Avery Outdoors 2003

Avery^® Hunting Journal Entries Portland Oregon 2003

Show Me the Bands!
Portland, Oregon, February 18, 2004
By Eric Strand, Regional Avery^® Pro-Staffer

DATE: February 18, 2004
LOCATION: Northwest Oregon Permit Zone
WEATHER: Overcast and some rain
TEMPERATURE: Mid 40's
WIND: SW 5-10 mph
EQUIPMENT USED: Avery Finisher Blind, Avery Blind Bag, Avery Floating Gun Case, Avery XL decoy bag, Avery Fleece Neck Gaiter, Avery Fleece Pullover, Remington 870 SP, Kent Fasteel, Fred Zink Power Clucker goose call.
HUNTERS: Eric Strand (solo hunt)
JOURNAL NOTES: The morning began as I packed my blind and decoys to the far end of the field. I had been watching these birds for a while and today was my first day to get a crack at them. I set up my Avery ground blind and made sure it disappeared. Being well hidden was my biggest concern as I had a limited number of decoys to set up. First morning light came and went with thousands of Cacklers making there way to the different fields where they would do their feeding for the day. I heard some bigger geese and got ready to see what I could do. The first flock completely ignored me and I began to get worried. They landed about 250 to 300 yards past my decoys and began to draw large numbers of birds. I managed to crack the doors on my Avery Finisher Blind and get the glasses on the birds feeding in the field. The first thing I saw was a blue neck collar. I was stoked and scanned the sky's to see what else I could find in the way of bird movement. I heard more birds and I began calling with some very soft clucks and honks. The birds swung once and on the second pass I spotted a blue collar and killed the collared goose as well as the goose next to it. I was really excited because I had just shot my first neck collared goose. I couldn't wait to retrieve the bird. When I went to grab the second bird, I noticed it too had a band. I ran back to the blind with my birds and waited for more. About 20 minutes later I heard a moan and looked over my left shoulder to find a pair of honkers on their way to the field. I called softly again and the pair came in feet down. I took both the birds and to my amazement both were banded!!! Unbelieavable! I had just shot a limit of bands and my first neck collar. I was ecstatic and recorded the birds and took them back to the check station. My success came because of proper scouting, my Avery Finisher Blind and my Power Clucker goose call. What a day to remember!

Two Banded Mallards
Portland, Oregon, January 14, 2004
By Eric Strand, Regional Avery^® Pro-Staffer

DATE: January 14, 2004
LOCATION: Eastern Oregon
WEATHER: Cold and snowy
TEMPERATURE: lows in the lower 20's, highs in the upper 20's
WIND: none
EQUIPMENT USED: Avery Finisher blinds, Avery RealGrass, 1 dozen Greenhead Gear Over-Size Goose shells, 3 dz. Greenhead Gear Hot-Buy mallards, Avery Duck strap, 1 dozen Greenhead Gear Life-Size Pintails, Avery Quick Cutter and Speed Saw combo, Avery Floating decoy bag, Avery ankle gaiters, Avery NeoBottle, Avery Blind Bag, Avery fleece pullover, Avery Fleece Neck Gaiter, Avery Blind Bag, Remington 870 SP, Kent Faststeel 3 inch 2's, Echo Timber duck call and Fred Zink Power Clucker goose call
HUNTERS: Eric Strand and Hank Hanawalt
JOURNAL NOTES: I scouted a field the evening before and found over 20,000 mallards and roughly a dozen honkers in one corn field. With a little less than a foot of snow the birds would need to feed and I knew that the Finishers along with some Avery RealSnow Spray we would be able to kill 14 greenheads and hopefully some honkers. We set the blinds and sprayed the blinds and got ready to hunt. We pushed the keels of the hot buy mallards into the snow and they looked just fine. We were able to work flocks of up to 1,000 mallards so we decided to take turns shooting drakes out of the flocks. The hunt only lasted about an hour but we were able to kill 14 drake mallards and 2 lessors. I was lucky enough to shoot 2 banded mallards. It was an awesome hunt all thanks to our Avery Finisher blinds.

