2015-2016 Season Log

Re: 2015-2016 Season Log

Postby Ericdc » Wed Sep 30, 2015 8:33 pm

Speck sighting today just south of state line in morehouse parish.
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Re: 2015-2016 Season Log

Postby Rick » Thu Oct 01, 2015 4:12 am

Haven't heard of any seen here, yet, but "Seen any specks?" has been the question of the day for the past couple weeks.
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Re: 2015-2016 Season Log

Postby DComeaux » Thu Oct 01, 2015 1:39 pm

Did we get more teal in with this front?
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Re: 2015-2016 Season Log

Postby Rick » Thu Oct 01, 2015 3:04 pm

Haven't seen a teal since they closed, but we bumped 18 specks while finishing up with gators in Klondike this morning.

(Also might have wet my britches over a dead alligator, if I hadn't been belly button deep in the canal with him at the time.)
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Re: 2015-2016 Season Log

Postby DComeaux » Thu Oct 01, 2015 4:14 pm

Rick wrote:Haven't seen a teal since they closed, but we bumped 18 specks while finishing up with gators in Klondike this morning.

(Also might have wet my britches over a dead alligator, if I hadn't been belly button deep in the canal with him at the time.)


That made me smile!

You could be the next Turtle Man. :D
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Re: 2015-2016 Season Log

Postby Rick » Thu Oct 01, 2015 4:38 pm

I hollered about like him when I freed a snagged line and the big old bumper nose of an eight-footer planed into me.
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Re: 2015-2016 Season Log

Postby outboardman » Thu Oct 01, 2015 5:35 pm

Great log Rick. Thanks for taking the time,you have to get tired after a grind like that.Excellent dog pictures as well.
Got to love the mud.
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Re: 2015-2016 Season Log

Postby Darren » Thu Oct 01, 2015 9:20 pm

Rick wrote:we bumped 18 specks while finishing up with gators in Klondike this morning.


:beer:

Ripped 20 knots from the north all last night and today here, water in marsh likely to get low by end of weekend. Fairly potent front for first week of October
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Re: 2015-2016 Season Log

Postby Rick » Fri Oct 02, 2015 4:14 am

outboardman wrote:Great log Rick. Thanks for taking the time,you have to get tired after a grind like that.Excellent dog pictures as well.


You're more than welcome, I enjoy doing it - or at least having done it. Not a problem this early on, but before the big season ends, I'll be thankful for the plug-and-chug format that doesn't require a functional mind to complete at a long day's end.
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Re: 2015-2016 Season Log

Postby Rick » Fri Oct 02, 2015 4:18 am

Darren wrote:
Rick wrote:we bumped 18 specks while finishing up with gators in Klondike this morning.


:beer:

Ripped 20 knots from the north all last night and today here, water in marsh likely to get low by end of weekend. Fairly potent front for first week of October


I'll take it. Feels great this morning, and a woolly little dog and I have lots of ground to make up.
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Re: 2015-2016 Season Log

Postby Bud » Fri Oct 02, 2015 6:01 am

Great read, Sir Rick; you gave us a front row seat to a really nice teal season. The wife and I thank you. She likes Marsh, by the way, as do I. Glad to "hear" Peake back working, though. Thanks also for the education on telling the sexes of the bluewings.

Something about working an eager young dog makes a man smile.
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Re: 2015-2016 Season Log

Postby Rick » Fri Oct 02, 2015 9:37 am

Bud wrote:Something about working an eager young dog makes a man smile.


Young Marsh Fire was, in fact, on fire and throwing rooster tails this morning. But the "old man" still was, too, and both are zonked at my feet.
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Re: 2015-2016 Season Log

Postby Rick » Sat Nov 07, 2015 5:18 am

Opening day began on an ominous note, or scent, when I woke to a strange odor in the house and found poor Marsh had hurled a gosh awful mess in his kitchen kennel/box. Apparently ate something he shouldn't have in the field yesterday, but was good enough to sit in a corner of the box since losing it and almost spotless himself. House still stinks, and it's too dang hot out to open the windows. Shades of things to come? We'll see...
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Re: 2015-2016 Season Log

Postby Rick » Sat Nov 07, 2015 10:31 am

Date: 11/7

Time: morning

Location: Mudhole

Cloud Cover: heavy

Wind Direction and Velocity: NE moderate

Temperature: too warm

Barometer: 30.1 rising

Moon phase: 15% waning

Special Notes: Opening day

Waterfowl Activity: Nothing but a few specks trafficking out of the marsh for just long enough to work up a worry, then big strings of teal started coming out of the rice north and east of us. Soon became a teal show with plenty dipping down for a look at the marsh or better. Saw a very few high, unidentified medium ducks and no big ones at all until the end.

Waterfowl Responsiveness: A lot of the teal worked pretty, while others had the afterburners on. Lone gadwall sailed right in without circling.

Hunters: 2, Steve and Richard

Guns:

Malfunctions: Richard's pump was jamming. "Maybe short-shucking." And I brought the old 20 in anticipation of rain we were out before, and found I'd Loc-Tited the magazine follower along with the magazine tube when I replaced the former this Summer, making it a single shot.

