Sometimes in life we get chances to do what most others from where we are from have not……or at least things we have not done in the past and never really thought we would. I must say in my life I’ve been blessed to do many things that if asked as a kid I would have thought I would be too poor to afford or achieve. From lobster fishing in Maine to deep sea fishing in the Gulf I’ve been afforded the chance to do things in life that makes the kid inside of me excited. Who knows what adventures may lay ahead but for the moment I’m enjoying this one. My wife, with one of her employers, had done a good bit of flying recently and had accumulated some frequent flyer miles. We ‘had’ to use them within a certain time frame and the dead line was upon us. I wanted to share this first with my wife also, as to not be just dropped off and picked up later type thing. We booked the flights, hotels, rental car, and booked an Ice Fishing guide with www.ericksonguide.com and we headed to Minneapolis, Minnesota on Jan. 17.
Now I have never been ice fishing and had no idea of what to expect. I had a vision in my head of the movie ‘Grumpy Old Men’ and was prepared to freeze my arse off and listen to my lovely wife remind me of how cold she was and go to the car less than 30 minutes into the fishing trip. Good thing I booked with a guide. Our guide, Kurt, had us our own ice fishing house bungalow ready…..WITH A HEATER! We walked in and the first thing we did was remove our jackets. That house was hot! I knew then I did right by booking it this way instead of going out solo and doing it on our own. Not once did my wife complain. Matter of fact, she even caught the first fish. Our targeted species of fish was Crappie and Kurt had us on them. We hadn’t set the second line yet and Ashleigh had an ice crappie on! It was on then!
Ashleigh and I at the ice fishing house.
Ashleigh caught larger fish on average than I did. I did manage the lunker of the day though and finished with a few fish more than she did but we probably averaged out about the same total fish weight.
Ashleigh with her first Crappie and first fish caught under ice.
My first fish from under the ice!
We caught some with size too!
It was cool too that we actually drove on the lake to the house. We felt like Ice Road Truckers without the big rigs and weight on the ice….lol
Now for the ducks………THEY’RE HERE, THEY’RE HERE!! At least in Central Mississippi.
1/11/2014
We hunted at the house here in Rankin County MS for a quick morning hunt. Tray, my son, had been wanting to try for him a Mallard Drake and was excited about his odds of bagging his first one. We were joined by Chris Watkins and Sidney Coke both of Brandon MS. We got to the hole and set up. Right on queue the ducks started pouring in right at legal shooting time. A single mallard drake came in and Tray fired. I saw the shot hit the drake but he flew out of the hole anyway! Dangit! We sat and waited and another group game in. Tray fired….BOOM! This time the duck didn’t fly out. The action went from zero to wide open in a matter of those two groups coming in which led to me making a fatal mistake. I didn’t go retrieve the duck at that exact moment. More ducks kept coming in and Tray was blasting them. Tray, Chris, and I were all in the Sidney Hole and Sidney was in the Irby hole. Even though these two holes are side by side Sidney didn’t have a single duck come in to his hole. Tray, Chris, and I were in the hot spot. Long story short, we started picking up the ducks and we couldn’t find the mallard drake Tray had shot. We even went and brought back Grunt to assist in the retrieval of it. All though Grunt did retrieve some others we couldn’t find, he never found Tray’s drake mallard. It was okay though because we had a good shoot. We ended up with 15 ducks which was an all-time high for at the house at that time. Also Tray bagged another first for the house. He killed the first Wigeon out of these holes. I haven’t heard of anyone around these parts killing any but Tray sure bagged one. It was a juvenile but still a Wigeon all the same. Tray bagged 4 of the 15 ducks harvested on this trip.
Tray holds the Wigeon and his new DC mallard drake call. Good morning in the hole.
That evening we headed over to my buddy Forrest’s place to try for Tray another deer. Tray was excited about his chance for a D&D hunt (Ducks and Deer as Tray called it). What I really like about hunting this place is even on a day that we may not get a shot, we still see deer. There were 2 deer in the field when we arrived. Before the evening was over we had seen 3 bucks and 3 does. One of the bucks was a good sized buck but young and not quite up to par for this place’s standard. We decided to let the nice 8 pt walk and wait for something worthy of harvest for this property. Looking back on it we made the correct call. Tray wanted a buck to mount and if I was going to have to pay $300 to $450 for a mount it was going to be something worth mounting. Season isn’t over yet either so there may still be a chance.
Little man is my hunting buddy!
1/18/14
The only down side to me being in Minnesota was I wasn’t able to be home to hunt with my boy. I invited Paul Irby and his son, Zack Irby, over to hunt the hole since Tray and I weren’t going to be able to. I had Sidney meet up with them to show them where to set up and assist since I wasn’t going to be able to. Sidney and I talked Thursday night and discussed where to set up and how to hunt so Zack could have a good hunt. Sidney must have listened because they had a fabulous hunt according to all parties involved. Not only did Zack get his first Mallard Drake but all 3 hunters had their limit and were out of the hole by 6:45am! WOW!!!
3 Man limit!
Zack Irby with his first Drake mallard. He actually bagged a pair!
1/19/14
Since the action was so hot on Saturday Chris decided he wanted to hunt it Sunday. Originally David Irby was coming to hunt it but at the last minute decided to hunt his own hole. Chris’s action wasn’t quite as hot as the day prior but he did manage to scratch out 3 before leaving the hole.
Chris’s 3 bird morning. Odd colored Mallard Drake isn’t it……
With one more weekend of adult duck season left and then the Saturday of youth season too this looks to finish up a strong season. Always fun hunting when you have ducks to show for the work but also keeps you looking forward to the next hunt.
Remember to hunt safe, hunt hard, hunt fun, and share a hunt with a new friend or youth. Share our passion and take someone new with you when you head outdoors again next time.
