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I'll run out that way soon and bring you the motor. I'll be in touch.

If it's that or it gets tossed, sure, but I really don't mind sending you an arm or two or a whole bracket if yours in misplaced.

Date: 1/11 Fri

Time: morning

Location: mudhole

Cloud Cover: clear

Wind Direction and Velocity: moderate easterly

Temperature: chilly

Moon phase: 28% waxing

Special Notes:

Waterfowl Activity: A small bunch of bluewing teal did a quick touch and go in the decoys and a greenwind threesome tried to land with the left/west spinner and those were the last teal we saw. Other than that, just one group of working mallards (banged out by others' shooting), a very few spoons and mallards were seen and worked but plainly knew us, and a lone, young, dumb sprig rounded out our morning flight.

Waterfowl Responsiveness: Mallards we shot we're sucked in my silence until they got close enough to be sucked into range by reflex response to a sharp greeting.

Hunters: 2, Bruce (TX, not MD) and Jim

Guns:

Malfunctions:

Dog(s): Bruce has made many hunts with Marsh, but the bug made a new fan of Jim with a couple longer-than-should have been.

Special Equipment: SOS

Curses: Guys have enough age to have been out of the game with the teal, the first of which didn't even get shot at.

Kudos: Super nice guys, and we had a much better time than our bag might suggest.

Birds By Species: 2 mallards and 1 pintail

Date: 1/12 Sat

Time: morning

Location: mudhole

Cloud Cover: very cloudy to mostly light rain

Wind Direction and Velocity: Southerly but not nearly strong enough to bring a meaningful show of teal to the marsh.

Temperature: 50s or 60s

Moon phase: waxing crescent

Special Notes:

Waterfowl Activity: Hoped for fresh teal didn't show, but one bunch of plainly new grays and a couple fresh pintails did. Doubt that we've killed the last of the localized mallards off, but even "the veteran's home" seemed empty this morning.

Waterfowl Responsiveness: Grays came fast with the spinners on, and the first high, lone sprig turned inside out at the call and dropped straight in to the hole nearly too fast to kill the spinners, but the second started lower, pushed from the spinners I was afraid to kill so close in front of him and made a wide swing around the veteran's home before coming to die to single quacks with it off.

Hunters: 3 generations: grandpa Mark, father Ryan and 9-yr-old Killen(?)

Guns:

Malfunctions:

Dog(s): Marsh and I bumped heads about him not wanting to handle from where a sprig dove in the boat run to hunt the "shore line" and eventually run it down, but otherwise had an easy morning.

Special Equipment: SOS

Curses: Really wish folks wouldn't bring such young kids with guns, and Ryan might also, as I made it abundantly clear that his first responsibility was Killen's little 20ga. Which, it turned out on a head-up cripple in the pond, Killen was afraid to shoot his 3" Blackclouds through.

Kudos: Nice folks who could have had a much worse hunt on such a morning.

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

Nice hunt with that crew; am I the only one that things age 9 with a 20 g is a bit much? Youngest "youth" hunter I took was a very seasoned 11 year old deer hunter who handled his 20 well, but was also on the stockier side.

Glad it was a safe one regardless

Darren wrote:...am I the only one that things age 9 with (ANY gun) is a bit much?

Nope.

Yeah no way I’d ever consider bringing a gun for myself if I had a 9 year old under my watch that was shooting.

Date: 1/13 Sun

Time: morning

Location: mudhole

Cloud Cover: clear to partly

Wind Direction and Velocity: mod to strong NW

Temperature: 40s, but first time this season that I felt under dressed

Moon phase: 95% waxing

Special Notes:

Waterfowl Activity: Incredibly dead

Waterfowl Responsiveness: Our teal lit without my encouragement, but spoon-kacked the bunch ours came from into messing up. Also had a small group of pintails messing up - until an upwind blind shot as they rounded the corner on final.

Hunters: 2, twins, Justin and Chris, who I've hunted since they were kids

Guns:

Malfunctions:

Dog(s): slept

Special Equipment: SOS

Curses: Was excited to have young guns I knew would hide and get under way in a timely manner, only to have no reason for it to matter.

Kudos: Had a nice visit.

Birds By Species: 1 gw teal and 1 shoveller

I wish Ellie would sleep.

Date: 1/14 Mon

Time: morning

Location: mudhole

Cloud Cover: cloudy

Wind Direction and Velocity: NEN strong to moderate and back

Temperature: around 40 all hunt

Moon phase: dunno or care

Special Notes:

Waterfowl Activity: Had a group of bluewings and one of greenwings in and out before a gun went off early on and only a trio of bluewings and a single greenwing buzz through later, only spoons elevated when they saw where they were and precious few local big ducks were even seen. Highlight came when someone ran a boat through the Cherry Ridge body and birds swarmed up like blackbirds forming a thunderhead - which what didn't settle back down in place left from the very top of creating a brief and extremely high flight across us.

