A Successful Opener

It was an epic opener for most duck hunters throughout the northwest this year.  While it’s usually dry this time of year, a series of early October storms has marsh conditions looking more like late season.  The wind and rain storm that hit the northwest on opening day kept the birds moving and the guns blazing at Sauvies Island on Saturday.

We had crews on both sides of the island.  The action was nonstop on the Eastside where 28 birds were killed by early afternoon.  Blinds around also had similar success.  We missed the morning shoot on the Westside, but we were able to land a good blind for the afternoon shoot.  We picked up six birds in a couple hours before the wind forced us out.  Things started to get a bit sketchy when we heard the sounds of cracking trees in the forest directly behind our blind.  Each gust of wind that came through caught our attention to the weak limbs flying above.  While these conditions generally produce a great duck hunt, we decided it wasn’t worth an injury or worse.  We packed it up and called it a day at that point.

The season is off to a great start, and we hope to keep it going later in the week.