2015-2016 Season Log

[Ericdc]

I had to google Proboscises

[Rick]

Perhaps because Jimmy Durante was before your time.

[Ericdc]

Looks like I'm going to get the sunshine I had hoped for yesterday, today. Might have a little ice early but south wind supposed to pick up by 9. Be a beautiful morning to work some mallards.

[Rick]

Hope you have a great one. Not much prettier than mallards or pintails working in the sun.

[Ericdc]

Killed 5 out of 6.
6th was a hen

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1453656642.414937.jpg

[Rick]

Sweet. I spent the morning at this computer or on the couch watching the same pre-game stuff ESPN's been running all week.

Gots to get the dogs out to a crawfish pond for a while to save whatever's left of my sanity.

[Bufflehead]

Rick, thanks for taking the time to share your season with us.

[Rick]

You're certainly welcome, but the pleasure really is mine, and it seems a shame more folks don't take advantage of the opportunity.

[Rick]

Ouch. We put a feed store product called Cut Heal on such slices twice a day (and let Pup lick it off if it wants) with good result. Use it on me, too. There's now a pad toughening version by the same company, Anchor, as well, but we've been on the same bottle pretty much forever.

Sorry things didn't improve for you, as I hoped they might. I was going to take the rap, but between us chickens, it was Dave's "Oh, boy!"s that screwed us...

[DComeaux]

I was going to take the rap, but between us chickens, it was Dave's "Oh, boy!"s that screwed us...

HA! Those "OH BOYS" didn't come often this year, and none at all as of late season. Being in a different spot, with a nice spread and good company lifted my confidence level a bit. Just sad it was a short lived.

I really enjoyed my morning and it seems time passed way too fast. I guess the few flocks around and those that took an interest kept my anticipation level up a bit. Thanks again, Jarren!

[Rick]

Welcome, CH, nice to see you're still out there, and hope your season went better than most in our area.

Most boards' auto-censors bleep or, sometimes funnier, change woodcock to something PC. But you can shut off the auto-censor here by clicking on "User Control Panel" on the toolbar above, then on "board preferences" and "edit display options". Word censoring is then the sixth option listed.

As for the hunting, our chance for woodcock was either sold out (with the Dixie land sale) or rained out. Just too much water sitting on what's normally good ground for them, so I didn't bother to log our few unproductive exploratory passes. Didn't find a splash after their season opened, much less a bird, but did start conditioning the pup to hunt close in wooded cover.

[Ericdc]

Friend hunting my blind today.

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[Rick]

Date: 1/27/16

Time: morning

Location: UDL borrowed for the morning from a gracious friend

Cloud Cover: partly

Wind Direction and Velocity: whipping out of the north

Temperature: cold

Barometer:

Moon phase: 87% waning

Special Notes:

Waterfowl Activity: Had chosen to hunt the spot this morning hoping the wind would help keep my shots from disturbing a crosswind body on the next place over, which it did, and that trafficking birds would be flying low in it, which they didn't. Most took advantage of a shear they flew above.

Waterfowl Responsiveness: First group of specks to break down in my direction blew past my call and tiny "Charlie and Agnes" spread and lit mid field without circling, which told me they'd used it for a while and made me think I was on the "X" - until they left for no apparent reason 15 or 20 minutes later, making me wonder if the cold had them abandoning the green field for rice somewhere else. Also wasn't encouraging that birds leaving the body to my west weren't giving my field so much as a glance on their way to points elsewhere. But I got on the next little bunch of specks to break down in my direction while they were well out and they slipped and flipped straight in to the call as if on a beacon for an easy bip-bap double.

