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I'd assume most go back down into mexico.

Darren wrote:

Ericdc wrote:Black belly population is exploding in northeast Louisiana. I figure they'll be a common part of our straps in years to come.

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You'd think that, but when season comes, they often go MIA. Only places I routinely here of their regular season harvest is south central to southwest LA marshes but maybe that will evolve (trend northward). More and more people are reporting seeing them than before though, for sure.

We shot 3 last year in mid December on a hard cold NW wind day a few miles south of the state line.


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DComeaux wrote:Whose blinds did you put them in this year...LOL!

We like to spread that joy around. Yesterday's went to marshes west of the Bell City ditch.

To my knowledge we have not killed a Black belly in our marsh in southwest LA
I do have about 50 Black bellies behind my house every day since mid February. The Wood ducks come and go - some days only 4 or 5 other days 15 - 20. I had a pair of Blue wing teal this morning - the drake would have made a pretty mount.
None of our members have been to the marsh yet - I guess it will be the middle of June before we get there.

Here's a shot of a pit much like mine for BGKirk (couldn't PM a photo):


Hidden from view inside are the angle irons welded across the width of each end to support 2"x10" board seats/shell shelves front and back. NO DAMN SORRY-ASSED WELDED-IN SHELL RACK!

I find it a better compromise between comfort and ease of concealment than bent-sided blinds, but you'll note the need of a heavy angle iron support along each long side - which can be the design's Achilles heel if welded on as shown above. Vegetative debris will collect on the angle iron and hold moisture against the blind's side to rust it faster in times of low water than it otherwise would. Every blind so built eventually rusted out along the top of those angles. (Wouldn't bet the Gueydan blind builder who made that and the others there when we took over didn't know that.)

To avoid that flaw, I had my current blind's support angles welded angle-up, instead of angle-down, so wet debris would be held in the angle iron, itself, instead of on it and against the relatively thin side of the blind.

You asked about longevity, and that's going to depend on the gauge of steel used, skill of the welder and off-season cover. I put my low-bid-special current one in prior to the 2011 season, and it's starting to look worrisome. Smarter folks might use more steel and/or coating of some sort - but addition weight can create installation issues in the marsh...

Rick wrote:Here's a shot of a pit much like mine for BGKirk (couldn't PM a photo):

P1010748.jpg

Hidden from view inside are the angle irons welded across the width of each end to support 2"x10" board seats/shell shelves front and back. NO DAMN SORRY-ASSED WELDED-IN SHELL RACK!

I find it a better compromise between comfort and ease of concealment than bent-sided blinds, but you'll note the need of a heavy angle iron support along each long side - which can be the design's Achilles heel if welded on as shown above. Vegetative debris will collect on the angle iron and hold moisture against the blind's side to rust it faster in times of low water than it otherwise would. Every blind so built eventually rusted out along the top of those angles. (Wouldn't bet the Gueydan blind builder who made that and the others there when we took over didn't know that.)

To avoid that flaw, I had my current blind's support angles welded angle-up, instead of angle-down, so wet debris would be held in the angle iron, itself, instead of on it and against the relatively thin side of the blind.

You asked about longevity, and that's going to depend on the gauge of steel used, skill of the welder and off-season cover. I put my low-bid-special current one in prior to the 2011 season, and it's starting to look worrisome. Smarter folks might use more steel and/or coating of some sort - but addition weight can create installation issues in the marsh...

thanks! Seems you have a well documented photo for just about everything


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BGkirk wrote:Seems you have a well documented photo for just about everything

Only since the advent of pocketable digitals.

Imagine what you could do with an iPhone


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Ericdc wrote:Imagine what you could do with an iPhone

Lose it in the marsh?

Would making a pit out of fiberglass be too outrageously expensive? Seems like the longevity of it might outweigh the expense, if one is in for the long haul, but I have no clue as to the cost difference, and prob the reason???

Deltaman wrote:Would making a pit out of fiberglass be too outrageously expensive? Seems like the longevity of it might outweigh the expense, if one is in for the long haul, but I have no clue as to the cost difference, and prob the reason???

That was sorta my reasoning for asking Rick questions on his pit. I stumbled across a video on YouTube where a company was displaying there Fiberglass products by using a big plywood box (4x4x4). After watching it I thought well crap I could do that. The plywood isn’t all that expensive, I’m still working on seeing what is used for the actual Fiberglass part.
This particular video used about 6 coats of 2-3 different products, not including the actual fiberglass cloth.


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Rick wrote:

Ericdc wrote:Imagine what you could do with an iPhone

Lose it in the marsh?

I figure if you can keep up with your camera you could keep up with the phone. I know you aren't going that route, just messing with you a little bit.

It is nice to be able to take pictures and post them directly from phone onto the forum.


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I'd think well-glassed plywood gosh awful heavy to deal with in the marsh. But maybe with enough young bucks, boats and beer,,,

Rick wrote:

Ericdc wrote:Imagine what you could do with an iPhone

Lose it in the marsh?

Dropped my smart phone in the lake last season.

After I plucked it out and it was still working, I learned my phone and most of them now are water resistant and can be submerged up to a few feet for a little while.

