806 Blondes and Spin Class
By Curt Stewart
Before you get too excited, the blonde was actually a leucistic mallard drake, and the spin class was Ira McCauley running a spinning wing decoy powered by an old bicycle. Perhaps you’re feeling a little misled, but we’re glad you’re here. Before we go any further, we’re aware that a leucistic mallard drake isn’t considered “blonde”, but we all know which word gets more clicks.
There’s a lot to unpack here. We’ll start with the drake and move onto the bike later. According to the dictionary, leucism is defined as, “an abnormal condition of reduced pigmentation affecting various animals (such as birds, mammals, and reptiles) that is marked by overall pale color or patches of reduced coloring and is caused by a genetic mutation which inhibits melanin and other pigments from being deposited in feathers, hair, or skin.” According to Beau Brooks, leucism is defined as “a word you have to google”. Whatever definition you hold true, leucistic birds are rare and worthy of the wall.
At Habitat Flats, Ira McCauley and his crew have come across a few leucistic mallard hens, commonly referred to as “blondes”. On his recent trip to western Washington, Ira encountered his first leucistic mallard drake. A group of three were working the decoys out front and as they turned, Beau spotted a flash of white on the wing of one duck. The birds locked up and Ira dropped the one with the white wing. Low and behold, this mallard was silver. The head was your standard green, but the body had almost no pigment. Where the wings should be blue, they were a smokey gray. It was a very cool bird and one Ira proudly loaded into the Yeti cooler and brought home to Missouri.
Bagging a silver mallard drake is cool enough, but the decoy rig they used to bring him in is worthy of its own tale. This West Coast blind along the Columbia River housed an old bicycle that had been converted into a motion decoy. A braided cord ran across the wheel and led to a spinning wing in the middle of the spread. They’re commonly called “Sauvie Island spinners” named after the premiere hunting destination in Oregon where they can be found in many blinds. Electronic decoys are illegal in the state, so hunters did what they always do. Adapt.
Ira led his own spin class, and his winged students were happy to follow his lead right into the decoys. This Schwinn-like contraption was mounted so that it could be cranked by hand, and you’d have thought the cord was attached to the ducks themselves. Beau harped on Ira to “spin, spin” like a drill sergeant, and spin he did. It turned out to be a great sunny day hunt in an area where you normally can’t talk a bird into the decoys without clouds and rain.
WHAT WE USED ON THE HUNT
Decoys:
Calls:
805 Storm Wigeon
By Curt Stewart
Simply put, the storm wigeon is an American wigeon with a white head. That may not sound too exciting to you, and if it doesn’t, you might want to trade in your hunting license. As duck hunters, we live to take in the beauty and diversity of the different waterfowl species. When we come across a rare bird that defies convention, we should get excited.
Leucism, albinism, hybrids, non-natives, bands; there’s a laundry list of variations that get our blood pumping. Storm, or white cheeked wigeon, get their pigment from a rare color variant that doesn’t quite fit into any of those categories. It’s difficult to find much information on them since only about 1 in 500 American wigeon fit that color profile. That’s not enough to classify them as a subspecies.
What is known about these unicorns of the sky is that Beau Brooks is crazy for them. In Beau’s back yard of western Washington, he sees a lot of wigeon. He’s even bagged a European wigeon, but the storm always eluded him. On one of his latest hunts at home with Ira McCauley and Brook Richard, his opportunity finally presented itself. Beau had been the perfect host to Ira and Brook, making sure they got to pull the trigger more than himself. However, when two wigeon lit beautifully in the decoys (one with a white head) there was no shot call. Beau raised up, calmly shot the white-cheeked bird on the left and then the bird on the right. The HEVI-12 did its job, and Beau Brooks shook his fist while excitedly informing the group that the first bird was a storm wigeon.
Holding up the storm next to another wigeon they shot that morning, the difference was clear. While both birds had the distinctive white patch on top of their head, the storm was a much lighter cream color on the cheeks. There are certainly storm wigeon with more pronounced white on their faces, but this one was stormy enough. Beau got to check another box on his bucket list and gained another trophy for the wall.
Most of us will never even see a storm wigeon, but we should all have our own unicorn to chase. Whether it’s a cinnamon teal, blonde mallard, mottled duck, or a Quill Lake goose, find something special to add to your bucket list. It may never end up on your wall, but it’s guaranteed to add a little excitement to your hunt.
WHAT WE USED ON THE HUNT
Decoys:
Blind: Versa-Blind and Invisi-lab
Calls:
Shells: HEVI-12 3” #4
]]>804 The Elusive Barrow’s Goldeneye
By Curt Stewart
We all have bucket list birds we’re looking to check off before we check out, and for Ira McCauley, the Barrow’s goldeneye is one of those. The Barrow’s is a sea duck named after English geographer, Sir John Barrow, and found along mostly rocky marine coastlines. It is unique from the common goldeneye due to its blue head compared to the common’s green. They also have a steeper forehead, crescent shaped white patch behind the bill and small white spots along a mostly black wing.
They’re much less common than the uh… common goldeneye. Based on species composition surveys, about 20 to 25% of goldeneye flocks observed on Puget Sound are made up of Barrow's goldeneye.
Lucky for Ira, Beau Brooks knows just the spot to find these elusive fowl. The year before, Beau took Brook Richard on a “gentleman’s hunt” to the Lewis River where Brook bagged his first Barrow’s. This year, they added Ira to their wolf pack and hit the river. Unfortunately, their trip was short lived due to a boat malfunction. The Higdon crew decided to pivot to another hunting spot while Beau’s dad, Casey Brooks, repaired the boat. Ira’s Barrow’s would have to wait.
