Photos from Steve Laurent, Nate McDonogh, Ryan Fortier

I have had the fortunate opportunity to do quite a bit of duck hunting lately. I drug my Jet Boat out of semi retirement  slapped on some camo, bought myself an early Christmas gift of a few dozen decoys and some 5mm camo neoprene waders. Then called on my neighbors to join me for the season of hunting. My new crew consists of Nate McDonough, Steve Laurent both from Bristol Bay Lodge and Ryan Fourtier of Long Hollow Retrievers.  Aaron O’Leary has been a few times, we all marvel at the pure killing instinct boiling to the surface of such a calm and cool individual. We have had quite a season bombing around the Columbia River and a few field hunts. Not much happening there as the corn was high and the geese went south too far. Recently we are seeing a bunch of Widgeon and a few Canvasbacks with Mallards thrown in there. I find myself filing away new locations and flight paterns along with weather and hunt journals on my Google Earth program. I am getting used to the 0-Dark runs in shitty weather up the Columbia and have gotten good use of my ten year old GPS, (finally). It feels good to be using the Jet boat again after three years in mothball.

I have allways hunted a few times a year and did A LOT of Duck, Deer and Goose between 12 and 35 years of age, now with my house complete and time between steelhead guide seasons I can take up my other passions with stead fast conviction. I find myself wondering how good of hunting I had missed the past three years while I had committed every spare molment to my house project. This hunting season has been quite an accomplishment and I hate to see it pass but my heart is turning towards Steelhead again and the busy season ahead of me and my guide partners on the Olympic Peninsula.

I think I can squeeze in a few more Duck days if I procrastinate on my fly tying for another week!