Lake St. Clairing Duck hunt
November 6th, 2005 by Administrator
Duck hunting on Lake St. Clair a longstanding tradition - Like his father, grandfather and great-grandfather before him, Robert A. Soulliere is thankful for the millions of ducks that migrate to and around the Lake St. Clair Flats each year.
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“Duck’s are in my blood,” said Soulliere, a 41-year-old legacy of duck hunting and carving in Macomb County. “It’s part of my family heritage.”
Soulliere, a Harrison Township resident who is also a professional hunting guide and prolific duck carver, said he is inspired each year by the opportunity to watch Ruddy, Redhead, Common Merganser, Oldsquaw, Bufflehead, Mallard, Black — all ducks flying across Lake St. Clair.
“Where else can you have so much fun?” Soulliere said Thursday as he captained his 32-foot 1958 Safety Craft through 30 mph southwest winds for a day of layout boat duck hunting near Strawberry Island on Lake St. Clair.
Joining Soulliere on a blustery, warm Thursday was Bob Reno of Shelby Township, Jamie Lafata of Washington Township, Jim Billiet of Shelby Township, Bill Pacioni of Rochester Hills, Dave Krauskoff of Troy, and Greg Bildson of Ortonville.
“When we’re setting up on the water you have to wear a life jacket,” Soulliere instructed the crew. “We don’t need any heroes today. Safety, safety, safety is my job.”
By 7:30 a.m., Soulliere and Reno had distributed about 150 wood and plastic duck decoys of various species by tossing the lead-weighted decoys into the water from a 20-foot Lund boat.
With Walkie Talkies in hand, Pacioni, 50, and Krauskoff, 51, positioned themselves inside the hand-crafted layout boat with planted duck decoys bobbing around them.
Soulliere noted he purchased his layout boat from John Kalash, a “downriver Detroit” boat maker who Soulliere called “a legend in layouts boats.”
“I like to layout duck hunt the old nostalgia way,” Soulliere said Thursday. “John Kalash is considered the ‘Godfather of layout boats’ since the 1940s. Soulliere said the boat still produces ducks much like similar layout boats 50 years ago.
“Last year, I had a banner year duck hunting,” Soulliere said. “The pressure this year has forced a lot of the ducks to migrate to different areas.”
On Thursday, Billiet, 71, and Lafata, 43, took their turn on the two-person layout boat with Lafata taking a Drake Lesser Blue-Bill with a nice shot from a 12-gauge shotgun. Several ducks were taken on the day.
And while only two crew members could hunt ducks at a time, the rest of the crew took in some skeet shooting practice on Soulliere’s 32-foot boat with a “portable skeet thrower.”
By Tom Watts
Macomb Daily Staff Writer