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Rick wrote:Drop dead gorgeous morning turned this morning's exercise rounds through Klondike rice/crawfish country into more of an appreciative amble of soaking in the sights, sounds and sensations. Nary a mosquitoe or deer fly to sully it.

Was a little surprised to see the three (or perhaps four?) well separated pairs of blue-wings that turned up on a friend's crawfish ponds yesterday were still there, as his farm seldom hosts them coming or going. Couldn't help but wonder if these were considering staying through summer or just resting up.

Saw one pair of BWT and several black bellie whistlers yesterday in my backwater ride searching for Giant Salvinia on the local WMA. Happy to say that the February Freeze did a number on most of it but what's left will undoubtedly spread like wildfire when it warms up.

Suppose there are places it's matted thick enough to insulate the center against all but truly extended freezes.

Rick wrote:Was a little surprised to see the three (or perhaps four?) well separated pairs of blue-wings that turned up on a friend's crawfish ponds yesterday were still there, as his farm seldom hosts them coming or going. Couldn't help but wonder if these were considering staying through summer or just resting up.

While our daily close passage or the urge to head north has moved the other pairs from along the bug and my morning exercise route, this was the fourth straight morning one pair has flushed from virtually, if not, the same spot along a weedy edge where crawfish pond and grass road meet. Thought they might have moved on with the little party of nine we found by them yesterday, but not so. At least not yet...

We ran them out of their spot again this morning with the bug, again, giving chase. Wish they'd get the message and find a safer spot if they're going to nest here. Predators, herbicides or the bush-hog are certain hazards to their current location.

On a kinda-sorta related note, we've had a yard robin or two since the last freeze, so I suspect they may now be summering over.

That or the birds are just waiting for the weather up home to make up its mind.

Went to a "Where's the ducks?" gathering last night that turned out to be bait for Delta Waterfowl's effort to drum up financial support for a move into doing their own telemetry work here in Louisiana. Don't know that their doing so will do a lick of good, but, I suppose, shouldn't hurt.

Rick wrote:Went to a "Where's the ducks?" gathering last night that turned out to be bait for Delta Waterfowl's effort to drum up financial support for a move into doing their own telemetry work here in Louisiana. Don't know that their doing so will do a lick of good, but, I suppose, shouldn't hurt.

Any interesting takeaways on the wheres the ducks front? Or just was a group all asking same question without an answer?

Mostly a lot of emphasis on the naturally cyclical nature of the fall flight, some shots at the "inefficient" DU breeding ground securing approach vs Delta's "more efficient" predator control approach and quick pass through the usual suspects leading into their telemetry pitch. Most Q&A was well alcohol lubricated "Just want to kill ducks, why can't we raise them here?"

We all at one time have read and may know of this planet's past pattern changes and cycles, and in our short lives here on earth it seems we're experiencing one of these changes. I feel that there is nothing that we as humans can do to greatly affect earths weather patterns but it won't stop those from claiming we do. (that's a debate for some other interweb thread). We're but a pimple on a gnat's ass in this scenario, as we are only passengers on a spinning globe and truly don't understand it's mechanics, nor do I think we ever will.

I've read recently that the earths wobble is changing which is causing giant ocean eddies to "reorganize". As I said, we're only here for the ride and are but observers. Below are a couple of links I found on this subject. That's my observation on the climate, but I wish they'd quit planting for ducks. IMO, It only exacerbates the migration issue.

https://phys.org/news/2021-04-climate-shifted-axis-earth.html

https://www.theguardian.com/environment ... s-globally

After being AWOL the previous two mornings, our blue-wing pair burst from their weedy edge spot on the bug and my morning exercise route again this morning. Inadvertently let the bug get way down a nearby mid-pond levee yesterday, and he may have run them out of that generally safer location while I was focusing (Get it?) on my eye exercises. Anyway, they sure seem to want to stick around.

Speaking of which, the robin pair that finally showed in our yard during the late freeze are still enjoying our wormy place. Guessing they're nesting in the back neighbor's mulberry tree.

Must be the Belize blue wings who think south LA is “north”.

Rick wrote:Didn't see them yesterday - and made a point of keeping the bug from working the should-be-safer cross levee I'd rather they homesteaded.

Did get a close look at some for-sure fulvous for the first time on that farm this spring and had a presumed courtship flight of five mottleds drop, rock and roll right to me, as if tolling. The later of which had me wishing my life away and yearning for fall...

Having just posted that - albeit on the wrong thread - don'tcha know the bug ran our blue-wing pair out their grassy edge spot along our course again this morning. Really wish they'd pick a safer spot.

I stole this off of the Ultimate pheasant hunting forum. This guy made the front page news in Sioux Falls South Dakota. Made me think of you Rick.

Makes our pair look pretty plain, but I'm tickled with them.

Restocked our marsh and Cherry Ridge with gators today. Ducks were hopefully all off making ducklings. But the marsh was pretty...

Rick,
How is the number restocked in a given area calculated? Same number taken, or is there another formula used? Seems like there were eggs involved in the taking, and I am just curious how it all works. Taking out the larger lizards for safety, or is it just a means of controlling/maintaining the population? We have no control measures here in coastal AL that I am aware of, other than the thinning of the population every summer by the lottery hunts.

