2017-2018 Season Log

Re: 2017-2018 Season Log

Postby DComeaux » Wed Jan 17, 2018 3:01 pm

What a hunt!

Even if I was able, I don't know that I would have made the run to our blind this morning.
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Re: 2017-2018 Season Log

Postby Rick » Wed Jan 17, 2018 4:07 pm

Darren wrote:How'd the other blinds make out, Rick?


Pretty sure everyone in the marsh had sweet hunts. Heard there was a strong teal flight to our east, so we may have been the only ones not limiting. But doubt anyone else enjoyed themselves more than we did. An ex-guide, James Manning, was in Clyde's blind, which faces ours and said, "Holy bleep there were a lot of ducks trying to get in that little hole."
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Re: 2017-2018 Season Log

Postby Rick » Wed Jan 17, 2018 4:09 pm

DComeaux wrote:Even if I was able, I don't know that I would have made the run to our blind this morning.


Iberia Band canceled a big party, so it was mostly guides and a precious few other crazies in our marsh this morning.
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Re: 2017-2018 Season Log

Postby Bud » Wed Jan 17, 2018 7:33 pm

Sounds like a duck "event" not soon to be forgotten. I'll take 12 mallards and three pintail
over a full strap any day: looks like a full strap to me! Glad for you guys.
All in a day's work.
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Re: 2017-2018 Season Log

Postby Rick » Thu Jan 18, 2018 4:44 am

It was neat as could be, and I'm thankful to have been there, but I'm hoping the strong south winds predicted for the weekend draw teal to the marsh. Teal in the wind strikes me as a fine way to close it out.
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Re: 2017-2018 Season Log

Postby Deltaman » Thu Jan 18, 2018 9:00 am

" And we frequently ended up with way the hey "too many" mallards and pintails, sometimes literally hundreds, dropping down to supplement the more reasonable stuff. "

If you hunt ducks, and that doesn't get your heart racing, you need to take up deer hunting :o
Beautiful Hunt Rick, Thanks for taking us along!!!!!!!!
"It ain't what you don't know that gets you in trouble. It's what you know for sure, that just ain't so"
Mark Twain
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Re: 2017-2018 Season Log

Postby Rick » Thu Jan 18, 2018 12:58 pm

Thanks guys. Was back to reality this morning.
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Re: 2017-2018 Season Log

Postby Rick » Thu Jan 18, 2018 1:08 pm

Date: 1/18 Thur

Time: morning

Location: mudhole

Cloud Cover: clear

Wind Direction and Velocity: NE moderate

Temperature: low to mid 20s but a lot more comfortable without yesterday's wind

Moon phase: maybe a sliver

Special Notes:

Waterfowl Activity: Not nearly yesterday's flight, but enough that we've no one to blame but us for not getting our mallards.

Waterfowl Responsiveness: Most started very high early on, so I soon dug out (and stuck with) the Deceiver again.

Hunters: 2, Bruce and Justin again.

Guns:

Malfunctions: Justin had a round of gun trouble that may or may not have been related to some badly misshapen Federal shells.

Dog(s): Took Marsh to work the flotant, but again avoided shots that didn't start low over the decoys.

Special Equipment: sos

Curses: We, and especially self, shot like half blind elderly matrons.

Kudos: Still a pleasant morning in pleasant company.

Birds By Species: 7 mallards and 1 ringneck
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Re: 2017-2018 Season Log

Postby Darren » Thu Jan 18, 2018 1:25 pm

Bruce still having a great visit, glad it worked out for him given he comes from so far. Think he had a slow visit last year or year before???

Regarding dogs in the cold: do you have a rule of thumb for letting the dog work the pond? Is it just the danger of ice contact or extreme temp/hypothermia? Just really not sure how cold a dog can take, and don't want to let their drive to hunt put them in a place they shouldn't. Usually not a problem down our way but this season's been a different one.