Waterfowl Responsiveness: Nothing responded to anything well, and I never managed to more than bend a big bird.

Hunters: 2, brothers-in-laws, Greg and Eric

Guns:

Malfunctions:

Dog(s): Thought I'd lost Marsh on a long tipped teal that made it to big water well north of us. Was gone from sight and hearing so long that I was in the boat to go look for him when he was heard returning.

Special Equipment: SOS

Curses: Ours was twice the marsh's next best hunt

Kudos: Great guys who were good company throughout.

Birds By Species: 1 bw teal and 1 shoveller

Geez this season sucks. We are in Oklahoma and sat on a scratch until 10 AM. 8 men 4 lessers....


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Ericdc wrote:Geez this season sucks. We are in Oklahoma and sat on a scratch until 10 AM. 8 men 4 lessers....

Has to be hard to stomach on a much anticipated trip. I can scratch on my own and not give half a hoot, but it flat eats my lunch when I can't make it as it should be for camp guests.

Rick, have you ever known it to be this slow in your area, this late in the season?

Deltaman wrote:Rick, have you ever known it to be this slow in your area, this late in the season?

I'd think this the worst it's been in our area since the late '80s "3 and 30" days when even three bird limits were far and few between. Haven't forgotten a one greenwing second opener in what would still be considered a top ag land spot next to the Florence Club before I switched to little but huge white spreads for some years, but this has been the sorriest second duck split in recent memory.

Date: 1/15 Tue

Time: morning

Location: mudhole

Cloud Cover: cloudy

Wind Direction and Velocity: NE variable

Temperature: 40s

Moon phase:

Special Notes:

Waterfowl Activity: Actually had a little group of new mallards come over within hailing, but other than that, same old story.

Waterfowl Responsiveness: Had six or eight mallards break from way the hey up - and ran them off with a spinner error. Had the spinners off to turn a little bunch of greenwings that had pushed off them, got caught up watching the dog work a long fall and didn't start them again. Just thought I had and turned them on thinking "off" to work the mallards - that then pushed off them and couldn't be convinced to return when I caught my brain fart.

Hunters: 2, long time regular, Mark, and his friend from Indiana, Todd

Guns:

Malfunctions:

Dog(s): Easy morning

Special Equipment: SOS

Curses: Only thing worse than our lack of new birds (tied for "top" blind) was my screwing up our best mallard chance in days.

Kudos: Nice guys made a pleasant morning of it.

Birds By Species: 2 bw teal and 1 gw teal

Date: 1/16 Wed

Time: morning

Location: mudhole

Cloud Cover: cloudy

Wind Direction and Velocity: southerly light

Temperature: 40s?

Moon phase:

Special Notes:

Waterfowl Activity: Saw our first whistling ducks in a long time but nothing else of note. Didn't think about working a mallard with only a very few pond-hoppers seen.

Waterfowl Responsiveness: Pulled the blackbellies with food fight chatter, pintail with squacky quacks, spoons with kacks and teal with steady beat momma calling. Killed spinners for everything.

Hunters: 2, Mark and Todd again

Guns:

Malfunctions:

Dog(s): Marsh found our pintail (which sure should have hit the pond dead center and DOA)just short of Timbuktu.

Special Equipment: SOS

Curses: Given the givens, I'll not bitch about anything but crooked barrels.

Kudos: Nice guys and another nice morning, regardless, had the "big" hunt by a mile and a half.

Birds By Species: 2 blackbellied whistling ducks, 2 gw teal, 1 pintail and 2 shovellers

Maybe this will help you all out for the remainder of your season. The heavier snow is a lot further south than I'd like it but I think it should be enough to give me something to do the last two weekends of the goose season.

SpinnerMan wrote:Maybe this will help you all out for the remainder of your season. The heavier snow is a lot further south than I'd like it but I think it should be enough to give me something to do the last two weekends of the goose season.

Hope it helps; sure would have been handy about 30-40 days ago.

Darren wrote:

SpinnerMan wrote:Maybe this will help you all out for the remainder of your season. The heavier snow is a lot further south than I'd like it but I think it should be enough to give me something to do the last two weekends of the goose season.

Hope it helps; sure would have been handy about 30-40 days ago.

No kidding. I had such high hopes with how well November was progressing, then we gave it all back and then some in December.

I’m heading up to our lease on Monday to hunt through Sunday. Reports still slim but hoping the cool off gives me a day or two of them acting silly.

Duck Engr wrote:I’m heading up to our lease on Monday to hunt through Sunday.

I'm thinking that's when we'll finally see a little December push.

Rick wrote:

Duck Engr wrote:I’m heading up to our lease on Monday to hunt through Sunday.

I'm thinking that's when we'll finally see a little December push.