My heart sank quicker than the phone after it hit the water.

Yea pair them with an otterbox defender and they are bulletproof


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Rick wrote:I'd think well-glassed plywood gosh awful heavy to deal with in the marsh. But maybe with enough young bucks, boats and beer,,,

Surely no heavier than steel huh?


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Don't know, but I think it would end up heavier than steel.

Three more months, guys. Just three more months.

Yep. Never too early to start brushing huh?



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Rather incredibly for our current times, I stumbled onto a bit of good news on these boards: https://gf.nd.gov/news/3931

Rick wrote:Rather incredibly for our current times, I stumbled onto a bit of good news on these boards: https://gf.nd.gov/news/3931

Something not mentioned in that article that was in the video that went along with this was that he felt SD was just as strong


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“Conditions that we have seen since 1994 seem to be the new normal with more precipitation and higher duck numbers,” Szymanski said. “This year’s ranking of our breeding population is a pretty good sign as our 13 highest duck counts are all within the last 26 years. When you start getting around the 4 million range, you are talking about very, very good duck numbers. So it is good to see us getting back to the middle of the road for the new normal.”

This at a time when so many have feared that at any year we are on brink of losing everything, populations plummeting due to a break of the wet cycle. We may well see such a break at some point, but clearly not this year, and the time when many surmised that would happen has long passed.

Darren wrote:

“Conditions that we have seen since 1994 seem to be the new normal with more precipitation and higher duck numbers,” Szymanski said. “This year’s ranking of our breeding population is a pretty good sign as our 13 highest duck counts are all within the last 26 years. When you start getting around the 4 million range, you are talking about very, very good duck numbers. So it is good to see us getting back to the middle of the road for the new normal.”

This at a time when so many have feared that at any year we are on brink of losing everything, populations plummeting due to a break of the wet cycle. We may well see such a break at some point, but clearly not this year, and the time when many surmised that would happen has long passed.

Weeeell, that is just North Dakota and not addressing the rest of the PPR...

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Rick wrote:

Darren wrote:

“Conditions that we have seen since 1994 seem to be the new normal with more precipitation and higher duck numbers,” Szymanski said. “This year’s ranking of our breeding population is a pretty good sign as our 13 highest duck counts are all within the last 26 years. When you start getting around the 4 million range, you are talking about very, very good duck numbers. So it is good to see us getting back to the middle of the road for the new normal.”

This at a time when so many have feared that at any year we are on brink of losing everything, populations plummeting due to a break of the wet cycle. We may well see such a break at some point, but clearly not this year, and the time when many surmised that would happen has long passed.

Weeeell, that is just North Dakota and not addressing the rest of the PPR...

Did Dave hijack Rick’s handle? Sunshine and roses only during June July and August, damnit!

Just kidding. But on a serious note, evidently eastern South Dakota is wet as well, more so than eastern Nodak. Have heard it’s fairly dry in Canada, but let’s be honest, not many of those ducks make it to us anymore anyway, right? Saw Mallard and pintail numbers in North Dakota were about the same as last year. The big increase was in the number of BWT, which was up 60%. I think gadwall and weeejohns were up some as well.

Rick pumps us up to bring us down. Haven't seen anything from across the border yet, surely DU or Delta will be publishing some reports/videos soon per usual.

Darren wrote:Rick pumps us up to bring us down. Haven't seen anything from across the border yet, surely DU or Delta will be publishing some reports/videos soon per usual.

I think coronavirus has put a damper on a lot of those reports. I saw the DU podcast guy asking for ground reports from Canada on a Facebook page earlier today

Pfft... you can have the best hatch ever, means nothing if they don't make it here.

Lately I've been searching for a duck lease for a friend and have come across a few younger guy's with rice land that they lease. We've heard stories told of how good it was last year. After hearing details of their experiences their "GOOD" is not on the level of mine. Memory tends to get in the way.

This friend will be in for a rude awakening with price per blind compared to the blinds we had in the 80's, and also with what today's "good" looks like.

DComeaux wrote:Pfft... you can have the best hatch ever, means nothing if they don't make it here.

Lately I've been searching for a duck lease for a friend and have come across a few younger guy's with rice land that they lease. We've heard stories told of how good it was last year. After hearing details of their experiences their "GOOD" is not on the level of mine. Memory tends to get in the way.

This friend will be in for a rude awakening with price per blind compared to the blinds we had in the 80's, and also with what today's "good" looks like.

It's all relative. Good for some is not even worth mentioning for others. Bottom line the bar of what good looks like over all for most everyone in the average Joe's circle is being lowered for a myriad of reasons. Most two prevalent of them being preferred habitat out of the wazoo everywhere you look and a lack of consistent impact weather patterns.

Example: For years I never even considered shooting a diver or spoon unless I just wanted fresh breast meet for bacon jalepeno wraps. The last two years I lowered my personal standards considerably lol

Spoons eat as good as mallards. I made fajitas out of them, they eat real good.


Pound em out with a tenderizer, season, and grill.

Fed the whole office back in the season and they couldn't believe it was duck.


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