Dog(s): Took the coyote for flotant work, which he handled nicely, but followed warm weather protocol of keeping him out of swimming water due to our big gator - the noggin of which I saw in the middle of the run just before we reached the blind. Missed him with the prop.

Special Equipment: Modified Mallard Machine, which probably did little good in the dim light, and spinner pegged to flash the bigger water north and south that teal follow, which probably did most of our good.

Curses: Only the gun issues, that weren't serious ones, given our opportunities.

Kudos: Nice guys who followed instruction and shot pretty well and the neat teal show made it a very quick and easy hunt - and put us first in line at the brunch table.

Birds By Species: 3 bw teal, 1 gadwall and 14 gw teal

Photo Ops: Still too dark/gloomy for good pics, but the coyote with our last bird.
Image

Lagniappe:
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Re: 2015-2016 Season Log

Postby Rick » Sun Nov 08, 2015 10:04 am

Date: 11/8

Time: morning

Location: Mudhole

Cloud Cover: heavy

Wind Direction and Velocity: whipping from the NNE

Temperature: nice

Barometer: 30.11 rising

Moon phase: waning 9%

Special Notes:

Waterfowl Activity: Not as many teal coming from the rice as yesterday but plenty, plus a few more big ducks.

Waterfowl Responsiveness: Most came pretty to land, but couldn't get most of our few big ducks right before someone upwind would bang them out.

Hunters: Hubble and Cody

Guns:

Malfunctions:

Dog(s): Peake did a nice job with what was on the flotant.

Special Equipment: Spinner and MMM

Curses: Big chunk of floating turf was plugging the run and I didn't get it pushed permanently out of it. And last night's high winds made a mess of my cover.

Kudos: Guys and birds were great.

Birds By Species: 6 bw teal, 11 gw teal and 1 mallard

Photo Ops: teal twofer about as far from the blind as I let him venture in the water:
Image

Lagniappe:
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Re: 2015-2016 Season Log

Postby Rick » Mon Nov 09, 2015 11:04 am

Date: 11/9

Time: morning

Location: Mudhole

Cloud Cover: clear to partly

Wind Direction and Velocity: NE moderate

Temperature: 50s

Barometer: 30.06 rising

Moon phase: wanung 4%

Special Notes:

Waterfowl Activity: Much slower without weekenders chasing them from flooded ag land, and saw more blue-wings than greens.

Waterfowl Responsiveness: Still pretty good, though some teal plainly bounced off spinner left running for them.

Hunters: 2, Jerry and Trey

Guns:

Malfunctions:

Dog(s): The coyote demonstrated how much better of a marker he is than I on a long tipped gray we boated him near.

Special Equipment: spinner and mmm

Curses: Only that it's fixing to get tough without new birds and/or something pushing them to the marsh.

Kudos: Nice guys who generally made the most of what came.

Birds By Species: 8 bw teal, 3 gadwall, 6 gw teal and 1 ringneck.

Photo Ops: Coyote and gray:
Image

And one from yesterday late morning of young Marsh being bored silly by the process of relocating a plug of floating turf the night before's wind put in our run:
Image

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Re: 2015-2016 Season Log

Postby DComeaux » Mon Nov 09, 2015 11:12 am

SWEET! Send me some teal.

I really, really want to be out there this week!! All of my vacation time was spent during my wife's accident so I'll be limited on my week day hunts. This really sucks....
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Re: 2015-2016 Season Log

Postby Rick » Tue Nov 10, 2015 4:31 am

DComeaux wrote:SWEET! Send me some teal.

I really, really want to be out there this week!!


I've even less control over the teal than the water, but one of the blinds across the way called last night to tell me one of their crew saw water running out of their south cut Saturday, and now it's dry. That, and the rain put too much in their north cut (which is backed up from outside flooding across Dolza. Sooo... I'll be out there today checking on that and scratching my head over a blind west of it with a hole in it, and will look in on your water level, too.
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Re: 2015-2016 Season Log

Postby DComeaux » Tue Nov 10, 2015 8:02 am

I think I would have addressed that leak on Saturday.

Hopefully we didn't rise, and thanks for checking on it. Forecast doesn't have big percentages of rain shown with this next front, as of now anyway.
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Re: 2015-2016 Season Log

Postby Rick » Tue Nov 10, 2015 12:17 pm

DComeaux wrote:I think I would have addressed that leak on Saturday.


That would have made entirely too much sense.
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Re: 2015-2016 Season Log

Postby Rick » Tue Nov 10, 2015 12:37 pm

Date: 11/10

Time: morning

Location: mudhole

Cloud Cover: thick haze early with fog blowing in later and finally clearing after 8:30

Wind Direction and Velocity: East none to moderate to nil

Temperature: only cool when the fog blew in

Barometer: 30.1 rising

Moon phase: waning 1%

Special Notes:

Waterfowl Activity: Didn't think about shooting for the first 45 minutes while listening to the east end of the marsh bang away, then we finally started seeing a few until the fog blew in and shut us down until the last hour, when there still wasn't much flight but no one else still in the marsh to bang what we worked out.

