2018-2019 Season Log

[Rick]

Hope other wheels are in motion well to our north as well.

Reminded me that Dusty and his two guys had eight specks pass over them south of Gueydan this morning.

[Rick]

Nice hunt. Johnny told me the story of what happened with their guns and equipment. Glad they were able to make it work and have a good time.

Shoot, I didn't know that they weren't expecting to borrow guns from the get-go, as I was asked about loaners a day or two ago. Pretty sure both Ed and Dusty, who split the other four guys, both spoke of them being new to it, as did Matt and Brian.

[Rick]

Would appear to be set for a strong finish with weekend gunners out and about

Planning a just-he-and-me hunt with grandson Preston Sunday morning that I sure hope will grant him more opportunities than he had the last time out.

[DComeaux]

Hope other wheels are in motion well to our north as well.

Reminded me that Dusty and his two guys had eight specks pass over them south of Gueydan this morning.

Read a comment from a Canadian hunter who has posted some darn good videos on a certain forum over the years. He mentioned that they're freezing up already, with temps all next week below freezing. He was able to walk across a large ditch on top of the ice just yesterday. This is much different than last year, where I saw him hunt late into there season with no weather issues.

[Rick]

Neglected to note in the log that most, if not, everything I fired the Model 12 at fell, and I'm really loving it. But even though I tried to ta-ta the gun, marsh work was harder on it than I care to be. So it may never make another trip out there unless, perhaps, the fellow who blessed me with it is along.

Dave, it will be interesting to see how that works out for us. May not matter at all if not accompanied by deep snow.

[Deltaman]

Awesome season to date Rick, and glad you got some fresh birds for your newcomers as well!!!!!!!

[Rick]

We've been incredibly fortunate to date, with the glaring exception being when Grandson Preston went last Monday. Taking a play day Sunday morning to try and make that right and keeping fingers and toes crossed...

[Rick]

Date: 9/29 Sat

Time: morning

Location: mudhole

Cloud Cover: light rain

Wind Direction and Velocity: NE light

Temperature: comfortable enough

Moon phase: waxing 80%

Special Notes:

Waterfowl Activity: Disappointing, especially for a weekend. Rain might have had them in the rice, but there was not an appreciable flight from marsh to rice, as is often the case with rain. But most others in the marsh struggled much more than we did (don't know how Isaac fared, though we also stuck it out longer than anyone else (finished after 9).

Waterfowl Responsiveness: Screamed at whatever showed far or wide and had pretty good luck with it. Actually probably did better when hailing distant birds, as the two tallest of the guys would reach up and put muffs on whenever birds were sighted.

Hunters: 3, Jim, Mike and Will

Guns:

Malfunctions:

Dog(s): The bug had another good one, but he's decided to try to whine when the big bunches work us over and needed hushed a couple times.

Special Equipment: SOS

Curses: Just rain, crowd control and worry over how the weather will affect Preston's hunt in the morning.

Kudos: Nice guys, and we got lucky again.

Birds By Species: 24 bw teal (too wet and lazy to check drake/hen ratio)

[Bud]

Hope you and Preston have a great time. Nice way to end a season.

[Rick]

Thanks guys.

[Rick]

Date: 9/30 Sat

Time: afternoon

Location: south of Gueydan

Cloud Cover: raining

Wind Direction and Velocity: northerly mod to light

Temperature: cool once wet

Moon phase:

Special Notes: Ed took his wife and new hunter, Pam, to his east blind in the marsh for the morning hunt and had precious little that cooperated for her, so he called to see if I wanted to bring Preston on an afternoon field hunt, which he jumped on.

Waterfowl Activity: Feared the all day rain would have them worn out and sitting, but plenty of birds were moving in all directions by six.

Waterfowl Responsiveness: Birds were flying crazy, as is often the case in the rain, and I struggled to break flights, let alone line them up pretty for people with no more cover than those who've been hunting the spot left us (ie: essentially none).

