2022-2023 Season Log

[Rick]

We started bragging on you too early.

Duffy's Law (so named for the finest grouse dog that ever lived - until I said so) states: "The dog you brag on is about to screw up."

You can chisel that in stone and cast it in bronze, it is so. And there are no end of corollaries.

[Ducaholic]

I think the birds know their safe places and aren't moving unless pushed.

I'm certain of it!

[Rick]

Me three, at least to a large extent.

[Rick]

Date: 1/19/23 Thur

Time: morning

Location: mudhole

Cloud Cover: clear

Wind Direction and Velocity: NW light

Temperature: 50s

Moon phase: 7% waning

Special Notes:

Waterfowl Activity: Still not much of anything moving.

Waterfowl Responsiveness: Thankfully good.

Hunters: 2, Bruce and Tom's last morning

Guns:

Malfunctions:

Dog(s): Marsh ate the best part of our mottled and got slapped around pretty good with the rest of it. Retrieved a few teal without incident after, but "We'll see..."

Special Equipment: SOS

Curses: Slow hunting for old friends and bad dog.

Kudos: Was a treat to see the guys.

Birds By Species: 2 blue-wing teal, 7 green-wing teal, 1 mottled and 2 pintails

Lagniappe: Bruce brought me a "Grumpy Duck Co." t-shirt. No idea why...

[Duck Engr]

Do you think Marsh just gets caught up in the moment or just decides the reward is worth the whoopin?

[DComeaux]

Lagniappe: Bruce brought me a "Grumpy Duck Co." t-shirt. No idea why...

LOL!!!

I'll take that hunts numbers any day.

[Ricky Spanish]

Milo got to retrieve very little in a group.
With ten guys someone always has a dog that wants to hunt. Eventually someone winged a greenhead and Milo crunched it to kill it.
Broken wing hazard we were worried from afar.
Much cheering at the "crunch".
Later the same hunt he gulped down a teal.
It's just...gone man. Sorry he must've been hungry.

[Rick]

Do you think Marsh just gets caught up in the moment or just decides the reward is worth the whoopin?

He's gotten into old kills mink or such opened up and been fussed for it and, of course, a few hamburgered kills over the years, but last Saturday's fresh mallard head was the first fresh kill he destroyed. Might not have been hard enough on him then to make the desired impression. But I'd like to think he got the message this morning.

Bought an e-collar to break him of sparing with a momma gator last summer, only to find fussing him over it had already accomplished that. But he may well get a taste of it along with his next bite of duck...

[Rick]

Date: 1/20/23 Fri

Time: morning

Location: mudhole

Cloud Cover: cloudy to kinda-sorta partly

Wind Direction and Velocity: mod to fairly strong ENE

Temperature: 50, but chilly in the wind

Moon phase: waning 2%

Special Notes:

Waterfowl Activity: Few more mallards around than we'd been seeing this week but not many teal

Waterfowl Responsiveness: Wanted to work but kept catching us.

Hunters: 2, 80-something-year-old Harold and his son, Mark

Guns:

Malfunctions: badly bent barrels

Dog(s): Easy morning

Special Equipment: SOS

Curses: Stayed caught, and the guys struggles from not hunting since September.

Kudos: Nice to see them, and we hit a few.

Birds By Species: 5 green-wing teal, 2 mallards, 1 pintail and 2 shovellers

[Rick]

Date: 1/21/23 Sat

Time: morning

Location: mudhole

Cloud Cover: hard rain over night, but stopped shortly after LST

Wind Direction and Velocity: mod to strong NE

Temperature: 40s

Moon phase: new

Special Notes:

Waterfowl Activity: Lots of mostly little duck and squealer shooting to our east throughout the morning, while we saw precious few big ducks and never shot at a teal, jack or squealer.

Waterfowl Responsiveness: Nigh impossible to get any of what we did see in before another blind banger it out.

Hunters: 2, Matt and Drew

Guns:

Malfunctions:

Dog(s): easy morning

Special Equipment: SOS

Curses: Had a one bird hunt going until around 8.

Kudos: Guys had to be disappointed but handled it well.

Birds By Species: 2 gadwall, 1 mallard, 1 pintail, 2 shovellers and 2 wigeon

[5 stand]

More than likely tomorrow morning those other blinds will listen to your blind shoot...

[Rick]

More than likely tomorrow morning those other blinds will listen to your blind shoot...

That's almost beyond rare early on in the day, but I like to think we'll have a chance to catch up to most of them when their banging and clanging slows. Pretty hard on my hunters for a while, regardless, but especially so on days when little ever shows around us.

This weekend's victims are from a party of six, four of which shot quick limits yesterday, so don'tcha know there's some hand wringing and, perhaps, wrangling over who gets stuck with me this morning...

[Ricky Spanish]

I dont understand something.
I suspect "new ducks" is the thing that makes the mud hole work.

We had a field on crane farm road.
If that don't mean anything to you I'll explain.
Crane Farm Hunt Club is possibly the most expensive and gigantic operation I've been exposed to.
Membership was $100k a year I think.
That field we leased was world class good.