I’ll take anything over what it’s been. Talked to three different groups of hunters (that are way better hunters than I am) this past weekend. They hunted different WMAs from north to central AR. Killed a combined zero on Saturday. Things really picked up on Sunday. They killed 1 between the 3 groups....

Duck Engr wrote:

Rick wrote:

Duck Engr wrote:I’m heading up to our lease on Monday to hunt through Sunday.

I'm thinking that's when we'll finally see a little December push.

I’ll take anything over what it’s been. Talked to three different groups of hunters (that are way better hunters than I am) this past weekend. They hunted different WMAs from north to central AR. Killed a combined zero on Saturday. Things really picked up on Sunday. They killed 1 between the 3 groups....

Maaan oh man. Would be curious to see if this push does much for them.

I recall that in 2013 season, we had very little migration to my area, but late in season got ice storm, big front, etc. thinking we'd get the birds......never showed. Came in droves the following November, however.

Darren wrote:

Duck Engr wrote:

Rick wrote:

Duck Engr wrote:I’m heading up to our lease on Monday to hunt through Sunday.

I'm thinking that's when we'll finally see a little December push.

I’ll take anything over what it’s been. Talked to three different groups of hunters (that are way better hunters than I am) this past weekend. They hunted different WMAs from north to central AR. Killed a combined zero on Saturday. Things really picked up on Sunday. They killed 1 between the 3 groups....

Maaan oh man. Would be curious to see if this push does much for them.

I recall that in 2013 season, we had very little migration to my area, but late in season got ice storm, big front, etc. thinking we'd get the birds......never showed. Came in droves the following November, however.

IMO there are too many W's in the wind direction over the final days of the East Zone Season and the kind of temps necessary for a worthwhile late season movement are not pushing far enough south but you never know.

Contrary to what you stated 2013/14 was my best year in recent memory. We averaged 4+ ducks per man per hunt for the entire year. Unbelievably consistent hunting mostly on public land.

Date: 1/17 Thur

Time: morning

Location: mudhole

Cloud Cover: cloudy to partly and back

Wind Direction and Velocity: S light to NW light to S light

Temperature: 50s?

Moon phase:

Special Notes:

Waterfowl Activity: SOS: very few early teal and next to no locals seen, but there was a ten or fifteen minute span around 9 when strings of greenwings passed HIGH.

Waterfowl Responsiveness: Were nursing a two bluewing, two greenwing hunt until the high greenwings showed and raising unholy Cain with the Stanley Deceiver broke enough down to separate our hunt from the others blinds watching them pass.

Hunters: 2, father and grown son, Rick and Jeremiah

Guns:

Malfunctions:

Dog(s): Marsh had but one really long crip to work.

Special Equipment: SOS but still killing the spinners for teal once they're headed our way and finishing them with momma call and splacher.

Curses: Only that we didn't hit more of the greenwings.

Kudos: Sure was nice to have something of a teal shoot.

Birds By Species: 2 bw teal and 9 greenwing teal

Glad to see your action picking up Rick!!!!!

Hoping tomorrow's predicted southerly winds will afford another little show of greenwings, but certainly not counting on what may have been an anomaly. If I thought I might work a big duck this morning I've forgotten it, so I guess "we'll see..."

Rick the greenwings saved our season - without them our hunting would have been poo, they accounted for over half of our ducks killed.

I got a text this morning from Mr. Mike who hunts a couple of blinds south of us asking me to call him for a report. He made a hunt this morning and had to tell me when he drove out after his hunt he jumped the most ducks he's seen this year on our place and they were around our blind area in the "grassy" areas. He said it was lousy with teal and the ruddy duck numbers were amazing. He did see some gadwall and other species as well. He only took one teal but said he could have filled his boat with ruddy's and scaup. It's tough hunting at our place during the week. The birds will not move.

The big southwest wind just might send you some of those great little cinnamon heads.

Rick wrote:...so I guess "we'll see..."

Socked in with fog when I aired the bug this morning, so it may be "or not".

Date: 1/18 Fri

Time: morning

Location: mudhole

Cloud Cover: fogged in except for a brief sorta-break in mid hunt

Wind Direction and Velocity: Supposed to be SE.

Temperature: 60s

Moon phase:

Special Notes:

Waterfowl Activity: Much more shooting over the more open marsh to our east. Called at one little pack of hauling pintails and the sound of faster little ducks, but saw next to nothing.

Waterfowl Responsiveness: Worked our few after killing spinners they bumped from.

Hunters: 2, John and Andy

Guns:

Malfunctions:

Dog(s): easy morning

Special Equipment: SOS

Curses: Heard more than we saw, but couldn't work them without seeing their response, if any...

Kudos: One of the guys shot a banded mallard with me on his first duck hunt last year, and that seemed to mitigate the current doldrums some.

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