Hunters: 3, Ed, Pam and Preston

Guns:

Malfunctions: Preston's youth 870 seized a fired hull, as newer 870s are prone to do. But it only happened once...knock wood.

Dog(s): Ed's new pup sacrificed a few long falls in the nearly hip boot deep water.

Special Equipment: Only used the teal decoys Fred had moved to the spot, and probably should have deployed my bigger decoys that were stashed nearby along with my spinners, which we did use.

Curses: Mighty tough conditions for our new hunters and dog.

Kudos: While Ed probably did most of the good, Pam and Preston each hit some, too.

Birds By Species: 10 bw teal

Lagniappe: Learned a new expression when Preston didn't raise his gun on the first two ops, which were big, fully committed bunches. Asked why, he told me "Gotta get the chills out." Not sure if that's a common term in his and his dad's deer camp circles or, perhaps, the ball teams he plays on. But am sure I kinda wish I still got such powerful "chills" watching birds do it right.

[Rick]

Date: 9/30 Sun

Time: morning

Location: mudhole

Cloud Cover: heavy to rain

Wind Direction and Velocity: NE light

Temperature: cool when wet

Moon phase:

Special Notes:

Waterfowl Activity: "Flight" was way too short for our purposes and shut down entirely with the rain.

Waterfowl Responsiveness: Most everything did as bid, except for the falling part.

Hunters: 1, just grandson, Preston, and I

Guns: Cut-down 870 20ga was hurting Preston's shoulder, even with 2 3/4" shells, so I swapped him my semi-auto that he felt kicked much less. Was probably too long stocked for him, but he said it was fine and stuck with it.

Malfunctions: Shot hulls were again sometimes sticking in his 870, but perhaps just Kents, as he said Nitro Steel I'd bought him at Christmas cycled well, and I found some Winchester Dry-Loc's I had in the blind box were fine.

Dog(s): Marsh had an easy morning

Special Equipment: SOS

Curses: Just that this morning's "flight" was as weak as when I'd brought Preston and his father last Monday.

Kudos: Preston struggled afterwards, but his first shot of the morning dropped a Scotch double that made both of our mornings.

Birds By Species: 7 bw teal

Photo Ops: New duck hunter:

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with ducks:

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Lagniappe: Poor as his opportunities have seemed from my jaded perspective, a boy whose shot a mess of deer for one his age is now good and thoroughly hooked on ducks.

[DComeaux]

Awesome! Made me smile.

[Rick]

Made me smile, too. Would have wished Preston more opportunity to "get the chills out," but it was a sweet way to finish out a great September season.

[Darren]

Made me smile, too. Would have wished Preston more opportunity to "get the chills out," but it was a sweet way to finish out a great September season.

Yea I don't know about this "chills out" process.........wad of birds in the dekes, but no gun raised......does not compute! But sure glad he enjoyed birds on the strap both Sat PM and Sun AM. Good work in setting the hook in him

[Deltaman]

Nice ending to a great season Rick, and Thanks again for taking us along!

[Rick]

2018-2019 September Teal Wrap-up

Date: Aside from a very few comparatively "weak" days, we were flat blessed start to finish.

Time: Every morning in the marsh and seven or eight ag land afternoons.

Location: Both the mudhole and ag land south of Gueydan were strong. Thornwell farm sucked on my one afternoon visit.

Cloud Cover: Perhaps the most days of rain we've ever seen in a teal season, with a few broiling afternoons in the sun early on.

Wind Direction and Velocity: Never enough breeze to hold the mosquitoes in cover until the last weekend.

Temperature: Nearly always hot - and humid

Moon phase: Phase didn't seem to matter with regard to either local or migration flight.

Special Notes: Second lowest September duck count ever.

Waterfowl Activity: We were nearly always blessed with enough traffic to make a hunt for folks who could shoot well, and usually for those who couldn't.

