Preseason 2018-2019

Re: Preseason 2018-2019

Postby Darren » Mon Oct 08, 2018 6:50 am

Man oh man that looks like FUN! Great work, I'd love to have a setup like that at our marsh, just can't get the crew on board to muster the funding for the pit, but damn would it be effective. Looks like you will have good weather this weekend to work with now that all the hard work is behind you, of course.
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Re: Preseason 2018-2019

Postby Deltaman » Mon Oct 08, 2018 7:35 am

Looking good Dave, and hope it is the ticket to a better season this year :beer:
"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: Preseason 2018-2019

Postby DComeaux » Mon Oct 08, 2018 7:44 am

Marsh Bear wrote:DC is that a fiberglass pit?
We have 3 blinds that are fiberglass but they are individual cubicles, we put 3 together to make a blind - they have been used in our marsh for over 35 years.
Good luck finishing next weekend - and a promise from the weatherman of cooler temps.


Yes, it's a fiberglass 3 man pit with seat and shell shelf.
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Re: Preseason 2018-2019

Postby Darren » Mon Oct 08, 2018 11:42 am

BGcorey wrote:
Darren wrote:Man oh man that looks like FUN! Great work, I'd love to have a setup like that at our marsh, just can't get the crew on board to muster the funding for the pit, but damn would it be effective. Looks like you will have good weather this weekend to work with now that all the hard work is behind you, of course.
you and me both


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As lights out as they'd be, no one in the area uses them. Can't blame the crowd that hunts broken marsh that's constantly in a state of flux (erosion) BUT our few ponds were Katrina-proof so would be a pretty safe bet to do an install of a couple of them on our go-to ponds.

Just need the $$$, no big deal, minor detail. And coerce Dave C and his crew that's now experienced in the art of sinking in the marsh to come oversee the effort.
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Re: Preseason 2018-2019

Postby DComeaux » Mon Oct 08, 2018 11:44 am

BGcorey wrote:I gotta feeling DC’s only complaint this upcoming big duck season will be “they were too close” couldn’t shoot


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Ground meat! PUFF!! I'm hoping I have no complaints this year. We saw and held enough birds to be satisfied all of last season, we just couldn't get em in the decoys. Blake seems a bit disappointed in that he likes to shoot scaup. We've slightly moved off of their big water travel corridor, but I'm sure we'll take our share of those anyway.

We, Blake and I, use 23/4" 11/6 oz #4's, so we're good on close range stuff. Sort of like Ricks hole.
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Re: Preseason 2018-2019

Postby DComeaux » Mon Oct 08, 2018 11:49 am

Darren wrote:
BGcorey wrote:
Darren wrote:Man oh man that looks like FUN! Great work, I'd love to have a setup like that at our marsh, just can't get the crew on board to muster the funding for the pit, but damn would it be effective. Looks like you will have good weather this weekend to work with now that all the hard work is behind you, of course.
you and me both


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As lights out as they'd be, no one in the area uses them. Can't blame the crowd that hunts broken marsh that's constantly in a state of flux (erosion) BUT our few ponds were Katrina-proof so would be a pretty safe bet to do an install of a couple of them on our go-to ponds.

Just need the $$$, no big deal, minor detail. And coerce Dave C and his crew that's now experienced in the art of sinking in the marsh to come oversee the effort.



Have "mother-in-law", will travel. Just make sure it's either late winter or early spring and still cool enough for waders.

If I had no choice I would make do with whatever blind I had to use.
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Re: Preseason 2018-2019

Postby Rick » Mon Oct 08, 2018 12:04 pm

Darren wrote:As lights out as they'd be, no one in the area uses them. Can't blame the crowd that hunts broken marsh that's constantly in a state of flux (erosion) BUT our few ponds were Katrina-proof so would be a pretty safe bet to do an install of a couple of them on our go-to ponds.

Just need the $$$, no big deal, minor detail. And coerce Dave C and his crew that's now experienced in the art of sinking in the marsh to come oversee the effort.


Just get some dirt cheap or free plastic chemical barrels and cut them off at a comfortable height to sit on a 2"x12" laid over them. Sink said barrel sections and appropriate anchor posts and affix 2"x12"s over the front and back of the barrel sections to those anchor posts to hold the barrels in place. Pump/bail the water from the barrel sections and presto-gusto "POOF" you have low profile blinding of the kind that worked fine for us in my Pecan Island days. (OK, you'll find it takes a bit more brace work and few more nails or screws to hold everything in place, but think you'll find that simple enough.)

