Amateur Radio Log 2023-01-25 Mid-day (Fairbanks, AK, US)

Completed another lunch break excursion today up to Firestation 42 on Chena Ridge. Was not able to many any contacts, but picked up several stations, with the help of the band scope tool on the IC-746PRO, which I just learned how to use. There were strong signals from a conversation on 14.306 at around 21:19 UTC, with stations that identified as being in Idaho, Illinois, and Spokane, WA. Later, around 21:54 UTC, I noted station VE7VCK calling out on 14.270, with a clear signal. I believe that is a Canadian callsign. I tried to respond back, but he couldn't hear me. I'm guessing my 3-foot stick antenna works well for RX, but doesn't provide a good horizontal gain. I'm wondering, though, how well I would do operating in CW mode.