s Chokoloskee Charters	HUNTING REPORTS 2000-2001 Hunting Reports 2004 Hunting Reports 2003 Hunting Reports 2002 ALL IMAGES PRODUCED WITH AN OLYMPUS D-400 DIGITAL ZOOM CAMERA ALL WATERFOWL TAKEN BY CAPTAIN AL WITH A BENELLI SUPER BLACK EAGLE 12 GAUGE SHOTGUN IN LEFTY VERSION HUNTING REPORTS 2000/2001 3/3/2001 Hunted upland at the Peconic River Sportsman's Club today with Jim Conte and his fine Lab Lacey. Lacey flushed a couple of pheasants, a hen and a cock. It was a good morning, pretty mild with some light drizzle early. Jim and I had a good time and Lacey had a ball. Captain Al Lorenzetti 2/17/2001 THE ANNUAL JIM CONTE "CUPCAKE SHOOT" (click on images to enlarge) Captain Al Lorenzetti 1/10 - 1/20/2001 Hunted a few days with Rich Santos and Jim Conte. The ice in the bay finally broke up and the ducks started flying. Scaup showed up and we had some good shooting. We had about a dozen scaup and a few black duck over the last few days of the season. That's it for the 2000-2001 duck season. It was a tough one with weather. Most days when you could hunt the sun was shining and winds were calm. When the weather turned nasty to make shooting good, the ice came on too hard. It was OK overall and we all had a good time. Fishing season is just around the corner and I look forward to it. Captain Al Lorenzetti 1/5 - 1/7/2001 The bay has been totally covered with ice and the ducks disappeared for a week. The cold blast has finally subsided and some holes in the ice started to form. The lakes are all still frozen so the puddle ducks are showing up in the saltwater holes. Rich Santos, Ken Mearns and I have had some good shoots. Below is a shot of a nice bag of Wigeon, Red Breasted Merganser and a Hooded Merganser and of course my Benelli Super Black Eagle. It is no doubt the finest shooting gun I have ever owned. Captain Al Lorenzetti 12/26 - 12/30/2000 Everything is iced up on the Great South bay. The ducks must have headed to the south to find open water. I have been gunning from shore wherever I can get to an open patch of water. Just a few bufflehead and mergansers around the area. It is really slow and very cold. It is going to be a while before the bay thaws out. The season may be over by then. Here are a few photos taken during the week. Captain Al Lorenzetti 12/21 - 12/23/2000 Hunted at the beach house on Sexton Island for three days. Very few ducks were flying. Ken Mearns, Rich Santos my son Luke and I were in the group. We bagged a black duck and had a couple of other shots but it was very slow and cold. I think the ducks sense something about to happen in the weather and it's not good. Saturday proved my hunch to be true. It got very cold and iced up the whole area. We just made it out on Saturday morning with all the ice and low water. We did have a great time with lots of good food and drink. It was great to spend some quality time with my son. He has been away for a long time at the Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point. We all had fun and will remember it for a long time. Captain Al Lorenzetti 12/13/2000 Hunted with Jim Conte, Ken Mearns and Jim's friend Vinny. We rigged out for broadbill. It was a kind of "bluebird" day and not much flew. We had a few shots and saw a good bunch of birds early but could not do much with them. Jimmy bagged a real big goose. It must have weighed 15 pounds. We had fun just being out on the water on a beautiful day. Vinny hunts mostly to the west of us a good ways but is was fun to hear that things are different but really the same nomatter where you are. We all do the same things but call it by another name etc. It was neat talking to someone with a little different slant on the hunting scene. I learned a few things and it was a good time. The most significant thing we talked about in the course of the day was the lack of young people getting into the sport. All the negative take and talk about guns and hunting by the media, video games instead of the real thing is taking away the opportunity of our young ones to experience the beauty of the outdoors, the hunt, and mostly the camaraderie of those that love to partake of those gifts. Sad day it is! We have to recruit more of our kids! Captain Al Lorenzetti 12/9/2000 Hunted with Jim Conte, his dog Candy and Rich Santos. We bagged a black duck and had a few other shots but it was slow. It was another training day for Candy. She was very well behaved but did not quite "get it" with the duck thing as you can see from the picture. She is young and needs a little encouragement and some more training and she will be a great one. It was very cold and she really didn't get to see the duck take the hit and drop. She was more interested in getting back to the boat rather than get the duck. It takes time and patience. Jimmy was a little downhearted but will bounce back and have a wonderful time with this great yellow Lab. He is going to take his other Lab, Lacey with the pup to show her how it's done. Only question is will we all survive with the experience. I look forward to it! Captain Al Lorenzetti 12/6/2000 Hunted the island again but today with Jim Conte and his new yellow Lab pup "Candy." Her first trip on a boat and hunting. Everything was a learning experience and it was fun to watch an intelligent dog learn so quickly. She promptly proceeded to jump in the water when first getting on the boat. After that it didn't happen again. Her first experience with booties that protect her feet from sharp glass and shells was an experience. Took a half hour of wrestling to get them on her and then she accepted them beautifully. The first mosquito ditch she hit head first literally. After that she would watch for them and hit the brakes. She was coaxed to jump over and then tried it on her own with a few mistakes. Her first lone attempt was ill timed and her leap landed her right in the middle of the ditch. After that she performed flawlessly. It was a slow day with the ducks, nothing like yesterday. "Candy" was very patient in the blind, waiting for birds that never showed. Enough lessons for one day. The bird fetching lessons will come on another Jim, Candy and Al adventure. Captain Al Lorenzetti 12/5/2000 Hunted an island in the Great South Bay. Broke some ice on a small pond and added one black duck decoy to the recipe. Had a pair fly in but flare short so I held the shot. Then had a single come in low turn away but then make a quick u-turn and head in. It headed for the sky but only made it about ten yards. #2's in 3 inch magnum out of my Benelli put it down like a stone at 25 yards. A beautiful morning. Captain Al Lorenzetti 12/2 and 12/3/2000 Hunted on Saturday with the layout boat with Jim Conte and Bob McPeck. It was a tough day with weather, lots of sun and very windy. We had a few shots but it was surprisingly slow. A couple of lesser scaup was it for the day. On Saturday, we had a good time breaking in Jimmy's new grass boat. We set up against an island in the Great South Bay and had lots of shooting. We missed more than we got with mostly pass shooting. Could have had out limit of Brant but the season is still closed for them. A couple of scaup decoyed real well. We ended the day with 2 scaup and a bufflehead and lots of fun on a beautiful day. Captain Al Lorenzetti 10/29/2000 For all you waterfowlers out there, the migratory birds are now beginning to filter into our area. Lots of Brant are already here. Some snow geese are also around which is unusual for the South Shore of Long Island. I have seen them consistently and think that we will have some fun with them this season. Broadbill have been spotted way to the east in the big part of the Great South Bay. More should be arriving in the next couple of weeks. The migratory Canadian geese are also flying high into our area. Looks like it should be a great season. Captain Al Lorenzetti