Fun Hunt Shooting Wigeons
Portland, Oregon, January 11, 2004
By Eric Strand, Regional Avery^® Pro-Staffer

DATE: January 11, 2004
LOCATION: Northwest Oregon
SUNRISE/SUNSET: 7:14 A.M./ 5:01 P.M.
WEATHER: Fog and sunbreaks
TEMPERATURE: lows in the 20's, highs in the 30's
WIND: none
EQUIPMENT USED: Avery RealGrass, 1 dozen Greenhead Gear Over-Size Goose shells, 3 dz. Greenhead Gear Hot-Buy mallards, 1 dozen Greenhead Gear Life-Size Pintails, Avery Quick Cutter and Speed Saw combo, Avery Floating decoy bag, Avery ankle gaiters, Avery NeoBottle, Avery Blind Bag, Avery fleece pullover, Avery Fleece Neck Gaiter, Avery Blind Bag, Remington 870 SP, Kent Faststeel 3 inch 2's, Echo Timber duck call and Fred Zink Power Clucker goose call
HUNTERS: Eric Strand and Crew
JOURNAL NOTES: With such a great day the day before and no shortage of birds I took 2 guys out to the warm water pond where the wigeon had been swarming. With the same set as the day before we had no problems shooting 21 wigeon. The decoys worked great and it was a great way to end a great weekend.

AWESOME Open Water Hunting!
Portland, Oregon, January 10, 2004
By Eric Strand, Regional Avery^® Pro-Staffer

DATE: January 10, 2004
LOCATION: Northwest Oregon
SUNRISE/SUNSET: 7:14 A.M./ 5:01 P.M.
WEATHER: Fog and some snow showers
TEMPERATURE: lows in the 20's, highs in the 30's
WIND: none
EQUIPMENT USED: Avery RealGrass, 1 dozen Greenhead Gear Over-Size Goose shells, 3 dz. Greenhead Gear Hot-Buy mallards, 1 dozen Greenhead Gear Life-Size Pintails, Avery Quick Cutter and Speed Saw combo, Avery Floating decoy bag, Avery ankle gaiters, Avery NeoBottle, Avery Blind Bag, Avery fleece pullover, Avery Fleece Neck Gaiter, Avery Blind Bag, Remington 870 SP, Kent Faststeel 3 inch 2's, Echo Timber duck call and Fred Zink Power Clucker goose call
HUNTERS: Eric Strand, Crew, and Clients
JOURNAL NOTES: With the majority of Oregon completely frozen the birds were using the rivers and any open water they could find. We had access to a warm water pond that was full of ducks and some geese when I scouted it. The river also had a great number of birds. We split the group and hunted both the river and the warm water pond. We used Avery RealGrass to build a blind that would hide a large amount of hunters and set our Greenhead gear decoys to lure in the birds. Action was constant all morning and we had all of our ducks by 10:30 a.m. the birds worked extremely well and the wigeon sucked right into the Greenhead gear wigeon decoys. We finished the day with 91 ducks and 5 geese. We harvested 54 wigeon, 17 greenwing teal, 9 pintail, 11 mallards, 2 honkers and 3 cacklers.

Great hunt on the River
Portland, Oregon, December 26, 2003
By Eric Strand, Regional Avery^® Pro-Staffer

