Changing of the season

mtudb24

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Summer is over for us. Bennington out and duck blind in. Really like how well the Gladiator tows them.
 

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From one seasonal activity to another. Nice! Sharp looking Gladiator.

Many of my neighbors on HL are pulling their boats and docks. We are leaving our jet ski in another week or two tops, but probably wont have the weather to use it. Dock gets pulled out In 2.5 weeks.
 
Enjoy the fall activities. I loved hitting the woods for turkey and deer when boating season stopped.
 
Summer is over for us. Bennington out and duck blind in. Really like how well the Gladiator tows them.
Wait a Minute - that Duck Blind has pontoons on it!?
 
Wait a Minute - that Duck Blind has pontoons on it!?
Common for duck hunting on lakes in Michigan. Basically a floating base of operations. People were furnish out as a duck hunting blind an old pontoon boat with flooring.

In the fall once gun duck season starts, you‘ll periodically have a barrage of gun shots going off on/over the lake. I think its semi-common across the state.
 
From one seasonal activity to another. Nice! Sharp looking Gladiator.

Many of my neighbors on HL are pulling their boats and docks. We are leaving our jet ski in another week or two tops, but probably wont have the weather to use it. Dock gets pulled out In 2.5 weeks.
Thank you. I really like this jeep er.. truck.
I hope you get another shot the ski's this year. Good luck with the haul out.
 
Wait a Minute - that Duck Blind has pontoons on it!?
Yeah, Saginaw Bay (along with most lakes in Michigan) tend to look like they are dotted with mini Islands come Waterfowl season.
We've run 2 types of floaters.

A true pontoon (like we have now) so we can be mobile and adjust our position for wind / conditions or where the birds tend to take a flight path. Our current boat is a 24' older starcraft. Benny's are too nice to cut up!!!!!

The 2nd type of floater is a "n" style design with 2 pontoons and you drive the boat inside the structure, winch the boat up with 2 trailer cranks (front and rear with straps) so the boat and blind move together as one, and shoot out of the boat. You then drop the boat down, go retrieve your birds and come back in. Problem is, its very hard to hold in 1 spot when you leave it on the bay for the season (it has solar anchor lights so it can be seen at night). We got tired of chasing it after big storms would come through. (2 ) 55lb danforths wouldn't even hold it during 1 storm so we went to an actual pontoon boat.

We made the switch to old artificial xmas trees vs cutting down 60 or so cedar trees every year. Bonus is they stay green all season long :)

Then there some extreme dudes who put out what we call the "double decker". Its a crazy contraption that uses a 600lb grindstone for a anchor. They actually have one of fishboats tow it in and out every year and winch that monster of a "anchor" off the bottom of the bay. Its quite a site to see. I lost count on the 55 gallon drums / barrels they used to float it!!!!!
 

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Luckily our “season” goes to October 31st. It can be quite chilly some days but at least we are still able to boat. The dealer pulls our boat last for storage. It’s then always the first one he puts on lake in spring. I dread this time of year. :(
 
Yeah, Saginaw Bay (along with most lakes in Michigan) tend to look like they are dotted with mini Islands come Waterfowl season.
We've run 2 types of floaters.

A true pontoon (like we have now) so we can be mobile and adjust our position for wind / conditions or where the birds tend to take a flight path. Our current boat is a 24' older starcraft. Benny's are too nice to cut up!!!!!

The 2nd type of floater is a "n" style design with 2 pontoons and you drive the boat inside the structure, winch the boat up with 2 trailer cranks (front and rear with straps) so the boat and blind move together as one, and shoot out of the boat. You then drop the boat down, go retrieve your birds and come back in. Problem is, its very hard to hold in 1 spot when you leave it on the bay for the season (it has solar anchor lights so it can be seen at night). We got tired of chasing it after big storms would come through. (2 ) 55lb danforths wouldn't even hold it during 1 storm so we went to an actual pontoon boat.

We made the switch to old artificial xmas trees vs cutting down 60 or so cedar trees every year. Bonus is they stay green all season long :)

Then there some extreme dudes who put out what we call the "double decker". Its a crazy contraption that uses a 600lb grindstone for a anchor. They actually have one of fishboats tow it in and out every year and winch that monster of a "anchor" off the bottom of the bay. Its quite a site to see. I lost count on the 55 gallon drums / barrels they used to float it!!!!!
Coming from ND/MN I’ve seen pontoons in camo and with branches but never a whole floating island. Those ducks don’t stand a chance!
 
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