N. Cook
01-24-2005, 02:10 PM
Greg, Mike, Corey and I made the return drive from West Tenn. last nite, dropping Mike and Corey off in Orlando, and Greg continuing on home after dropping me off here at about 7 am. 1056 miles.....17 hours....we are well praticed at these drives as we make the same distance each year for deer season at my cabin in Ohio. Two sleep, two awake along the way.
Our trip up included a stop in Jackson TN, my mothers home town, and a visit with their 92 year great aunt who could relate the old family stories of many years ago...her grandfather was a Confederate soldier. I called my cousin to get her phone number and he answered from his duck blind on a farm he owns on the Forked Deer river. Two mallards down and more coming!!
We visited the Reelfoot lake area and I have a picture of me and one of the old piroge style Reelfoot rowboats we used on that first hunt 50 years ago. The FINAL FLIGHT guys have a good operation and the Powers family well known.....the younger son Kelly is the World Champion goose caller.
We actually hunted a flooded corn field on the edge of the Obion River bottoms.....near a place I had hunted in the 60's with my cousin...Great blind and set of hundreds of geese and duck decoys. Saturday was high winds and cloudy...cold...put the ducks and geese up and we had a fantastic day, lots of Pintail...we all got the one allowed....some nice droves of mallards and the the bonus of one flight of snows and a flight of Canadas, I got a snow and the "group" which then included two other hunters got 3 Canadas....lots of steel in the air.
The "great event" was during a 30 minute spell when all the guides where back at the ramp getting a generator to keep the ice out (the 15 degree nite forcast) I got out my callers and brought in two groups of mallards....first time to work mallards in five years....and they do start as "dots" in the sky there as John Powers says....Ohhh for those old days!!!! Great fun.
After the duck gods were with us so much on Saturday, the bitter cold blue bird day Sunday (we broke 2 inch ice) was more like the past experiences in the area...we saw less than 10 ducks all morning and no shot....told the guides it was ok to actually have a lunch with families and cut out early at 11.
Thanks to all who help make this memorial trip possible.
Newton
Our trip up included a stop in Jackson TN, my mothers home town, and a visit with their 92 year great aunt who could relate the old family stories of many years ago...her grandfather was a Confederate soldier. I called my cousin to get her phone number and he answered from his duck blind on a farm he owns on the Forked Deer river. Two mallards down and more coming!!
We visited the Reelfoot lake area and I have a picture of me and one of the old piroge style Reelfoot rowboats we used on that first hunt 50 years ago. The FINAL FLIGHT guys have a good operation and the Powers family well known.....the younger son Kelly is the World Champion goose caller.
We actually hunted a flooded corn field on the edge of the Obion River bottoms.....near a place I had hunted in the 60's with my cousin...Great blind and set of hundreds of geese and duck decoys. Saturday was high winds and cloudy...cold...put the ducks and geese up and we had a fantastic day, lots of Pintail...we all got the one allowed....some nice droves of mallards and the the bonus of one flight of snows and a flight of Canadas, I got a snow and the "group" which then included two other hunters got 3 Canadas....lots of steel in the air.
The "great event" was during a 30 minute spell when all the guides where back at the ramp getting a generator to keep the ice out (the 15 degree nite forcast) I got out my callers and brought in two groups of mallards....first time to work mallards in five years....and they do start as "dots" in the sky there as John Powers says....Ohhh for those old days!!!! Great fun.
After the duck gods were with us so much on Saturday, the bitter cold blue bird day Sunday (we broke 2 inch ice) was more like the past experiences in the area...we saw less than 10 ducks all morning and no shot....told the guides it was ok to actually have a lunch with families and cut out early at 11.
Thanks to all who help make this memorial trip possible.
Newton