Oct 10 2007 Setup by 6:20am 60F light rain and windy

  I met up with Mike Adams, host of the UpNorth Journal and his co-host and son, Mike Adams at the McDonalds on Thompson rd and US 23  and I followed them to the Lake Ponemah boat launch at 5:20am.  It was cold, rainy, and windy.  Bad for us.  Perfect for ducks.  We made our way across the lake in little Mike's duck boat named the "Fowl Mouth".  We had to keep a slow pace because the water was pretty rough and even going slow, we were taking on some water.  We made it to the other end of the lake and it really calmed down alot when we made it to our spot.  We set out the decoys and tied up next to the bank and waited for first shot to come.  It wasn't until about 7:45 that we saw our first sign of fowl.  A flight of geese came over but were to high to take a shot.  Mike did take one shot at a passing duck, but he took us by surprise, so we were not prepared and he lived to taunt another hunter.  Little mike noticed a flight of geese coming in across the lake and, after some calling, they started to make thier way twards us.  We all readied our guns, but at the last second, Mike realized that they wern't geese at all, but were craines.  That could have been a bad mistake.  They looked like geese and came in flying in the "V" and they were responding to the calls.  So, if it looks like a goose and sounds like a goose, it must be a ....... craine.  The rest of the morning was spent watching flights of geese and ducks passing well out of our reach.  Around 8:45am, we packed up because little Mike had to get to school.  On the way back we saw LOTS of ducks and even watched a flight pass right over where we were sitting just minutes before.  But, really cleared up the last part of the morning and made for a beautiful day.  I am really looking forward to getting my own boat (only 1 1/2 more weeks!!!) and turning it into a duck blind/boat.