DATE: December 26, 2003
LOCATION: Western Oregon
SUNRISE/SUNSET: 7:00 A.M./ 4:13 P.M.
WEATHER: Cloudy
TEMPERATURE: lows in the 20's, highs in the 30's
WIND: 10 mph south winds
EQUIPMENT USED: Avery RealGrass, 8 dz. Greenhead Gear Hot-Buy mallards, 3 dozen Greenhead Gear Life-Size Pintails, Avery Quick Cutter and Speed Saw combo, Avery Floating decoy bag, Avery ankle gaiters, Avery NeoBottle, Avery Blind Bag, Avery fleece pullover, Avery Fleece Neck Gaiter, Avery Blind Bag, Remington 870 SP, Kent Faststeel 3 inch 2's, Echo Timber duck call and Fred Zink Power Clucker goose call
HUNTERS: Eric Strand and crew
JOURNAL NOTES: We set up on the river in an area well known for mallard and honker usage. we got up at 3:00 to get our spot and set the dekes. We set 11 dozen duck decoys and 2 dozen honker floaters. We used Avery RealGrass and sagebrush to build the blind and got ready for the day. The first little bit of the morning was slow, but as the birds began to come back from the fields things started to get a lot better. Birds worked the decoys exceptionally well and we were able to kill all drakes. We managed 16 mallards, 1 drake pintail, and 1 honker. Again, our Greenhead Gear decoys, Avery gear, Echo and Zink calls all played a huge part on this hunt.

Another fine hunt on the WMA
Portland, Oregon, December 22, 2003
By Eric Strand, Regional Avery^® Pro-Staffer

DATE: December 22, 2003
LOCATION: Northwest Oregon
SUNRISE/SUNSET: 7:13 A.M./ 4:42 P.M.
WEATHER: Partly sunny
TEMPERATURE: lows in the 30's, highs in the 40's
WIND: none
EQUIPMENT USED: Avery RealGrass, 4 dz. Greenhead Gear Hot-Buy mallards, 2 dozen Greenhead Gear Life-Size Pintails, Avery Quick Cutter and Speed Saw combo, Avery Floating decoy bag, Avery ankle gaiters, Avery NeoBottle, Avery Blind Bag, Avery fleece pullover, Avery Fleece Neck Gaiter, Avery Blind Bag, Remington 870 SP, Kent Faststeel 3 inch 2's, Echo Timber duck call
HUNTERS: Eric Strand, Eric Benson, and Brandon Eckert
JOURNAL NOTES: Went back out to the WMA with high spirits after the hunt on the 20th. The WMA was busy once again but once again there was no shortage of birds either. Birds were working great and there was some great shooting done by the whole group. Birds were wanting into the whole and many times didn't even circle the decoys. I have never seen decoys that look so good in the sunlight. The green on the greenheads actually glow and really look great! I was lucky enough to shoot a banded mallard and we finished out with 18 mallards, 2 drake pintails and a nice drake wigeon to boot.

Limits of Mallards on the WMA
Portland, Oregon, December 20, 2003
By Eric Strand, Regional Avery^® Pro-Staffer

DATE: December 20, 2003
LOCATION: Northwest Oregon
SUNRISE/SUNSET: 7:13 A.M./ 4:42 P.M.
WEATHER: Cloudy and overcast
TEMPERATURE: lows in the 30's, highs in the 30's
WIND: 1-5 mph South winds
EQUIPMENT USED: Avery RealGrass, 4 dz. Greenhead Gear Hot-Buy mallards, 2 dozen Greenhead Gear Life-Size Pintails, Avery Quick Cutter and Speed Saw combo, Avery Floating decoy bag, Avery ankle gaiters, Avery NeoBottle, Avery Blind Bag, Avery fleece pullover, Avery Fleece Neck Gaiter, Avery Blind Bag, Remington 870 SP, Kent Faststeel 3 inch 2's, Echo Timber duck call
HUNTERS: Eric Strand and crew
JOURNAL NOTES: Scouted a pond on some private property that was holding a few hundred mallards. We set up the next morning and bounced all the birds as we set up, about 20 minutes before shooting time they began to filter back in and we were ready for them. The shooting didn't last very long as the birds came back very quickly, but it was a fun hunt none the less. The birds worked well and really keyed in on the Greenhead Gear decoys. We finished the morning with 16 mallards and had a great time in the process!

