Chincoteague Waterfowl Hunt
Chincoteague, Virginia is home to legendary waterfowl hunting so during a recent trip to the area we stopped to enjoy some time on the marsh. We booked a day hunt with Bucktail Charters for some Brant and duck hunting. We met our guide Dave at the Curtis Merit harbor and boarded his 21' center console for the trip up the marsh to the blind we would be hunting out of. After a short ride in the dark we arrived at our blind and proceeded to set out Brant decoys in the shallow water of the marsh. As we got settled into the blind, Dave finished draping camo netting over the boat and setting out some diver decoys.
Once we were all set, my son and his buddy experienced what happens to everyone while waterfowl hunting. We were busy doing some chatting when Dave looked behind us and then said "Take em!" right as a small flock of Brant zoomed over us from out of nowhere. The boys had seconds to grab their guns and each managed to get off one shot before the Brant were gone. Due to the quick reaction all they manged to do was blow the tail feathers off one Brant.
As the tide went out, Dave moved our brant decoys farther out and then set out a large group of bufflehead decoys in hopes of getting some buffleheads we saw to come closer.
Most of the rest of the day was quiet as the wind died and the clouds disappeared. We watched a group of 10 Buffleheads feeding out in the deeper water but couldn't get them to come close enough for a shot. We had one Black duck come close, but not close enough to call the shot even with Dave coaxing it with his calls.
The only kill of the day came when we saw what ended up being a crippled brant swimming near us. My son got out of the blind and walked around the point of the marsh and got close enough to take a shot that finished it off. As he put it, "It wasn't pretty but it's still my first!"
Our hunt ended with a beautiful sunset as we collected decoys and headed back to the harbor. As usually happens, on the way in we were buzzed multiple times by ducks!