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Preseason/Teal/Dove 2020-2021

PostPosted: Thu Aug 20, 2020 7:09 pm
by Duck Engr
I wasn’t able to make it up to the farm any last weekend but did get a report from Dad that the rice in the woodie hole is starting to head out. I’m considering closing the valve to catch what I’m assuming will be a substantial rain from these tropical systems. I only assume that because I need it to dry out a few days to install my flashboard riser and pipe in the impoundment across the county road, and Mother Nature seems to enjoy working against me, so try to hedge when I can. The rice on the baker impoundment as we call it is about 2 weeks behind the woodie hole rice.

Plan to get up there this weekend and mow the browntop that’s mature. Going to do 4 stages of burning to try to attract birds throughout the season. Weather permitting I’ll set the first part on fire the following weekend, one week before dove season opens. Feels good just to type it out that we’re so close.

Re: Preseason/Teal/Dove 2020-2021

PostPosted: Fri Aug 21, 2020 4:49 am
by Rick
Duck Engr wrote: Feels good just to type it out that we’re so close.


I'll bet.

Re: Preseason/Teal/Dove 2020-2021

PostPosted: Sat Aug 22, 2020 6:52 pm
by Duck Engr
Took my little boy and the pup (who is now far from at pup at 8 going on 9) out for a walk and a few bumpers in the neighborhood field this morning. Got in a few marks and 100-150 yard blinds, which is all the real estate we had. Legh is in better shape than I expected. Got a little whistle work in as well. We’ll repeat that 3-4 times these next couple weeks in prep for the coming dove season.

Re: Preseason/Teal/Dove 2020-2021

PostPosted: Sat Aug 22, 2020 6:57 pm
by Duck Engr
As I mentioned in the first post of this log, I’m going to be installing a flashboard riser as soon as it gets dry enough.

Looking for some do's and don't's of flashboard riser installation from the braintrust if there are any to be had.

A little background:
This is a low field alongside a ditch that holds water annually. We've built a levee around the field, now it's time to install the pipe and riser. I've run the runoff calcs, time of concentration, the whole 9 yards. Ended up with a 36" pipe (this area drains a large hillside). Bought a steel painted riser from osceola machine for a plastic corrugated pipe. The soil where the impoundment is located is red clay, sometimes gray clay, so no issues with holding water. A problem with that dirt is it eats through metal quickly.

Most flashboard riser installs i've seen bury half of the riser into the levee. I'm worried that'll greatly reduce the life of my riser due to corrosion, though I did coat it today with foundation/roof sealant. I was wanting to pull it out into the impoundment a few feet and have it stand alone. Now my next issue, that pesky buoyancy thing. Water will be 4' deep at full pool. Riser is 2' deep x 3.5' wide. that weight of water comes out to 1,750 lbs. Riser only weighs 185. Ideally, i'd pour a big chunk of concrete and anchor it to the concrete, but i doubt we can get a concrete truck back to that area. I've also considered anchoring it into the soil using auger-style anchors.

My most recent idea is to put the riser on the back end of the pipe, outside of the levee. It'd basically be turning the system around backwards. Water flows in the pipe first, then through the riser and over the boards. No buoyancy problems then but water will be trying to push the riser off the pipe and once a stick gets in there, it won't be able to escape (unless there' s a big rainfall event) until i pull a board or two. Also wondering what this will do to my flow capacity in my riser. I assume it’ll slow it since water has to go through the pipe and then against gravity up the riser. Beavers are around, so i'll install a hog wire fence guard around the inlet. Also planning on putting in a seep collar.

Anyone ever seen a flashboard riser installed outside of the levee?

Re: Preseason/Teal/Dove 2020-2021

PostPosted: Sun Aug 23, 2020 4:26 am
by Rick
Not I.

Re: Preseason/Teal/Dove 2020-2021

PostPosted: Mon Aug 24, 2020 10:18 am
by Duck Engr
I did a lot of moving around up at the farm yesterday but didn’t get much done. Threw some erosion fabric over the levee opening I made where I intend to install pipe and riser for the pending hurricane(s) but their track has since shifted so far west I doubt it’ll be necessary. The rice on that side of the road is just starting to head out.

Went over to the dove field and determined it needed spraying instead of mowing if I wanted to get it burned next weekend due to all of the crabgrass. Ended up working on the tractor replacing a pto seal and sprayer replacing a busted nozzle then unclogging a hose for upwards of 2 hours. Finally sprayed half of the field by about 2 pm and finished the other half by 330 after a chemical and water reload. About 430 a rain cell popped up and dropped a half inch of rain on it. Long story short, I might as well have poured that chemical out on the ground. Would have saved some fuel and time and with the same results. Not sure what I’m going to do now.

