2018-2019 Preseason...

[Darren]

Rick,

You've been duped, those are not ducks, much less the alleged mallards. As is widely reported on here, there are no ducks in Louisiana, especially mallards, they don't come here anymore.













Hope you and whoever stack 'em up.

[Rick]

Bird brains?

Worked in our marsh today and didn't move but a very few birds other than a mess of jacks in Gabe's big pond on the east end. That is until I decided to take advantage of high water and an empty marsh to go exploring. Didn't get 50 yards off the boat trail just past Clyde's blind before starting a cluster flush. Mostly little birds, but some big ones, too, that had let me pass four times on the boat run without spooking. Sure looked to me like the sly buggers have us patterned.

[DComeaux]

Rick,

You've been duped, those are not ducks, much less the alleged mallards. As is widely reported on here, there are no ducks in Louisiana, especially mallards, they don't come here anymore.















Hope you and whoever stack 'em up.

You're silly.

[Rick]

From this time last year:

But for my more isolated pothole's purposes, the "not great but better" reports I'd heard from the Cherry Ridge crew were spot on, as there were pairs and small groups of mallards popping up periodically all the way down the trail and from the broken marsh north of the Mudhole, a few as close as the first open water. Could even occasionally hear mallards popping off while re-brushing the blind. Not nearly enough that little ducks are apt to get a pass tomorrow, but certainly enough to raise my spirits after our grim, all but mallardless first split.

Oh, for the good old days of yesterseason. Thought about that pleasant boat ride all the way down our nearly birdless boat trail yesterday. Since I got a pretty late start yesterday, saw Clyde's blind appeared done and spinners were back out and did, in fact, eventually spring a fair show of birds, I'm hoping he'd just cleared what was along the trail.

Will be making a "last" brushing pass out there early this morning and may, or may not, see something more encouraging. Strictly soul food, regardless, as the pot's going to be well stirred Saturday morning. Just hoping enough big, slow ones come by to keep Tommy in the game.

[Rick]

Weeeell, I can't say I moved but a very few more birds on the way to my blind this morning, but I at least saw more overall (not counting yesterday's venture toward one of our main holding areas by Clyde's blind) between those passing while I was at the mudhole and seen for the first time this year on a big pond south of it. Think the passers-by likely put off Cherry Ridge's west end by Clark and crew working on the blinds there, but it was nice to see some big ducks sitting what should be "near enough" if I jump on a call.

Speaking of which, I've been carrying a relatively new Daisy Cutter I've put more curve in the toneboard of to make it more like the old half-scroll version I liked well enough to bring out of retirement time and again over the years since it first caught my fancy, and I worked a few mallards with it this morning. But if there's any real magic in such a hoarse, coarse call, I missed it yet again. Couldn't help but think it lacked the "teeth," "leverage" whatever you want to call the almost, if not, involuntary reflex response I'm accustomed to enjoying with cleaner, crisper calls. Maybe a head thing...but I don't think so.

Anyway, here are some setup pics (which I'm pretty sure I forgot to take first split) from yesterday afternoon and this morning, starting with the blind's new, scabbier look (same homemade cane mat that hides the Go-devil tail and boat-hide hole covers the exposed horizontal 2x in the pic):

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The view that matters most, ie: that of big ducks finishing into my favorite N to NE winds:

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And an overall shot that catches most of our show (again, the big hole at the end of the boat-hide and its square top go away when our mat's angled down over it):

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[Ducaholic]

Looks good 'Rick.

[DComeaux]

That's looking good my friend!!! I can see the straps now.

[SpinnerMan]

Looks a lot better than this.



Amazing transformation from all of Rick's hard work.

[MARSH BEAR]

Does not look like the same place

[Rick]

Still a landscape of mud domes that occasionally erupt just under that slick surface, but it apparently looks inviting enough until they're plenty close enough.

[Rick]

Set me to thinking about re-habs past, as there have definitely been tougher years:

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Wish I'd discovered cheap digital photography before my first long summer in the sun there - which was after Rita had done much/most of the heavy work the fall prior. Don't know that I'd of even tried without her help.

[Rick]

Got the morning-after duck report from Cherry Ridge over Tiger Mart coffee: most ducks they've seen in ten years showed up since Tuesday.

As noted above, I didn't see as many in ours yesterday morning as this time last year, but gather I can, in fact, thank Cherry Ridge work crews for the mallards I got to play with.

