1st Official hunt from my boat...Disaster averted and lessons learned.

[Coulter]

What a great day to be on the water this morning. I took the day off work today so I could avoid all of the other hunters and try to get the hang of setting out my dekes from the boat in an efficient manner. There were some huge flights of birds at first light while I still had my boat tied off to the dock. I thought it was going to be a great day. After a short talk with another spectator hunter that was just checking out my boat I finally headed to the happy hunting grounds. The fully loaded boat got up on plane with ease and just skimmed across the top of the 1 footers.

As I reached the area that I thought held the most promise for a good days hunt I started probing the depths with my anchor. The first couple attempts were just a bit to deep for my liking, so I moved a bit closer to the shoals. I finally found a spot with reasonable depth and began to deploy my decoys. This in and of itself was reminiscent of school kids playing with yarn making Jacobs Ladders and such. Nevertheless, I managed to get out the first line...and it looked good. Then came the tricky part...maneuvering my boat around to get the second line out. I finally managed to get that one done as well. But I was really thinking that I could use a better method of doing this. I grabbed the third line of dekes, attached the anchor, and began the maneuvering drill again.

I don't know what happened here, but my best guess is that I had the boat in neutral and attempted to throttle it up and move to the head of the lines. Well, it didn't go anywhere and I finally realized I had it in neutral. As I flipped the motor from neutral to forward the 15 horse came to life and turned completely to one side causing the boat to cut an extremely sharp turn and go in a circle. The entire boat seemed to be up on the starboard gunwale and attempting to launch me into the bay. All I could see was my face and body starting to go over board. I quickly grabbed the tiller and throttled it down...luckily with no ill effects.

Here is where lesson number one was learned...During my little escapade I realized that my kill switch was no longer attached to my life jacket. Somehow during the process of putting out my dekes I must have got tired of stretching out for a deke and killing the motor everytime. So I detached it from my lifejacket. Yes, I was wearing my lifejacket, but it wouldn't have done me much good if I had been thrown into the water with a boat whipping around me and potentially running right over me. That is a scene that I will continue to replay in my head and remember anytime I opt for convenience over safety.

I finally managed to get all of my decoys out while ducks and geese, flew all around me. I can't begin to imagine what the guys on shore must have been thinking at this point. It seemed as soon as I tossed the main anchor over my bow and settled in the birds quit flying. I sat for ten minutes making an adjustment here and an adjustment there. I noticed a little bit of water in the bottom of the boat, so I grabbed my seat to sit on it and settled back down. I figured some water probably got in the boat somehow while I was doing the duckboat pirouette. It didn't matter much to me...Ahhh, now I was hunting!

I searched the sky to the east and west but saw nothing but gulls and cormorants. Another five minutes went by and I decided to adjust one more thing. When I sat up I noticed that the little puddle of water had become an inch deep in the bottom of my boat. This really concerned me and had me scratching my head. Did I put the plug in the boat? Surely, the water would have come in much quicker if that was the case. I sat up and moved some things around. The stern of the boat was really flooded with water. Crap, I need to pick up my dekes and get my butt back to the dock. My gas tank was ready to float away on me!

I picked up the decoys as fast as I could. By the time I was done the water was a good three inches in depth... a little deeper in the stern. I gave the tiller full throttle and it just raised up the bow. My boat that once got up on plane in a matter of a few feet seemed to take upwards of 40 yards or more now. It was just plain sluggish with all of the water it took on. I finally made it back to the dock safe and sound and loaded it back onto the trailer. As soon as I pulled it out of the water I looked under the boat before I even looked to see if the plug was in. I found a 6" split right down the center where the water was coming out. Also, It looks like another stress crack is right behind it threathening to join it and make the split 12"-14" long.

Lesson number 2...get a bilge pump installed. A fellow duck boat enthusiast recommended one and I just thought for what? If it is raining that hard I can just motor back to shore. Well, I think I will put in a bilge pump after this episode.

Needless to say I never fired a shot, I just thought I would share this as a reminder for everybody to be safe out there...anything can happen when you least expect it to.

Steve

[iahntr]

Sounds like quite the outing !!   
Seriously, glad it didn't turn out any worse for ya !
Coulda been bad !

[Mallardsr]

All that just to kill a few ducks! I think I will stick with the four wheeler and bean fields. To old and out of shape to chase them on the rivers and lakes any more. To much like work.   RP

[HaMeR]

Even a learning experience can make it a good hunt. And I'm very glad you learned that today instead of later when the ducks were flying & you weren't paying attention. 

[FinsnFur]

It's not funny but ya cant help snicker a lil.

I am glad ya made out of it all though.
Oh and that woulda been some nice footage.

[pitw]

Never heard of the kill switch to the life jacket plan  .  Glad to hear you had a learning experience and in one of your favorite haunts too.  Really glad you made out fine even if the boat is splitting on you.

[Coulter]

I'm glad I can chuckle about it now. My wife was less than amused with the story. I suppose I should have left certain details out Heck, if thats all we did was go out and shoot things we would have an awful lot of mundane hunting stories. This is what I love about hunting...its not the kill, its the thrill Looking forward to getting the boat fixed back up and getting back on the water for another attempt!

Steve

[HuntnCarve]

It was a successful hunt.  You made it home alive, and will be able to hunt another day!  Sorry the ducks did not cooperate.  You did chalk up a couple valuable lessons.  Enjoy your next outing!

Dave

[Silencer]

Glad you made it ok, you sure your name isnt Silencer ?   sounds like some of my escapades !!

[JohnP]

All's well that ends well.

[nastygunz]

Wow thats an adventure for sure  ....on duck hunting mishaps...went with a buddy of mine...got all geared up...hes fiddlin around with his fancy dan franchi shotgun....I said that damn thing aint loaded is it?....nope...BOOM....huge hole right through the side of his boat...I looked at him....he looked at me, he says, "CAN YOU WELD ALUMINUM?"....not funny as for firearms safety, but pretty funny sorta afterwards... ...and his calm under fire was impressive  :roflmao:...his latest mishap was he puts out some goose floaters with his kayak....hiding on shore...tied some whacky knot on the decoy anchors..lost the anchors....some float away...a huge flock of geese come bombing in to the pond and drop right on the decoys that floated away..out of range...

[Coulter]

Dave...you bet it was successful...all ten minutes of the actual time spent hunting! I'm glad I can laugh about it now. The wife still won't laugh about it though I guess maybe if I had some life insurance that might change her tune. Anyway, I don't necessarily count the harvest into the equation of how successful a hunt was. It is the overall experience and the quality of the story derived from the experience...and that was a good one!

Thats classic Nasty...shootin' a hole in your boat! I love the run-away decoys too :roflmao: I think I'd be finding somebody else to hunt with.

Oh, by the way. The boat is heading back to Indiana today for the manufacturer to assess and repair the damage at no charge to me. Now that is fantastic customer service. If anybody is ever in the market for a layout or sneakboat I would highly recommend a Mighty Layout Boys.

Steve

[Silencer]

Ah... MLB's ...