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Had been beginning to wonder if I wasn't aging out of waterfowling after a second consecutive duck season so discouraging that I was glad to see it end and couldn't even muster the gumption to go bother some specks during the remainder of their season. But, like Yogi is said to have said, "It ain't over 'till it's over."

Been finding myself out duck watching with the bug, and the mottleds are still neat as ever, and the teal still look like great fun. Heard a new duck call's soundfile that caught my ear just right and has me thinking auditioning one might be fun, too. Been at least a couple years since I've taken that sort of fit.

Temperature's dropping with the coming front, adding promise to this evening's pintail transmitter and banding attempt, so there's that, too. Could be helping with that effort to learn more about them and getting to handle a mess of birds will add more fuel to the embers. Could also be that I'll trip in a combine rut, fill my waders with cold water and decide I'm too damn old for this shit.

We'll see...

Good to hear the fire is kinda sorta maybe still burning Rick. I found myself saying I’m too old for this more times than usual this season too, but I’m 31... hate to know how I’ll feel about it at twice that.

I will not miss combine ruts next year. I know that much.

I look forward to your report on the banding efforts.

Edited: to correct the fact that I am indeed 31, not 30.

Had a neat woodduck pair give me a show this morning from my driveway, squealing their way this way and that zipping through trees around the house, assumed to be a courtship routine of some kind.

Fuel that fire! Look forward to hearing about the pintails

The bad news is that we caught some pintails, but there were way more drakes than hens, of which there were only six, leaving us three short for the 8 new transmitters forwarded from failed efforts elsewhere and one recovered from our earlier pintail capture. The recovered transmitter was found without its tethers (which they absolutely can't come free of on their own) and without so much as feather nearby, much less the telltale pile thereof left by land or avian predators. So some sweet smelling fellow probably shot the bird after season and tossed its transmitter.

The good news is that the green-wings finally showed up. Pretty sure there were a bazzilion and twelve mostly green-winged teal in the net. So many our small crew was releasing most as we cleared the net as quickly as possible, and only a fraction of the by-catch was held for banding.

A very few shoveller hens were the only other by-catch I saw and banded. And one of the pintail drakes was a recapture from our earlier shot in that spot.

Paul noted that only 2 of the 25 pintail hens we'd transmittered earlier were still in Louisiana, and he's headed to Arkansas for a joint effort there and hopes to get the last three pintail transmitters on birds there.

Ed, who's usually part of our volunteer crew, was playing Mr. Mom and chauffeuring this step kids to other activities stopped by with them when we were working on birds back at the shop, and that made a nice ending to an otherwise mostly miserably hard evening. The kids were definitely bird shy and initially hard to get to touch one, much less involved with the banding:


But his daughter became so attached to hers that she held it until we were packed up and ready to go:


Fixing to grab a biscuit and go help Brett release the birds and pack up their ton and a half of equipment...

Spitty wet cold front blowing in when we released our birds this morning and a sweet show of assorted waterfowl moving in it. Driving through Lacassane Land Company's Illinois Plantation to our release site was like a trip back in time to the days of far, far fewer blinds per acre and precious little crawfishing.

Couple photos that Liz, the state's super-duper banding volunteer, forwarded. Brett and Paul banding green-wing on site (green light is used in the field to reduce stress on the birds when pulled from the net and crated):


And our youngest bander, Jackson, (son of an area guide brain cancer claimed last year) back at the shop:

Great to see y’all taking the young fella out and allowing him to enjoy the banding efforts.

Awesome! Thanks for sharing

Duck Engr wrote:Great to see y’all taking the young fella out and allowing him to enjoy the banding efforts.

Hadn't noticed my twitchy hand in that last one - ready to catch a flier. The state crew is great about letting the kids help, with the trick being to pick out the calmest birds for them, when some are only playing possum.

Cat-like reflexes.

That, or just plain old man shakes to go with my mind like a steel trap: rusty...

Good stuff Rick!!!!

Sorry to hear about his Dad.

Thanks for sharing.

Tossed gators at Mallard Lodge, by the Coastal Club, this morning and learned that their season wasn't bad: "slow" 3.something per gun first split followed by a better 4.something second split. "Mostly green-wings with mostly grays for big ducks. Said they had plenty of good green-wing mornings on southerly or easterly winds. So that's where a lot of the teal apparently were.

Also apparently where the poule d'eau were, too, as I saw more of them still there this mid March morning than in our marsh this winter.

Rick wrote:Tossed gators at Mallard Lodge, by the Coastal Club, this morning and learned that their season wasn't bad: "slow" 3.something per gun first split followed by a better 4.something second split. "Mostly green-wings with mostly grays for big ducks. Said they had plenty of good green-wing mornings on southerly or easterly winds. So that's where a lot of the teal apparently were.

Also apparently where the poule d'eau were, too, as I saw more of them still there this mid March morning than in our marsh this winter.

3. something and 4. something per gun certainly nothing to shake a stick at. Then again the mudhole was running a solid 6.0/gun the one time I visited this season; you mean to tell me it wasn't like that for the other 59 days?