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HUNTING REPORTS 2000-2001
Hunting Reports 2004 Hunting Reports 2003 Hunting Reports 2002

ALL IMAGES PRODUCED WITH AN OLYMPUS D-400 DIGITAL ZOOM CAMERA

ALL WATERFOWL TAKEN BY CAPTAIN AL WITH A BENELLI SUPER BLACK EAGLE
12 GAUGE SHOTGUN IN LEFTY VERSION

HUNTING REPORTS 2000/2001

3/3/2001

Hunted upland at the Peconic River Sportsman's Club today with Jim Conte and his fine Lab Lacey. Lacey flushed a couple of pheasants, a hen and a cock. It was a good morning, pretty mild with some light drizzle early. Jim and I had a good time and Lacey had a ball.

Captain Al Lorenzetti

2/17/2001

THE ANNUAL JIM CONTE "CUPCAKE SHOOT"

(click on images to enlarge)

Captain Al Lorenzetti

1/10 - 1/20/2001

Hunted a few days with Rich Santos and Jim Conte. The ice in the bay finally broke up and the ducks started flying. Scaup showed up and we had some good shooting. We had about a dozen scaup and a few black duck over the last few days of the season. That's it for the 2000-2001 duck season. It was a tough one with weather. Most days when you could hunt the sun was shining and winds were calm. When the weather turned nasty to make shooting good, the ice came on too hard. It was OK overall and we all had a good time. Fishing season is just around the corner and I look forward to it.

Captain Al Lorenzetti

1/5 - 1/7/2001

The bay has been totally covered with ice and the ducks disappeared for a week. The cold blast has finally subsided and some holes in the ice started to form. The lakes are all still frozen so the puddle ducks are showing up in the saltwater holes. Rich Santos, Ken Mearns and I have had some good shoots. Below is a shot of a nice bag of Wigeon, Red Breasted Merganser and a Hooded Merganser and of course my Benelli Super Black Eagle. It is no doubt the finest shooting gun I have ever owned.

Captain Al Lorenzetti

12/26 - 12/30/2000

Everything is iced up on the Great South bay. The ducks must have headed to the south to find open water. I have been gunning from shore wherever I can get to an open patch of water. Just a few bufflehead and mergansers around the area. It is really slow and very cold. It is going to be a while before the bay thaws out. The season may be over by then. Here are a few photos taken during the week.

