2018-2019 Season Log

Re: 2018-2019 Season Log

Postby Rick » Thu Nov 15, 2018 12:52 pm

Date: 11/15

Time: morning

Location: mudhole

Cloud Cover: clear

Wind Direction and Velocity: nil to light and variable

Temperature: 30s but didn't feel it in the calm and sun

Moon phase:

Special Notes:

Waterfowl Activity: Had an early pair of big ducks in and out while we were getting organized, a little batch of greenwings that did as bid, our first big pintail flock, another little batch of greenwings that bumped hard off a spinner, and a trio of same that tried to do same. Saw most everything but the last three teal in the first hour.

Waterfowl Responsiveness: Got caught by the first pair, killed a couple of the first greenwings seen and one of the last three that's momentum got it in trouble when it tried to bump, and dropped just three of the pintails it should have been raining at their range.

Hunters: 2, Courtney and Paul(?)

Guns:

Malfunctions:

Dog(s): Marsh put on a handling show for the guys and did a jam-up tracking job on a chipped green-wing I was about to call him off.

Special Equipment: SOS

Curses: Just that ZERO flight makes an awfully long morning.

Kudos: Nice guys (who hunt down near Dave C) and were good about it.

Birds By Species: 3 green-wing teal and 3 pintails
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Re: 2018-2019 Season Log

Postby Darren » Thu Nov 15, 2018 1:45 pm

Rick, what's your experience with pintails and spinners? Treat them like mallards and turn it off when close, or find they draw to it? Other?
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Re: 2018-2019 Season Log

Postby DComeaux » Thu Nov 15, 2018 3:00 pm

Rick wrote:Kudos: Nice guys (who hunt down near Dave C) and were good about it.



Probably a good thing they were with you this morning.


Good to see marsh is doing his thing.
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Re: 2018-2019 Season Log

Postby Rick » Thu Nov 15, 2018 4:27 pm

Darren wrote:Rick, what's your experience with pintails and spinners? Treat them like mallards and turn it off when close, or find they draw to it? Other?


I kill the spinner ASAP (without having it roll to a stop right in their faces) with all big ducks, pintails included. Just like my odds of finishing them by call alone better than with a whirligig they may or may not like when they get near it.
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Re: 2018-2019 Season Log

Postby Rick » Thu Nov 15, 2018 4:31 pm

DComeaux wrote:Probably a good thing they were with you this morning.


There spot is on south-side open water just past the Rec Center and all they ever get are passing chances. So they were OK with how it went, but it still bugs me not to be able to make it "how it should be".
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Re: 2018-2019 Season Log

Postby Rick » Thu Nov 15, 2018 4:35 pm

11/15 Addendum -

Photo Ops: The bug with a still too rare pintail:
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Re: 2018-2019 Season Log

Postby Rick » Fri Nov 16, 2018 12:32 pm

Date: 11/16 Fri

Time: morning

Location: mudhole

Cloud Cover: clear

Wind Direction and Velocity: none

Temperature: comfortably cool

Moon phase:

Special Notes:

Waterfowl Activity: Nursed a scratch for over an hour, while seeing nothing and listening to others getting at least some shooting. Saw only a small handful of big, mottled, ducks and about as many little pods of teal all morning.

Waterfowl Responsiveness: Even with the spinners off, mottleds would lock to the call, realize their mistake and drive on, and the teal were all well enough trained to bounce off the spinners and could only be enticed to return with them off. Likely everything was "local" or localized.

Hunters: 2, relatively young guys, Chad and David

Guns:

Malfunctions:

Dog(s): easy morning - except for waiting for a chance to get on flotant and pee a bucket or two.

Special Equipment: Spinners did as much harm as good on the teal, while the splasher may have helped get some bumped teal back over the pond.

Curses: NO birds. (Don't believe anyone in our marsh had more than three.)

Kudos: Nice guys who were ok with it. And their buddies got their specks on our Thornwell farm.

