2021 - 2022 DUCK SEASON

[MARSH BEAR]

Date: Monday, Dec 27, 2021

Hunters: Buddy, Larry, and I with Abby

Temp: Cooler today - 69 degrees, wind S - 5-10 mph not as many clouds today

We hunted our most easterly blind today after seeing all the teal that direction. We were a little later shooting than some of the other blinds, and when the teal did show they were blown out by other blinds hunting. Then it was our turn teal came in bunches of 50 to 100 and more - hard to make yourself pick out 1 bird in flocks like that. We did not shoot at any other species of ducks.

Total: 18 - Greenwing teal

[DComeaux]

Love the GW!

[Ducaholic]

Love the GW!

My Fav As Well

[Darren]

Sounds like a whole lot of fun; we got excited when maybe 20 whipped in on us and lit this morning.

[Deltaman]

Love those fine eating, smartly dressed little speedsters, and sounds like a fun hunt, Congrats!!!!!

[MARSH BEAR]

Going to the camp this afternoon - hope the teal and Gadwall are still hanging around.
Happy New Year to all of you - and may the duck gods shine upon you.

[DComeaux]

Good luck! I'm down here in the fog as well.

[MARSH BEAR]

Friday, Dec 31, 2021

Hunters: Kevin and I with Abby

Temp: 72 degrees, wind mostly 10 mph, mostly cloudy, mosquitos were bad despite the 10 mph wind, yard guard and off

Kevin normally hunts with another member, and he has a reputation of being a BAD shot, well I must have brought out the best in him because he did much better than I expected. Kevin is very entertaining, but not very good at spotting incoming ducks. We were finished at 7:45.

Total: 7 - greenwing teal, 4 - Gadwall, 1 - Pintail

[MARSH BEAR]

Date: Saturday, Jan 1, 2022

Hunters: Kevin and I with Abby

Temp: 69 degrees, wind S 10 - 15 mph, mostly clear

Not as many ducks in our area as yesterday. The blind we hunted yesterday did well again, they were finished by 8:00. We had nothing really decoy, all passing shots at the edge of the decoys, and with the wind made it very sporting. It took us until 11:00 to get our limit.
My back is still not doing great, so I packed up and went home.

Totals: 6 - Greenwing teal, 5 - Gadwall, 1 - Scaup

[Deltaman]

Reads like a couple of fine hunts MB, and glad to see you still have birds

[Darren]

MB always finding a way to stack 'em up. Happy New Year

[MARSH BEAR]

Jan 7 - I should be hunting - I hate this new 3 split season

[DComeaux]

Jan 7 - I should be hunting - I hate this new 3 split season

I'm pretty sure there are a good many upset people in the west zone. I would have been happy to hunt this weekend and maybe the next then shut it down.

[MARSH BEAR]

Date: Friday, Jan 14, 2022

Hunter: Joey, Larry and me

Temp: 54 degrees, wind none, zero, nata - not even a ripple on the water until 11:00 when we quit.

I can't remember a hunt where there was no wind for that long, not much duck movement. We were the only blind hunting from our camp, and only heard a little shooting in the area.

Total: - 4 - Bluewing teal, 1 - Spoonbill, 1 - Scaup, 1 - Gadwall

[MARSH BEAR]

Date: Saturday, Jan 15, 2022

Hunters: Larry and I

Temp: 60 at start - 50 when we left at 10:00, wind S - 5 - 10, changing to W then N at 25 by 9:00

We had good duck movement early, and during the wind change, but when it turned N at 25 the ducks did not want any part of our pond. We had white caps on the pond after 9:00. We should have limited out earlier but Larry had a hard time picking up the low flying groups.