The bright spot of the day was the wood duck hole. It’s 2 weeks ahead of the baker impoundment and looks great. Rice is headed out and starting to “droop”.

Wood duck hole

Image

Impoundment:

Image

Preseason/Teal/Dove 2020-2021

PostPosted: Sat Sep 05, 2020 8:27 pm
by Duck Engr
Went on a little dove scouting mission this afternoon. Was basically a beer drinking session on the golf cart with my Dad but I did take a shotgun and Legh just in case a few got stupid. Had one commit suicide but otherwise they stayed at the other end of the field in the shade. Saw between 100 and 150. Nothing crazy but enough to fool with.

Stopped by both rice projects. Closed the valve in the woodie pond two weeks back and it’s holding 6”-12” in the deep end.

Impoundment rice looks better than woodie hole. Very pleased with it. Need another week of dry weather to install the riser.

Image

Re: Preseason/Teal/Dove 2020-2021

PostPosted: Sun Sep 13, 2020 9:28 pm
by Duck Engr
Shot doves last Sunday morning. Didn’t see near the birds we had the day before and they weren’t interested in coming to the field to feed at all. Most stayed high and were just passing by. 4 of us scraped together 21 birds. Highlight of the morning was my buddy bringing his 5 year old son who was super excited about the whole production including yelling across the field “my dad killed a dove!” when my buddy finally connected. It was hilarious to hear the little guy trying to convince his dad to shoot tweety birds and not understanding the explanation of the difference between those and doves. Burned a small field and a few strips we mowed in the larger fields Sunday evening. Had planned to do that before season but rain kept us out of the field. Saw another 100-150 birds feeding in a non burned portion of the field when my two year old Beau and I stopped by to watch Monday evening on the way home from my in-laws. Should have brought a shotgun, as all of those birds had disappeared by Wednesday.

Preseason/Teal/Dove 2020-2021

PostPosted: Sun Sep 13, 2020 9:35 pm
by Duck Engr
No hunting reports from this weekend because Beau and I are isolating from the rest of the world until this coming Friday. I had a meeting with a coworker on Tuesday who called me Friday to say he’d just tested positive for covid. Luckily my very pregnant wife had already taken some time off to go see her parents so we haven’t been around her. No symptoms for me or the little guy so far, knock on wood.

Kicked around the idea of putting some ear muffs on him this afternoon and taking him to the field with me but I don’t want to rush him into shotgun blasts. I’d prefer going with Dad or someone else so they can shoot and I can put my full attention to Beau when I do introduce him to it. We did go pet the horses, sit on the tractors, and take a golf cart ride to see the dove field and woody hole. Burned off part of the dove field had 150-200 doves on it. Hope they hang around until next weekend until I’m free to go shoot.

Woody hole looks great. Has just enough water in it for what i like to see in September. Seed at the deepest part isn’t submerged. I’ll have to go open the valve one morning after this hurricane and let some water out I’m betting.

Image

Image

Re: Preseason/Teal/Dove 2020-2021

PostPosted: Mon Sep 14, 2020 3:48 am
by Rick
Has to be fun to have your own habitat to play with.

Re: Preseason/Teal/Dove 2020-2021

PostPosted: Mon Sep 14, 2020 7:47 am
by Duck Engr
It’s been fun to have something to scratch the itch during the boring summer months.

I’m now considering letting the water out today as our forecast has gone from 2/3” of rain to 4-6” overnight. I’m sure whatever I do Mother Nature will laugh and screw me somehow.

Re: Preseason/Teal/Dove 2020-2021

PostPosted: Mon Sep 14, 2020 8:42 am
by Deltaman
Beautiful place DE, and I hope your efforts pay off!

Re: Preseason/Teal/Dove 2020-2021

PostPosted: Tue Sep 15, 2020 9:35 pm
by Duck Engr
As usual, borrowed from Rick

Date:

Time:

Location:

Cloud Cover:

Wind Direction and Velocity:

Temperature:

Moon phase:

Special Notes:

Waterfowl Activity:

Waterfowl Responsiveness:

Hunters:

Guns:

Malfunctions:

Dog(s):

Special Equipment:

Curses:

Kudos:

Birds By Species:

Photo Ops:

Lagniappe:

Preseason/Teal/Dove 2020-2021

PostPosted: Tue Sep 15, 2020 10:01 pm
by Duck Engr
Date:9/15/20

Time: afternoon 4 pm after work. Stayed for an hour.

