Plan B (SW Wisconsin)

Sat. started out perfect. Weather looked good (lots of wind), I got started early, got to the landing without forgetting anything, motor started second pull… I was off made the turn out of the no wake zone right into the 20mph west wind; motor killed. Started drifting down the lake. Got the 10 horse running again for about another 100 yrds. Killed again and drifting off the channel. Started up again and headed back to the landing (ended up rowing in). Trailered-up and decided I needed a plan B. There is a place in the Winona pool that is easy access and trolling motors only, with a fully charged battery I headed north. Got there just in time to troll-it to the far end, set decoys and load my gun. Birds were moving around but my set was out to far in the wind. After a half an hour I pulled a dozen mallards back into the calmer water. Stuck it out until 9am. Dropped all three singles that came in to inspect my decoy spread. Hoodie, Redhead and a Greenwing. all three were as perfect a specimen as one could get! The Delta south of Winona had about half the birds it was holding a week ago, and the amount of shooting I heard Sat and Sun afternoon from the Onalaska prairie tells me that the strong winds have moved alot of birds out. Weeks forcast looks rather balmy. Change in time will give me a chance to hunt mornings before work some so let's see what happens during the week.

Matt