I'm in!

First 3 days were a blast, now it's time to buckle down for the last hurrah and hope for redemption after some failed first attempts: first time with a crab snare (fail on the first cast), first time rock fishing from shore (bluffs ended up being too high to fish, another fail), and first time duck hunting (experience TBD). Regardless on what happens tomorrow, I'm excited to give it a shot. I came home to a dozen decoys and a duck call. Decoys are rigged up and ready to go. Practiced on the duck call and feel confident I can imitate a dying duck...need a little more practice to sound like a real one.

Lottery placement isn't great for tomorrow's duck hunt and I'm not excited about the 3:46am check in at the hunter station, but I'm committed. Hopefully I don't have to wait too late into the day to get my opportunity to hunt.

Day 2

Heading north to ocean cove. Hoping they aren't full yet.

Good morning

Day 1 - Mostly successful day. Lost my snare on the first cast...wtf. Treble hook with herring came to the rescue. Still got my crab dinner.

School’s closed for a few days this week and I decided it would be a good time to take my daughters (4 & 7) on a 3-day excursion and give my wife a few days to herself back at the house. Original plan was up in the Sierra’s for some hiking, bear hunting, and fishing, but the weather decided to make that adventure a little too challenging. I started thinking about alternative ideas and finally settled on a Plan B that I’m pretty excited about. If all goes according to plan, I should be dabbling in some new fishing methods & maybe add a little turf to my surf menu.

Day 1 – Point Reyes morning hike to find the Tule elk. I’ve never seen them out there and would love to get my eyes on those animals. I think elk are pretty darn awesome beasts and would love to see a bull with a nice rack. Then off to Bodega Bay to our campsite @ Doran Campground to try our luck crab snaring & surf fishing. I’ve never tried this kind of fishing before, so I’m excited to see if we can catch anything from land (all my ocean fishing has previously been kayak based). I might even try throwing a hoop net off the jetty for some rock crab or roaming dungies. Likely be some sandcastle building and kite flying thrown in the mix to keep the girls excited.

Day 2 – Head up along the Sonoma Coast to explore shore rock fishing (also never done). Been watching too much Fisherman’s Life and I’m excited to see if we can catch some rock fish or lingcod from shore. Then camping out at Ocean Cove Campground and doing an evening tide pool search and find (have a nifty little tide pool ID book that they girls like to use)…maybe harvest some seaweed to dry by the fire.

Day 3 is travel back home & nothing special (I’m not really counting this day in my quest), but Day 4 is my free day where Dad (aka me) gets to go out solo. I just got a shotgun this year and duck season opened…thinking this is as good a reason as any to get my waterfowl tags and try to bag a few ducks. I would love to check out the Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area, but I need to figure out the reservation process or if there are first-come-first-serve (non-resolvable) options. I’m a newbie to hunting birds and naive to this process, so it’s crunch time for me to sort out this process over the next few days. Feel free to tell/give me advice in this area if you have the experience.

I’m looking forward to some time with my daughters and sharing another adventure with them. I want them to understanding and appreciate where their food comes from. It’s easy to go to the store to buy what you need, but it means a lot more to harvest from your land or the wild. At this age, it’s a fine balance of pushing them to explore while keeping them excited and interested in the process. So far, I think I’ve done a good job with that and I try my best to take them along as much as I can. In the end, I know they will form their own passions in life and it may be completely separate from mine…maybe it’s a little bit of selfishness in hoping that my hobbies will become their future hobbies. But rooted deeper is an interest to bond and teach them how to be independent. I’m an adventurer at heart that likes to push my boundaries (or at least learn what those boundaries are). They are too young for that kind of an experience, but when the time comes…

Updates will be provided in picture form as the adventures take place (hopefully able to do same day updates if cell service is available). Leaving bright and early Thursday, 11/10. Fingers crossed we all have fun and meltdowns/tantrums are at a minimum.