"I tried using an old blind site, but had some problems with the local hunters," McAuly said. "So I switched to a pontoon boat and built a blind on it. Now, I can take half a dozen hunters and park the boat anywhere I like without interference. I found it is actually better for hunting because I'm not tied down to a stationary blind."

McAuly has made modifications to his outboard motors. He has special intakes that can pick up and discharge cooling water in the thick mats of hydrilla.

"The average outboard can't take it," he said. "Either you bang it up on the rocks or the hydrilla clogs the cooling ports and it overheats. You have to go out and scout the lake well in advance to find out where you can go safely and where you can't. You can be running in 10 feet of water and it can go to 0 feet in a second. Or, you can run smack into a hydrilla bed in the dark and have to paddle or pole your way out of it. Daylight will catch you and you will miss the best hunting of the day."

McAuly's bag primarily consists of ringnecks and scaup, which he calls bluebills. But he also gets ruddy ducks, canvasbacks, blue- and green-winged teals, shovelers, widgeons, pintails, wood ducks and mallards.

"In the early part of the season, we see some Canada geese," he said. "But they get smart fast, leaving the lake before daylight and returning after it gets dark."

McAuly puts out as many as 500 decoys when he hunts. He said the whole trick to success is to out-compete other hunters.

"Diving duck hunting is a numbers game," he said. "I put out as many decoys as I can carry. I try to hunt the same places as much as possible because the motor wash will cut trails and openings so you can get out there to set the decoys."

He puts the decoys out before his hunters show up, and then he picks them up at North Carolina's Thelma boating access area at the end of Van Warren Road. There are two other boat ramps at the lake. But that's the one he uses the most when guiding parties of hunters. Another good ramp if the wind is blowing from the south is the NCWRC boating access area ramp near the Roanoke Rapids Lake Dam at the end of 5th Street in the town of Roanoke Rapids.

"Most hunters won't go to the trouble of putting out that many decoys," he said. "But I have a system that only takes 45 minutes to pick them up and less than that to set them out, even in the dark of night."

McAuly works with a partner and the team leaves their decoys stacked in the boat between hunts. They don't bother putting them in bags. However, they do have to get most of the hydrilla off the weights so the soaked-up water won't sink the boat. However, they don't really want the details of their techniques for setting out and picking up so many decoys in such a short period of time revealed. Decoy setting and rigging are among the most important and guarded secrets among duck hunters.

"Every hunter has to work out a decoy rigging method and decoy patterns and spreads that work best for him," McCauly said. "Everyone uses different decoys anchors and lines. How you set up and retrieve decoys also depends upon where and how you are hunting, the ducks that are using the area at the time, the size of your boat and your physical ability to handle heavy or light decoys and small numbers or large numbers of decoys. A lot of people have complained about how many decoys I use. But if they paid attention, they could have every bit as good a successful hunt as I have if they would get several buddies together and pool their decoys together to create a big spread over a larger stretch of water. A big spread outdraws a small spread every time."

McAuly uses a 21-foot Southern Skimmer boat with a center console to set out and pick up decoys. The decoys are all quality stock decoys, consisting of top-drawer duck-drawers like Avery's Greenhead Gear, Herter's and G&H. McAuly makes sure his hunters are safely ashore and headed for home before starting to pick up the decoys. He deposits hunters comfortably at the ramp, and then heads back to pick up his decoys, doing the hard part while the hunting parties have the fun.