Carolina Waterfowlers

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That’s the good news. The better news was they’re legal here near Roanoke Rapids, NC close to the Virginia line. Best news was hearing “take the drakes” and watching #1 Kent Impact Matrix drop these late season, knock dead gorgeous, fully plumed, thick feathered drakes. In Mid January, the weekend that the heavy snow hit most of South Carolina including the coast and blanketed Fayetteville we went duck hunting. Driving for about 5 to six hours up 95 to Roanoke Rapids we went in search of Cans and other divers. The location is known for its numbers of ring necks but it was no joy for us. The owner of Carolina Waterfowler Guide Service, Darrell McAuley, is at least honest; straight forward and honest “Mike we got thousands of cans but the ringers are gone”. I have a new job and had only a few days window in scheduling my son Matt, Brandon Farley and David Kennedy, both new members. Matt’s due to go to Afghanistan next season so this would be the last traveling hunt for us together for a while so our windows were down to one, this one.

“Cans in the Dekes”

Carolina Waterfowler Guide Service: A Review

Mike Stritch

We looked at the weather and packed all the cold weather gear we owned. Sleet, a snow, freezing rain and temps in the 20s. It always sounds ducky when you’re warm and making plans. Out in it for more than an hour or so and it turns into a real gear test. I’ve had years of hunting in Canada and the northern US so my gear was good. The night before our first day we all looked for loose ends and shared the gear so the entire time we were in good shape. We didn’t match but our sponsors weren’t there to see it and we were warm.

Darrell hunts over huge spreads of Herter’s decoys. Herter’s because you can shoot them when the cans are coming and they won’t tip or sink. Hunting on a public lake he has several spots he sets up on and virtually camps out there coming and going to pick up, deliver and retrieve clients. We hunted out of a pontoon boat with good camo tied down and stable. Darrell and his guide had very interesting diver calls which appeared to work when calling to the corners with birds working. A big problem we had twice was if the birds set down on the lake live decoys

beats Herters every day. At one point the wind had died down and there was virtually no action except cans lighting in this spot about 500 yards away. With binoculars you could see literally thousands of canvas back ducks. It was incredible, didn’t do us any good but it was incredible. On the way in and out we saw other duck specie but none worked our spread.

We didn’t shoot until it was light enough to sex the ducks which got to be difficult. The skies were always cloudy and overcast occasionally with rain or sleet. When the rain and snow/sleet picked up the birds would get up and then the action would start. Ranging from singles to groups of about 20 they’d come around this point, see our spread and drop in for a look. Darrell had good shooting discipline, Drakes only, never with hens close enough to hit and no group shooting. In that way everyone shot a drake that they could specifically claim and we killed no hens and had no errors other than missed shots. Apparently it’s a $2000.00 fine for exceeding the one can per day limit. They have a big camp stove set up in the pontoon boat and cook breakfast burritos mid morning unless you limit and depart. When you go take shot no smaller than 2 and use shells with as much shot and

speed as you can. For logistics I redeemed points for us at a hotel chain I use. There were, however, several hotels in the Roanoke Rapids area with varying prices. The I-95 exit with hotels and plenty of places to eat was about 15 easy minutes from the boat launch. We had a lot of fun and enjoyed the spectacle of thousands of cans. It would be much nicer if the ringnecks came too but, no joy. My recommendation is to get your group together, be very flexible, give Darrell a deposit and then tell him to call you when birds are available. Then move very quickly. You can’t hunt on a Sunday so you’ll need some mid-week flexibility. Give him a call, have some fun. Close enough to drive in less than a day makes it easy. Gorgeous birds makes it great. Contact data: Office 910.423.8853 Mobile 910.486.0241. $150 per day per person minimum of 4, he says max 10 but that’d be real crowded in one blind. Breakfast is served in the blind and hotels and food are close, easy and vary in prices. Pretty easy trip funs results.