Location: CRP dove field

Cloud Cover: Heavy. Sally slowly approaching.

Wind Direction and Velocity: stout from ESE

Temperature: Comfy

Moon phase:

Special Notes: couldn’t stand it after a scouting report from Dad yesterday of even more birds than the day before and took my not quite two year old son Beau out for an afternoon of snacks and bird watching.

Waterfowl Activity: 200 doves on the field right by my little tree I usually sit under when we pulled up. Most birds left and few returned. I had a few cream puff opportunities but I didn’t bother loading my gun for the first half hour, making sure Beau was having fun and wasn’t scared by Dad’s shots 100 yards away.

Waterfowl Responsiveness: N/A. Birds with a tail wind were scoooootin.

Hunters: Dad, me, and Beau.

Guns: Winchester 101 for Dad. Benelli m2 for me. I need to get an over under I can beat up as a dove gun so I can find my hulls. Benelli kicks the hulls a country mile, although I like how that little 20 gauge handles.

Malfunctions: the little guy got tired of his ear muffs pretty quickly after I loaded my gun, so I passed several opportunities.

Also am fairly certain Dad’s vision is going on him. He’s always had excellent long distance vision and been a good shot but I’ve noticed recently he isn’t identifying birds very well. Had to call him off a killdeer today after he shouldered his gun. He didn’t connect on any of his handful of shots, granted most of his were long and high.

Dog(s): Legh. She was amped up out of her mind listening to Dad shoot and likely cost us another bird in hand after I sailed one into the tall brush. Ran around so crazy that I’m sure she couldn’t smell anything from all of the panting she was doing. Can’t complain too much. At least she loves going.

Special Equipment: lots of snacks

Curses: having to work longer than anticipated fixing someone else’s screw up at work.

Kudos: Had a lot of fun watching my little boy pick out doves, dragonflies, buzzards, hawks, and whatever else flew by. Gunshots didn’t bother him at all.

Birds By Species: 3 doves and a limit of goldfish.

Photo Ops:Image


Lagniappe: a nice afternoon break after an aggravating morning at work. Figured I had to get time afield in when I could with the rain coming. Currently forecasting 8-10” for us. That’ll keep us out for at least a week, as our Clay turns to tar quickly when wet.

Re: Preseason/Teal/Dove 2020-2021

PostPosted: Wed Sep 16, 2020 3:45 am
by Rick
Making those Goldfish look mighty good.

Hope Sally's passage is uneventful for you.

Re: Preseason/Teal/Dove 2020-2021

PostPosted: Wed Sep 16, 2020 7:16 am
by Deltaman
Cute boy DE, and good on you to concentrate on him instead of the birds while there. Something i picked up a few years ago for dove hunts, is one of the magnetic pick up sticks for empty hulls. You can pick up a dozen or more before clearing in a bag and starting again, and it beats the heck out of bending over multiple times to pick them up by hand. Is extendable also, and good to use around the duck blind as well. A well invested $35, and all of the other folks always borrow as well. Thanks for the report!

Re: Preseason/Teal/Dove 2020-2021

PostPosted: Wed Sep 16, 2020 9:23 am
by 5 stand
We buy those Pittsburgh magnets at harbor freight for $7.99. Keep them at every stand at the gun club. They're not as good as the $35 ones, but good enough. They will only pick up about eight huls easily. I keep one in the truck also. Deltaman good advice :thumbsup:

Re: Preseason/Teal/Dove 2020-2021

PostPosted: Wed Sep 16, 2020 9:25 am
by 5 stand
Limit of goldfish priceless!

Re: Preseason/Teal/Dove 2020-2021

PostPosted: Wed Sep 16, 2020 3:06 pm
by Duck Engr
Rick wrote:Making those Goldfish look mighty good.

Hope Sally's passage is uneventful for you.
So far so good. Just soggy and breezy. Patting myself on the back for being a slacker and not getting my riser installed before this hit. Fresh levee and a big rain don’t mix well in my experience.

Re: Preseason/Teal/Dove 2020-2021

PostPosted: Wed Sep 16, 2020 3:09 pm
by Duck Engr
Deltaman wrote:Cute boy DE, and good on you to concentrate on him instead of the birds while there. Something i picked up a few years ago for dove hunts, is one of the magnetic pick up sticks for empty hulls. You can pick up a dozen or more before clearing in a bag and starting again, and it beats the heck out of bending over multiple times to pick them up by hand. Is extendable also, and good to use around the duck blind as well. A well invested $35, and all of the other folks always borrow as well. Thanks for the report!
That sounds like a nice addition that I’ll have to look into. My issue is it kicks the shells so far I can’t find them in the brush!