Were it me, I'd also want an easily removable (for bailing) floor in each.
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Re: Preseason 2018-2019

Postby DComeaux » Mon Oct 08, 2018 1:02 pm

Rick wrote:
Darren wrote:As lights out as they'd be, no one in the area uses them. Can't blame the crowd that hunts broken marsh that's constantly in a state of flux (erosion) BUT our few ponds were Katrina-proof so would be a pretty safe bet to do an install of a couple of them on our go-to ponds.

Just need the $$$, no big deal, minor detail. And coerce Dave C and his crew that's now experienced in the art of sinking in the marsh to come oversee the effort.


Just get some dirt cheap or free plastic chemical barrels and cut them off at a comfortable height to sit on a 2"x12" laid over them. Sink said barrel sections and appropriate anchor posts and affix 2"x12"s over the front and back of the barrel sections to those anchor posts to hold the barrels in place. Pump/bail the water from the barrel sections and presto-gusto "POOF" you have low profile blinding of the kind that worked fine for us in my Pecan Island days. (OK, you'll find it takes a bit more brace work and few more nails or screws to hold everything in place, but think you'll find that simple enough.)

Were it me, I'd also want an easily removable (for bailing) floor in each.


When I hunted in Creole many moons ago I fabricated individual metal barrel blinds for that marsh. It took two barrels to make one, as part of the second was attached (welded) to the full drum as a seat.
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Re: Preseason 2018-2019

Postby Rick » Mon Oct 08, 2018 1:10 pm

Saw a guy get cut pretty badly stepping into the rusted remains of just such a blind.
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Re: Preseason 2018-2019

Postby DComeaux » Mon Oct 08, 2018 1:16 pm

Rick wrote:Saw a guy get cut pretty badly stepping into the rusted remains of just such a blind.



I wouldn't doubt it, and I wouldn't use those anymore but for a short term quick fix.

With that said, I would assume what I installed has been reclaimed by the earth.
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Re: Preseason 2018-2019

Postby Darren » Mon Oct 08, 2018 2:07 pm

Some have used half-cut 55- gal poly drums sunk to flush with ground then constructed a low bench behind them such that you sat on the bench with feet down in the hole/drum. That got you pretty low; akin to our old approach of hunting from plastic patio chairs with their legs half cut, sunk to flush with the mud.

Very effective since so low, but many couldn't adapt to shooting from that position. Lot of ducks killed CLOSE since all the marsh grass was over our head.

Though big cost on front end, I'd figure going with a sunken pit on our lease would be pretty dark storm-resistant as they'd just fill with water and stay sunk.

Sure not upset to see what looks to be a pretty mean hurricane Michael projecting well east of me, hope all in path make out ok.
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Re: Preseason 2018-2019

Postby DComeaux » Mon Oct 08, 2018 2:13 pm

Darren wrote:Though big cost on front end, I'd figure going with a sunken pit on our lease would be pretty dark storm-resistant as they'd just fill with water and stay sunk.


It would.

Darren wrote:Sure not upset to see what looks to be a pretty mean hurricane Michael projecting well east of me, hope all in path make out ok.


Me either. But I hope it doesn't amount to much, and brings us some north winds. We need to get the water out of the marsh.
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Re: Preseason 2018-2019

Postby Darren » Mon Oct 08, 2018 3:59 pm

Marsh Bear wrote:Sorry to bust your bubble but both Hurricane Rita and Hurricane Ike ripped our sunken blinds out of the mud and moved them over a quarter mile away. We are about 4 miles north of the gulf.


Were they on the lil islands you commonly show photos of? I'd figure ours would be on what's proven to be solid/stable land mass and staked down but ya never know with these big storms
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Re: Preseason 2018-2019

Postby DComeaux » Sun Oct 14, 2018 9:25 pm

We were out in the marsh yesterday even knowing the water was higher than last weekend. We drove more timber in the center of the long side of the blind and attached it to the frame. I also found my parking spot for the boat and the pirogues home for the winter. I'll have a 160 yard paddle to the blind.

We added a couple of 2x6's to the front top to form a shelf for our bags and other trinkets. As I mentioned, the water was higher than last weekend so I didn't want to attempt transplanting grass. This is the highest I've seen the water since we've been there.
20181013_085305.jpg


This is how we left the blind. Hopefully we get a couple of fronts in the next couple of weeks with good north winds to blow the water out. We fluffed up what we could and left it to dry out. I'll make this blind disappear once the water goes down. At this high water level we're still 6" above the water line. We'll be high and dry once the front's start rolling in on a regular basis.
20181013_091541.jpg


We made drove the entire property checking on the other blinds. I was thinking happy thoughts. We noticed one flock of ducks that weren't teal.
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Re: Preseason 2018-2019

Postby Darren » Mon Oct 15, 2018 1:39 pm

Yea that's lookin really good, nice work!
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Re: Preseason 2018-2019