Harry wears is vest about every hunt but not sure how effective that is, keep watching him close for some kind of symptoms. In the fields he's not swimming so really just half-wet.
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Re: 2017-2018 Season Log

Postby Ericdc » Thu Jan 18, 2018 1:28 pm

This has been a January to remember. 2 big arctic blasts. We’ve lost almost 20% of our season to ice, but I’m ok with hunting the front end and back end of the freezes.


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Re: 2017-2018 Season Log

Postby DComeaux » Thu Jan 18, 2018 2:12 pm

Darren wrote:.... and don't want to let their drive to hunt put them in a place they shouldn't.



That's what worry's me. I've put Ellie at the bottom of the blind a few times over the years because I didn't like the shivering and droopy ear look. This would happen inbetween volleys and pickups, waiting in a wind for the next. That, not near in the temps we've had as of late. It does my heart good to see Rick's handling of marsh in this weather.
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Re: 2017-2018 Season Log

Postby Rick » Thu Jan 18, 2018 3:03 pm

Darren wrote:Bruce still having a great visit, glad it worked out for him given he comes from so far. Think he had a slow visit last year or year before???

Regarding dogs in the cold: do you have a rule of thumb for letting the dog work the pond? Is it just the danger of ice contact or extreme temp/hypothermia? Just really not sure how cold a dog can take, and don't want to let their drive to hunt put them in a place they shouldn't. Usually not a problem down our way but this season's been a different one.

Harry wears is vest about every hunt but not sure how effective that is, keep watching him close for some kind of symptoms. In the fields he's not swimming so really just half-wet.


Made me look: Bruce and another fellow had 18 two out of three days last year and we had 14 on the off day. Was the first time he felt he had the hang of teal shooting. Two years ago his trip started strong but ended on a six bird hunt. As rule, though, I think of his visits going well for big ducks and not so well for small ones. That said, we muffed a decent speck chance this morning and are heading out to give them another go at a friend's place in a little bit.

Re: dogs, they're all individuals, and I doubt there is a rule of thumb other than if they look miserable, they probably are. Marsh is always anxious to go, but I wasn't going to make him sit in yesterday's wind, much less chance getting him soaked in it. Today I kept him dry and only used him for the two birds that ended up on the flotant, after boating him there. By the weekend, I may be letting him swim for flotant birds but, given current water temps, won't let him retrieve what we can get with the boat. Have tailored a good vest to fit him as well as one can, but he's still a house dog.
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Re: 2017-2018 Season Log

Postby Rick » Fri Jan 19, 2018 5:09 am

Took Bruce and Justin for an afternoon speck hunt with a Thornwell friend who has a strong place, knack for calling, 20 dozen top quality full-body decoys out and a very well concealed blind - and came away with an even greater appreciation for JohnC's consistency while hunting over a standing spread. Ric swung a lot of birds over or by it and worked quite a few we thought might finish, but none did.

Said he'll be picking up the spread today and cutting back to a handful of decoys stored in the blind, which my own experience has me believing will better serve.
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Re: 2017-2018 Season Log

Postby Darren » Fri Jan 19, 2018 7:58 am

Rick wrote:
Said he'll be picking up the spread today and cutting back to a handful of decoys stored in the blind, which my own experience has me believing will better serve.


That's what we've made a habit of at the rice blind, they sit in bag on a stool just under the lid. First thing out the blind when setting up, last thing in when heading out. 3-5 dekes total. Our water is now much deeper than in earlier season but I had started to get curious about putting out our larger speck spread with a few snows mixed in given they were using area all around us. Maybe next year......
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Re: 2017-2018 Season Log

Postby Rick » Fri Jan 19, 2018 4:38 pm

Date: 1/19 Fri

Time: morning

Location: Mudhole

Cloud Cover: cloudy to partly

Wind Direction and Velocity: nil to light easterly

Temperature: mid to upper 30s

Moon phase: waxing 6%

Special Notes:

Waterfowl Activity: Still no teal or other "miscellaneous" ducks to speak of, just mostly HIGH mallards and pintails early with more practical stuff later in the morning. Aside from one gigundous swarm of high pintails, not the big show of a couple days ago, but show enough.

