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2022-2023 September Teal - 288 blue-wing teal


2022-2023 Regular Season First Split:

black-bellied whistling ducks - 26

blue-wing teal - 53

fulvous whistling ducks - 1

gadwall - 24

green-wing teal - 132

mallards - 22

mottled ducks - 23

pintails - 20

redheads - 1

ringneck ducks - 20

scaup - 4

shovellers - 45

wigeon - 6

wood ducks -13

First Split Total - 380 ducks

Ya was heck on the mottled ducks


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BGkirk wrote:Ya was heck on the mottled ducks

Would feel worse about that if the great majority weren't drakes, even though most came as pairs or in small groups. And, of course, most that are still around now know my tricks for tripping them up.

Last week on marsh hunt the single drakes were surprisingly responsive, maybe just were feeling giddy in the sunshine after days of nasty weather. It wasn't your secret weapon either, instead was just quick 4-5 note bursts, replicating what I was hearing all morning long that day.

23 for the 1st split is awfully strong on such smart locals. I see last year you had 15 for first split and 33 for the whole season.

Strong numbers Rick

2022-2023 Regular Season Second Split:

black-bellied whistling ducks - 25

blue-winged teal - 26

fulvous whistling ducks - 2

gadwall -17

green-winged teal - 112

mallards -19

mottleds - 3

pintails - 16

ringnecks -13

shovellers - 46

wigeon - 2

wood duck - 1

speckle-bellied geese - 3

Second Split Total: 282 ducks and 3 specks

2022-2023 Regular Season Third Split:

black-bellied whistling ducks - 4

blue-winged teal - 22

gadwall - 12

green-winged teal - 104

mallards - 38

mottleds - 4

pintails - 10

ringnecks - 10

shovellers - 33

wigeon - 6

Third Split Total: 243 ducks

2022-2023 Regular Season:

black-bellied whistling ducks - 55

blue-wing teal - 101

fulvous whistling ducks - 3

gadwall - 53

green-wing teal - 348

mallards - 79

mottled ducks - 30

pintails - 46

redheads - 1

ringneck ducks - 43

scaup - 4

shovellers - 124

wigeon - 14

wood ducks - 14

specks - 3

Regular Season Totals: 915 ducks and 3 geese

2022-2023 Season All-Inclusive: 1,206 ducks and geese

They went on and on about these birds sneaking up and knocking bottles over trying to steal our beer.
Nobody shot any?
Not even one?
Guard your beers close!

Haven't the heart to shoot them, but may have, allegedly, of course, eaten some the dogs have caught and injured too badly to release:


The list of things more apt to tip a beer is infinite.

Rick wrote:Haven't the heart to shoot them, but may have, allegedly, of course, eaten some the dogs have caught and injured too badly to release:

Summergallinule006-1.jpg

The list of things more apt to tip a beer is infinite.

Shut up you're harshing the post-season buzz man.
I never even saw a galinule and no it wasn't me beer-tippin

That's why you take dog pictures....
Hope you and Marsh take a few after season pictures, with that newly working point and shoot camera...


Those numbers sure do seem mighty fine to me... I would think that it sure does feel good to know that the mud hole still has those capabilities...

It's fun to hear about the enter workings of a commercial blind...

If I'm able to come see you next fall, you will know it's me because I will start out the conversation with "just so you know this isn't my first rodeo"...

"If I'm able to come see you next fall, you will know it's me because I will start out the conversation with "just so you know this isn't my first rodeo"...

Lord, please no.

Planing on pulling boats out in the morning, so Marsh and I took a ride out there to insure our lock was still on the gate and, sure enough, the landowner's son had taken it out of the loop. Called to remind him our access lease is 365 and was informed "Things are fixin' to change pretty soon". Figure he's just as full of crap as ever, but if things do change before next season, I'd rather it was sooner than later...

Re: the camera, grrrrr... Just picked it up and found it apparently only works when it wants to.

Addendum to Species Log: Ran the birds-per-gun (including my own) numbers and came up with the following for the the mudhole (and discounting 3 afternoon September teal hunts we and our hunters got royally screwed by the farmer on).

September Teal - 5.83 birds per gun

Youth and Veteran's Weekend - 6 birds per gun

1st Split - 5.35 birds per gun

2nd Split - 5.58 birds per gun

3rd Split - 3.98 birds per gun

Rick wrote:Addendum to Species Log: Ran the birds-per-gun (including my own) numbers and came up with the following for the the mudhole (and discounting 3 afternoon September teal hunts we and our hunters got royally screwed by the farmer on).

