Hobby or Obsession: Who Am I To Judge
I have an Obsessive Compulsive personality.
It has caused periods in my life that I wish I had back and resulted in many years of simply existing on this earth instead of truly living. My OCD at times just took over and I would get tunnel vision over very, very negative aspects of life. It was extremely difficult to break some of the chains that had me in a vicious cycle.
My obsessive behavior, for a very long time, was a 100% negative for me. Fast forward about 14 years and I can now say that I think it has become a positive. I have eliminated many of the negative aspects. “Trimmed the fat” if you will, I have cut out those behaviors that at times sabotaged the things that I wanted to accomplish in life. Having eliminated a lot of negatives, however, did not eliminate the Obsessive Behavior. I still get tunnel vision, I still perseverate over stuff, I just choose to make that positive stuff now. Well, not positive I guess if you have feathers or are a member of PETA, but positive in my eyes.
When the summer sun starts to dip towards the southern horizon and Helios’ trip across the sky starts to shorten in the Northern Hemisphere, morning dew transforms to morning frost, a right of passage time of year comes to us here on the Northern Tier of this “God’s Country” I call home.
Hunting Seasons!!
It is my opinion, hunting and fishing are not hobbies, they are a way of life, they have to be, They are part of the foundation on which this great nation was founded. The desire to provide for family and friends through diligent plying of the hunter/gatherer craft of sustenance hunting/fishing! The downfall of our great nation and our slow downward spiral into chaos can be traced back to the loss of this human instinct.
This blog is called Devils Lake Fishing Report, but do to circumstances outside of my cognitive control, it will, for periods of feathered bliss be interrupted with avian reports of the fowlistic kind. I don’t just love hunting waterfowl, I am obsessed with it, it consumes me. I cannot get it out of my head come early August, and the only interuption is a November or December freeze up that pushes our birds to warmer, balmier climates and causes me to turn my OCD to Hardwater equipment and Devils Lake Super Mega Jumbo Perch.
With the dog days of Summer in August we get our first taste of the Feather Flu with Early Canada season. This season is fun, blasting a possible 15 B-52’s on a 75-degree August morning with 65,000 mosquitos draining me of a good pint and a half is such bittersweet fun. The cleaning of these fowling world behemoths takes on another adventure still when the happy hornets decide to take their cut.
I like to call Early Honker Season a warm up, it unveils to us what we need to fix and mend before the REAL season begins. Before ‘Heads of Green’ dance in front of us, hovering over robo ducks and rotary machines, we tease our palate with the Waterfowl World’s airborne fortresses.
I am always sad to see early Honker season come to a close on September 15th, the liberal limit of 15 per day and the tendency of these birds to be pretty decoy dumb yet, makes for some real good shoots and a lot of meat for jerky and sausage. The close of Early Honker season, however, signals the opening of another, Sandhill Cranes!!!!
RIBEYE OF THE SKY
No other bird makes me salivate like the ole Wily Pterodactyl. These prehistoric looking jumbles of wing, leg and neck are bar none the cream of the crop when it comes to table fare. They are also probably the most wary and have the best eyesight of any of the birds we try to entice with decoy spreads, so the added challenge makes this a season I can never miss.
We had a bittersweet opener to our Sandhill Crane season. Day one saw us with a respectable 7 when we needed 12, not bad for a bluebird, light wind day. Some early fog both helped with reduced visibility but hindered as it kept the birds on the water for a little longer than usual.
Day 2, Sunday, saw our entire roost of birds except for 6, spontaneously decide to go the opposite direction of where they had been feeding the night before, and such is the challenge of Sandhill Crane Hunting. The 6 that did not go the opposite way were wily veterans of the flyway and never even gave us a sniff, leaving us with the dreaded goose egg. The Vikings stunning victory over the Green Bay Packers was the only thing that could salvage my Sunday, SKOL Trae Waynes!!!!!!
Residents Only Duck Season- We Don’t Need No Stinking Duck Boats
With the close of Sunday and the Viking celebration in full swing, we turned our attention to the prospect of the opening of another Resident Only Waterfowl Season. One weekend, at least, where nary a duck boat can be seen. We here in the Duck Factory abhor duck boats. Nothing darkens my skies than seeing a duck boat embark on a roost busting mission.
We field hunt here, we leave the ‘bedroom’ alone. Letting the birds have sanctuary on the roost keeps them around. Duck boat hunting on the roost does nothing but chases the birds out prematurely. I wish more hunters would learn this and practice responsible hunting so our birds would stick around longer.
Our own Resident Only season at least gives us one weekend where the duck boat parade from the East can’t disrupt the tranquility of a natural duck feed in the morning.
We have been exceedingly wet here in the Lake Region and these conditions have thrown a couple of curve balls at us. One being flooded unharvested crop and the other being limited access. The first kept our duck numbers from coming to our spread on Saturday, and the latter kept us from the “X” on Sunday. All in all, however, the weekend was a resounding success. The harvesting of 49 birds in two days in and of itself would have been enough to have me smiling.
Add to the experience this guy shooting his first duck and first goose on the same morning made it a booming success!
That is 3 young men now that I have had the pleasure of assisting in getting their 1st confirmed kills on ducks and geese. It makes me really happy to be able to ensure that this tradition on the Pridelands of Towner and Ramsey County will be carried on, and by relatives. My daughter and son aren’t of an age where I would put a shotgun in their hands yet, so I polish up my teaching skills on my nephews. Both had, without a doubt, confirmed kills on multiple birds this past weekend.
Stay tuned, as the weather to the North cools and the migration gets in to full swing, we hope to bring you not only pictures of successes but reports as well. Coming soon also are Parts 3 and 4 of Hardwater 101
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Let me know.
We absolutely would entertain the idea of a guest post on Devils Lake Fishing Report. Obviously we are about more than just fishing. We are passionate about summer and ice fishing, waterfowl hunting, deer hunting, bear hunting and cheering for the Vikings and cheering against the Packers. We would reserve the right to proofread your contribution for content but would love to see what you have to offer.
Devils Lake Fishing Report
Awesome Post! Thank you for sharing