Waterfowl Responsiveness: Calm as it was, the super loud Deceiver still did most of our early good due to most of the flight being silly high. Bounced back and forth between it and the MVP, but felt like I'd brought a butter knife to a sword fight the one time I mistakenly grabbed the squacky Daisy Cutter I normally find myself using on such calm mornings.

Hunters: 2, Bruce and Justin's last day

Guns:

Malfunctions: Both guys seemed to be having troubles that might have been caused by badly misshapen Federal shells.

Dog(s): Wore Marsh to a nub.

Special Equipment: SOS

Curses: No complaints from me.

Kudos: We had our hitting bonnets screwed on tighter today and had a grand morning to send the guys home on.

Birds By Species: 1 gw teal, 12 mallards and 3 pintails.

Photo Ops: Danged old water was COLD:
002.JPG


and even time saving two-fers were plainly no fun:
017.JPG


especially when the chump in charge was too busy playing with a camera to let a fellow shake:
026.JPG


Did I mention that the water looked pretty cold?
031.JPG


Or that we didn't make him stay in it all morning?
034.JPG


Happy duck campers:
045.JPG
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Re: 2017-2018 Season Log

Postby DComeaux » Fri Jan 19, 2018 4:46 pm

Man oh man!...That's some good stuff.
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Re: 2017-2018 Season Log

Postby Rick » Sat Jan 20, 2018 1:09 pm

Date: 1/20 Sat

Time: morning

Location: Mudhole

Cloud Cover: cloudy with drizzle for a bit

Wind Direction and Velocity: light easterly

Temperature: 50ish

Moon phase:

Special Notes:

Waterfowl Activity: Were a few more teal about and a strong HIGH N to S big duck flight most of the morning.

Waterfowl Responsiveness: Didn't matter which call I used, I struggled to break the kind of flight I've been having much better luck with. Past bad experience with one of my hunters had me going into the morning with a pee-poor attitude that may well have carried over to my calling and hurt our chances. Certainly didn't help.

Hunters: 2

Guns:

Malfunctions:

Dog(s): Fought with Marsh to get him out of the deep water where we'd boated to get near a tipped mallard he flushed from the flotant and then lost track of when it dove. Wrestled him into scouring the banks where I ASSumed she'd headed, only to have him return to the water where she'd beat him. Of course it turned out he was right and she'd been hiding under so little aquatic vegetation that there couldn't have been more than her bill above it, and I finally caught sight of her escape wake when he got too close, and she eventually showed enough of her noggin for me to cap it.

Special Equipment: SOS

Curses: Aside from staying caught by birds trying to work, just my bad attitude. I don't do well with FEs that don't even know enough to hide from the birds and let it ruin my morning, instead of telling myself, "That's just him." and doing my best with the hand I was dealt.

Kudos: Still managed the marsh's big hunt - which, on the other hand, will little doubt lead to seeing more of the FE in the future... God's got a mighty twisted sense of humor when it comes to helping me work on the "brighten every path I cross" part of my prayers.

Birds By Species: 3 bwt, 4 gw teal, 8 mallards and 1 shoveller

Photo Ops: The first of Marsh's two problem birds for the day:
002.JPG
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Re: 2017-2018 Season Log

Postby Rick » Sun Jan 21, 2018 2:23 pm

Date: 1/21 Sun

Time: morning

Location: Mudhole

Cloud Cover: Partly early followed by a ground fog blowing in after the first hour.

Wind Direction and Velocity: Southeast light to moderate.

Temperature: upper 50s and rising

Moon phase: waxing 20%

Special Notes: last day of ducks

Waterfowl Activity: Given the weather shift, I was surprised to see as many HIGH big ducks heading south as there were, but the stars were the bunches of teal coming through the marsh.

