2018-2019 Preseason...

[Rick]

Pink flamingo?

Ever see a flamingo carrying a post grad degree?

Never seen a duck do it either...

Well, brace yourself.

Given the amount of egrets common to flooded ag lands, wonder how an egret decoy down the levee a bit from the blind might factor in committing more birds to the spread.

We've shot thousands of birds with a mostly white Brittany at the blind, and I reckon they thought him something benign, be it white bird, pvc or trash...

[Rick]

Might be dynamite for hens if you stick a duckling in its bill:

[Rick]

This decoy airbrushing project seems to have had at least as many steps back as forward, and I really ought to be keeping a written record of both my mistakes and apparent successes - and that document firmly in hand each and every time I think about proceeding. Just now I'm kicking myself over priming 33 speck decoys after giving them their last wash (after pressure washing and wire brushing) with a wash cloth, instead of the dark gray (body shop duty) Scotch pads I have on hand for that job but forgot about. What a dumbarse!

Guess I was distracted by last minute primer issues brought on by learning that "flat white" can vary enough to appreciably change the tone of the finished product when the brown mix that looked best over last spring's test "flat white" is thinly airbrushed over another "flat white". That, and trying to remember being reminded that thin are critical to getting everything from the lightest gray/tan of a speck's chest to its dark brown primaries out of the same base color - after boogering the latest "finished products" I felt obliged to redo.

Grrr...

[Darren]

Yikes! I'm lost in all that already, not handy with paint myself beyond half-A coats of green on my blinds, wooden paddles, pushpoles, etc. for the most part.

[Rick]

I've no aptitude for it whatsoever, just something I've long told myself I wanted to do and finally got around to. Given all the false starts, it would have been cheaper to buy new - and never mind the difference between the pros' work and mine.

[Rick]

Did a little deer hoping in a pretty hopeless spot this morning which went as expected, except for seeing the first little bunch of blues of the new fall much earlier than usual. Was also buzzed by a few teal flights, saw a scattering of woodies, one mottled and some specks: one very high, likely new flight, one low one and three singles or one single three times...

[Rick]

Took the Marsh Fire south of Gueydan to wear him out in driving water and was surprised by another blue/snow, singular, there. Also plenty of mostly mottled ducks, including some miscellaneous ones and even grays that must have taken a wrong turn. Cool weather also had several truck loads of guys out prepping blinds.

[Bud]

Your white paint post reminded me of painting a mallard hen white many moons back. Never noticed a big difference, except how it drew marsh mud. Painted a Great Blue Heron white with the white paint, as I was tired of the Blue Heron, and did notice a small difference. Ibis would fly over closer. There was this Egret that lit a few feet from it one morning. He preened about five minutes without looking at the decoy, then looked it up and down for about a minute. Settled in for about twenty minutes, giving me a pair of Egret decoys. He flew away when I guess he grew tired of the boring bird.

Painted an orange kayak drab green(the kind we sit on not in) and they started selling them drab green within a year or two(like minds and needs). They started selling a white Egret about then also.

In regards to deer hoping, the wife reminded me of the time changing next weekend. That meddles with my evening hunts. Wish someone would paint that one color and let it be.

[Rick]

Your white paint post reminded me of painting a mallard hen white many moons back. Never noticed a big difference, except how it drew marsh mud. Painted a Great Blue Heron white with the white paint, as I was tired of the Blue Heron, and did notice a small difference. Ibis would fly over closer. There was this Egret that lit a few feet from it one morning. He preened about five minutes without looking at the decoy, then looked it up and down for about a minute. Settled in for about twenty minutes, giving me a pair of Egret decoys. He flew away when I guess he grew tired of the boring bird.

In the spirit of candor, I've owned both a heron and a couple egrets, and the only difference I noticed was that many more things to fool with.

[SpinnerMan]

the wife reminded me of the time changing next weekend.

I hunt before work so I'm a big fan

[Darren]

Did a little deer hoping in a pretty hopeless spot this morning which went as expected, except for seeing the first little bunch of blues of the new fall much earlier than usual. Was also buzzed by a few teal flights, saw a scattering of woodies, one mottled and some specks: one very high, likely new flight, one low one and three singles or one single three times...

Blue Day in Klondike!

A fellow outdoor media member shared some photos of absolute throngs of BWT over that way in some rice over the weekend. Guess it's the hens and youngin's finally coming through

[Rick]

Probably so, as there are scads of bluewings around now.

When speaking of early arrivals seen below Gueydan yesterday, I neglected to mention a half dozen coots that also struck me as such.

Saw nothing but a few specks while exercising the bug in Klondike this morning. But did get to work a little bunch part way to the toy wagon. (Old truck's still in the shop with a second re-built engine supposedly on its way from Dallas.)

[DComeaux]

Rick, what is the speck situation around your neck of the woods?

[Rick]

Still sparse.

[DComeaux]

Our northern neighbors will give em a push over the next few weeks.

