Just a reminder fellas... (and gals) get back into the right frame of mind while were getting back into the grind of duck hunting.

Thursday was my first hunt of the main season as I had not deer hunted so I was at my deer lease on the opener (shot a nice 10). So I pull up to the ramp and start getting ready. The first thing I ALWAYS do is put my wallet in my blind bag. But nooooooo, I just had to grab my wallet, boat key and coffee thermos and take them back to boat...where I layed my wallet on the rear boat seat/storage, while I got the boat ready and put coffee away. I then went to truck and got waders on and loaded blind bag etc and launched.

My wallet is either on the bottom or blown ashore on lake X. And to add to the day my rear tire is flat when I got back to ramp on my truck, and after getting the spare on (not easy on a big diesel) I took off and left boat key in the ignition, where it blew off at 75mph.


Get back into the routine of NOT being an airhead like me!

sorry I didn’t mean laugh.

Slow down is the trick for me. The older I get, the slower I go. Did you find your wallet?

no. Its gone. I've canceled all cards, reordered them, ordered new driver license, got ok license reprinted and Tx on my phone. Lost 200 cash and my concealed gun permit. gotta call Tnn game and fish and get a new copy of my hunters ed card, that I took in HS in the 80's. It will all get back to norm soon but what a pain in the a$$

Bummer, sorry, I’m not laughing any more, I promise.

It reminds me of this book I used to read to my kids.

Did you get into any birds, at least?

I have a routine, but if I’m not hunting by myself or in a new scenario, things sometimes get out of whack and I end up spending 10-15 minutes freaking out because I can’t find my truck keys or wallet or something and it’s because I stuffed them in a different pocket than normal. Really throws me off.

My wallet and keys always stay in my wader pants. Never have to worry about them falling out or getting misplaced.

Keys and wallet always go in in my pants pocket, period. THe way I figure it,even if the boat goes down and I and all my gear ends up in the water my keys and wallet are still on my person.

BDB, didn't you do early teal? That's what early teal season is for, get your routine down, dust the deeks off make sure they floating right, make sure your waders don't leak....Its kinda like preseason football..

I always joke after early teal and gator season that I have four weeks to fix all the stuff I realized had fallen apart since last duck season. Every year there is something major that needs to be fixed.

well sorta. I spent most of sept. in Montana elk hunting. Got back just in time for 1 teal hunt...but went with a member here and took his boat. And to keep topping this off...I had a duck oven jacket stolen out the bed of my truck on that hunt. I just threw it in the back and did not lock the camper shell window.

we shot a nice strap. Not limits but close

Lessons earned are lessons learned, or not…

Man that sucks. The older I get, the more routines I have around hunting. Everything has it's place before, during, and after the hunt. Saves time and a lot of stress knowing where things are.

Getting in a hurry does cause problems. I got to the ramp on Fri and was the first one there. Just a few minutes later 5 trucks all pulled in within a minute of each other. All these guys were freaking out trying to race getting their chit together and there's only one lane. The guy the launched after me forgot his plug... doh.

Rushing is dangerous. The older I get, the more time I devote to routine. I spend a lot more time the older I get on routine and scouting and less time on actually hunting. Working on routine and scouting is part of the fun for me. If I get to the boat ramp and it is really busy, or more wind than I like, I have no issue passing and moving to the next ramp or next lake and make it a scouting trip. I did that opening day this year, and last year.