On the final day of Ira’s trip to the West Coast, the boat was ready, and the goldeneyes were waiting. We hit the river around noon and made our way back to the spot where we bagged our birds the previous year. Two hours and a handful of mergansers later, it was clear the Barrow’s weren’t going to cooperate. We had seen several on the boat ride in, so we knew they were there. We simply weren’t on the X.
We packed up the blind, loaded the decoys and fired up OnX to find another spot to try. Now the clock was ticking. It came down to the last day, the last hour of the trip. The Versa-Blind was in place, the decoys were set and all we could do was wait. Before long, a pair of blue headed goldeneyes flew by at about 60 yards. Ira squeezed the trigger… and the hen fell. These birds are fast, and Ira didn’t give quite enough lead.
Not long after, a big flock full of drakes came whizzing past, but there was no way to get one without taking out half the bunch. Ira did the right thing and let them go. With one minute left, a goldeneye locked up and started dropping right in front of the blind. Ira raised up, and the hen Barrow’s landed beautifully in the decoys. We unloaded our guns and accepted our defeat.
It wasn’t the way we wanted the hunt to end, but it wasn’t an uncommon ending for most of us. As waterfowlers, we don’t always get the win. Things go wrong, boats break, plans change, and we adapt. We find a way to make it work, but even when it doesn’t, it’s part of the adventure. Ira’s bucket list will have to wait another year, but you better believe he’ll be back.
WHAT WE USED ON THE HUNT
Decoys: 2 dozen Battleship Divers on a homemade long line
Blind: Versa-Blind
Shells: HEVI-12 3” #2
]]>Locust Grove in Sumner, Missouri is one of the best waterfowl hunting spots in the country. MoMarsh founder, Ira McCauley, has spent years farming for ducks and improving his property. At Higdon Outdoors, we’re lucky enough that Ira invites us to share the blind with him at least once a year. This year we got to earn our keep a tiny bit by working on some of the water structures that keep the ducks coming back.
Every levee, every pool, every tree, and every plant are planned. That’s 420 acres, eight ponds and at least six water structures that all have to be maintained and improved. This day our job was to work on the water structures. It costs a lot of time and energy to pump water where you want it to go, and with the recent flood, Ira had lots of water. We just needed to make sure it stayed where he wanted it or got to where he needed it to go.
It's also important to control the depth of the water in each pool. It was the perfect learning opportunity for Power Calls founder, Kelley Powers, and Beau Brooks, both of whom manage their own properties in Tennessee and Washington respectively. Ira took us all to school with his first structure which was essentially a pipe sticking out of the ground when we started. Ira brought along an elbow and PVC pipe that we cut down to size. Once attached, it allowed us to pivot that elbow up or down to adjust the water depth precisely and inexpensively.
Water structure number two was completely different. It used in-line risers which were familiar to Kelley who uses the same structure on his farm back home. There’s a channel through the middle where you can add or remove flashboards. The more boards you add, the deeper the water depth and the fewer boards, the shallower. It’s a simple but effective system that allowed Ira to keep all the free water afforded to him by the flood. He’ll still have to whip out the Warthogs (floating pumps) to top everything off, but he had a great start for the season.
After brushing in a few Versa-Blinds and Inivismen, we were back in the duck blind. We walked out with straps full of Wood Ducks, GW Teal and Greenheads and a greater appreciation for the work that goes into making the ducks fly.
WHAT WE USED ON THE HUNT
Decoys:
Blind: Permanent Blind
Calls:
Shot Shells: HEVI-XII #2s
]]>It’s a day that comes once a year for all of us. If it’s your first opening day or your 40th, the feeling is the same. The excitement, the nerves, the lack of sleep the night before, it’s all part of it, and it all washes away as soon as the sun rises on your decoy spread. But what happens when a flood covers the road to your spot? Do you throw in the towel and tell hunting stories over coffee with your buddies? Or do throw on the waders and make something happen?
For Missouri’s opener, the Higdon crew chose the latter. Our favorite hunting spot with Momarsh founder, Ira McCauley, in Sumner, MO is a special timber hole named “Heaven”. For a duck hunter, there isn’t a more appropriate name for a blind. If you haven’t seen the way birds work down through the trees of flooded timber, you’re missing out. Being able to drive a ranger right to the blind is the icing on the cake.
This year our cake was without icing. There was enough water that we couldn’t drive a truck in and not enough to drive a boat. We pulled up OnX and found a route that would get us close enough to walk. After nearly flipping the ranger a time or two, we threw our gear on our backs, tightened the belts on our waders and started walking.
Our biggest concern was the creek, and that concern became a reality almost immediately. The water was still on the rise, and it was moving FAST. We found a spot where we could have a solid handhold on some trees to make our crossing. When you think of duck hunting, you don’t think of grown men holding hands on their walk to the blind, but when it’s hold hands or go home, you grab your buddy’s hand. One by one we made it across and managed to keep the camera gear dry. OnX took care of the rest and before too long we were in Heaven.
We killed quite a few ducks that morning, but that’s not what any of us will remember. We’ll think back on the difficult walk in. The walk we’ve all taken (if we’re lucky). The walk we’re less likely to take the older we get, but we’re here to tell you. Take the walk. If you can go, go! Throw those battleships over your shoulder and put your “two wheel drive” to work, because you never know which walk will be your last.
WHAT WE USED ON THE HUNT
Decoys:
Blind: Permanent Blind
Calls:
Shot Shells: HEVI-XII #2s
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