[Rick]

A Thornwell friend said evening before last was the first real speck show there. Wasn't much for geese below Gueydan that morning, but the teal!!! Expect to be in Klondike much of this morning, and we'll see...

[Rick]

The bug thinks he's been screwed by having to stay home all weekend, but it's actually been "dog" weekend in the marsh. Did spend good while clearing the back blind's pond, but mostly I floundered around on the flotant in leaky waders pulling fourchettes and hauling them off to where they'll not end up working their way under his eye's, up his nose or down his ears:

011a.jpg

As well as clearing a passage way through the island flotant that's always been tough on the dogs when retrieving from south of the blind:

004a.jpg

Whether the bug will actually use the little run remains to be seen, but it begins at the submerged ramp I sank to allow them to hop back in the boat, and he's well accustomed to using that.

Hope I've helped him somehow, anyway, as there's no way to spend any time on the flotant around the mudhole without feeling for the dog that works it daily.

[DComeaux]

Marsh is looking good! Are those fourchettes easy to up root?

[Rick]

Are those fourchettes easy to up root?

Usually very easy to pull, if you're patient. There's precious little root system, but the stems are fragile, easily broken and often winding through other flotant vegetation. I'd once weed-eaten them to the water line to prevent reseeding, but the remaining roots and stem just sprout more stems the following year, so I now try to pull it all and have been pretty successful in cutting back on how much returns each year - except in the places where I'm struggling not to go over my waders (again). Been moving farther afield/afloat from the blind to pull it from most everywhere the dog is normally apt to venture, but may try just 2-4Ding what's well away from the mudhole next go-around.

[Rick]

Could add that our weekend bird count was somewhat different than yours down by the coast. Wouldn't have seen a bird Saturday if Clyde hadn't spotted a lone teal while we were talking about not seeing any, but there were perhaps a dozen jacks on Gabe's east end pond when I passed yesterday morning that had returned to it by the time he got there. So maybe they'll stick. Also bumped a pair of presumably mottled ducks and a woodie and saw a single gray pass. We're loading up!

Still not specklebelly day in Klondike, just a few seen moving and none spotted on the ground.

[DComeaux]

Could add that our weekend bird count was somewhat different than yours down by the coast. Wouldn't have seen a bird Saturday if Clyde hadn't spotted a lone teal while we were talking about not seeing any, but there were perhaps a dozen jacks on Gabe's east end pond when I passed yesterday morning that had returned to it by the time he got there. So maybe they'll stick. Also bumped a pair of presumably mottled ducks and a woodie and saw a single gray pass. We're loading up!

Still not specklebelly day in Klondike, just a few seen moving and none spotted on the ground.

We did see a couple of flocks of divers while at the blind, and I'd think (hope) the front coming through this week will bring more of those and others.

[Darren]

Could add that our weekend bird count was somewhat different than yours down by the coast. Wouldn't have seen a bird Saturday if Clyde hadn't spotted a lone teal while we were talking about not seeing any, but there were perhaps a dozen jacks on Gabe's east end pond when I passed yesterday morning that had returned to it by the time he got there. So maybe they'll stick. Also bumped a pair of presumably mottled ducks and a woodie and saw a single gray pass. We're loading up!

Still not specklebelly day in Klondike, just a few seen moving and none spotted on the ground.

My money's on later this week being the ticket. Saw a video from over that way this morning (taken yesterday I think) of a good many working into a couple of cuts

[Ericdc]

Them specks are going to have to fly over a lot of muddy undisked rice and soybean fields up here on their way to you guys this fall .

I would imagine y’all get some central flyway birds too though.


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[Ericdc]

The most recent DU magazine had a great article about specks and their migration changes since the 70’s. The number 1 factor they suggested for the change is rice production.



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[Rick]

The number 1 factor they suggested for the change is rice production.

Might well account for some of it, but I'd even question "most". From a gunning standpoint, I've preferred once plowed fallow ground to rice for decades.

[Ericdc]

The number 1 factor they suggested for the change is rice production.

Might well account for some of it, but I'd even question "most". From a gunning standpoint, I've preferred once plowed fallow ground to rice for decades.

Right but gunning ground is not the same as holding ground right?


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[Duck Engr]

The most recent DU magazine had a great article about specks and their migration changes since the 70’s. The number 1 factor they suggested for the change is rice production.



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Interesting map. From what I’ve been told, there are tons of geese currently near our lease. I have to imagine John and Jarren did very well this weekend.

[Rick]

The number 1 factor they suggested for the change is rice production.

Might well account for some of it, but I'd even question "most". From a gunning standpoint, I've preferred once plowed fallow ground to rice for decades.

Right but gunning ground is not the same as holding ground right?

Not sure why it wouldn't be from the bird's standpoint, other than one having guns that keep them from holding there. Most everybody wants to lease rice, but it's not been the best hunting in my experience - just easier for humans to get around in than rough plowed fallow stuff.