Sea Ducks
Every January, a group of us from western Massachusetts head to Cape Cod to meet up with some good friends and go after sea ducks for two or three days. We don’t hunt from a boat. Instead we walk out along a jetty and set out the decoys at low tide. As the tide rises, so do the decoys. We pile on layers of clothes and tuck down into the rocks and wait for the birds.
The first ones to usually arrive are the blacks. They pass over the rocks on their way into the marshes and we always throw out a few black duck decoys along the rocks to draw them close. Also, if it’s windy, or raining, or snowing, they pass over within range and sometimes it doesn’t take long to fill our limit of one each.
The eiders and other sea ducks often fly all day long. This year we had our best hunts on windy and cold days. We did have a few bluebird days when the sea looked like a sheet of glass and we needed sun screen to protect our faces, but we still got in some shooting.
Joining us on a hunt this year was Ashley Mendes.She is the 17 year old daughter of Kevin and Christy Mendes from Cape Cod. I had the opportunity to see her knock down a few birds last year and knew that this girl can shoot!
| Species |
Ducks |
| Location |
Massachusetts |
| Sportsmen |
Ashley |
| Age |
17 |