The farm releases we do in the spring are mitigation for the eggs taken from the wild to stock commercial alligator farms. Current formula is 10% at 4' (11% at 3' and 9% at 5') of what was taken two years prior, which is more than would have survived to that size in the wild. (Was 12% at 4', but between that and the crashed market for wild hides, we're now overrun with gators.) And they're apportioned and released in accordance to the number of eggs taken from a landowner's property.

Might add that left in the wild a 2yr-old won't be anywhere near the size of farm gators kept warm and at the buffet for that period. Current demand must favor the small end of the 3' to 5' bracket, as our releases have nearly all been near its top the past few years. But it's a business I know precious little about. Strictly labor just happy to be in the marsh.

Stumbling across that reminder of a long ago salt surge got my attention, too. So yesterday was finally post 2020-2021 season gun cleaning day here. Hadn't intended to put it off so long, just did. Have, in fact, had some new-to-me stuff called "Eezox" on hand since before season's end with the intent of trying it's "dry" lube and protection properties when the guns got their, usually, annual deep cleaning.

Nasty stuff, Eezox: stinks and sticky until wiped off after drying. No way I'd put it in the trigger assemblies I figured a "dry" lubricant might best serve. And how well it will serve as bolt and rail lubricant (where excess could be removed after drying, per instruction) remains to be seen... (Displayed my current faith by ordering more Hornady One Shot.)

Anyhow, I know at least three of you regularly hunt salty stuff and am curious what you're using for corrosion protection and lubrication there. Know that when I hunted Pecan Island early on in my time down here, the best I could do was leave my semi-auto at home and carry a Mossberg 500 pump with a light, but still funky to handle, coat of RIG - and strip it down as soon as I was back on hard ground.

What's your Rx?

Rick wrote:
What's your Rx?

Hornady One Shot (per you) on my M2's action/bolt assembly and its done well.

Birchwood Casey's Barricade on everything else: metal, plastic, all other surfaces on the gun.
https://www.birchwoodcasey.com/products ... rosol.html

How much of a mess is Barricade?

I started using One Shot after reading this test: https://www.shotgunworld.com/bbs/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=398836 but wonder about its corrosion protection longevity (or stick-to-itiveness) under field conditions, ie: rubbing on stuff. Also have the WD40 corrosion "Specialist," stuff that did well in the test, but it's about as messy as RIG. Tried Frog Lube, too, but found it a PIA.

Hadn't taken the time to go through that evaluation thoroughly in the past but man One Shot was a performer all around for sure.

Barricade has done well for me, cheaper than OneShot I think (I buy it in bigger cans) and keep it at various hunt locations for a quick wipe down post-hunt. The OneShot just goes to the action area as stated before but clearly (per the test) would be a superb protectant to put on any metal surface.

Inertia gun owners rejoice, One Shot is the ticket per chart below. My M2 sure seems to like it plenty.

I ordered a can of One Shot today, after reading this thread, and will give it a try, Thanks!

Rick wrote:

IMG_0071a.jpg

What's your Rx?

Today with synthetic stocks and painted barrels I don't have much issues, but back in the day I'd just use a steel wool and wd40.

I however didn't have expensive guns. No vent rib, just a basic barrel and trigger smoke pole held together with wood, such as the Remington sportsman's model (below), which was somewhat in my budget back then, this during the lead shot days.


I did however "upgrade" to a fancier gun as time went on but still used the steel wool on it. I kept the inside clean and lubricated and let it roll. I still have all of my guns with some worn to razor sharp inside on the slides. I've cut fingers often cleaning those back then.

Hey-oh!!!!! That’ll get the blood pumping!

Rick wrote:

Haha. We had one hissing this morning, I suppose we were fishing to close to the nest. For some reason I thought it was too early for that, but now it makes sense.
Sounds awfully close to a highway where you are


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First rice and crawfish farm on the west side of 14 coming off the Lake Arthur/Mermentau bridge, and she built by the last metal power pole before 717. Not a shy one, she.

Rice behind her will be crawfish next year, and the swarm of herons that draws will enjoy her little ones - if the few already fishing her little flood canal leave any...

Re: the timing, June is when they start laying, so you may well be right about your hisser. Are times I'll hear them before seeing them while picking, so that's a help.

Rick wrote:First rice and crawfish farm on the west side of 14 coming off the Lake Arthur/Mermentau bridge, and she built by the last metal power pole before 717. Not a shy one, she.

Rice behind her will be crawfish next year, and the swarm of herons that draws will enjoy her little ones - if the few already fishing her little flood canal leave any...

Re: the timing, June is when they start laying, so you may well be right about your hisser. Are times I'll hear them before seeing them while picking, so that's a help.

Herons will eat the baby gators ?

Herons eat just about, if not, everything too small to eat them: gators, snakes and turtles all included. And ducks. Mystery to me is how they get the catfish down...

There were quite a few pictures of gators bigger than I would expect them to eat.

Wow! Surprising (and not) all at once for me.

I do enjoy seeing the pelicans try to get big fish carcasses down off our dock.