Total: 10 - greenwing teal, 2 - Gadwall

[MARSH BEAR]

Date: Sunday, Jan 16, 2022 - my last hunt of the season

Hunters: Larry and I

Temp: 34 degrees rising to 40 degrees, wind NNW 15 - 20 mph

Should have stayed at the camp, it was cold, windy and a rough boat ride. We only had 1 count em 1 Gadwall come in range and we both missed it. Very little duck movement, saw a few teal jump up and go right back down. The water is very low, one of our blinds the pond is so low the decoys are laying on their sides.
With the cold weather coming this next weekend I don't expect our hunting to improve any.
I have been hunting our marsh for 38 years, and when the cold fronts come through in January all our ducks leave, but the waterfowl commissioners in their infinite wisdom push our duck season later.

Total: Zero

[Darren]

........ and when the cold fronts come through in January all our ducks leave, but the waterfowl commissioners in their infinite wisdom push our duck season later.

Total: Zero

My experience on the east side as well, there's currently no water in our marsh, but yea lets hunt all the way to Jan 30!

[DComeaux]

........ and when the cold fronts come through in January all our ducks leave, but the waterfowl commissioners in their infinite wisdom push our duck season later.

Total: Zero

My experience on the east side as well, there's currently no water in our marsh, but yea lets hunt all the way to Jan 30!

We could have closed this past weekend and I wouldn't have been upset.. We'll see how next Saturday goes and make a determination if we'll pull the plug and pick up, or not. These western fronts with there high winds suck for us. Our decoys scatter every time.

[MARSH BEAR]

My hunting season is over, so here is my log for the regular hunting season, all hunts were made at our lease in Holly Beach

Total days hunted - 21

total man days hunted in my blind - 49

Number of days my blind limited out - 14

Teal - 105
Gadwall - 129
Pintail - 5
Spoonbill / Scaup - 8
Wigeon - 2
Mallard - 1
Canvasback - 2

It was a great year, hope all of you finish the season strong

[Ducaholic]

Well Done Sir!

[Rick]

Indeed.

[Deltaman]

Congrats on a Great year MB!!!!!!!

[Darren]

MB continues to produce, wow! Glad you had a (another) good one!


At 252 ducks over 21 hunts, MB averaged a 2-man limit, and mostly hunted 2-man blinds, averaged 2.3 guns per hunt. He limited out on 14 of his 21 hunts. All while not being able to hunt the hot blind(s) on his lease consistently since they draw blinds each day.

"No ducks in Louisiana"

Right.

[DComeaux]

"No ducks in Louisiana"

Right.

You're such a silly man.

[MARSH BEAR]

We were very lucky this year - we were on the "X"

[Ericdc]

I know of 1 blind that did comparable and limited more than they did not.

As far as northeast Louisiana, the guides up here have been on geese since Christmas. There are very very few ducks up here.


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[Darren]

We were very lucky this year - we were on the "X"

You've done consistently well for a good stretch of years now when hurricanes didn't interfere, including plenty seasons when others struggled.

Its not that there are no birds down here, it's that they've proven to adapt to habitat changes, pressure, etc. and aren't always where historically they have been. You wouldn't either, if you'd been shot at there.

[Darren]

I know of 1 blind that did comparable and limited more than they did not.

As far as northeast Louisiana, the guides up here have been on geese since Christmas. There are very very few ducks up here.
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Surveys are acknowledging that; there's just comparatively very little habitat available given the lack of rainfall on the region. I've not seen so little water on the landscape near the bunkie farm in prior years, plus usually our water is knee deep or worse by now......we just had them pump more last week to cover the mud flat.

[Ericdc]

I know in January 2011 we were just as dry if not drier but we had a lot of cold weather that year and the hunting was much better. Lot has changed in 10 years.




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[SpinnerMan]

How about snow depth to the north?

This year there is very little snow. Plus it was a relatively mild temperatures. At least where I live, there were quite a few days in the 50's and even 60's in December. There's been some cold periods the last couple weeks, but not really sustained.

It's been a few years since we've had a fairly sustained cold winter. Most have been mild with a few cold snaps before the end of January. I can't remember the last time the rivers have froze across. That used to be normal to happen for at least a little while during the winter. That requires a lot of sustained cold.