Hunters: Just Marsh and I

Guns:

Malfunctions:

Dog(s): We'd initially set up in a spot better suited to the pup's sadly incomplete level of training and lack of experience but abandoned it to put more distance between us and the neighboring body of birds and ended up in a little mung bush spider hole along a canal bank that limited marking and handling to birds falling on the wrong side. Something quite apt to happen in the stiff wind. And it did. Marsh only marked the left bird of my double, which he handled like a vet, but while he took a good line to where I thought the other might be and carried it beyond the high canal levee to where I could see he was making a good hunt, that came up empty. Though he was plainly unenthused about being asked to try again on an amended line, he did as ordered, this time not carrying the line far enough beyond the high barrier for me to see what, if anything, he was up to. But when I did see him again, he was way the heck down the canal and coming back on my side with his still lively bird in tow. Good pup.

Special Equipment: 2 decoys

Curses: After we'd been so careful not to run anything off, a big orange Sikorsky looking and sounding helicopter came across low enough to run everything but the cows out of its path.

Kudos: Was a sweet morning for which I'm most indebted to my benefactor. Pretty tickled with how things worked out with the pup, too.

Birds By Species: 2 specks

Photo Ops: Left bird:


Waaaaaay, as it turned out, right bird:


Marsh looking uncharacteristically dignified for his hero shot:
'

Lagniappe:

[DComeaux]

SWEET! Mah dats a good hunt yeah.

[Rick]

Fear not, Dave. It wasn't your piece that so readily gave up its specks, but I did drive out there to see what was or wasn't where after our hunt, and the bug and I used your north pond for a dog wash. Weren't many geese anywhere other than Jeff's back yard (brick house by big dryers to west), and nothing I could see on anything we rent. Though there were three within seeming stone's throw across from where Jarren parks.

On our walkabout your piece we checked out the spot I've most often seen them drop into in the past and found one of these;


and a couple of those:


But the water wasn't roiled enough to suggest heavy or recent use.

Was surprised to see the duck decoys left out on the blind's south side and tried to photograph your oversight, but the dang things flushed:




Got up too fast, and you'll have to blow the first shot up to see them flushing against the far banks backdrop, but they were spread just like decoys at the blind when I finally noticed them. Mostly or all just mallards and grays.

[DComeaux]

Fear not, Dave. It wasn't your piece that so readily gave up its specks,

I kind of figured it wasn't, but would be tickled if it was, though.

Was surprised to see the duck decoys left out on the blind's south side and tried to photograph your oversight, but the dang things flushed:

Those dirty bastages!

[Rick]

Was some serious quiet for the hour or so we were there: three evenly spaced "hopeful" shots to the NE, one volley further west and one volley way south. Then someone just east emptied on some crazy high birds, reloaded and cranked off two more as we approached the truck. Took a drive to 91 and south and was relieved to see it wasn't Jarren's blind but saw no evidence of hunters to his east. Maybe a backyard gunner?

Loop along the Gueydan ditch was as discouraging as the rest of the area.

[DComeaux]

Loop along the Gueydan ditch was as discouraging as the rest of the area.

Thats what we'd call our "victory lap" after our hunts, as we'd make that drive after every hunt the first two years. Ellis to Scanlan south to the ditch left to 91. None taken the last three years. Nothing to see.

[Ericdc]

That banded speck killed at my blind this morning was banded in 2013 here.

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1453930111.783167.jpg

[DComeaux]

That banded speck killed at my blind this morning was banded in 2013 here.

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1453930111.783167.jpg

Eric, It was banded in NE La? What is the 'PIN" location?

[Ericdc]

It was banded where the purple pin is. Killed in northeast LA

[SpinnerMan]

That's interesting.

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Greater_White-fronted_Goose/lifehistory

[Ericdc]

Band number was

2097-32428

[SpinnerMan]

Band number was

2097-32428

I believe you, but I wonder if someone screwed up entering it into the system or you have a truly rare bird.

[Rick]

Certainly a new one on me. Have to think there was a typo somewhere along the line, but I suppose it could just have been lost as a goose.

Sorry, really I am.

[Ericdc]

I emailed Larry about to see if he could dig a little.

[DComeaux]

That's why I asked. The pin location was puzzling.