Birds By Species: 1 blue-wing teal and 2 green-wings
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Re: 2018-2019 Season Log

Postby Rick » Sat Nov 17, 2018 12:40 pm

Date: 11/17

Time: morning

Location: Mudhole

Cloud Cover: partly

Wind Direction and Velocity: dead calm to very light SE by mid hunt

Temperature: 45 and rising

Moon phase: waxing 63%

Special Notes: "east" (north of 14) and AR openers

Waterfowl Activity: Pressures elsewhere sent us enough teal for a fine shoot and more, mostly too high, big ducks than we've been seeing.

Waterfowl Responsiveness: Had some calling "help" that muddied our big duck efforts but didn't hurt as much on little ones once I'd explained the workings of the "momma call" once they were broken.

Hunters: 3, Josh, Ryan and Cory

Guns: I managed to leave my 20 in the truck and shot the 12ga 870 blind gun.

Malfunctions: Took a bit to remember to pump after last shots.

Dog(s): Marsh had a busy morning with plenty of chipped crips.

Special Equipment: SOS

Curses: Won't kick a bit.

Kudos: Enough birds and nice guys who shot well enough to have the big hunt.

Birds By Species: 18 bw teal, 5 gw teal and 1 mallard

Photo Ops: Cory, Josh and Ryan with a mess of bluewings that should have been in Belize:
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Re: 2018-2019 Season Log

Postby DComeaux » Sat Nov 17, 2018 1:03 pm

Very nice! We saw a good bit of BW as well. Had a few surprise missed opportunities on those while trying to work big ducks that seemed interested.
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Re: 2018-2019 Season Log

Postby Duck Engr » Sat Nov 17, 2018 7:33 pm

DComeaux wrote:Very nice! We saw a good bit of BW as well. Had a few surprise missed opportunities on those while trying to work big ducks that seemed interested.


We had one land in the decoys as we were brushing the pit yesterday. First one I’ve seen up here in a while.
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Re: 2018-2019 Season Log

Postby Rick » Sun Nov 18, 2018 4:40 am

Bluewings have been a real blessing to date. But most will blow out sooner than later now that they're all under the gun.
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Re: 2018-2019 Season Log

Postby Rick » Sun Nov 18, 2018 12:15 pm

Date: 11/18

Time: morning

Location: mudhole

Cloud Cover: clear

Wind Direction and Velocity: light easterly

Temperature: warm

Moon phase:

Special Notes:

Waterfowl Activity: Far less moving than hoped. Teal were mostly gone, but did see a few small groups of HIGH big ducks. And even a very few specks passing.

Waterfowl Responsiveness: Broke some mighty high big ducks only to have others' shooting blow most out. Also blew out a single speck about to die and a pair that had worked down nicely. Seemed like there wouldn't be another shot in the marsh for ten or fifteen minutes - until we had something on final approach. Time after time after time. Highlight was single-quacking a mottled to his death after he's pushed hard off us. Started to push off again, but really bearing down as he got sideways turned him back and brought him on in.

Hunters: 3, Quinton, Eddie and Brady

Guns:

Malfunctions:

Dog(s): The bug did a super tracking job on a chipped greenhead that enjoyed a serious head start while he ran down its also tipped pal. Chesapeake!

Special Equipment: SOS

Curses: No birds and the incredibly bad timing of what little shooting there was in the marsh.

Kudos: Good guys and we had a lot of fun joking about it.

Birds By Species: 3 bw teal, 1 gw teal, 2 mallards, 1 mottled and 3 shovellers

Photo Ops: Not a good photo, but about all I could get of a retrieve that led Marsh what seemed halfway to the ICC:
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Re: 2018-2019 Season Log

Postby Bruce Yerkes » Sun Nov 18, 2018 8:41 pm

Rick, Canada goose season started here in Maryland Saturday, this years hatch was down 30% and they are already talking at best for next season a 1 bird limit and 30 day season, but we managed to have a good hunt. I am so glad to hear Jenny Rose is back at camp, I will put in order for my special dinner request of catfish, alligator and frog legs. Looking forward to my January visit, my 11th year, hard to believe. Enjoying reading your posts til I get there.

Bruce.
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Re: 2018-2019 Season Log

Postby Rick » Mon Nov 19, 2018 4:51 am

Bruce! Ya shouldn't of been here yesterday.

