Sometimes when I haven’t been in the woods or on the water in a few days, I start to think back to days that I have been. With September wrapping up and October starting, it quickly becomes my favorite time of the year. Although once again this year I did not take advantage of early goose or duck seasons, that wasn’t always the case. When living in Kentucky, there was a 5 day stretch that I would never miss. Starting on a Wednesday around the middle of the month was wood duck season. I am sure that there were many hunters that capitalized on this better than me, but I took this as an opportunity to break out of the summer slump. Fishing by the end of August has slowed down and I never cared to hunt for squirrels. When that Wednesday rolled around, it was time to get back out. Many times someone would talk me into putting a boat on the water and sneak back into a creek with a half-dozen decoys, but this wasn’t my favorite way to hunt. I had a WMA area that I been shown over the years the location of a string of ponds that were left off the maps. Growing up I had read about map makers that were outdoors people who “left” areas off the maps. This was definitely the case with this area’s map for which I was thankful.
There were 5 ponds along the trail. The first one was located about 100 yards off the road, but barely noticeable. It was about 3/4 of an acre and almost always had a pair of wood ducks on it. With a little sneakiness, it often led to a quick shot. Then you had to hike about a half mile down the trail. This is why I would hunt here. You could begin to scout for deer season. We would often drift off the duck hunt to scout the hardwoods for signs of deer. Once back on the trail, you would find a pond about 1/10th of an acre. This one was nearly impossible to sneak up on. The ducks would flush long before you even thought to begin the stalk. One time I saw as many as a dozen ducks flush of this tiny pond. It was an amazing little spot. About another mile back you would find the last pond on this side of the road. This one had an old fence to one side of it. I knew several guys that would sit along this fence late in deer season and find the deer moving through like it was a highway. The pond never had ducks on it, but I would always walk the extra distance to look at the deer sign. It was amazing to never find ducks here since it was only a 1/4 mile from the main lake. There was a fox that frequent this area though and wood ducks don’t like foxes. That hike would normal take about two hours. When getting back to the main road, you would cross it and find the trail on the opposite side. Once on the trail it was only about 200 yards to the fourth pond. Deer tracks lined the edge of this pond. It was only 25 yards long and 15 yards wide and never had more than a foot of water in it. I am never sure why I even walked up to this pond other than to look at deer tracks. Sometimes you would find a nice sized track that would go unnoticed by the untrained eye. With two weeks until the start of deer season, this would just stir the urge. Moving down the trail you would eventually find the largest of the 5 ponds. Located in the back of a field that was planted every season for doves and quail, was this beautiful little gem. Rarely were there ducks on it, but this one you carried a fishing pole to instead of the shotgun. Just over an acre in size, it held quality bass, bream, and catfish. Always a fun little spot to take half an hour and throw a roostertail. Most people wouldn’t make the walk, therefore you always had the place to yourself. As I have found true of most things I do in the outdoors; it isn’t necessarily about the success as much as it is about the experience. This was always just a great day to kick off the hunting season.
Dirt Road Dispatch 