Limits of Mallards on the WMA
Portland, Oregon, December 19, 2003
By Eric Strand, Regional Avery^® Pro-Staffer

DATE: December 19, 2003
LOCATION: Northwest Oregon
SUNRISE/SUNSET: 7:09 A.M./ 4:39 P.M.
WEATHER: Partly sunny
TEMPERATURE: lows in the 30's, highs in the 40's
WIND: 5-10 mph west winds
EQUIPMENT USED: Avery RealGrass, 4 dz. Greenhead Gear Hot-Buy mallards, Avery Quick Cutter and Speed Saw combo, Avery Floating decoy bag, Avery ankle gaiters, Avery NeoBottle, Avery Blind Bag, Avery fleece pullover, Avery Fleece Neck Gaiter, Avery Blind Bag, Remington 870 SP, Kent Faststeel 3 inch 2's, Echo Timber duck call
HUNTERS: Eric Strand and Jon Houston
JOURNAL NOTES: After watching the weather and trying to guess what the birds would do we decided to go to the WMA and see how things go. The WMA was crowded but there was no shortage of birds. The morning started off well with mallards in the decoys and mallards in the sky at shooting time. The birds worked well to the call all morning and they absolutely loved our Greenhead Gear decoys. The spread looked great and we knew it. With little calling we were able to kill the birds within 25 yards and end our morning with 14 mallards for the two of us. A great morning made even better because of all my Avery gear.

A Fun day Even when Birds Will Not Cooperate
Portland, Oregon, December 17, 2003
By Eric Strand, Regional Avery^® Pro-Staffer

DATE: December 17, 2003
LOCATION: Eastern Oregon
SUNRISE/SUNSET: 6:55 A.M./ 4:10 P.M.
WEATHER: Sunny
TEMPERATURE: lows in the high 40's, highs in the 50's
WIND: none
EQUIPMENT USED: Avery RealGrass, 2 doz. Greenhead Gear Hot-Buy mallards, Avery Quick Cutter and Speed Saw combo, Avery fleece pullover, Avery Fleece Neck Gaiter, Avery Blind Bag, Remington 870 SP, Kent Faststeel 3 inch 2's, Echo Timber duck call
HUNTERS: Eric Strand and Hank Hanawalt
JOURNAL NOTES: Went to an area that is Very weather dependant. When the wind blows good then this hole will shoot. With the weatherman saying there would be 15-20 mph winds, I thought we were set. When we began to grass the blind and set the decoys and there was no wind I knew things would get tough. The wind never blew all morning and we were only able to kill 6 ducks. 3 pairs of mallards and we killed em all. It was still a great morning in the blind and it was great to watch the dog work.

The Finishers Fool Them Again!
Portland, Oregon, December 13, 2003
By Eric Strand, Regional Avery^® Pro-Staffer

DATE: December 13, 2003
LOCATION: Eastern Oregon
SUNRISE/SUNSET: 6:55 A.M./ 4:10 P.M.
WEATHER: Cloudy
TEMPERATURE: lows in the high 30's, highs in the 40's
WIND: South 15-20 mph
EQUIPMENT USED: Avery Finisher Blinds, 3 dozen GHG Mallard Hot-Buys, Avery fleece pullover, Avery Neck Gaiter, Avery Blind Bag, Avery floating decoy bag XL, Remington 870 SP, Kent Faststeel 3 inch 2's, Echo Timber duck call
HUNTERS: Eric Strand and Hank Hanawalt
JOURNAL NOTES: I spent the day prior scouting the ponds and finding the largest concentration of birds. With a little under 1,000 mallards in one location we set up early the next morning in hopes of fooling 14 mallards. Our Finisher Blinds hid us exceptionally well and it showed in the way the birds worked right into the hole. With only a few decoys out we were able to decoy the large flocks of mallards and land many of them. We were able to kill our 14 birds in a little under 90 minutes and still had birds trying to land as we picked up our Greenhead Gear decoys. It was one of the best hunts of the season and all thanks to my Avery and Greenhead Gear products along with my Echo duck call.