Postby DComeaux » Mon Oct 15, 2018 4:56 pm

Thanks guy's, but I really don't like that we had to leave it in the shape it's in, brush wise. It makes me anxious looking at those pictures, knowing I have to wait at least two weeks before we can finish it up. I would have much preferred doing this move a week after the season closed this year.
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Re: Preseason 2018-2019

Postby DComeaux » Tue Oct 16, 2018 7:20 am

Just the skeleton of the old blind. We striped her down and left her naked, and we're really happy that we no longer have to mess with roseau every year. At the rate we're seeing erosion in our place, I'd estimate we have maybe 3 years at our current blind location before it becomes part of a lake. I'm toying with the idea of making a wave break of some sort on our south eastern side, but on a shoestring budget I'm not sure what we could do just yet, something that wouldn't be futile.

63978.jpeg


63980.jpeg
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Re: Preseason 2018-2019

Postby DComeaux » Tue Oct 16, 2018 9:45 am

Marsh Bear wrote:DC blind looks great, but with that low profile and the marsh grass it might be hard seeing low birds over the marsh. I say that because we have a blind similar to yours, but the ducks don't see you.



I'm sure we'll get surprised a time or two, but that's okay. I'm just hoping to work birds again without the doubt I had in the big Hilton structure. Our visibility in the old blind wasn't all that either, with all of the roseau we had crammed around us. I got in this new blind and did look around, I think we'll be okay. Low flying teal will be fun, and I hope the green wing return this year and are as thick as they were last season. Where the new blind is located was where they played, we just need the water to go down.

With the taller grass to our backs (east) we'll be in the shadows all. morning. long. I'm so ready to give it a whirl.
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Re: Preseason 2018-2019

Postby DComeaux » Fri Oct 26, 2018 7:17 am

We will be back in the marsh this weekend doing the final brush up on the blind. Hopefully the water is lower and we get a good planting on the brush.

Ellie and I took a few things out of storage yesterday evening and loaded up the trucks. Fresh boiled crabs for opening weekend.

20181025_175823.jpg
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Re: Preseason 2018-2019

Postby Rick » Fri Oct 26, 2018 3:29 pm

That part of the deep marsh I envy you.
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Re: Preseason 2018-2019

Postby DComeaux » Fri Oct 26, 2018 3:49 pm

Rick wrote:That part of the deep marsh I envy you.


The extra activity's are a plus, and we do okay with the ducks, so I'm happy. I hope we get to see some birds this weekend.
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Re: Preseason 2018-2019

Postby Rick » Sat Oct 27, 2018 4:41 am

DComeaux wrote:I hope we get to see some birds this weekend.


Saw 'em for you over your old blind here all morning Wed. Unreal show.

Still seemed to favor the west end yesterday, but nowhere near as many trafficking anywhere. Pretty sure that flooded corn sent on the north wind must have lured them back north, but I suppose a few might have moved farther south.
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Re: Preseason 2018-2019

Postby DComeaux » Sun Oct 28, 2018 7:00 pm

Had a wonderful weekend at the camp and really enjoyed the cooler temps. Late Friday evening while sitting in out outdoor screened area we heard the unmistakable sound of specks, first for me this fall. They went over the camp and continued south. When I walked out of the door early yesterday morning I was greeted by the sounds (KAK--KAK KAK - KAK) of gadwall just to the south of the camp working some awesome marsh ponds. I stood there for a while watching as several flocks cupped and landed there.

After loading up tools and other material Blake and I made it to the blind around 7:45. We got to watch several flocks of BW teal, low and high level,coming from the north. We did hear and see a few gadwal as well. We were very involved in the work after that and really didn't pay much attention to what was happening around us. We also staged the pirogue in it's winter home location and placed the crab crabs in the pond, sitting there ready for us to bait next weekend.

Blake and I dug up and moved several large, heavy bundles of of what I call "whip" from an area 100 or so yards across the pond from the new blind location. This seemed much easier years to do many years ago....WHEW! I'm sore.

This was how we left it a couple of weeks ago....
20181013_091541.jpg


...and this is how it looks today. The water is still above what I'd call our normal level and I'll get to fluff up the remaining whip as the water recedes. I sure hope these grass bundles survive and take root, cause I really don't want to do this again. I think we dug up and transported a 10' x 10' piece of marsh.
20181027_100018 (1).jpg


This is a view of the blind from our west pond. I'm really excited to get this season underway.
20181027_103104.jpg


We walked out of the door early this morning to a wonderful show, as wave, after wave, after wave of ducks we're coming from the north. This we watched for about a half hour or so as we packed up to head home. I pulled the binos from the truck and found most to be BW, but I did see a few flocks of bigger ducks. I would image most of these BW we saw will be in South America in the not to distant future.
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