Duck Hunting on Samish Bay, Washington, 1983
April 13th, 2024
In November of 1983, I was invited to go duck hunting with Mac and Marc. We were all mechanics at Kenmore Air Harbor.
We’d go duck hunting in the saltwater marshes of Samish Bay where the Skagit River flows into Puget Sound.
The Skagit is a beautiful river that begins to the east in the North Cascade Mountains. Three hydroelectric dams are up there on the Skagit headwaters. They provide electricity for Seattle and the Puget Sound area.
There are tulip farms in the Skagit Valley. They are beautiful in the spring. Folks drive up from Seattle to see them.
I met Marc, and Mac at dawn at a truck stop on I-5. From there, we all climbed into Mac’s truck. He was towing a flat-bottomed boat about 8’ long and 4’ wide with an outboard motor. We’d be using this boat to go out to the salt marshes to hunt ducks.
Mac parked at the boat launch. We loaded up the boat with shotguns, ammo, coffee thermoses, and some snacks. It was only 32F/0C so we were bundled up. There was frost on the ground and foliage.
We headed down the channel out to the marshes and found a suitable spot. The tide was out.
We put out our duck decoys, loaded our guns, and waited for the ducks.
I had a double-barreled over-under 20 gauge Citori shotgun. Mac and Marc had 12 gauge pump shotguns which are much more powerful than my gun.
I was using magnum shells with 6 shot which are great for pheasants and quail. Marc and Mac also used magnum shells but they used 4 shot which has bigger pellets.
The ducks started to come in to land near our decoys. Marc, Mac, and I blasted away. There were dead ducks in the water. Mac waded out in his chest waders and retrieved them. We were already halfway to our limit of 6 ducks each. I think I might have wounded one duck.
Another batch of ducks came in and one came straight at me with wings flared for landing. He was only twenty feet away and about ten feet up. I hit him squarely in the chest with a shot and I could see the pellets bounce off the duck’s chest as if he were wearing a flak vest. Ducks have a lot of down insulation. The duck sure looked scared though. He fell into the water and Mac blasted him.
We were still a few ducks short of our limits. Then the tide started coming in. Our little sea marsh island was getting smaller fast. I didn’t have waders so I climbed onto a fallen tree log covered in frost.
“Well, this is fun.” I thought to myself.
Marc and Mac blasted a few more ducks and we’d limited out. Mac loaded up the boat with our 18 dead ducks and we climbed into the flat bottomed boat with our gear.
The boat was overloaded. We only had 1” of freeboard. As long as we sat perfectly still and evenly distributed the weight, we could float. The waters were calm fortunately.
Mac then fired up the Evinrude and we slowly made our way back to the boat ramp.
We went back to the truck stop. I gave my ducks to Mac and Marc and my decoys. I decided that my duck hunting days were over.
TJM
Timmy Tae's Thoughts 