The members hunted it every single day I never even went there except to set it up and clean.
Finally I got the green light to hunt it whenever I wanted.
It was burned up so bad that every duck and goose would fly around that field.

The crane farm is vast and has multiple "tanks" or reservoirs they have posted with 4x8 keep out signs.
You can't miss it.
The birds trade back and forth between them ponds.

So how does the mud hole not get burned up by daily hunting?
I suspect the answer is you get "new birds that aren't trained to avoid it".
Am I even close?

[Rick]

I dont understand something.
I suspect "new ducks" is the thing that makes the mud hole work.

We had a field on crane farm road.
If that don't mean anything to you I'll explain.
Crane Farm Hunt Club is possibly the most expensive and gigantic operation I've been exposed to.
Membership was $100k a year I think.
That field we leased was world class good.

The members hunted it every single day I never even went there except to set it up and clean.
Finally I got the green light to hunt it whenever I wanted.
It was burned up so bad that every duck and goose would fly around that field.

The crane farm is vast and has multiple "tanks" or reservoirs they have posted with 4x8 keep out signs.
You can't miss it.
The birds trade back and forth between them ponds.

So how does the mud hole not get burned up by daily hunting?
I suspect the answer is you get "new birds that aren't trained to avoid it".
Am I even close?

Of course it's mostly new birds, in the sense that we've not previously shot at them or someone else's shooting hasn't made them think we have, that go on our strap. By changing tactics we do, occasionally, manage to trip up some of those that have plainly had the near death experience there and are still wearing the t-shirt. Or we manage to pry "new" birds away from "old" flights. Reckon it's that way everywhere there's any pressure.

Being on a pothole somewhat isolated from the birds' most common more broken marsh "passers" (the Cajun "er" being read as a hard "a") or flyways, we're generally more dependent on breaking distant birds than the blinds where they naturally work the marsh. Some days I'm able to compensate, some days I'm not. Today was another "not".

[Ricky Spanish]

I dont understand something.
I suspect "new ducks" is the thing that makes the mud hole work.

We had a field on crane farm road.
If that don't mean anything to you I'll explain.
Crane Farm Hunt Club is possibly the most expensive and gigantic operation I've been exposed to.
Membership was $100k a year I think.
That field we leased was world class good.

The members hunted it every single day I never even went there except to set it up and clean.
Finally I got the green light to hunt it whenever I wanted.
It was burned up so bad that every duck and goose would fly around that field.

The crane farm is vast and has multiple "tanks" or reservoirs they have posted with 4x8 keep out signs.
You can't miss it.
The birds trade back and forth between them ponds.

So how does the mud hole not get burned up by daily hunting?
I suspect the answer is you get "new birds that aren't trained to avoid it".
Am I even close?

Of course it's mostly new birds, in the sense that we've not previously shot at them or someone else's shooting hasn't made them think we have, that go on our strap. By changing tactics we do, occasionally, manage to trip up some of those that have plainly had the near death experience there and are still wearing the t-shirt. Or we manage to pry "new" birds away from "old" flights. Reckon it's that way everywhere there's any pressure.

Being on a pothole somewhat isolated from the birds' most common more broken marsh "passers" (the Cajun "er" being read as a hard "a") or flyways, we're generally more dependent on breaking distant birds than the blinds where they naturally work the marsh. Some days I'm able to compensate, some days I'm not. Today was another "not".

I still killed birds at that field but it was not by calling them. Once a day a straggler would land in the spread it's hard hunting when you get one.shot opportunity a day. For me you can bet I'll have my head up my ass when it happens. My dog wakes me up sometimes.

[Rick]

Date: 1/22/23 Sun

Time: morning

Location: mudhole

Cloud Cover: cloudy

Wind Direction and Velocity: NW strong subsiding to moderate

Temperature: chilly while the wind blew

Moon phase:

Special Notes:

Waterfowl Activity: Much the same as yesterday: we saw little, while the four blinds to our east filled or came within a bird or two of filling on little ducks and squealers, perhaps mostly the later.

Waterfowl Responsiveness: Most of what little I got to break our way was quickly banged out.

Hunters: Matt and Drew again

Guns:

Malfunctions: Matt's BPS and Drew's Nova both failed to fire on what should have been our first op, and the BPS later locked closed until butt-banged on the bench. (Perhaps not the best way to word that...)

Dog(s): easy morning

Special Equipment: SOS

Curses: Felt horrible for the guys, but they were happy and had actually asked for the repeat trip to the mudhole. I credit Marsh.

Kudos: Still managed a pleasant morning.

Birds By Species: 1 black-bellied whistling duck, 1 mallard, 1 pintail and 4 shovellers

[Ricky Spanish]

Date: 1/22/23 Sun

Time: morning

Location: mudhole

Cloud Cover: cloudy

Wind Direction and Velocity: NW strong subsiding to moderate

Temperature: chilly while the wind blew

Moon phase:

Special Notes:

Waterfowl Activity: Much the same as yesterday: we saw little, while the four blinds to our east filled or came within a bird or two of filling on little ducks and squealers, perhaps mostly the later.