Waterfowl Responsiveness: Started out having better luck with my squacky Daisy Cutter, but lowering the pitch a skosh on an initially too high teal-cut reed soon made the loud-a--ed Stanley Deceiver my field favorite to the exclusion of picking up anything else on subsequent hunts. Beyond super aggressive calling, I can't help but think that removing the big cane clump previously cutting line of sight between between my east spinner and favored marsh below Clyde's blind to my east and placing a second spinner west of my blind island facing the chain of big ponds little ducks fly well south of us also contributed significantly to ours likely being the overall hottest hand in our or Cherry Ridge's marsh this September. (Knocking the heck our of the blind island's canes, so I could better see and work birds over those south ponds, no doubt helped, too.)

Hunters: While their experience and abilities varied greatly, there was not a bunghole in the bunch. Each and every man and boy I carried was a pleasure to share time with.

Guns: Most noteworthy thing here may be how much I enjoyed shooting the Model 12 16ga the day I took it, even though it shove-piped two hulls early on - which was likely op-error.

Malfunctions: Only two I recall were a new Remington youth semi-auto making too light primer strikes and grandson Preston's 870 chamber wanting to hang onto fired Kent hulls.

Dog(s): Marsh plainly suffered on afternoon hunts in soupy hot ag land driving water, but otherwise had a sweet season in all regards.

Special Equipment: As noted above, a second spinner was added to our "SOS" standard setup.

Curses: If I just had to bitch, it would be about Preston's relative lack of opportunity to work the "chills" or shooting/hitting bugs out, but I'm not at all sure that was a bad thing.

Kudos: Wouldn't dare have asked for such a fine September season, much less a better one.

Birds By Species: 373 bw teal and 1 gw teal (3 banded)

Photo Ops: Didn't take a lot of photos this go-around, but favor this one of the Mudhole, Marsh and mottled guests:

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And this shot of Preston and his dad, Chris, hit my pawpa bone just right:

029a.jpg

Lagniappe: Being as ate up with making the birds do it right as I am, it was an incredibly satisfying teal season, and I'd really like to be busting proud of tactical gains made. But I can't ever help but wonder how much of our seeming success has been happy coincidence. Guess "we'll see..."

[Rick]

10/24:

Had to meet a man about replacing a pipe and screw gate on our piece south of Gueydan and threw my deer stuff and hip boots in the wagon to make a hunt after, and found myself without a camera to record any of the dangedest bird show I've seen this fall. Was a nearly steady stream of teal coming across Dave's old place to join thousands of other mostly teal on the flooded rice ground across the hard road - until a mature eagle blew them out, then landed in the cut by the road - only to be joined by six whoopers that almost seemed to have been tolled by him. They even left shortly after he did. And it wasn't long at all until the cut was filling with ducks again. Was neat as could be to have them popping over the canes and ripping low overhead the whole time we were surveying the logistics of getting a big excavator to the pipe. And there were pintails joining the party in the cut across as I donned hippers and grabbed my deer gear at Jarren & Co.'s old parking place.

Eased along around a mile and a quarter of east half levee hoping to bump a deer from its dry levee bed and out into more or less "open" rain flooded field, before I found myself looking at a serious buck in it's bed, too close to make out a suitable target in a scope set on 4X. But he then rocked to his feet, hopped down off the (back protection) levee into the fallow field where he stood studying the direction I'd come from with enough of his neck showing above the tall grass to drop him in that spot. Turned out I'd gotten well within three paces of him in the levee's high itch grass and ragweed and shot him right seven paces. Talk about a treat.

Then the reality of getting the wide-racked old cuss back through the high weeds to the Toy-wagon set in. (Know it was that mile and a quarter, because I Google Earthed it later. Just knew it was too dang far at the time.) But being a complete dumb-arse, I decided to see if a doe might also be nearby and continued through the neglected jungle to the property line. Didn't find another deer, but was mighty glad I tried when I found that our eastern neighbor had just bush-hogged his end of the levee on back to the Florence Rd. And it was dry and doable in the Toy-wagon. Talk about a relief.

Was nearly noon when I walked out to the wagon, and teal were still streaming back and forth over the farm's west end.