A fun hunt at Sauvie Island
Portland, Oregon, November 12, 2003
By Eric Strand, Regional Avery^® Pro-Staffer

DATE: November 12, 2003
LOCATION: Sauvie Island Wildlife Area
SUNRISE/SUNSET: 6:31 A.M./ 4:43 P.M.
WEATHER: Think fog and then Sunny
TEMPERATURE: lows in the high 20's, highs in the 40's
WIND: West 5 mph
EQUIPMENT USED: 6 dz greenhead gear lifesize mallards, 1 dz lifesize pintails, Avery realgrass, Avery fleece pullover, Avery fleece neck gaiter, Avery blind bag, Avery duck strap, Echo timber duck call
HUNTERS: Eric Strand and crew
JOURNAL NOTES: The wildlife are was busy today. We got on a good blind and got out to the blind with no time to spare. I set the dekes while my two buddy's made the blind disappear with the Avery real grass. The first 2 hours were absolutely horrible with us not even firing a shot and seeing only a few birds. The fog was extremely thick. once the fog began to lift and the wind began to blow a little bit everything changed. The birds really started to fly in flocks of 30 or more wigeon. We shot well and banged out 17 wigeon and 4 gadwall in a little under and hour and a half. With the blind so well hid and the high quality decoys we had no problem killing our birds.

A fun duck hunt!
Portland, Oregon, November 11, 2003
By Eric Strand, Regional Avery^® Pro-Staffer

DATE: November 11, 2003
LOCATION: Northwest Oregon
SUNRISE/SUNSET: 6:31 A.M./ 4:53 P.M.
WEATHER: Overcast with ground fog
TEMPERATURE: lows in the high 20's and highs in the low 40's
WIND: None
EQUIPMENT USED: 6 dz Greenhead Gear Life-Size mallards, 1 dz Greenhead Gear Life-Size pintails, Avery RealGrass, Avery fleece pullover, Avery fleece neck gaiter, Avery Blind Bag, Avery Floating Duck Strap, Echo Timber Duck Call
HUNTERS: Eric Strand and Eric Benson
JOURNAL NOTES: I scouted a pond holding a few hundred mallards and some wigeon and decided to hunt it today. We set up the decoys and put the grass up in the tules. We had birds all over us in the fog but couldn't always see them to get a shot. We worked mainly pairs and a few small flocks. The birds really worked well to the call and we managed 6 mallards, 2 pintails and 4 American wigeons. The fog really hurt us in a few ways. The realgrass really helped us to hide once the fog burned off.

A great day for Wigeons and one Eurasian
Portland, Oregon, November 10, 2003
By Eric Strand, Regional Avery^® Pro-Staffer

DATE: November 10, 2003
LOCATION: Sauvie Island Wildlife area
SUNRISE/SUNSET: 6:31 A.M./ 4:53 P.M.
WEATHER: Overcast and light rain
TEMPERATURE: lows in the high 30s and highs in the low 50's
WIND: light wind
EQUIPMENT USED: 3 dz Greenhead gear lifesize mallards, 1 dz greenhead gear hot buy mallards, 1 dz greenhead gear lifesize pintails, Avery realgrass, Avery fleece pullover, Avery fleece neck gaiter, Remington SP, Kent faststeel, Avery duck strap, Avery blind bag, Echo timber duck call
HUNTERS: Eric Strand and Eric Benson
JOURNAL NOTES: We pulled into the wildlife area line and noticed more rigs than usual. Drew a decent blind, set the decoys and built the blind. The first hour was really slow only killed 2 wigeon. The 2 hours following were great with large flocks of wigeon and pairs of mallards working. The birds worked extremely well to little calling. I managed to kill my first Eurasion wigeon and we ended the day with 12 wigeon and 2 mallards. It was a great day.