Waterfowl Responsiveness: Most of what little I got to break our way was quickly banged out.

Hunters: Matt and Drew again

Guns:

Malfunctions: Matt's BPS and Drew's Nova both failed to fire on what should have been our first op, and the BPS later locked closed until butt-banged on the bench. (Perhaps not the best way to word that...)

Dog(s): easy morning

Special Equipment: SOS

Curses: Felt horrible for the guys, but they were happy and had actually asked for the repeat trip to the mudhole. I credit Marsh.

Kudos: Still managed a pleasant morning.

Birds By Species: 1 black-bellied whistling duck, 1 mallard, 1 pintail and 4 shovellers

That BPS story got me to play with my "browning" designed gun.
I have an 1897 Winchester.
If you dont know what you're doing it's always locked.
You have to push forwards on the front wood and it makes this little click.
THEN you can open it. No click and no fucking way you'll open that gun.

[Rick]

If it's like the Model 12, the recoil (while holding the forearm) will do that for you.

[Ricky Spanish]

If it's like the Model 12, the recoil (while holding the forearm) will do that for you.

I knew that but haven't shot this thing since I was a teen.

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[Rick]

Date: 1/23/23

Time: morning

Location: mudhole

Cloud Cover: clear

Wind Direction and Velocity: NE fairly strong

Temperature: 30s

Moon phase: still nil

Special Notes:

Waterfowl Activity: Still mighty slow at the mudhole, but we finally enjoyed some green-wing shooting again. Only saw a couple or three squealers, while the next blind to our east shot a dozen or so. Did get to work a BIG bunch of mallards late in the hunt.

Waterfowl Responsiveness: Teal acted as new as they were to us and did as bid. Mallards tried to, but crowd control problems pushed them off just short of what should have been slaughter.

Hunters: 2, long time annual regular, Brooks, and his first-time-here buddy, Jim

Guns:

Malfunctions: "Deja vu all over again," as both of their semi-autos crapped on their first op. (Like yesterday's guest pumps.) Lube fixed Jim's, but Brooks required repeated instruction to get his new, inertia op, A5 running as it should. (And again to get the shells out of its magazine at hunt's end.)

Dog(s): Today is Marsh's 8th birthday, and we celebrated by nearly losing him in LONG pursuit of a paddle-wheeling and diving mallard on the big water to our south that ended with its loss but his recovery way the hey to our southeast. Would have cut it short before the big water in warmer weather, and even without his becoming gator bait wished I had for fear of losing him to the marsh.

Special Equipment: SOS

Curses: Seems natural law that old guys can't help but stand up and shoulder their guns as big ducks try to finish. Wasn't just these two but a very common theme.

Kudos: Nice guys had a fine time.

Birds By Species: 10 green-wing teal, 2 mallards and 2 shovelers

[DComeaux]

Thank God for green wing.

[Rick]

Thank God for green wing.

Been wishing for them the last however-many days and now find myself wishing for big, slow squealers. Not that we'd let them make it in before showing our hand...

[Duck Engr]

Hurts to read you losing the op on a big bunch of mallards.

[Rick]

Hurts to read you losing the op on a big bunch of mallards.

I console myself with the knowledge that people wouldn't pay for it if it wasn't exciting.

[Darren]

How many in the mallard bunch ya think? Either way, know such groups too precious these days.

[Rick]

Had to be closer to two dozen than one, and anything over eight or ten in a flight (yeah, Pork Chop, you read that right, I said "flight") is a "big bunch" of mallards on our marsh.

[Rick]

Date: 1/24/23 Tue

Time: morning

Location: mudhole

Cloud Cover: distant storm front, storm front and post storm front

Wind Direction and Velocity: Stong easterly

Temperature: chilly

Moon phase:

Special Notes:

Waterfowl Activity: Dang near nothing moving but plainly local pond hoppers.

Waterfowl Responsiveness: Thankfully good.

Hunters: 2, Brooks and Jim again

Guns:

Malfunctions: Brook's new version A5 was still suffering a variety of ills: op error, a yellow, grit-like spent powder? in its action, and the link between its bolt and recoil spring somehow popped out of the recoil spring plunger.

Dog(s): Easy morning aside from losing a mallard that apparently made it to open water while he was tracking and catching another.

Special Equipment: SOS (pulled spinners at hunt's end in prep for tonight's predicted 40mph gusts)

Curses: Crowd control remained an issue, and ours was second only to Isaac's, who's people made the best of more teal ops.

Kudos: Didn't get hit by lightning.

Birds By Species: 2 green-wing teal, 1 mallard and 2 shovellers

[Duck Engr]

Kudos made me laugh

[Anotherone]

Betting Brook’s A5 gets traded soon.

[Rick]

Betting Brook’s A5 gets traded soon.

Perhaps not, given that it was a retirement present from co-workers who meant well. But if we're still in business and he's back next year, it will little doubt be with his old Belgium A5. Which, like many of its kind, will probably have an issue or two it "never did before..."