Been hoping to get down to the camp to fish some but gnats seem to be biting as good as the fish right now, the usual for March and early April.

Darren wrote:3. something and 4. something per gun certainly nothing to shake a stick at. Then again the mudhole was running a solid 6.0/gun the one time I visited this season; you mean to tell me it wasn't like that for the other 59 days?

Yours was one of the season's precious few full limit days and probably our last of a 1.3 per second split. Take a big bow.

Rick wrote:

Darren wrote:3. something and 4. something per gun certainly nothing to shake a stick at. Then again the mudhole was running a solid 6.0/gun the one time I visited this season; you mean to tell me it wasn't like that for the other 59 days?

Yours was one of the season's precious few full limit days and probably our last of a 1.3 per second split. Take a big bow.

Wish it were as simple as your oft-used "bring birds" but LUCK LUCK LUCK instead. Nonetheless a great memory for me for the season and glad David got to see a special spot being what it can be. Only hunt I made with him last season, and first in some years. In hindsight, found that the people of the 2019 season were the highlights for me.

Darren wrote:In hindsight, found that the people of the 2019 season were the highlights for me.

That's about the only part we can count on getting better over the years. Well, generally.

Rick wrote:

Darren wrote:In hindsight, found that the people of the 2019 season were the highlights for me.

That's about the only part we can count on getting better over the years. Well, generally.

Finally got around to letting the water out of my remaining collateral damaged poule d'eau decoys that hadn't been repaired as the season progressed - or completely demolished, and am thinking ill thoughts about some of those fine folks just now. Am fond of saying, "People wouldn't pay for it if it wasn't exciting," but damn...

If any of you guys are looking for a new duck spot, I just heard for second time that Little Pecan is up for sale. Could be so...

I wondered how many spots would start popping up for sale or for lease with the economy headed for the tank and less than stellar seasons in the recent rear view.

Rick wrote:If any of you guys are looking for a new duck spot, I just heard for second time that Little Pecan is up for sale. Could be so...

Keep us posted if you hear of any others!


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I understand that black bellies seem to be only intermittently at the mudhole, and maybe less so than previously? But is it your perception that they are around more often in the coastal zone region in general?

Seems like on my end in SE La hunters are reporting them in higher numbers and more often. Saw plenty at the camp over the weekend, actually.

I would think so. Know a guy in Pecan Island, darn near proper, who kills heck out of they and bluewings pretty much all season long.

Rick wrote:If any of you guys are looking for a new duck spot, I just heard for second time that Little Pecan is up for sale. Could be so...

I'd definitely take their "slow" days.

Dave, I thought of you and your season while eating boiled crabs some of the kids caught at Grand Bayou yesterday.

Rick wrote:Dave, I thought of you and your season while eating boiled crabs some of the kids caught at Grand Bayou yesterday.

I've been craving those. I need a weekend or two at the camp as soon as this virus thing subsides. I miss it.

What an unreal situation we're in. Every day brings with it a new adventure, and I've never used so much hand sanitizer in my life. We're considered essential so I've never stopped working. We've implemented shift work to decrease the worker numbers to the mandated (10) per shift here in the yard and are monitoring employees health daily. They've been good at reporting possible contacts with sick people away from work and are quarantined. We have crews that travel and they are diligent in there efforts to stay virus free.

The wife was sent home a couple of weeks ago along with a few others from her job. The oil industry seems to be on the verge of collapse and is affecting many I know. We're just now (this week) seeing the halt of new projects due to the virus and some have stopped all work a week ago to avoid state to state travel. I'm praying for a soon ending to this madness.

Rick wrote:I would think so. Know a guy in Pecan Island, darn near proper, who kills heck out of they and bluewings pretty much all season long.

What's the observation trend at the mudhole in, say last 5-7 years ? I recall waves of them in Jan 2012 visit there, just one (nice) bunch in Dec 2019. Don't think I've taken many, if any, in between those trips.

I'm not getting them on my end of the Delacroix area marsh, but those closer in where its fresher seem to be seeing more.

Darren wrote:

Rick wrote:I would think so. Know a guy in Pecan Island, darn near proper, who kills heck out of they and bluewings pretty much all season long.

What's the observation trend at the mudhole in, say last 5-7 years ? I recall waves of them in Jan 2012 visit there, just one (nice) bunch in Dec 2019. Don't think I've taken many, if any, in between those trips.

We hardly ever shoot them on my end of the marsh without a rare westerly wind, which wasn't enough to turn that trick for us this year despite more such mornings than most seasons. Of the years I have ready access to, 2014-2015 was the mudhole's heyday with 21 black-bellies taken and those since have run 6, 5, 5, 7 and 5.

But I don't believe they've been nearly as reliable on the east end in recent years, either. And especially at what is now Gabe's blind as they were when Mike Henry hunted there. Cherry Ridge guys used to bitch about him screwing up their "good" ducks by shooting squealers all the time - until they found out how good they were and started shooting them themselves. Which loss of nearby refuge may be why they've largely left the AO...

North of 82 in Chenier and especially Pecan Island holds a few of those all season. I would think you could ride around now like we've done over the last few years and see many broods of these in the road side ponds and ditches.