Captain Al Lorenzetti

12/21 - 12/23/2000

Hunted at the beach house on Sexton Island for three days. Very few ducks were flying. Ken Mearns, Rich Santos my son Luke and I were in the group. We bagged a black duck and had a couple of other shots but it was very slow and cold. I think the ducks sense something about to happen in the weather and it's not good. Saturday proved my hunch to be true. It got very cold and iced up the whole area. We just made it out on Saturday morning with all the ice and low water. We did have a great time with lots of good food and drink. It was great to spend some quality time with my son. He has been away for a long time at the Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point. We all had fun and will remember it for a long time.

Captain Al Lorenzetti

12/13/2000

Hunted with Jim Conte, Ken Mearns and Jim's friend Vinny. We rigged out for broadbill. It was a kind of "bluebird" day and not much flew. We had a few shots and saw a good bunch of birds early but could not do much with them. Jimmy bagged a real big goose. It must have weighed 15 pounds. We had fun just being out on the water on a beautiful day. Vinny hunts mostly to the west of us a good ways but is was fun to hear that things are different but really the same nomatter where you are. We all do the same things but call it by another name etc. It was neat talking to someone with a little different slant on the hunting scene. I learned a few things and it was a good time. The most significant thing we talked about in the course of the day was the lack of young people getting into the sport. All the negative take and talk about guns and hunting by the media, video games instead of the real thing is taking away the opportunity of our young ones to experience the beauty of the outdoors, the hunt, and mostly the camaraderie of those that love to partake of those gifts. Sad day it is! We have to recruit more of our kids!

Captain Al Lorenzetti

12/9/2000

Hunted with Jim Conte, his dog Candy and Rich Santos. We bagged a black duck and had a few other shots but it was slow. It was another training day for Candy. She was very well behaved but did not quite "get it" with the duck thing as you can see from the picture. She is young and needs a little encouragement and some more training and she will be a great one. It was very cold and she really didn't get to see the duck take the hit and drop. She was more interested in getting back to the boat rather than get the duck. It takes time and patience. Jimmy was a little downhearted but will bounce back and have a wonderful time with this great yellow Lab. He is going to take his other Lab, Lacey with the pup to show her how it's done. Only question is will we all survive with the experience. I look forward to it!

Captain Al Lorenzetti

12/6/2000

Hunted the island again but today with Jim Conte and his new yellow Lab pup "Candy." Her first trip on a boat and hunting. Everything was a learning experience and it was fun to watch an intelligent dog learn so quickly. She promptly proceeded to jump in the water when first getting on the boat. After that it didn't happen again. Her first experience with booties that protect her feet from sharp glass and shells was an experience. Took a half hour of wrestling to get them on her and then she accepted them beautifully. The first mosquito ditch she hit head first literally. After that she would watch for them and hit the brakes. She was coaxed to jump over and then tried it on her own with a few mistakes. Her first lone attempt was ill timed and her leap landed her right in the middle of the ditch. After that she performed flawlessly. It was a slow day with the ducks, nothing like yesterday. "Candy" was very patient in the blind, waiting for birds that never showed. Enough lessons for one day. The bird fetching lessons will come on another Jim, Candy and Al adventure.

Captain Al Lorenzetti

12/5/2000

Hunted an island in the Great South Bay. Broke some ice on a small pond and added one black duck decoy to the recipe. Had a pair fly in but flare short so I held the shot. Then had a single come in low turn away but then make a quick u-turn and head in. It headed for the sky but only made it about ten yards. #2's in 3 inch magnum out of my Benelli put it down like a stone at 25 yards. A beautiful morning.

Captain Al Lorenzetti

12/2 and 12/3/2000

Hunted on Saturday with the layout boat with Jim Conte and Bob McPeck. It was a tough day with weather, lots of sun and very windy. We had a few shots but it was surprisingly slow. A couple of lesser scaup was it for the day. On Saturday, we had a good time breaking in Jimmy's new grass boat. We set up against an island in the Great South Bay and had lots of shooting. We missed more than we got with mostly pass shooting. Could have had out limit of Brant but the season is still closed for them. A couple of scaup decoyed real well. We ended the day with 2 scaup and a bufflehead and lots of fun on a beautiful day.

Captain Al Lorenzetti

10/29/2000

For all you waterfowlers out there, the migratory birds are now beginning to filter into our area. Lots of Brant are already here. Some snow geese are also around which is unusual for the South Shore of Long Island. I have seen them consistently and think that we will have some fun with them this season. Broadbill have been spotted way to the east in the big part of the Great South Bay. More should be arriving in the next couple of weeks. The migratory Canadian geese are also flying high into our area. Looks like it should be a great season.

Captain Al Lorenzetti