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How has everyone's season been?

Saturday is the last day of our first split and I can honestly say it has been the best November season I have ever had. November season here usually consist of a few puddle ducks, buffleheads and scoters. This year I have already killed wigeon, gadwall, gw teal, mallard, bluebill, redhead, ringneck, bufflehead, canvasback, shoveler, pintail, black duck and passed on mergansers, ruddy ducks and coots. If this keeps up our late season should be awesome.

Been the best second split without question. Hopefully it continues into the late season. If so, it'll make for an epic season overall.

It's been mostly awesome.

I've got two mallards so we're on tract to pass last years season. I hope.

The Duck Hammer wrote:I've got two mallards so we're on tract to pass last years season. I hope.

Damn we have to fix that.

Decent numbers here we are just yet to capitalize on them. Have had too many conflicts as well to get out as much as I should. Have seen many mallards however which is usually a rarity here.

Got lots of mallards too.

262 birds for 4 of us half way thru. Hope second half stays as strong!

Flightstopper wrote:Decent numbers here we are just yet to capitalize on them. Have had too many conflicts as well to get out as much as I should. Have seen many mallards however which is usually a rarity here.

Bout the same here. There are birds in the area just haven't been where they want to be.

Fairly slow for us here. We need water.

November should be our bread and butter.

Instead it was the icing on the lake.

I think my area froze up on the 3rd or 4th. That was it.

38 day season.

bill herian wrote:November should be our bread and butter.

Instead it was the icing on the lake.

I think my area froze up on the 3rd or 4th. That was it.

38 day season.

I've been battling ice here since about then. I've still been able to get out all but 1 day. But the hunting has been tough. I think we killed 4 birds in 5 hunts last week because of the ice.

I've been hunting 6 times so far this season, and I've killed 1 spoony, and my dad has killed 2 spoonies and a goose.

Have only been out three or four times, as that's about all my schedule seems to be allowing this year. Have shot a couple of wood ducks and three mallards so far. Hoping to get into some geese within the next few weeks.

ducks~n~bucks wrote:I've been hunting 6 times so far this season, and I've killed 1 spoony, and my dad has killed 2 spoonies and a goose.

Welcome to the bottom

The Duck Hammer wrote:

ducks~n~bucks wrote:I've been hunting 6 times so far this season, and I've killed 1 spoony, and my dad has killed 2 spoonies and a goose.

Welcome to the bottom

Yeah. Worst season I've had so far. When we went out opening morning, and it was 80 degrees and sunny and not shit was flying. All the birds we have killed were on the same trip. Although the goose, we should have each had a limit (2) of them. My dad knocked 2 down, and I couldn't hit the broadside of a barn from the inside. One of his geese stood up and I was going to sluice it for him, but he said not to because he wanted my dog to have experience with a live goose since she hasn't before. Well the dogs got to the goose and it flew, and by the time it got to a safe distance from the dogs it was 110 yards out. Thing kept flying as far as I could see.

Fucking geese are starting to piss me off around here, sitting their asses on water all day (that no one can hunt) and wont get up to feed until 25 minutes before sundown. Need some colder wheather around here to get them back to heavier feeding pattern. Need some fresh birds to, I here there are still many ducks & geese hanging around in the Dakotas.
Heading to Kansas tonight, this should be good with temps in the 60's I will give you a report when we get back, good or bad.

Flyway Stalker wrote:Fucking geese are starting to piss me off around here, sitting their asses on water all day (that no one can hunt) and wont get up to feed until 25 minutes before sundown. Need some colder wheather around here to get them back to heavier feeding pattern. Need some fresh birds to, I here there are still many ducks & geese hanging around in the Dakotas.
Heading to Kansas tonight, this should be good with temps in the 60's I will give you a report when we get back, good or bad.

You ain't kidding. We need some blistering cold or about 6 inches of snow to mix shit up. These week long stretches of just above freezing fucking suck.

Today

Seen a lot of high flying geese today just couldn't get them to commit. Ducks where flying great to bad season is not open for another 2 weeks. How many goose decoys do you guys run for geese I'm new to geese we had 48 out today.

This weekends 62 degree Kansas hunt was mostly uneventful, heard a ton of geese in the distance but never saw one. Ducks finally started flying 10 minutes after sundown. However, I did manage to knock down the most beautiful big northern drake mallard of my 30 + years of doing this. That's the one I've been holding out for to hang on my wall, add in the fact that it happened while hunting for the first time in 3 years with all 3 of my sons together and it was my pups first drake mallard retrieve, priceless.

Have had fair success here, despite the low number of ducks and high number of hunters. The majority of what we get here now is Gadwalls, mostly open water, and they learn real fast. Have had a couple of limit hunts lately, even killed a blue goose two weeks ago, something we see almost never see, but have worked my arse off to get on the birds. Lot of scouting, lot of cane cutting, and have been building a blind where I find birds, and tearing it down after the hunt. Lot of hunters here, but most are lazy and want to just go get in a blind that is already built. I found that when I leave a blind in a place I have found numbers, it does two things. First, it gives other hunters a heads-up, and secondly, there will almost always be somebody hunting it the next day, and the next day......... It's a PIA to have to build to hunt, but ya gotta do what ya gotta do to kill birds. in addition to the Gadwall majority, have killed a few Mallards (very rare here), Mottles, Teal, 1 Canvasback, and have even resorted to shooting a few Bluebills to fill out a limit on a slow day.

Never had a Duck mounted before, this one feels like a good one, whats your thoughts? Be honest.

Check for pin feathers in the wing pockets, if none it'll be fine.

Hard to tell from the angle, how are is tail curls??

DeadEye_Dan wrote:Check for pin feathers in the wing pockets, if none it'll be fine.

Hard to tell from the angle, how are is tail curls??

Didn't notice any pin feathers, 2 1/2 tail curls

Flyway Stalker wrote:

DeadEye_Dan wrote:Check for pin feathers in the wing pockets, if none it'll be fine.

Hard to tell from the angle, how are is tail curls??

Didn't notice any pin feathers, 2 1/2 tail curls

Color on head and top of wings are gorges, wings have the most beautiful blue and purple I've ever seen. Colors are very iridescent on both head & wings.

Flyway Stalker wrote:

Flyway Stalker wrote:

DeadEye_Dan wrote:Check for pin feathers in the wing pockets, if none it'll be fine.

Hard to tell from the angle, how are is tail curls??

Didn't notice any pin feathers, 2 1/2 tail curls

Color on head and top of wings are gorges, wings have the most beautiful blue and purple I've ever seen. Colors are very iridescent on both head & wings.

Mount it

Is there anyone on here that is hunting the Dakota's that could give a report on bird numbers up that way?

Flyway Stalker wrote:Is there anyone on here that is hunting the Dakota's that could give a report on bird numbers up that way?

I don't think we have any SoDak members and I think 3geese is the only NoDak member but he's all the way in Minot. This December has been fucking awful.