The temperatures had hit record lows. The snow was deep and school had been canceled for over a week. It was the worst snow the state had ever experienced, but that wasn’t keeping the hunters down. Anyone with 4 wheel drive and more than a foot clearance was starting to get out. I was 13 and itching to do the same. Even during school days I was anxious to go, but being out for over a week and not hunting was killing me. Dad had driven out to the lake and hiked in to find our blind completely iced in. Before the beginning of the season, the lake management had done a blind site drawing for the 20+ sites on the lake. We had drawn one of the more interesting sites located to the back of a wide creek, but also one of the few sites you could reach with a reasonable hike. We weren’t going to be able to hunt here for the rest of the season. When he got home, he explained the situation. After some begging and pleading, I convinced him that we had to go the next day even given the situation. I promised we would find a spot and be able to hunt.
The alarm went off at 4 am. We got dressed in many layers and hooked up the trailer. The thermometer on the garage showed zero and we were thankful it was that “warm” after the past few days. The roads were finally clearing or else the boat would have never made it. When we arrived at the road leading to the ramp, we found it completely iced. The smart thing was to turn around and go home. Fortunately, we weren’t smart enough to do that. We headed down the hill and at one point of sliding sideways we were regretting our decision. The trailer pulled even with us about half way down the hill. This was not our best idea, but once we hit the bottom of the hill and were able to breathe again, we got excited. We got out of the truck and walked over to the ramp. It was icy, but not like the hill. We put down some sand and got everything ready. Opting for the safe launch, neither one of us got in the boat until after it was off the trailer. We parked and got in the boat which fired up amazingly quickly for the cold. More amazing was the fact that we weren’t the only ones in the parking lot. As we motored out towards the end of the no wake zone, more headlights were reaching the parking lot. The lights of the parking lot began to fade and we put the boat up on plane. With in seconds, we both noticed a shimmer coming of the water from the moon. This wasn’t good. A boat doesn’t stop that fast even when hitting ice. We immediately shut it down and looked for holes in the boat. Somehow we got lucky, even though we were using a fiberglass bass boat in an area that an aluminum boat would have been better. There weren’t a lot of options. Going backwards was as bad as going forward since the ice was refreezing behind us. We decided to push through forward. After 300 yards we reached the end of the ice and took off down the lake again. Once again we didn’t make it far before we hit ice. This continued until we found an area of open water for about 100 yards near the south bank. We decided to go ahead and set up here to attempt to be ready before legal shooting time. I got out of the boat to set up the blind, while dad went to setting decoys. I found a nice area between some pine trees and covered the front with camo cloth. I set up the heater although in the openness, it would only work semi well and placed the guns on each side with the shells in order. The blind looked good and was going to hide us well. I carefully walked back down to the bank and jumped back in the boat to help finish setting decoys. We got the decoys set and I jumped back out while dad went to stash the boat. It was about 10 minutes into legal shooting time, so I loaded my shotgun. Ducks had been in the air since before first light. A hen mallard came cruising over the decoys. I hit my call twice and she did a figure eight about 80 yards away and returned over the decoys. I stood up and shot twice with the second shot folding her. This was my first big water duck. I had killed a few over ponds, but nothing like this. It was a 40 yard shot on a passing duck. Dad had to pull the boat immediately back out and retrieve my duck. A few minutes later, him and my duck were back to the blind. I looked her over carefully and was thrilled by the shot and that the work paid off.
Ducks were flying by the decoys by the dozens. Some were headed on, but many would work. We would call and watch them make pass over pass over our head. Finally they would commit and we would stand and shoot to watch them all fly away. This happened time after time. Around 10 am, the geese started to move. They must have stayed locked up longer due to the temps. Geese were cutting across the hill behind us and flying back the creek of our permanent blind and out into the fields. Not much we can do about that. Everything was frozen that direction. We continued to shoot and miss at ducks. Shell count was becoming an issue. Around lunch time, things slowed down a little. We hadn’t seen a duck in twenty minutes when we heard a noise amongst the decoys. We looked down to see the water swirling. Looking at each other, dad and I were confused up until this furry head popped out of the water. River otters had been introduced to the area two years before that. How could anything stand to swim in water that cold? They were having a great time. Three of them were chasing one another and playing with decoys. Every few minutes, one would come floating by on his back eating something that he had caught. This scene lasted for about 45 minutes before they moved down the lake.
Dad went to pick up Ron around 1 pm…hopefully he had a lot of shells. I worked a few ducks while he was gone, but no shots were offered. About 45 minutes later they returned and dad informed me that he had to break ice both directions. According to Ron, the temps had gotten all the way up to 18*. The lake continuing to freeze was a concern.
Ron had hunted with dad for years before I started going and I had been hunting with him since I was 5. He was an experienced quail and grouse hunter, but like the rest of us were new to ducks. He climbed into the blind and saw what the hype was about, a pile of empty shells and one duck. He questioned are shooting ability, but then again, so were we. Ducks started to move again around 2 pm. The one area by the dam was getting all kinds of shots. Many of the ducks were passing over the trees and flying out of sight, but a lot were getting worked and missed by us. Ron’s shooting percentage matched ours. Fortunately, I had one duck to show off. Around 4 pm, the geese decided it was time to return and we were ready. We headed up the hill and cut them off. This wasn’t successful either, but we did get a good opportunity and just missed again. Coming back down the bank, more ducks were skirting the lake. We continued to work birds and get shooting opportunities on about a third of the groups and we continued to miss. It was a legendary lack of shooting display. As dark approached, we began to pick up. Three people made the process quicker. Heading back down the lake was easier. With five or six groups on the water a path was continuing to be cut through the ice. We made it safely back to the dock and got the boat on the trailer. Everyone waited for all the boats to be off the water. Many of the hunters had their propane cookers heating up a can of soup in the parking lot, while watching hundreds of ducks pour into the bay and telling stories of the day. Everyone had seen thousands of ducks and by far the most ducks ever on this lake. Once the last boat was off the water, a parade of trucks and trailers headed up the hill. Up hill lacked the fear of downhill, but no one left the road until the last vehicle made it to the top. On the way home, we heard on the radio that it should drop below zero that night, but we didn’t care. We had battled the elements and won. It was a wonderful day that we learned more about ducks and geese than we had all season. Although the season ended a few days later, we stole a great day on the water and memories to last a lifetime.
Dirt Road Dispatch 
Greatly understated !!!