2014 season countdown

[3geese4me]

Ours up here is 15 a day, does the Ohio season run into January by any chance?

[firstflight]

Ours up here is 15 a day, does the Ohio season run into January by any chance?

Yes till around the 30th of January.
we get 2 splits .

[Pintail]

They're still babies

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[firstflight]

They're still babies

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I seen some really little ducks also today while working my pup .
try to get a picture tomorrow .

[NuffDaddy]

They're still babies

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The young ones taste better.

[R. Chapman]

Rigging decoys sucks...

What kind of rigging? Standard line and weight wrapped around the keel?

[Feelin' Fowl]

Rigging decoys sucks...

What kind of rigging? Standard line and weight wrapped around the keel?

400# mono, with crimps on both ends, and keel grabbers. Getting the crimps tight is no fun.

[R. Chapman]

Texas rig them!

[The Duck Hammer]

Texas rig them!

Agreed. Rigged some up like that 2 years ago and have stuck with it since. Very easy to use setup.

[Feelin' Fowl]

I care about my decoys, and Texas rigging with 12' lines isn't any good.

[NuffDaddy]

I care about my decoys, and Texas rigging with 12' lines isn't any good.

Don't know if you have used the mono before, but it's kinky like DH's sister. I tried wrapping it around a keel and after a few days it stays all curly.

[firstflight]

That Texas rig is not good for 20 feet of water .

[Feelin' Fowl]

I care about my decoys, and Texas rigging with 12' lines isn't any good.

Don't know if you have used the mono before, but it's kinky like DH's sister. I tried wrapping it around a keel and after a few days it stays all curly.

I have. The river straightens it out quickly...

[Bulldog0156]

I care about my decoys, and Texas rigging with 12' lines isn't any good.

Don't know if you have used the mono before, but it's kinky like DH's sister. I tried wrapping it around a keel and after a few days it stays all curly.

I have. The river straightens it out quickly...

Wish it'd straighten you out...

[firstflight]

They're still babies

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1407027950.167667.jpg

We have some tiny ass ducks today from working the pup .

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stupid geese

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[NuffDaddy]

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[NuffDaddy]

Got a start on the boat blind today.

[Feelin' Fowl]

Looking good, Nuff.

[Eric Haynes]

Got a start on the boat blind today.

I'd give beef a call for some pointers.

[Bootlipkiller]

Got a start on the boat blind today.

I'd give beef a call for some pointers.

X2

[3geese4me]

9 more days!!

[R. Chapman]

9 more days!!

Thanks for telling me!

[Rick]

Seems I start jonesing for waterfowl season earlier each year, and I've been on a tear the this past week.

Been wanting forever to find something that throws a serious spray of water like ducks so often do and not just piddle like its got a giant prostate, as Wonder Ducks and bilge pump duck butts do. And I want it to splash when I want it to, not before or after, let alone always. To that end, I've put snow plows on jerk cord decoys, put paddles where spinners normally have wings and even sunk a rat trap with a screen wired to its bar on a stake just below the surface to operated with a pull string. Finally came to me to cinch a Mallard Machine's decoys down to their spokes and shim its trolling motor foot up until the prop is on the surface. Worked pretty dang well just like that, but when I built the end of the prop's trailing edges up with Quick Steel and cupped them with a dremel, look the heck out, 'cause you're gonna get wet. Tap the button when its at rest, and it will usually just throw water 4-6' on its way down, but double tap it to catch it on the bounce, and it will more than double that. 'Course whether the birds will be as impressed as me remains to be seen...

Another ongoing project has been trying to enjoy the advantage of flagging without the disadvantage of calling attention to the levees or islands our pits are on. Have tried a telescoping crappie pole and even another pull string rat trap application to distance the motion without satisfaction. Last year I went high tech with a remote controlled "X-flapper" a buddy took the stiff retail hicky on and sold me for a relative song when he got tired of fooling with it. Fellow I got it from had kinda-sorta changed it from a Canada to a speck, and my experiments showed that it worked pretty well in poor visibility but was an imperfect enough rendition that it would bump them up close. First attempted solution was moving it well upwind of the guns, which revealed the remote's range short coming. And then there was the matter of the wings being so long that they'd catch at the bottom of their arc on any but the most level of surfaces. That, and the trailing edges of the cloth wings were bad for wanting to flip up and over their operating arms in the wind. Couple days ago I reconfigured both the remote's receiver antennae, more than doubling its range, and the troublesome wings, by shortening them and giving their bottoms enough weight and stiffness to preclude flipping. Sewing was involved, which most definitely isn't my forte, but it's done, seems to work like I wished it would and only lacks repainting to speck. (I kill me.)

