2017-2018 Season Log

[Rick]

...You need to shake some folks...I can't even get with you during the week.

Wish I could, Dave, but my dance card's been filled (or over-filled) for some time. Plainly a lot of folks didn't hear about my first split. And the bottom can always fall out again at any time...

[DComeaux]

...You need to shake some folks...I can't even get with you during the week.

Wish I could, Dave, but my dance card's been filled (or over-filled) for some time. Plainly a lot of folks didn't hear about my first split. And the bottom can always fall out again at any time...

I'd more than likely bring you no wind and dense fog anyway.... We could just sit and eat moon pies and drink orange soda.

[Rick]

Don't think I could toot that damn whistle through Moon Pie and orange pop, so it would at least be peaceful.

[Rick]

Date: 1/10 Wed

Time: morning

Location: mudhole

Cloud Cover: relatively light ground fog (could still see location canal trees most of the morning)

Wind Direction and Velocity: very light northerly

Temperature: cool

Moon phase:

Special Notes:

Waterfowl Activity: If there was any big duck flight at all it was hidden, but just enough teal showed that we finished just before curfew.

Waterfowl Responsiveness: Early mottled worked so much like a new mallard that I thought he was one - perhaps because I had the spinner off for specks in the fog when he and two others showed. Teal largely did as bid when I didn't call the shot on first passes.

Hunters: 2, father and grown son long time annual regulars, Robert and Chris, who we've missed the past couple seasons

Guns:

Malfunctions: Modified chokes and Black Cloud 2s proved a terrible combination for teal on the little pothole: lots of misses and mangled hits.

Dog(s): Had a serious "come to Jesus meeting" with Marsh for chomping a bird that was nearly shot in two on the way in. Hope it's his last, as well as his first, such episode.

Special Equipment: SOS

Curses: Still worried about Marsh's stunt.

Kudos: Great to see the guys again and lucky as could be that the teal showed for them. That, and I flat love teal shooting.

Birds By Species: 5 bw teal, 10 gw teal, 1 mottled and 2 ringnecks

Photo Ops: Chris and Robert:

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Sprouting a Mohawk, "Would have been a real shooter next year."

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[Ericdc]

You are not the only one who flat out loves shooting teal. Hate to hear about mangled birds, BC’s would be serious overkill at your place, especially 2’s. I use the BC 3’s on real windy days. I shoot a light mod choke though and could probably get by with an IC with how I like to shoot.




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[Deltaman]

Cool pic of the Bluewing's head, and that is the first time i have ever seen an extension on the white crescent. Glad the teal showed for you Rick!

[Rick]

...that is the first time i have ever seen an extension on the white crescent...

Every now and a long again we'll see one with a full Mohawk, mullet, racing stripe, whatever:

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One of the best I've seen wasn't shot at my blind, but the new hunter showing it asked if the bird should be mounted because it was wearing a band. Told him he was more apt to shoot another banded blue-wing before getting another so buffed out. And meant it.

After the weather last week i can't believe you had any blue wing teal.

Some seem to hang around all season now, but back when they'd be gone by December and show again in mid January, my belief was that they were early migrators back from Belize or some such.

[Rick]

CORRECTION TO LOG: 1/5 Fri was logged as "1/4"

[Deltaman]

...that is the first time i have ever seen an extension on the white crescent...

Every now and a long again we'll see one with a full Mohawk, mullet, racing stripe, whatever:

IMG_0231.jpg

One of the best I've seen wasn't shot at my blind, but the new hunter showing it asked if the bird should be mounted because it was wearing a band. Told him he was more apt to shoot another banded blue-wing before getting another so buffed out. And meant it.

After the weather last week i can't believe you had any blue wing teal.

Some seem to hang around all season now, but back when they'd be gone by December and show again in mid January, my belief was that they were early migrators back from Belize or some such.

Beautiful bird!!!!!

[Rick]

Date: 1/11 Thur

Time: morning

Location: Mudhole

Cloud Cover: Dense ground fog until we were nearly finished

Wind Direction and Velocity: nil to SW moderate

Temperature: warm

Moon phase:

Special Notes:

Waterfowl Activity: Saw next to no big ducks until the fog cleared, then an encouraging N to S flight. Apparently plenty of teal in the marsh, as enough made it to us in the fog.

Waterfowl Responsiveness: First mallards worked like mallards, but the last pair acted local: pushing off us and working the marsh low - until single quacked to the guns. Stayed on the whistle much of the morning and can probably give some credit to that for our being first out in fog that usually keeps birds over more water.

Hunters: 2, Robert and Chris' last morning.

Guns:

Malfunctions:

Dog(s): Ran Marsh's buns off looking for a chipped mallard that ended up being at the edge of the blind island - which couldn't have happened unless it swam there before dying.

Special Equipment: sos

Curses: Thinking of one, it would be petty of me.

Kudos: Nice way to send old friends home.

Birds By Species: 1 bw teal, 13 gw teal and 4 mallards

Photo Ops:

Lagniappe:

[Rick]

second split bus rolls on...

Not only have some big ducks around now, but the winter marsh is opening up and bringing the little ones' natural flight paths closer. 'Course you never know when the bottom will fall out, but I'm a whooole lot happier with my location now than this past November.

[DComeaux]

Keep on keeping on.

[Rick]

He's a beaut.

[Rick]

Date: 1/12 Fri

Time: morning

Location: Mudhole

Cloud Cover: heavy

Wind Direction and Velocity: NW strong

Temperature: Mid 30s but seemed a lot colder as the wind's cumulative effect and lack of action worked on us.