Waterfowl Responsiveness: Only specks I broke down didn't much care for the fellow still standing in his corner of the blind smoking a cigarette as they approached, and I soon quit fighting the big bird flight only to have what broke run off by our circus when there were so many teal willing to put up with the mess.

Hunters: 3, yesterday's FEs plus a new addition to their party who turned out to be a real hunter, rather than just someone who hunts.

Guns:

Malfunctions:

Dog(s): Marsh did some nifty tracking on a blind I'd not have sent him on if it hadn't been our new man's mark.

Special Equipment: SOS

Curses: I'm much too thankful for the teal to curse.

Kudos: The FEs were singing the Mudhole's praises as the best spot ever - until they learned that every party to our east filling out long before us. Prompting the hope that I'll not be on their request list next season...

Birds By Species: 1 bw teal, 21 gw teal and 2 ringnecks

Lagniappe: Thanks for making it easy to be a nice guy this morning, Lord. Made me think of a quote from a late friend that Bruce passed along the other day, "Worry is a waste of imagination."
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Re: 2017-2018 Season Log

Postby Rick » Sun Jan 21, 2018 2:43 pm

Date: 1/21 Sun

Time: last day of the split's after curfew hunt

Location: Mudhole

Cloud Cover: ground fog nearly burned off to partly cloudy

Wind Direction and Velocity: strong SE

Temperature: warm

Moon phase:

Special Notes:

Waterfowl Activity: Not the big duck show I'd hoped as the fog departed, but teal were still flying for our first twenty minutes or so, and there were occasional mostly high mallards as long as we were there. Didn't see a single midday pintail.

Waterfowl Responsiveness: Both a few bluewings and more greenwings came (and went) nicely, and enough mallards did as bid to get the job done. Not sure why, but I was getting a much better response to high stuff with the MVP than the Deceiver in this morning's wind. (Which has generally been the Deceiver's strong suit.)

Hunters: 1, Bobby on a buddy hunt

Guns:

Malfunctions:

Dog(s): Marsh closed out ducks with some slick work on two chipped drakes.

Special Equipment: Wind was strong enough to keep the spinner rolling slowly long after I killed it, so we quit using it once the teal stopped flying.

Curses: Just that it was our last duck hunt until next September.

Kudos: My friend was too, shall we say, "deliberate" to hit a teal and nothing but they and mallards gave him a chance, but he did get his mallards and we called it a day in time to be home for lunch.

Birds By Species: 4 mallards

Photo Ops: Marsh's last dip in the Mudhole for the 2017-2018 season:
002.JPG


and his last duck thereof:
012.JPG


and one last failed shot of him jumping in the boat with a prize:
019.JPG


Maybe I'll get a clear one next year...
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Re: 2017-2018 Season Log

Postby Ducaholic » Sun Jan 21, 2018 3:01 pm

Well done Rick!
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Re: 2017-2018 Season Log

Postby Bud » Sun Jan 21, 2018 4:57 pm

Thank you for taking the time to share your season, Rick. Great work.
All in a day's work.
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Re: 2017-2018 Season Log

Postby Darren » Sun Jan 21, 2018 5:56 pm

Great way to end it taking a buddy after putting up with someone last couple days. Heck of a closing few weeks!
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Re: 2017-2018 Season Log

Postby DComeaux » Sun Jan 21, 2018 7:21 pm

Really nice Rick. Sweet ending.
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Re: 2017-2018 Season Log

Postby Ericdc » Sun Jan 21, 2018 9:08 pm

Rick what is an FE?


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Re: 2017-2018 Season Log

Postby Rick » Mon Jan 22, 2018 5:39 am

Thank you all for helping hold my feet to the log fire. And especially Olly. Never managed to maintain one long without the public commitment. Now the real hunt begins: finding a spot to try tripping a few specks without getting in the camp's way.

Darren, that little after hunt with Bobby was a blessing. Wouldn't want to end it on a sour note.

Eric, FE is an acronym for "f---ing expert".
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