September Teal - 5.83 birds per gun

Youth and Veteran's Weekend - 6 birds per gun

1st Split - 5.35 birds per gun

2nd Split - 5.58 birds per gun

3rd Split - 3.98 birds per gun

My gopro does funny things.
Will be sitting there and it randomly beeps.
That's it shutting down.
Somehow that thing picks up words off the TV and thinks it's me telling it to "start recording video". It runs until it's dead then shuts off.
Dare I look to see what it captured?
I'm afraid to look

Grrr...
Addendums to second split and third split totals: 1 band each. And 2 bands to regular season total.

Damn fine duck numbers Rick

Deltaman wrote:Damn fine duck numbers Rick

Down right gaudy and offensive lol

Haven’t flipped back through your logs but this has to have been the best numbers wise in a few years, right Rick?

Duck Engr wrote:Haven’t flipped back through your logs but this has to have been the best numbers wise in a few years, right Rick?

Didn't manage to maintain a log for a full season until making the public commitment to do so on one of these boards, and then perhaps only because it was also a new pup, Peake's first year. That was 2007, and while I copied the logs to Word, those prior to this board and 2014 are locked on a defunct hard drive I've not found someone able to crack. (And probably won't.) But I'm certain the mudhole's 2007-'08 through 2016-'17 average was above 1,100. Also virtually certain there was at least one 1,300+ season and perhaps two during that early stretch: likely the Flyway-wide drought seasons of 2010-2011 and 2011-2012.

But, yes, this was our best in quite some time.

Thank you Rick for keeping such detailed notes and logs of your hunts in the Mudhole. Reading your logs and comments are one of the highlights of my season. The species mix taken from the Mudhole is phenomenal and I am always amazed by it. Another thing that makes the numbers taken at the Mudhole so amazing, and one that you seldom mention, is that you have to be out of the marsh super early. Most days you have less than 3 hours to harvest ducks and leave out. That speaks volumes to your ability and talent as a hunting guide. All I can say is WOW!!! I’ve often wondered how many more mallards you would harvest if you could hunt to 11 and be there for that 10 o’clock big duck flight …

Have a Blessed Week!!
Robbie aka Big Hutch

BigHutch wrote: is that you have to be out of the marsh super early. Most days you have less than 3 hours to harvest ducks and leave out. That speaks volumes to your ability and talent as a hunting guide.

Rick,

How much do you attribute your ability to hunt every day and not "shoot out" the hole to the early curfew? I am considering putting something in place like this on our properties. Am debating a 9:30 or 10:00 curfew vs. mandatory rest period / closed days vs. both. I have always thought of blinds as fitting one of two categories: 1) traffic spots that can be hunted daily and hard but endure because they are in the mini-flyways and 2) destination spots that can hold birds but need time to build up a critical mass and once hunted hard they are dead for a while. Of course, reality is not that black and white.

Obviously we'll get the take straight from the source, but I can figure that he'll be quick to point out that the mudhole isn't a "hole" in the sense of a destination for birds, much less a "honey hole." So if you've not got a hole to begin with, it's hard to shoot it out, or burn it.

As his routine success can attest, it's all about the prowess of using sound and visual aids to sell the hole on passing birds.....because without a sales pitch of decoys and/or calling, they aren't coming on their own. Conversely my gray duck spot on lease is indeed a "hole" and indeed can be burned. When we leave it alone, it's much better than when we go regularly.

BigHutch wrote:...Most days you have less than 3 hours to harvest ducks and leave out. That speaks volumes to your ability and talent as a hunting guide...

Once when I'd marveled over mechanic friend's ability to diagnose and fix engine issues to my father, he suggested that someone who'd spent so much of his life under a car hood ought to know something about engines.

I’ve often wondered how many more mallards you would harvest if you could hunt to 11 and be there for that 10 o’clock big duck flight

They've often enough been the "Chamber of Commerce" birds that show as we're leaving for me to lament not at least being able to hunt until 10. But the localized ones would, of course, pattern that, too. Do, however, know what you mean about the mid-day flights, as we did a lot of our big duck good back in our rice field, "Get 'em back for brunch by noon." days. Was the same the season I hunted Pecan Island a lot: teal and dos gris early, pintails and mallards in mid morning.

jrock, Darren's hunted the mudhole with me for years and pretty well pegged it. "It's not where they want to be but a place they don't mind going" to paraphrase Ronquest on the two places a duck can be tolled. (Though one sometimes can, in fact, trip them into violating the later parameter.)