before heading home.

Attached some pictures from today. Thanks for coming out this weekend wish we could of got into a few while you were out.

Well what do you know, a day late and a dollar short!  Man, I can't believe how those guys shoot.  This is the same group who did almost the same thing last year.  One group and 10 birds, on teal nonetheless.  I don't know how they do it with 12 shots.  Especially when I know that 2 of them while hunting at the South Ditch have been unable to scratch Can's at 20 yds and they are now out popping 3-Fer's on teal.  Someones obviously been practicing.

Tonight, Monday we decided to run up to The Ditch and see if we couldn't bring home a few doves.  We rolled up about 5PM and rotted until dark.  Took home 10.  Had two dogs who got in some much needed water retrieves and an introduction to the new dog pits.  They were not real sure about 'em but a slow burn made it all better.  Kinda like making your kid ride a bike for the first time without training wheels.  They may fall and get scratched up, but they'll do it again and figure it out.  Was real happy with the dog work, doves in weeds and water aren't an easy find.  Glad to see their noses work.

The 2nd of October is quickly approaching and The Ditch looks good, we need another 3-4 solid weeks of pumping until the grin becomes an all out ear to ear permanent smile.   That's all for now, check back for the latest and greatest.

Muckin' Around

I started posting so I guess I need to keep going. Today’s post is nothing more than jibberish. Thoughts in my head, and probably yours too beings you are reading this, that consume what little space is left for day dreaming.

As everyday passes we inch closer and closer to the 116 days of pure bliss. The seasons are starting earlier; the proposed start date for LP Early is October 2nd. Wow, that’s early! If you’ve been hiding under a rock and this is a surprise to you, you better move your plans up a couple weeks. If this year’s plans include a “better mouse trap” you had better be started already. There is no more time to waste!

I received the new Cablea’s waterfowl catalog and have wishfully been flipping through it. All the gear! If money was unlimited, the next delivery truck for “waterfowl weekend” would be backed up next to the ditch and taken directly to the island. Can you ever have enough? When is it too much? I read an article that said the average waterfowler will spend between $1200-$1700 per year to hunt, everything from coffee to duck stamps and licenses, to decoys, guns and leases. There are currently 30,000 or so of us in the state of Nebraska, some more foolish than others. On the low end we will spend more than $36mil on this upcoming season alone, that’s about $300,000 per season day (obviously not counting the sky carp conservation season, whole different ball game there). Now you know why everyone and their dog is out there trying to sell to us something. We are a special group of enthusiasts that choose emotion over judgment and chance over guarantee. We spend countless amounts of money on “stuff” and dream away complete days that our friends have quietly described as “muckin’ around.”

Don’t forget about Dove season, they are migratory birds too and deserve our attention and dedication as well. Why pay for the migratory bird stamp if you’re not going to observe the beauty of the season. If you happen across a “pigeon” while dove hunting, take ‘em, “they’re good eatin’.”

That’s all for now.

Early Morning Over-Thinking Way Too Early

You'd have thought it was November this morning.  The alarm shot off 5AM, the booze from the night before still lingered and the smell of fresh coffee pulled me out of bed.  Why, you may ask? Well let me tell you.... we got our new pit buried and we had lots of work to do this morning.  We rolled in just a couple clicks after 6AM to see what it looked liked.  Nailed it!  Perfect location (so we think) and plenty of surrounding island ground for deeks.  The old sit and shoot constructed last year just wasn't going to work. Talk about "sore thumb."  That thing just didn't look right.  It was comfortable and constructed to last, but again our over-thinking got the best of us and it was on to our 3rd major re-construction in just 3 seasons at the Ditch.  You know the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.  We are sooooo far from insane.  I just know it! 

With the pit buried and no idea of what to do with the old (new last year) above ground "house for elephants", we decided on a little gas, a little brush and a clicker and there you have it.  Just like that, it's reduced to rubbish and ash (see image above). 

Yep, we are crazy, and waterfowling (serious waterfowling that is) requires multiple "jack sessions", and a number of conversations concerning the betterment of your situation. We pretty much got that part figured out.  That's all for now, check back for the latest and greatest.

It's Gettin' To Be That Time...

Well, hello all my technologically advanced and well connnected waterfowl enthusiast friends.  I thought maybe it would be a good time to update the blog.  The Great Snow Goose Chase of the spring was a bust, we didn't set up and didn't shoot.  We thought we could go and literally "chase" some down but we had no luck getting to the birds.  It was wet, wet, wet...What a mess.

Exciting things happening for us this year.  We've got our island we've been wanting and a last minute decision to bury the pit in the island has been made.  With no rain, and a blessing from the man upstairs,  by Sunday's end, it should be over.  Then the real work starts.  Can't wait, haven't really had any projects going this summer to occupy all the "free" time we have had and it's nice to finally have something to do.  If anyone wants to help we have beer, wine and liqour.   At just $15 a beer, $26 glass and $101 a mixer, we should have it all done and paid for by the time it all runs out, feel free to stop by!  We could use the money (I meant help, sorry).  Mosquito spray will be provided for your comfort.

The hopes are high for a much more "normal" year this upcoming season. Plenty of water everywhere and without and opening day snow storm, nothing is indicating a repeat of last years FEST.  The smoke poles are being lubed and dusted for the first outing of the year, just 4 short weeks away.  That's right, DOVE season.  I can almost smell the burnin' barrels and smokin' shells.  The time of year to see just how bad ones' aim is.  Just how many boxes of shells can you burn through before you hit your daily bag limit?  Over/Under for you gamblers is 4 boxes.  For the "novice" marksman 4 boxes is a good day, you have fun and get bruised.  I've decided to give into the pressure and take out to the field 1 box and 1 additional  shell, just in case.  Hopefully I won't need it, but you just never now how the wind will be blowing. 

We are all excited, hope everyone reading this is too.  That's all for now, check back for the latest and greatest.

GET GOIN'

If you're reading this, you should be hunting. The geese are here and it's time to pull the plugs, get your best mud gear out, and get out there.

Check back for the latest and greatest.