And in the never ending crusade to sound as much like a speck as any speck ever did and then some, this morning I finally got up the gumption to experiment with speck call toneboard modification. (Don't try this at home kids - unless you've been blessed, as I was, with some extra toneboards to booger.) Presto, gusto and poof: I now have a new favorite call, thanks to a lot of the luck and, of course, the good guys at Riceland. And I was smart (OK, experienced) enough to quit sanding while it is still that. Have some more guts to play with, but I'm not touching those unless I can luck into something better.

Tomorrow? Well, tomorrow it's back to a marsh project, but that's not so bad, either.

[Flightstopper]

Seems I start jonesing for waterfowl season earlier each year, and I've been on a tear the this past week.

Been wanting forever to find something that throws a serious spray of water like ducks so often do and not just piddle like its got a giant prostate, as Wonder Ducks and bilge pump duck butts do. And I want it to splash when I want it to, not before or after, let alone always. To that end, I've put snow plows on jerk cord decoys, put paddles where spinners normally have wings and even sunk a rat trap with a screen wired to its bar on a stake just below the surface to operated with a pull string. Finally came to me to cinch a Mallard Machine's decoys down to their spokes and shim its trolling motor foot up until the prop is on the surface. Worked pretty dang well just like that, but when I built the end of the prop's trailing edges up with Quick Steel and cupped them with a dremel, look the heck out, 'cause you're gonna get wet. Tap the button when its at rest, and it will usually just throw water 4-6' on its way down, but double tap it to catch it on the bounce, and it will more than double that. 'Course whether the birds will be as impressed as me remains to be seen...

Another ongoing project has been trying to enjoy the advantage of flagging without the disadvantage of calling attention to the levees or islands our pits are on. Have tried a telescoping crappie pole and even another pull string rat trap application to distance the motion without satisfaction. Last year I went high tech with a remote controlled "X-flapper" a buddy took the stiff retail hicky on and sold me for a relative song when he got tired of fooling with it. Fellow I got it from had kinda-sorta changed it from a Canada to a speck, and my experiments showed that it worked pretty well in poor visibility but was an imperfect enough rendition that it would bump them up close. First attempted solution was moving it well upwind of the guns, which revealed the remote's range short coming. And then there was the matter of the wings being so long that they'd catch at the bottom of their arc on any but the most level of surfaces. That, and the ends of the cloth wings were bad for wanting to flip up and over their operating arms in the wind. Couple days ago I reconfigured both the remote's receiver antennae, doubling its range, and wings, by shortening them and giving their bottoms enough weight and stiffness to preclude flipping. Sewing was involved, which most definitely isn't my forte, but it's done, seems to work like I wished it would and only lacks repainting to speck. (I kill me.)

And in the never ending crusade to sound as much like a speck as any speck ever did and then some, this morning I finally got up the gumption to experiment with speck call toneboard modification. (Don't try this at home kids - unless you've been blessed, as I was, with some extra toneboards to booger.) Presto, gusto and poof: I now have a new favorite call, thanks to a lot of the luck and, of course, the good guys at Riceland. And I was smart (OK, experienced) enough to quit while it is still that. Have some more guts to play with, but I'm not touching those unless I can luck into something better.

Tomorrow? Well, tomorrow it's back to a marsh project, but that's not so bad, either.

I'm picking up an old trolling motor from my grandpa to hopefully throw together a mallard machine finally. Would be curious to hear how the geiser action works for you

[3legged_lab]

Ive been looking for a used trolling motor to build an ice eater with, apparently folks are pretty partial to them.

[Rick]

I'm picking up an old trolling motor from my grandpa to hopefully throw together a mallard machine finally. Would be curious to hear how the geiser action works for you

We'll see, but I'm betting that, if nothing else, the teal will like it more than ever.

[Rick]

Ive been looking for a used trolling motor to build an ice eater with, apparently folks are pretty partial to them.

Probably hard to come by because water gets in and boogers them.

[Steele22]

I made one 3 years ago. It's still going good, but I caulked the shit out of it where I cut the shaft. Took and bent rebar into a triangle. Put a decoy one the 3 points and welded a straight piece across it to mount the trolling motor head too. Just attached it with metal bands. I'll get a pic up if you wanna see it

[Flightstopper]

I made one 3 years ago. It's still going good, but I caulked the shit out of it where I cut the shaft. Took and bent rebar into a triangle. Put a decoy one the 3 points and welded a straight piece across it to mount the trolling motor head too. Just attached it with metal bands. I'll get a pic up if you wanna see it

I'd like to see it, have some ideas in mind but need the motor in hand to figure out the rest.

[Steele22]

It's in one of my blinds. I gotta go check on crops mid week. I'll take pics