Re: Preseason/Teal/Dove 2020-2021

PostPosted: Wed Sep 16, 2020 3:10 pm
by Duck Engr
5 stand wrote:We buy those Pittsburgh magnets at harbor freight for $7.99. Keep them at every stand at the gun club. They're not as good as the $35 ones, but good enough. They will only pick up about eight huls easily. I keep one in the truck also. Deltaman good advice :thumbsup:
I like it. That’s more my style. Ive been accused of being, uh, frugal.

Re: Preseason/Teal/Dove 2020-2021

PostPosted: Sun Sep 20, 2020 10:22 pm
by BGkirk
Ahh,,,Something to looked forward to when mine gets closer to 2. Which she will be 2 by next sept. I’m sure ear muffs will be a joy to keep on. Looked like fun and what patience you have holding off on ops. If I had 100+ birds in my field I wouldn’t be able to hold off so easy


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Re: Preseason/Teal/Dove 2020-2021

PostPosted: Mon Sep 21, 2020 3:51 pm
by Duck Engr
BGkirk wrote:Ahh,,,Something to looked forward to when mine gets closer to 2. Which she will be 2 by next sept. I’m sure ear muffs will be a joy to keep on. Looked like fun and what patience you have holding off on ops. If I had 100+ birds in my field I wouldn’t be able to hold off so easy


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
If yours is anything like mine, he mimics my every move. I usually wear plugs but brought muffs like his so he’d be more apt to keep them on. It worked until it didn’t. He put them back on when grandad told him to tho...

Re: Preseason/Teal/Dove 2020-2021

PostPosted: Tue Sep 29, 2020 10:15 am
by Duck Engr
Had an ok little dove hunt after the rain Sunday afternoon. Temperature was pleasant even with the soggy ground. Ran about 100 off the field when we got there a few minutes before 3. Later than I wanted, but Sally damaged the 12” standpipe in our 10 acre bass pond, so I slid the go devil off the trailer into the pond and we worked to reattach the top section of the standpipe before we hunted (shame on the pond builder for missing his elevation 30 years ago, but that’s another discussion).

The doves returned about 45 minutes later in two groups of 50. Dad and I killed 6 out of those two groups. Not much flying after that. Scratched out another 3. Legh had a fine day and was worn out that night from all the swimming she did while we worked on the standpipe.

Re: Preseason/Teal/Dove 2020-2021

PostPosted: Tue Sep 29, 2020 10:37 am
by Duck Engr
Sally dropped over 7” of rain on us in about 9 hours. The little wood duck pond faired ok. Water went over the dam briefly, but didn’t do any damage. Thought a lot of the rice had been laid over from wave action, but after draining about a foot of water off of it, the rice stood back up pretty nicely.

Im afraid the impoundment across the road is a lost cause this year unfortunately. After all of the rain, I think it’s going to be too wet to get over there to install the riser after the 7” rain from Sally plus another 2” since then (and raining now as I type). Hogs have also been in that rice extensively since Sally. I’ve also noticed a little pig damage in the wood duck pond as well. Got a cell camera on that pond now so if they get in it anymore I’ll go give them a little lead heartburn.

Before:
Image

After Sally:

Image

Post Sally drawdown:
Image

Re: Preseason/Teal/Dove 2020-2021

PostPosted: Tue Sep 29, 2020 12:21 pm
by Deltaman
Glad your rice came back up :thumbsup:

Re: Preseason/Teal/Dove 2020-2021

PostPosted: Fri Oct 02, 2020 6:40 pm
by Duck Engr
I’ll pile on to Dave’s baby talk with some of my own. Our little girl surprised us with her arrival this morning - a week and a half early (and eggzackly 2 years to the day after our little boy was born). Momma and baby are both doing great.

Re: Preseason/Teal/Dove 2020-2021

PostPosted: Sat Oct 03, 2020 3:27 am
by Rick
And only one birthday party a year. Congrats. (Gotta watch that little gal, though, they're hatched knowing how to play us.)

Preseason/Teal/Dove 2020-2021

PostPosted: Sat Oct 03, 2020 6:58 am
by Duck Engr
You’re right about that Rick. Being a dad to Beau has been great but holding her for the first time hit me a little deeper in the feels than I ever felt holding my boy. I’m already in trouble.

Re: Preseason/Teal/Dove 2020-2021

PostPosted: Mon Oct 05, 2020 8:17 am
by Deltaman
Congrats on your new family addition DE!!!!!