-
Worthington Council conducts first reading of revamped town ordinancesMembers of Worthington’s Town Council met Tuesday evening to a full house. Attendance at monthly town meetings has been consistently on the rise, a welcome change from previous years for the town’s governing body. A main focus Tuesday evening was a well-prepared presentation by Chief Town Marshal Jacob Gambill regarding a revamping of the town code of ordinances...
-
If at first you don’t succeed.....WRV seeking district superintendentAccording to a member of the WRV Board of School Trustees, newly-hired White River Valley Superintendent Mitch Hobson submitted his resignation to the Board of School Trustees for the superintendent’s position Monday evening after his first public School Board meeting as Superintendent. Hobson’s resignation is effective May 31, 2024 and it is believed the former middle school principal accepted another position elsewhere. WRV staffers learned the news Tuesday...
-
Greene County Memorial Day servicesTo ensure the sacrifices of America’s fallen heroes are never forgotten, in December 2000, the U.S. Congress passed and the president signed into law “The National Moment of Remembrance Act,” P.L. 106-579, creating the White House Commission on the National Moment of Remembrance. ...
-
WRV graduates 51 at superintendent’s last commencementWhite River Valley High School sent 51 seniors into the rest of their lives, diplomas in hand, during their 34th Annual Commencement ceremony. The event was bittersweet for Superintendent Dr. Bob Hacker, as it was his last as the district’s leader. Hacker will begin his new career this fall at Oakland City University, where he will train future school administrators...
-
MSD Shakamak honors Morse for 28 years of serviceTo begin this month’s regular meeting of the Shakamak Board of School Trustees, a retirement presentation honored Elementary Teacher Tammy Morse for her 28 years of service at MSD of Shakamak. Morse was joined in the audience by family members, supporters and fellow coworkers to celebrate her accomplishment...
-
So hard to say goodbyeAfter leading the White River Valley School District for 11 years, Dr. Bob Hacker bade the Board of School Trustees goodbye during Monday evening’s meeting. Pictured here with Administrative Assistant Michelle Emmons, Hacker holds a plaque reading, “White River Valley School District presented to Dr. Bob Hacker, in appreciation for your 11 years of service and dedication to the students, staff and community as superintendent of the White River Valley School District. May 20, 2024”...
Thoughts on a tough duck season and new friends
Posted Wednesday, December 30, 2015, at 9:42 PM
Waterfowl hunting is, if anything, dependent on the weather. Without cold weather to the north freezing up the lakes and waterways the birds have no reason to migrate south. Living in Indiana, the land between flyways, we can only hope for some stray winds to push a significant number of birds into the area.
It could be said that a waterfowl hunter is a strange sort, one who hopes for the nastiest of weather. The sort of weather that causes other people to stay home from work and curl up next to a warm fire. So far this season we have had none of that. There have been more days suited for a day on the lake fishing instead of waiting with shotgun in hand.
What is one to do when the hunting is slow and the birds rarely make an appearance? Those are the seasons when you take time to appreciate the people around you. The moments that forge new friendships and solidify old ones.
I've been fortunate this year to meet many new people, I suppose that is one of the perks of social media. One of those new friends is a gentleman from northern Indiana by the name of Randy Cesco. Randy is the owner of Cold Front Calls out of Syracuse, Indiana. He makes artisan quality custom duck and goose calls.
I first made contact with Randy, via Facebook, when I inquired about his calls. Since that time we have kept in touch with each other and decided if we had the opportunity we would get together for a hunt.
Randy messaged me that he was free the weekend following Thanksgiving. We made arrangements and on the day after Thanksgiving, instead of shopping with the masses we went duck hunting. Unfortunately, and later fortunately, a major rainstorm came into the area that weekend and the hunt on Friday was a soaking wet affair with no ducks to show for our effort.
Saturday morning Randy and I, along with Josh Pickett and Josh Buskirk planned to hunt on a small pond that had been holding ducks for several days leading up to the weekend. Expectations were high after the previous day's flop and we anxiously awaited the arrival of the first flight of ducks.
Once again we never fired a shot at a duck. It appeared as though the ducks had scattered to fresh feeding spots with all of the rain that had come down. We decided the rest of the day would be devoted to scouting a spot to hunt on Sunday morning. After driving around many of our locations and not seeing many birds we pulled up to a milo field that had produced some birds for us earlier in the year. On the edge of the field was a pool of flood water backed up into the milo stalks and a couple hundred ducks were feeding on the spoils.
Sunday morning Randy, Josh P., Josh B., and another new friend, Josh Mason, and I all set up our decoys in the flooded field and hid our blinds in the grass at the edge. As daylight approached Josh Pickett was trying to snap a few pictures of the crew and nearly had his hat knocked off by a group of ducks that came in to land.
As the morning progressed we managed to shoot a few ducks and miss a lot more. Ducks were in the air nearly the entire time we stayed, but time after time they would circle the decoys and fly just outside of shotgun range. By the time we stopped shooting we had taken a total of six ducks. We called it a day around noon and packed it in. It was a day I will think back on for years to come not only for the numbers of birds we saw but also for the company I was able to share it with.
Sometimes it pays to stick it out through the tough hunts and not be discouraged because you never know when the flip will switch and the birds will show up.
Jon is a staff writer for the Greene County Daily World. He can be reached by telephone at (812) 847-4487, ext. 21. He can also be reached via email at jonpswaby@gmail.com.
Respond to this blog
Posting a comment requires free registration:
- If you already have an account, follow this link to login
- Otherwise, follow this link to register