Waterfowl Responsiveness: Most birds withing hailing tried to work, but it seemed like most were then banged out by shooting to the east before we got our chance.

Hunters: 2, father and young son playing hooky

Guns:

Malfunctions:

Dog(s): Peake chased a tipped mottled duck across big open water looking like a topwater chasing a spinner bait and scared pee out of me until the chase entered a huge cattail flat where my fear became his getting lost. Boated on over there and could only listen to the him splashing around way back in where I had no chance of getting to him. So I shot don't know how many shells over his area in hopes of guiding the deaf dog in the right direction, and he did eventually come out where he should - carrying a now defunct mottled. Don't know exactly how the duck met its end, but I'd not blame the dog regardless. Heard of a local likely gator lost dog in familiar marsh just yesterday.

Special Equipment: spinner and mmm

Curses: Was more than a little worried that we were going to sorely disappoint a boy whose dad had hunted with me last year and had him all pumped up. Kills me to disappoint any good party, but especially kids.

Kudos: Ended up being a lesson in perseverance, and nice folks were rewarded for it.

Birds By Species: 4 bw teal, 11 gw teal, 2 mottleds and 1 ringneck

Photo Ops: Not much of a photo but so very grateful to have Peake back:
Image

Lagniappe:
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Re: 2015-2016 Season Log

Postby Darren » Tue Nov 10, 2015 1:20 pm

Looks like you've got ample water around so far this season, rains must have done you right. Was it mostly a little duck show that the other blinds were on early?
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Re: 2015-2016 Season Log

Postby Rick » Tue Nov 10, 2015 5:35 pm

Tealz. Could have been worse, a blind in the midst of all that binging and banging gave it up with one.
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Re: 2015-2016 Season Log

Postby DComeaux » Tue Nov 10, 2015 8:59 pm

Reading the Peake marsh run made me a little anxious. It's time for cold weather to put the dinosaurs to sleep.
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Re: 2015-2016 Season Log

Postby Rick » Wed Nov 11, 2015 4:59 am

Was a 7-8' inside the pump gate until we started keeping the inside ditch drained to plow. Hung out at the gate on the outside for a while but was AWOL when we tried to fish him in September. Haven't seen him since, so someone may have got him.
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Re: 2015-2016 Season Log

Postby Rick » Wed Nov 11, 2015 12:17 pm

Date: 11/11

Time: morning

Location: Mudhole

Cloud Cover: heavy clearing to partly

Wind Direction and Velocity: SE nil to light

Temperature: downright hot when the clouds parted

Barometer: 29.99 steady

Moon phase: new moon

Special Notes:

Waterfowl Activity: little moving throughout the morning

Waterfowl Responsiveness: Large (except mottleds) and small both tried to get in, but unlike yesterday it was us that ran too many off.

Hunters: 3 who come a time or two a season on mostly social outing

Guns:

Malfunctions:

Dog(s): We left a teal that went down near big water to our south out there, because I chose not to chance a repeat of yesterday's cripple leading the deaf coyote into dangerous water. Sure be glad when it cools off enough to forget about the tatailles.

Special Equipment: spinner and splasher (MMm)

Curses: Crowd control problems hurt the strap.

Kudos: Good guys and a fun hunt all the same.

Birds By Species: 5 bw teal, 2 gadwall, 2 gw teal and 2 spoons

Photo Ops:

Lagniappe:
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Re: 2015-2016 Season Log

Postby DComeaux » Wed Nov 11, 2015 12:48 pm

SWEET!

This week is draaaaaaaging. Love the temps and winds for Saturday morning.
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Re: 2015-2016 Season Log

Postby Ericdc » Wed Nov 11, 2015 4:24 pm

Rick wrote:Date: 11/11

Time: morning

Location: Mudhole

Cloud Cover: heavy clearing to partly

Wind Direction and Velocity: SE nil to light

Temperature: downright hot when the clouds parted

Barometer: 29.99 steady

Moon phase: new moon

Special Notes:

Waterfowl Activity: little moving throughout the morning

Waterfowl Responsiveness: Large (except mottleds) and small both tried to get in, but unlike yesterday it was us that ran too many off.

Hunters: 3 who come a time or two a season on mostly social outing

Guns:

Malfunctions:

Dog(s): We left a teal that went down near big water to our south out there, because I chose not to chance a repeat of yesterday's cripple leading the deaf coyote into dangerous water. Sure be glad when it cools off enough to forget about the tatailles.

Special Equipment: spinner and splasher (MMm)

Curses: Crowd control problems hurt the strap.

Kudos: Good guys and a fun hunt all the same.

Birds By Species: 5 bw teal, 2 gadwall, 2 gw teal and 2 spoons

Photo Ops:

Lagniappe:


So it wasn't like the Dr guy who you kinda dread taking? Just dudes cutting up and having fun?
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