Have been seeing bits and pieces on East Coast cut-backs and feel for you folks there. We've so few specks around, they might as well cut ours. (Blues are rolling in like they haven't in a while, but specks remain largely AWOL.)

Haven't seen her, yet, but Alice is back, too, and am pretty sure you'll get your dinner request. Know they've all the ingredients.
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Re: 2018-2019 Season Log

Postby Darren » Mon Nov 19, 2018 9:39 am

Bruce Yerkes wrote:Rick, Canada goose season started here in Maryland Saturday, this years hatch was down 30% and they are already talking at best for next season a 1 bird limit and 30 day season, but we managed to have a good hunt. I am so glad to hear Jenny Rose is back at camp, I will put in order for my special dinner request of catfish, alligator and frog legs. Looking forward to my January visit, my 11th year, hard to believe. Enjoying reading your posts til I get there.

Bruce.



Bruce, what are your dates in Jan? May cross paths, and that meal sounds like one my of favorites.
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Re: 2018-2019 Season Log

Postby Darren » Mon Nov 19, 2018 9:42 am

Rick wrote:Bruce! Ya shouldn't of been here yesterday.

Have been seeing bits and pieces on East Coast cut-backs and feel for you folks there. We've so few specks around, they might as well cut ours. (Blues are rolling in like they haven't in a while, but specks remain largely AWOL.)

Haven't seen her, yet, but Alice is back, too, and am pretty sure you'll get your dinner request. Know they've all the ingredients.



Rick I thought it strange to see so much light goose traffic this weekend, but see and hear so few specks. What are they liking north of us that the snows and blues are apparently moving on from?? Just seems backwards to me

FIL Mike passed along a video he took from near Oak Island HC Saturday afternoon, impressive body of snows for any time of the season, much less mid November.
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Re: 2018-2019 Season Log

Postby Rick » Mon Nov 19, 2018 12:33 pm

Darren wrote:FIL Mike passed along a video he took from near Oak Island HC Saturday afternoon, impressive body of snows for any time of the season, much less mid November.


They were on one of Beau's grit piles.
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Re: 2018-2019 Season Log

Postby Rick » Mon Nov 19, 2018 12:47 pm

Date: 11/19 Mon

Time: morning

Location: mudhole

Cloud Cover: partly to cloudy

Wind Direction and Velocity: dead calm most of the morning to light easterly

Temperature: t-shirt

Moon phase:

Special Notes:

Waterfowl Activity: Again likely saw more blues than ducks, but did see some high ducks, large and small filtering south.

Waterfowl Responsiveness: Most of the teal around seemed residents that bounced off the spinners and were tough to coerce into returning even with them off. Had much better luck getting big ducks down and nearly in than yesterday, as what shooting there was in the marsh was more favorably timed. But "crowd control" and old age took their toll on our chances.

Hunters: 2, Parker and Andrew, super nice but super tall older father and son.

Guns:

Malfunctions:

Dog(s): Marsh had an easy morning.

Special Equipment: SOS

Curses: Only that there wasn't enough of a flight to make it work better.

Kudos: Still managed a mighty pleasant morning and got to finish with a really neat mallards-from-the-heavens show.

Birds By Species: 3 bw teal, 1 gadwall, 3 gw teal, 2 mallards and 1 shoveller

Photo Ops:

Lagniappe: Remember that when I hunted these folks last year I noted in the log that Andrew deferred to his father, who, in turn, was deferring to Father Time, while the ducks were deferring to no one. And that's just how it went again, but I'm awfully glad we made it Parker's hunt. Might have killed a mess more ducks without his age issues, but wouldn't have managed as fine of a time. Said he's already looking forward to next year, and so am I.
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Re: 2018-2019 Season Log

Postby Darren » Mon Nov 19, 2018 1:27 pm

Rick wrote:
Darren wrote:FIL Mike passed along a video he took from near Oak Island HC Saturday afternoon, impressive body of snows for any time of the season, much less mid November.


They were on one of Beau's grit piles.



