anybody here hunt sea ducks?
ive seen the odd bufflehead or hooded merg at various lakes/waterways but ive never really messed with them, but they sure look cool, and at one of the marinas i sometimes work on a boat at, there is a pair of harlequins that seem to return to that spot every year and they are by far one of the prettiest ducks ive ever seen, right up there with a woodie and a mandarin. i was reading in the regs you are allowed one harlequin a year but ones all id want, id probably have it mounted on the wall.
i dont know anybody whos actually gone after sea ducks, i certainly have never, but, i have a very comfortable 28 foot sailboat with a propane fireplace inside and all the amenities that would be a very comfortable base camp, and a reliable zodiac dinghy ive already painted camo and have been using this year for my duck boat with some pretty good results. with a little research on the map-apps i checked some off shore bird rocks that dont seem to belong to anybody, and are well enough off shore nobody can yell at you for shooting too close to houses where ive seen untold numbers of seabirds while fishing in years past......
i was watching videos about how they do it in Alaska (check out Crazy Rays sea duck hunting) and it seems like they just longline decoys off the beach and hide up in the rocks, so i really cant help but to think that if i took my sailboat out, anchored it close enough to a good rock pile, take the zodiac to the rocks, offload some decoys and girlfriend, and just hung out there and hunted i should do alright
no way this is happening this year, but, cant help but to think about the possibilities for next year, considering i have everything but the sea duck decoys.... at the minimum it seems like a great adventure but close enough to home it wouldnt be a ton of work
anybody here hunt these things?