The Geese Become Educated
Portland, Oregon, November 2, 2003
By Eric Strand, Regional Avery^® Pro-Staffer

DATE: November 2, 2003
LOCATION: Northwest Oregon
SUNRISE/SUNSET: 6:22 A.M./ 5:02 P.M.
WEATHER: Overcast
TEMPERATURE: lows in the high 30's, highs in the 40's
WIND: Less than 5 mph
EQUIPMENT USED: Avery Finisher blind, Avery fleece pullover, Avery fleece neck gaiter, Avery Blind bag, Remington SP, Kent faststeel, Zink Powerclucker goose call
HUNTERS: Eric Strand and crew
JOURNAL NOTES: We set up in the same field as the previous day to run traffic on the birds that got out. Hunting was much more difficult as birds had been educated. We had a flock of cacklers come in and we dumped 6 from the flock. It was slow and then we spotted a single honker, we called him in and dumped him and then waited for the rest of the morning and watched birds skirt the dekes. As I went to pickup the rig 2 taverner's came in and my partner's shot them. We finished the day with 6 cacklers, 1 honker and 2 tavs. It was a little slower than we would have liked, but it was still a great morning.

I Love My Finisher!
Portland, Oregon, November 1, 2003
By Eric Strand, Regional Avery^® Pro-Staffer

DATE: November 1, 2003
LOCATION: Northwest Oregon
SUNRISE/SUNSET: 6:22 A.M./ 5:02 P.M.
WEATHER: Sunny and clear
TEMPERATURE: lows in the high 20's, highs in the 40's
WIND: South 10 mph
EQUIPMENT USED: Avery Finisher blind, Avery fleece pullover, Avery fleece neck gaiter, Avery Blind bag, Remington SP, Kent faststeel, Zink Powerclucker goose call
HUNTERS: Eric Strand and crew
JOURNAL NOTES: We set the blinds the night before because of the heavy frost. Got into the field around 6:30 since shooting time wasn't until 8:00 in the NW permit goose season. We had the decoys set and things were ready to go by 7:30. Cacklers began to fly as soon as we settled into the blinds so we waited until about 7:55 to start working geese. 3 minutes before 8:00 we had a flock come over and begin to work, we worked them around twice and half the flock started to land. I called the shot and 6 cacklers fell for 4 shooters. We worked in another group of cacklers and one flight of honker's and finished out with 9 cacklers and 4 honker's. The Avery Finisher Blinds worked awesome and the birds had no idea we were there. Another great hunt spent with good friends.

Hunting Canadas in a Cornfield
Portland, Oregon, October 29, 2003
By Eric Strand, Regional Avery^® Pro-Staffer

DATE: October 29, 2003
LOCATION: Northwest Oregon
SUNRISE/SUNSET: 6:13 A.M./ 5:11 P.M.
WEATHER: Overcast and some rain
TEMPERATURE: lows in the high 30's and high's in the 40's
WIND: North 15-20 mph
EQUIPMENT USED: Avery Finisher Blind, Avery Fleece neck gaiter, Avery Fleece Pullover, Remington 870 SP, Kent Faststeel 3 inch BB's, Zink Power Clucker goose call
HUNTERS: Eric Strand and crew
JOURNAL NOTES: I had been scouting a field for 2 days and it was holding about 1,000 cacklers and 60 or so big honkers. We were again back in the NW permit zone so time was not on our side. We were set up by 7:00am so we could get birds in the decoys. The cacklers all flew at the same time and landed about 400 yards from our decoys. Things weren't looking good until about 8:15 we spotted a single honker. We called him in and I pounded him as he came in on a final pass. About 20 minutes later we spotted another honker and my partner pounded him as well. Almost a half hour went by with no honkers flying around. Just about the time we were ready to give up a huge flock of cacklers and few honkers that had formed jumped up and repositioned and we shot and were able to knockdown 2 honkers and 6 cacklers from the flock. Not bad for 7 shots! We were done and ready to pack up and scout for another day. The blinds were hidden well in the ripped corn field and the birds responded to little calling.

