2020-2021 Season Log

[Darren]

Hopefully a few escaped all that fire. We'll bundle up and go see! Catch you in the AM

[DComeaux]

Hopefully a few escaped all that fire. We'll bundle up and go see! Catch you in the AM

Drop off 4 to 6 squealers to me on the way out.

[Rick]

Date: 1/12 Tue

Time: morning

Location: mudhole

Cloud Cover: clear

Wind Direction and Velocity: light NE

Temperature: frosty

Moon phase: small

Special Notes:

Waterfowl Activity: Still very little moving.

Waterfowl Responsiveness: Nearly everything called tolled.

Hunters: 1, Grant

Guns:

Malfunctions:

Dog(s): Easy morning

Special Equipment: sos

Curses: Wish there were more birds.

Kudos: Pretty much raised young Grant (now 43) at the camp, and it was great to get to hunt with him again. Greater, still, that he's been a guide and camp owner in the interim. HUGE change from 90-some percent the parties I've been taking in terms of hiding and hitting. Gave spoons, jacks and hens a pass.

Birds By Species: 2 bw teal, 1 gadwall, 3 mallards, 1 mottled and 1 pintail

[Deltaman]

Glad things are picking up Rick, and it has to be a pleasure to have a hunter that understands concealment, considering several of your recent guests attitude regarding.

[BGkirk]

Sounds like a well deserved hunt for you and the more experienced guest


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[Rick]

Not nearly so much "looking up" as "right man in the blind". Not so tough to fool a duck, it's doing it with whoever come through the camp door that makes it a sport.

[Rick]

Date: 11/13/21 Wed

Time: morning

Location: mudhole

Cloud Cover: clear

Wind Direction and Velocity: dead calm while we were there

Temperature: 30s

Moon phase: small

Special Notes:

Waterfowl Activity: 2 bwt buzzed the left end of the pond, 2gwt buzzed the east end of the pond, a small courting flight of pintails danced by and four more bore straight and true overhead. That, and a few mottleds shifting spots was our "flight".

Waterfowl Responsiveness: Zip, nadda, forget about it.

Hunters: 2, long time regulars Mike and his brother Don

Guns:

Malfunctions:

Dog(s): slept

Special Equipment: sos

Curses: First scratch of the season, fifth of my 14 seasons there.

Kudos: Morning was cut mercifully short to catch flights.

Birds By Species: DNS, DNTAS, scratched like a red-assed ape.

[Duck Engr]

That sounds like an Alabama hunt!

[Rick]

That sounds like an Alabama hunt!

Told Mike and Don, "Just like hunting in Ohio." We're still pretty spoiled.

[Rick]

While I was sky-watching this morning, the fruits of last night's labors were starting a new day:

snapshot.jpg

Haven't heard a final tally, but that snapshot doesn't begin to tell the numerical story. Best news being that there were 48 mallard hens, the majority of which donated blood for DNA study and 18 of which are now wearing the 18 GPS units we still had available.

Even put two of my grandcouillons to work:

005a.jpg

(Hate not getting a better shot of them for Sweet Chereaux, but was busier than that one-armed fiddler we hear about.)

[BGkirk]

Where was the catch net?


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[Rick]

Where was the catch net?

Secret honey hole.

[BGkirk]

Where was the catch net?

Secret honey hole.

I suppose the telemetry may tell us


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[Darren]

Very nice! And also good to see so many hens

[Rick]

Date: 1/14 Thur

Time: morning

Location: mudhole

Cloud Cover: clear

Wind Direction and Velocity: Zip to very light SW

Temperature: frost

Moon phase:

Special Notes:

Waterfowl Activity: Had a very few teal and spoons blow by without looking, as well as the usual local jacks from pond to pond. Mottleds didn't stretch their wings, but two single mallards and another with the only two pintails we saw came by.

Waterfowl Responsiveness: A lone spoon bought in completely, as did the two single greenheads and the mixed trio - though the later was banged out by one of the very, very, very few shots heard from our marsh of Cherry RIdge's.

Hunters: 2, regulars, now 80yr-old father, Harold, son, Mark

Guns:

Malfunctions:

Dog(s): easy pickin's

Special Equipment: sos

Curses: Had the two sprigs and mallard plenty close enough overhead and planned on bringing them around front for Harold, when a first shot in maybe a half hour bumped them out.

Kudos: Super nice folks I'd not seen since September, so we had a nice visit.

Birds By Species: 2 mallards, 1 ringneck and 1 shoveller

[Rick]

Date: 1/15 Fri

Time: morning

Location: mudhole

Cloud Cover: clear

Wind Direction and Velocity: nil to light WNW

Temperature: colder than expected

Moon phase:

Special Notes:

Waterfowl Activity: Next to none: saw a flight of spoons and another of mallards(?), 3 dos gris and a few local mottleds. (Other than the Cherry Ridge up and down show.)

Waterfowl Responsiveness: Dos gris buzzed us, but spun to the call. Everything else ignored me.

Hunters: 2 from Columbus

Guns:

Malfunctions:

Dog(s): easy morning

Special Equipment: sos

Curses: no ducks

Kudos: nice guys

Birds By Species: 2 scaup

[Darren]

holy moly, 2 dogs at the mudhole.

[Rick]

holy moly, 2 dogs at the mudhole.

God bless their naive little souls.