Beat the rain to the marsh this morning to drop off a fresh house light battery and swap out the one in my boat but elected not to go riding and let whatever's out there be at least until after the rain - when the last minute crowd runs it out. Know that really doesn't matter a lick, as everything changes when the guns go off Saturday, anyway, but it's nice to be all smug and self-satisfied about having my own preparations behind me.

[DComeaux]

Sounds good! and I'm anxious to see what we might have been given over the last two weeks. I know the blind will need bailing and the brush touched up, but that'll have to wait until we arrive Saturday morning. Our boat sits out in a stand of roseau at the launch area (motor covered) and I'll tend to it Friday afternoon. I'm sure the water level in it will be high.

[BGkirk]

Is cherry ridge a guide service? Or is that term just used for that area where you know the folks that hunt it ?


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[Duck Engr]

most ducks they've seen in ten years showed up since Tuesday.

Whoa!!

[Rick]

Is cherry ridge a guide service? Or is that term just used for that area where you know the folks that hunt it ?

It's a $7500 a day commercial operation, whether you come one man or ten, and $750 a gun if over ten. Very much a high-roller camp. (That a smarter me would be working for but not having as much fun at.)

[Ericdc]

Is cherry ridge a guide service? Or is that term just used for that area where you know the folks that hunt it ?

It's a $7500 a day commercial operation, whether you come one man or ten, and $750 a gun if over ten. Very much a high-roller camp. (That a smarter me would be working for but not having as much fun at.)

They have 9:30 curfew too?


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[Rick]

10am.

[Johnc]

Cherry ridge and lulu’s are elite marshes with history sports fans.

[Rick]

Cherry ridge and lulu’s are elite marshes with history sports fans.

P1010490.jpg

[Johnc]

Cherry ridge and lulu’s are elite marshes with history sports fans.

P1010490.jpg

That’s a good thing you’ll have that marsh. Field hunting other then the crumbs of specks we now get,pretty dismal

I just remember growing up,cherry ridge,lulu’s mentioned—-the old timers would say mallard heaven

[Rick]

I just remember growing up,cherry ridge,lulu’s mentioned—-the old timers would say mallard heaven

A friend who was there long before we were once told me that he grew up dreaming of guiding for Lulu's - then, when he finally fulfilled that dream, found that his, one they then hunted instead of the mudhole, was "just another blind".

Similarly, I'd long heard Percy's Marsh (before the name change to "Cherry Ridge") was duck hunting Nirvana, but shortly after the accompanying change of management, I started getting to hunt there on friends and family type days - and always ended up wishing I was at my then Reese farm blind shooting mallards, instead. (Bud, who browses here, has hunted both it and the mudhole and can probably remember where he's shot the most mallards.) Might well have been a different story if I'd gotten to hunt what was then Bashon's and is now Clark's blind, because it's STRONG, and birds lock up for it from way the hey up, just as they did for what everyone called "the big blind" in Thornwell before we lost it. But outside those magical "X"s the birds just can't resist, it's still hunting - and will be once the guns again push what's now near blinds out this weekend.

Point being "the grass is always greener..."

Which isn't to suggest that we're not blessed to have what we do, we are, but it's largely because most of the rice has been sliced and diced with several times more blinds per acre than it supported in the '90s (and never mind crawfishing activity), while pressure in our marshes has remained much closer to long term average.

[Rick]

Sweet morning to be out and about "getting the dog some exercise". OK, we might have been doing a touch of scouting while we were at it. Were enough ducks on a piece south of Gueydan to keep us from exploring all I would have liked to there, but it was still nice to see so many around our blind there and neat to have geese overhead much of the time and work a couple by voice before deciding it was best to leave them be, too.

Went on to a truly scabby piece I shot a lot of deer, woodcock and big ducks on before Doug started subbing it out to folks I didn't know a few years back. No one subbed it this year, and I found it's now much better for deer and woodcock but my "secret" holes - until a hunter I'd taken there for mottleds told Doug where we went - have filled in with cut grass. The later was disappointing, but having a big, beautiful hen woodcock float up just a few feet from me, just as I was thinking how sweet her covert would surely be when our winds swung north, has me looking forward to teaching Marsh how much fun they can be. (Gonna keep how tasty to myself.)

Matt was headed to set up the back blind beyond mine in the marsh, anyway, so I went, too, and pumped yesterday's rain from my blind and straightened what brush was windblown. Moved the fewest birds seen there this week, but that may be because a strong westerly wind confined most of the noise of our passage largely to the east-west trail we take. No matter, was grand to be out there in the wind, too.

Nothing left to do but change out the corks in my calls and load the truck. Well, might also eat some ice cream...

[Darren]

Sounds great, yall tear 'em up