So, my dumb*** decided this morning I was going to walk in to a certain hole via a route I had never taken before. And, on top of that, I was going to walk in for the first time in the dark. The foggy dark. The F****** foggy dark. Carrying 19 decoys, a shotgun, blind bag, and my sweaty dumb***.

Long story short, I got my dumb*** lost for an hour. Wondering around in the woods in the dark... for a bloody hour. Pissed as hell. Almost kicked a doe walking around in the dark foggy bloody woods, which means I almost also S*** my pants. In the dark.

I eventually said screw this. I'm sitting my dumb*** down until the sun comes up so I can see WTF I'm doing. Then, I'm walking to the car and driving my dumb*** home.

So I sat down. Cooled off. etc. About 5 minutes later I said okay... the pond has to be in such-and-such a direction (thank God the iPhone I dropped in the sink last night still worked... and has a compass feature). So I get my stuff together, and start in that direction. Sure enough, not 50 yards later, I walk out on the pond, positioned in 1000000% the exact spot I wanted to hunt. Crazy. So I said to myself, when in Rome. I'm certainly not walking back to the car now, since I'm already (finally) here, I'm just going to hunt.

So, fortunately, I got there so early that I could get lost for an hour and still have time to set up my spread before LST. I got everything set up by 6:20.

Such a terrible beginning turned into a decent hunt. Didn't quite limit, but managed to get 5. Had several groups just out of range.

Started things off with a Redhead hen (really a hen this time, not a mis ID'd drake), then a mallard drake, mallard hen, GWT drake, and another mallard hen.

Getting some beautiful birds more than paid for the terrible beginning for sure. To top it off, my phone died half way through the hunt, so I only have pictures of the first three birds.

That'll work

Hey, after the way it started, I'm thrilled and overly thankful.

Way to stick with it.

That's a real pretty redhead hen. They have some good colors, especially on the head, for being a "plain looking" bird.

Thanks all

Thanks, Dave. I thought so too. I think this had had three potentially mountable birds, between the Mallard Drake, Redhead hen, and GWT drake.

Going to try this again today. Here's to hoping I don't wander around aimlessly in the woods for an hour in the dark.

Good story and nice birds. Hope you bought a compass for today.

Google maps free app on iPhone/Android, problem solved. Even has a little yellow arrow to show which direction you are facing.

Well, I didn't get lost today. That's a plus.

But, the skies were almost empty. Very little shooting going on within ear shot. I shot one GWT, and it was the only bird I had remotely in range. Had nothing else even worth calling at.