[Ericdc]

God bless you for having to hunt every day with paying clients with how tough it's been.


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[Rick]

Date: 1/16 Sat

Time: morning

Location: mudhole

Cloud Cover: clear

Wind Direction and Velocity: NW moderate

Temperature: 40ish

Moon phase: small

Special Notes:

Waterfowl Activity: same dead skies

Waterfowl Responsiveness: Tripped a local pair with single quacks, and broke another out of a sky-high flight (only to lose it dealing with crowd control. Teal came and landed on its own.

Hunters: 2 who'd hunted with me in the way back when, George and Dunbar

Guns:

Malfunctions:

Dog(s): The bug saved us from a scratch by finding and catching our long fly-off teal.

Special Equipment: sos

Curses: Were way, way, way too slow getting underway on mallard pair coming right up the middle, then missed our teal on the water.

Kudos: nice folks

Birds By Species: 1 gw teal

Photo Ops: When hope is lost

004a.jpg

[Rick]

Date: 1/17/21 Sun

Time: morning

Location: mudhole

Cloud Cover: clear to partly

Wind Direction and Velocity: calm or nearly so all morning

Temperature: little ice on the windshield

Moon phase: 23% waxing

Special Notes:

Waterfowl Activity: Nearly dead again, but at least a few birds seen. (Ours was the big hunt, ouch.)

Waterfowl Responsiveness: Excellent.

Hunters: 1 1/2, new-to-ducks father, John, and young son, Adam

Guns:

Malfunctions:

Dog(s): Super long tipped pintail mark, followed by a long chase and eventual snag.

Special Equipment: sos

Curses: I was surprised and let out a "No, no, please no!" when poor Adam shouted "They're right there!" before our birds, a sting of pintails on final approach, made it into the hole.

Kudos: Smoothed it over by cutting he and his Red Rider loose on my decoys, and a fine time was had by all.

Birds By Species: 1 gw teal, 1 mallard, 2 pintails, 1 shoveller and 1 wigeon

Photo Ops: Adam shooting the tar out of a spinner:

031a.jpg

Some birds that weren't faster getting underway than than we:

036a.jpg

And one that nearly was, but couldn't beat the bug:

001a.jpg

[Duck Engr]

Was the fella just wanting his son to experience something he hadn’t done before? Unusual, to me at least, to see someone who’s new to ducks taking his little one on a hunt.

[Rick]

Some very basic hunting concepts were plainly new to him, and I think it was just something he wanted to do with his son. Know he was much more excited about being there than the boy. Found myself returning a high-five when he hit a bird. Don't remember the last of those with someone over the age of 10.

Fun hunt, in any event, as the pressure to shoot a bunch was plainly off.

[Bud]

Nice to see the fulvous ducks. There's still hope one day.

[Duck Engr]

Some very basic hunting concepts were plainly new to him, and I think it was just something he wanted to do with his son. Know he was much more excited about being there than the boy. Found myself returning a high-five when he hit a bird. Don't remember the last of those with someone over the age of 10.

Fun hunt, in any event, as the pressure to shoot a bunch was plainly off.

That’s cool. Good for him for exposing his son to something he wasn’t familiar with.

[Rick]

Date: 1/18 Mon

Time: morning

Location: mudhole

Cloud Cover: clear

Wind Direction and Velocity: southerly zip to moderate

Temperature: chilly to warm

Moon phase:

Special Notes:

Waterfowl Activity: Didn't see a teal or mallard that could be IDed as such. After the first mixed bunch, pintails were our only passing big ducks.

Waterfowl Responsiveness: First high bunch broke and worked pretty and a couple more broke and dropped, as if buying in, before kicking it back in gear and heading on. Perhaps, "Oops, just Rick again." Don't know.

Hunters: 2, Mark and Todd

Guns:

Malfunctions:

Dog(s): Super easy morning.

Special Equipment: sos

Curses: I picked a wigeon out of our first op, thinking there would be others for pintails. I thought wrong. That, and Todd came all the way from Indiana just to see so precious few birds.

Kudos: Still a pleasant morning with nice folks.

Birds By Species: 1 shoveller and 1 wigeon

[Rick]

Date: 1/19 Tue

Time: morning

Location: mudhole

Cloud Cover: clear

Wind Direction and Velocity: SE fairly strong

Temperature: comfortably cool

Moon phase:

Special Notes: Fond of saying "new wind, new day" and "south winds bring teal" and did both this morning, but was only kinda-sorta right.

Waterfowl Activity: Precious few big ducks around, but did finally see some green-wings, to include two BIG bunches.

Waterfowl Responsiveness: Grays came as they always should, as did one of the two green-wing swarms.

Hunters: 2, Mark and Todd again

Guns:

Malfunctions:

Dog(s): Easy morning w/just one long gray.

Special Equipment: sos

Curses: No complaints from me.

Kudos: Took five of our teal from the big bunch, instead of just shooting "in amongst them".

Birds By Species: 3 gadwall and 8 gw teal

Photo Ops: Busted mud boat:

010a.jpg

[Deltaman]

Glad some birds cooperated today Rick!!!!!!

[Rick]

Glad some birds cooperated today Rick!!!!!!

I was tickled just to see a couple good bunches of green-wings. Shooting a few was almost lagniappe.

[DComeaux]

Oh the green wing. Would love to see if there are any out at our place right now.