In the little wagon's honor, I took a commemorative "hillbilly tailgate shot" when we got to the house:

023a.jpg

(Getting a "re-manufactured" engine in my old truck has turned into an adventure that now has a second "re-manufactured" engine en route from Dallas. Makes me mighty thankful to have held onto Sweet Chereaux's old wagon all these years.)

[Rick]

10/26:

Remembered to take the camera to our piece south of Gueydan this morning, so, naturally, the bird show was nearly over.

But the deer hadn't flown to points elsewhere, and I finished our Area 10 three deer limit, which is all we eat, anyway, with a broken-horned spike and a doe I'd guess about his same age. Also got to work what surprised me by being an adult speck a lot closer to a man in an orange vest standing on a grass road with a dead deer than I'd of ever expected.

[Ericdc]

Nice deer, our season opens in the morning.


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[Rick]

He was on the down-slope and wide (for here) but thinning:

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[DComeaux]

What a neat, productive outing that was. I like the mention of those birds, and I could actually visualize what you were seeing. I do miss that place.

How wide is he?

[Ducaholic]

Good job Rick!

[Rick]

What a neat, productive outing that was. I like the mention of those birds, and I could actually visualize what you were seeing. I do miss that place.

How wide is he?

For whatever reason, things seemed pretty well back to normal bird-wise yesterday. Maybe just a couple hundred mixed birds sitting across the hard road and little trafficking to them that I saw. Did see a few smaller bunches of teal over your end, and no teal at all where I was along the middle road. Shot the little buck near the back of the middle road and the doe (following his tracks?) close to the east blind levee shortly after and was struck by how few, mostly mottleds, I moved by the shots or going to them.

Could be the west end's year to shine, though the east sure seemed stronger by the shooting heard, or not, in September.

DIdn't measure the old deer and gave his rack to a neighbor with a friend making knife handles from them. Do know he was wide enough to be a pain getting him out through stiff ragweed. And, more importantly to us, he was big enough to fill more box than any I've shot in a while. Lot of ground meat there.

[SpinnerMan]

Very nice

I finally saw a deer while hunting the other day. Although at 60 yards was well out of bow range. I am seeing a few on my cameras, but never when I'm there. Hopefully, we end up at the same place at the same time soon.

[Rick]

Hope so.

[Rick]

Date: 11/3 Sat

Time: morning

Location: Mudhole

Cloud Cover: clear

Wind Direction and Velocity: dead calm

Temperature: cool

Moon phase: crescent

Special Notes: youth weekend

Waterfowl Activity: Spooky empty skies at LST, but (mostly little ducks) started to show (mostly) from the south - presumably as guys started prepping marsh blinds for next weekend's opener. But we did have one greenhead try to drop in, until we showed our hand early and a big flight of greys that also saw too much, wouldn't land and were missed overhead.

Waterfowl Responsiveness: What we didn't run off worked just as first day ducks should.

Hunters: 1, Doug's great-grandson, Cole

Guns:

Malfunctions:

Dog(s): Marsh was as fired up as Cole and had as good of a morning.

Special Equipment: 2 spinners, each facing a favored little duck flyway and the modified Mallard Machine (MMM), the prop of which I've reworked again for even more splash.

Curses: Only that crowd control issues hurt Cole's big duck chances, but the 11-year-old was still had better blind manners than too many adults.

Kudos: Hunt ended sooner than expected when a big flock of greenwings tried to land on the MMM, and Cole missed his first shot but Scotch-doubled on each of the next two.

Birds By Species: 1 bw teal, 4 gw teal and 1 shoveller

Photo Ops: The first half of Cole's double Scotch-double:

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Hero shot:

029a.jpg

Lagniappe: Finished in time to watch the football game that kept my own grandson, who's a classmate of Cole's, from joining us, and they won it - their first.

[DComeaux]

What an awesome hunt! The grays caught hell this morning on the pound we watched out of the camp door Last weekend . I would have to say the shooter got his or her limit , as we watched some fall.