Moon phase: waning 17%

Special Notes:

Waterfowl Activity: Pretty dang dead. Nothing but a few strings of super high N to S twinklers with the front and a somewhat lower but just as sparse mostly pintail flight from south and west. Great majority of the big ducks we saw were local.

Waterfowl Responsiveness: Wind put what few big ducks worked right over the blind and slowed them enough to count heads.

Hunters: 2, Darren's FIL, Mike, and Jerry

Guns:

Malfunctions: We weren't nearly fast enough for the conditions at hand.

Dog(s): Easy morning for Marsh, aside from getting wet right off the bat securing a chipped sprig behind the blind.

Special Equipment: sos

Curses: No flight and had our first loose round of the season in the blind, while Doc J was loading. Bugs pee outta me when folks don't use their safeties correctly.

Kudos: All things considered, we still had a pleasant morning.

Birds By Species: 1 bw teal, 2 gw teal, 1 mallard and 1 pintail

[Darren]

Curses: No flight and had our first loose round of the season in the blind, while Doc J was loading. Bugs pee outta me when folks don't use their safeties correctly.

That'll wake you up to get things started. Yikes ! Little common gun handling procedure adherence goes a long way

[Rick]

Probably should have written "reloading," as it was fired after a volley in mid hunt. But still quite a surprise.

[aunt betty]

When that guy shot a hole in the pit convinced me to find some other guys to hunt with. Yep. I skipped the entire third split on ground that I rented. Went to public and killed more ducks in two weeks than I did the whole season with them jokers.

Goofball was using a side by side to hunt ducks with. Imagine that in a pit with you.
The guys all thought it was funny as hell. I was not amused. Not at all.

[Rick]

I'm the Devil to deal with over barrels in the blind. Once had an O/U go off when a fellow closed it. Operating lever put him in the ER for stitches. Absolutely hate seeing a double of any kind come out of the case, as they beat our cover down reloading:

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That, and the guys bringing them on duck hunts are almost invariably lousy shots. (And puleeze don't anyone bother telling me what the clay whizzes shoot.)

[Rick]

Date: 1/13 Sat

Time: Morning

Location: Mudhole

Cloud Cover: clear

Wind Direction and Velocity: N strong enough to be cold

Temperature: low 30s

Moon phase: waning 10%

Special Notes:

Waterfowl Activity: Just a couple groups of teal, but a nice earlier than normal show of new big ducks that ended shortly after 8, when we'd generally expect them to be starting.

Waterfowl Responsiveness: Excellent overall with both the MVP and Deceiver on some really high ones. Also broke a pair of "too high" specks that locked and dropped faster than I've seen specks drop in a long time - only to be banged out by shots to our east.

Hunters: 2, Collin who hadn't been in a while but shot well and Kevin on his first hunt.

Guns:

Malfunctions:

Dog(s): Tried keeping Marsh dry as long as possible and he whined about it a couple times - and got fussed for it. Can't stand a singing dog and will be hanged if I let him become one.

Special Equipment: SOS

Curses: Little doubt cost the guys the Almighty limit by laying off jacks and spoons and Susies, once we'd shot a few of the later. Really thought we'd fill with green - until their flight ended.

Kudos: Nice guys did well, given their givens, and Kevin's probably ruined.

Birds By Species: 1 bw teal, 2 gw teal, 11 mallards and 2 pintails

Photo Ops: Nice sprig and his captor during marsh's "dry" period:

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There's a dog in this one, too:

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Happy duck campers, Kevin and Collin:

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[DComeaux]

Awfully sweet.

[Ericdc]

Awesome strap, That’s kinda what I was hoping for today with the forecast...cursed clouds backed in from northeast and had us gray till noon...grrrr

I’m dying for a clear cold north wind morning


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[Rick]

Now having Kevin and Collin pretty well trained, their party will no doubt switch up, and I'll get two of the others who struggled yesterday - and see nothing but pond hoppers that will frustrate them all the more.

[Rick]

Date: 1/14 Sun

Time: morning

Location: Mudhole

Cloud Cover: clear

Wind Direction and Velocity: NE moderate to fairly strong

Temperature: upper 20s

Moon phase: waning 5%

Special Notes:

Waterfowl Activity: Only had one bunch of teal come by - and land. But mallards and pintails flew all morning, mostly high for a good while - then lower after we'd filled with both and were hoping for something else that never showed. So we left early and a couple birds short to let them have our part of the marsh without educating any more.

Waterfowl Responsiveness: Birds were super responsive from all altitudes and great fun to work.

Hunters: 2, Paul who'd hunted extensively and Tim not so much: "too excited to be shooting at ducks" to pick out green heads once that became an issue

Guns:

Malfunctions:

Dog(s): Really tickled with Marsh's work on the long chipped ones: marks, blinds and "go to works" (our "hunt-'em-ups"). But whoever removed his dew claws took too much and left scars that are getting cut by the ice in the flotant.

Special Equipment: SOS

Curses: Not a one, other than those dew claw removal scars.

Kudos: Nice folks had a big time. Paul rattled off a list of big name camps, then told me this was his best hunt ever. Something I frequently hear from less well traveled guests but less often from those who really know what what they've seen.

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

Photo Ops: Frustrates me when all I can get to commemorate really sweet dog work is poor shots that don't begin to tell the story:

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Though this one at least hints at the toughness of a bird shot near the juncture of spine and skull that still flew far enough to call for the boat to get within a couple hundred yards of, it takes the bug's proud pop to add that when I cut him loose he didn't need handled and had it marked better than I:

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Whole lot easier to get pretty pics of easy retrieves:

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Paul and Tim with all but the mounting birds portion of our haul:

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Lagniappe:

[Darren]

Well yea, it's a sunny, windy day at the Mudhole in January