Freighter was picked for the weekend hunt at Fish Point.  But instead of entering the draw and hunting the managed hunting areas, he and his hunters ventured out into Saginaw Bay.

I Am Ready To Hunt
Inside The Boat Ready To Hunt

This was Freighter’s first time hunting out of a boat on the bay.  It is a bit different from hunting from a dog stand in flooded corn.  The dog has to jump out of the boat and for some dogs that takes a bit of getting used to if they haven’t done it before.

The Duck Boat
The Duck Boat

The weather this weekend was beautiful and there were tons of ducks around.  If you picked a lucky spot, then you got lots of birds.  If not, nothing.

Sunrise On Saginaw Bay
Sunrise On Saginaw Bay

Guess which spot our intrepid hunters picked?  🙂

Freighter did get one retrieve.

Watching The Sky
Freighter Watching The Sky

Freighter was a bit hesitant to jump out of the boat at first but he did.  He did not see the bird fall so hubby had to handle him to it.  It took a couple of casts, but soon he made the retrieve.  The dogs can’t really jump back into the boat so hubby had to pull Freighter back in.  As I said, it is different from hunting off a dog stand in flooded corn.

Decoys On The Bay
Decoys On The Bay

They put out all kinds of decoys to entice the ducks.

Decoy Spread
Decoy Spread

They even got out a duck decoy that moves to simulate a duck landing on the water.

More Decoys
More Decoys And Moving Duck To The Right

Nothing doing.  Freighter ended up with only the one retrieve for the weekend.  At least he got some valuable boat experience on the bay.

Pretty
Pretty

Freighter got a break and Sunny got to go to the evening hunt on Saturday.  She also got one retrieve.

Nice Job Sunny
At Least It Was Something

Thanks to Cindy and Gary for their hospitality and to Cindy for taking the great pictures of Freighter and to hubby for his pictures.  Thanks to Chris for inviting Freighter on your boat.

As promised I have the winner of the Full Moon Chicken Jerky and gift pack today.

But first, did you spot the blooper in the picture of Storm?  I did not notice it myself when I was taking the picture, but as soon as I saw it on my computer….it jumped right out at me.  Some of you saw it right away too and others did not.  I think it was one of those things you spotted it quick or it took a bit.

I Put The Bandana On Upside Down....Oops!
I Put The Bandana On Upside Down….Oops!

Some of you thought that you spotted a “deflated tennis ball”.  That was actually the treat bag.  I probably should have plumped it up, but we were outside and I did not want it to blow away in the wind.

Thanks to everyone who entered and congratulations to the winner Kim Mangrum.  I will be shipping your jerky and gift pack out this week!

18 thoughts on “Hunting The Bay

  1. thanks for a great post! I would ask the whole time how the dogs come back into the boat, but you explained the boat-hunting very well, including how they go backt, thanks! I don’t think that you wear the bandana upside down, now only you can read it :o)

  2. Great pix! I particularly like the first one of Freighter because he still has that puppy-ish face. And I’m a sucker for puppy faces.

  3. What an awesome hunt! Only one retrieve but learning how to jump out of the boat and bring back a duck is totally cool! Great photos. Happy Monday,
    Oz

  4. Sorry it was only one but as you say great boat practice and it did look like a lovely day. Have a marvellous Monday.
    Best wishes Molly

  5. Jump out of a boat??? (gulp) Freighter, I think you did super. Much better than a herding dog like me. 😀

  6. What great pictures of the duck hunt. I am always impressed with the dogs that are able to jump out of boats to retrieve, it take a skills to be able to pull that off.

  7. Wow, that’s impressive that he would jump out of the boat without really having any training to do that! Congrats to the winner!

  8. I imagine it’s similar to getting a dog to jump off a dock or pool deck. Some dogs will do it with no hesitation, others will need to be coaxed/shown or some may never do it. I’m glad Freighter took the plunge and was rewarded for his effort.

    1. A bit different because they are in a confined space and the boat is not stable like a dock or pool deck. There is no running and jump. It is just jump.

  9. I’m glad Freighter got some experience, but feel bad that the hunters picked a bad spot! We used to take our dog Lab mix Maggie out in our fishing boat and she loved it. We even taught her to climb the ladder to get back in. I bet she would have loved hunting.

    1. They are talking about maybe getting a ladder. They don’t have one.

  10. With sweet Freighter and sweet Sunny each getting at least one retrieve, Freighter getting some boat experience and you getting all those amazing pictures it sounds like a winning weekend to us. That bay it beautiful. Hugs and nose kisses

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