A Great Day in The Finishers
Portland, Oregon, October 25, 2003
By Eric Strand, Regional Avery^® Pro-Staffer

DATE: October 25, 2003
LOCATION: Northwest Oregon
SUNRISE/SUNSET: 6:32 A.M./ 7:09 P.M.
WEATHER: Partly Cloudy with sun breaks
TEMPERATURE: Lows in the 40's and high's in the 50's
WIND: From the southeast at 15-20 mph
EQUIPMENT USED: Avery Finisher blinds, Fleece neck gaiter, Avery fleece pullover, Remington 870 SP, Kent Faststeel 3 inch BB's, Fred Zink Power Clucker goose call
HUNTERS: Eric Strand and crew
JOURNAL NOTES: Scouted the field the day before, We hunted in the NW Permit zone so shooting time was a little later and not until 8:00am. The cacklers and a majority of the honkers flew before 8:00. Right around 8:00am we had a flight of honkers work into the decoys. The three of us shot 5 out of the flight and quickly had more birds on top of us. It was a quick hunt and we shot our 12 honkers in a little less than 30 minutes. It was a great hunt and our Avery Finisher Blinds really disappeared. Very little calling was needed, just enough to finish em.

A Good Day in the Rain
Portland, Oregon, October 15, 2003
By Eric Strand, Regional Avery^® Pro-Staffer

DATE: October 15, 2003
LOCATION: Northwest Oregon
SUNRISE/SUNSET: 6:56 A.M./ 6:33 P.M.
WEATHER: Rainy with slight wind
TEMPERATURE: Mid 50's
WIND: South 10 mph
EQUIPMENT USED: Greenhead Gear Life-Size Mallards, Greenhead Gear "Hot-Buy" Mallards, Avery RealGrass, Avery Quick-Cutter and Speed Saw, Greenhead Gear XL Floating Decoy Bag, Remington 870 SP, Kent Fasteel #2's, Echo Timber Duck Call
HUNTERS: Eric Strand, Chuck Lobdell
JOURNAL NOTES: We watched about 200 mallards and 300 teal pile into the pond the night before. Woke up around 5am and got everything ready to go, pulled into the spot and there wasn't a single duck on the water. We set out 3 dozen mallard decoys and put the RealGrass and other brush on the already existing blind. About 3 minutes before shooting time we had 20 or so mallards on the water, as shooting time came the mallards lifted off. We let them go because we couldn't get a good shot in the dark. Mallards arrived throughout the morning in pairs, but didn't work as well as we had expected. It didn't help that our shooting was off today. The teal never showed up, but a bonus pintail came right into the decoys. It rained all morning and we ended the morning with 8 mallards and 1 pintail.

A Great Day At the WMA!
Portland, Oregon, October 13, 2003
By Eric Strand, Regional Avery^® Pro-Staffer

DATE: October 13, 2003
LOCATION: Sauvie Island Wildlife Area
SUNRISE/SUNSET: 6:56 A.M./ 6:33 P.M.
WEATHER: Overcast with sunbreaks
TEMPERATURE: upper 50's
WIND: South 3 mph
EQUIPMENT USED: Greenhead Gear Life-Size mallards, Greenhead Gear Green-winged teal, Avery RealGrass, Avery Quick-Cutter and Speed Saw, Remington 870 SP, 2 3/4" FastSteel #2's, Echo Timber duck call.
HUNTERS: Eric Strand, Eric Benson
JOURNAL NOTES: Arrived at the wildlife area around 3:30am to notice a large number of hunters already in line. Fog developed early, but tapered off as shooting time neared. As we walked up on the lake thousands of pintails, mallards, teal and Cacklers lifted. We set up 3 dozen mallards and one dozen teal and grassed the blind with RealGrass and surrounding vegetation. Groups of teal flew early followed by large flocks of pintails. We managed 3 teal out of the first flock and 2 out of the next. Pintails flew all morning long in flocks as large as 80 birds, so we were able to pick out the best looking birds for this time of year. Birds worked pretty well to small amounts of calling and the use of a pintail whistle. Mallards decoyed in 2 pairs and a single greenhead. Eric and I were finished by 9:45 with 5 green-winged teal, 5 mallards, 2 pintails and 2 wigeon. It was a great morning to be in the field.