A Father, a Daughter, an Old Dog & a Pond.
My brother Jon has hunted Gray Lodge many times, but this time was the most memorable, since he got to take along his 11-year-old daughter. Here’s his account of the day…
Well Bro, here’s how it went. Blue skies and no wind. We didn’t even see a duck come into our pond that was closer than 200 yards away. It was that bad.
But the good news is, Justine and I had a blast! We left on Friday and got to the motel around 3 pm., the same place we stayed the last time you and Griff were in Gridley. Had lunch and dinner at that same diner and Justine loved it. Took a quick trip to the refuge and had Dusty run around. Of course, she was out of her mind and loving it.
We got up the next morning at 3:45am and were in line at 4am. Even though we had number 85, it might as well have been 15. There was absolutely no one there. If you all had been along, we could have had a nice spot! But, I didn’t want to take the chance of going to far or to a spot that was too deep. So, we went right out of the same parking lot that we all parked in before.
We found a pond that I have shot a few ducks at before. As we set up, Justine looks in the water with her flashlight and says, “Dad, is that a duck decoy?” I look and tell her that is a real duck. Turned out to be a dead bull sprig floating in the pond. Dusty runs out and retrieves it. Must have been from the day before from one of the private clubs, still fresh. Before shoot time, Justine is playing with the duck and then I see her with her flashlight poking around in the mud. She says “Dad, I found a watch.” No, not a Rolex.
The sun comes up and we just sit there, nothing for over two hours. We decide to leave and go back to the motel, clean up, and have breakfast. We call it a day.
So, Dusty got to retrieve her duck. Justine and I got to snuggle on a freezing pond and watch falling stars. We listened to the pond sounds. Justine found a watch. And we got to see Dusty running around like a puppy. Bottom line, we had a great time. As we headed home, Justine taps me on the shoulder and says “Dad, I had so much fun.”
Can’t wait for next season. It can only get better. Hope you got some birds this weekend. Or at least enjoyed time with your duck hunting boy. It was truly a treat for me being with my girl hunting ducks.
Zenhunting 