Yea that sounds familiar, have heard the name here and there while visiting.
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Re: 2018-2019 Season Log

Postby Johnc » Mon Nov 19, 2018 2:21 pm

Any specks mixed with the blues? Like a few per blue group?
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Re: 2018-2019 Season Log

Postby Ericdc » Mon Nov 19, 2018 2:22 pm

Johnc wrote:Any specks mixed with the blues? Like a few per blue group?


Yes in Jones


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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Re: 2018-2019 Season Log

Postby Johnc » Mon Nov 19, 2018 2:32 pm

Very good.
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Re: 2018-2019 Season Log

Postby Darren » Mon Nov 19, 2018 3:19 pm

a scant few mixed in those groups I saw in Avoyelles parish, lot of big high groups of snows moving

Thinking about giving it a go up there tomorrow behind this front and rain
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Re: 2018-2019 Season Log

Postby Rick » Mon Nov 19, 2018 3:20 pm

Johnc wrote:Any specks mixed with the blues? Like a few per blue group?


No, not that I could hear, but there was one small, maybe a dozen, flight of southbound specks if that counts. Oddly to me, we're seeing far fewer blues bouncing back off the Gulf than heading that way.
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Re: 2018-2019 Season Log

Postby Johnc » Mon Nov 19, 2018 3:51 pm

Rick wrote:
Johnc wrote:Any specks mixed with the blues? Like a few per blue group?


No, not that I could hear, but there was one small, maybe a dozen, flight of southbound specks if that counts. Oddly to me, we're seeing far fewer blues bouncing back off the Gulf than heading that way.



Nearly the entire flight I am seeing is coming from the North going south which is very odd,and Not terribly high
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Re: 2018-2019 Season Log

Postby Johnc » Mon Nov 19, 2018 3:55 pm

Now that I think about it,I don’t know if there was one group of nothing but specks yesterday. I pulled 3 out of blues,then three more appeared out of no where when the three were on the death swing.

Usually this time of year,start working a few specks then others appear and undercut the original birds,none of that seen
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Re: 2018-2019 Season Log

Postby Rick » Tue Nov 20, 2018 12:43 pm

Date: 11/20 Tue

Time: morning

Location: mudhole

Cloud Cover: cloudy

Wind Direction and Velocity: NNE strong to moderate

Temperature: 50ish, chilly in the wind

Moon phase: 88% waxing

Special Notes:

Waterfowl Activity: Most big ducks we've seen to date, albeit mostly really high, but still not a visible migration flight. Just periodic bunches. Relatively few teal and mostly still bouncing off the spinners.

Waterfowl Responsiveness: Started out with MVP, switched to Stanley Deceiver until the wind waned some. Deceiver was breaking them high, high, but I'm still more comfortable with the MVP's handling and tone range when working them close.

Hunters: 2, Trent(?) and Mark who've hunted a lot but in places where they're mostly just whacking at passing birds.

Guns: Mark had an O/U 20 that should have been a good fit for the pothole, but Trent was doing more good.

Malfunctions:

Dog(s): The bug made new fans but also wanted to shut me off when being handled to the second of two birds in the same place. Needs some walking baseball handling re-programing.

Special Equipment: SOS

Curses: None at all.

Kudos: The guys were in hog heaven watching the birds be broken down and brought to the guns, and I was tickled to have folks who both hid and shot pretty well.

Birds By Species: 6 bw teal, 2 gadwall, 7 mallards, 1 ringneck and 2 spoons (while I yelled "Spoons, spoons, spoons!")
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Re: 2018-2019 Season Log

Postby Deltaman » Tue Nov 20, 2018 1:41 pm

Nice hunt Rick, and glad you were able to pull the big ducks down! Don't see 7 Mallards on many straps, sweet :thumbsup:
"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"
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Re: 2018-2019 Season Log

Postby Rick » Tue Nov 20, 2018 4:10 pm

Just volunteered to hunt this morning's hunters' sons tomorrow, as they were apparently acting up with Isaac. 'Bout to learn this old guy knows where he can find hot coffee and brunch if they're not inclined to toe the line and shoot ducks.
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Re: 2018-2019 Season Log

Postby DComeaux » Tue Nov 20, 2018 4:46 pm

Nice hunt Rick!!! At least you know what you're in for tomorrow morning. How old are these 'sons"?
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