Teal Season

[jrock75]

Date: September 9

Time: Morning

Location: Rolltop blind (rice field)

Weather: Thought we were going to sit at the lodge and get a late start as the lightning too scary for me to go out in but the storm seemed to dissipate right as we needed to leave to make it to the blind by shooting time. 5-10 NW wind turned to E after sunup. Light drizzle for a few minutes. Pretty pleasant morning all things considered.

Special Notes: Grant's first hunt with his new youth model 20 gauge. Upgraded from the .410 he used last year

Waterfowl Activity: Amazing amount of teal. We flushed thousands on the drive down the levee to the blind and they steadily returned after sunup. We never had a 30 second window when there were not birds working the hole.

Waterfowl Responsiveness: As you always hope the opener goes. They were trying to land everywhere.

Hunters: 3 me, Grant, and David

Malfunctions: Neighboring blind's marsh master wouldn't start so they came and took our track ranger leaving us to either call and wait on them to come pick us up or walk out of the field where the wheel ranger they left us sat. We chose to walk and got all the exercise we ever wanted. Need to get the levee cleared and smashed down this week so that we don't have to walk out through the stubble rolled clay.

Dog(s): Left Jake (new dog 1 year-old) at home to focus on helping Grant. Excited to get him out in the field though as his training is going really well.

Special Equipment: 3 Mojos

Kudos: Grant shot his first limit and was super pumped! Last year he shot one teal off the water and then became timid if we had other hunters in the blind.

Curses: Poor David couldn't hit the broad side of a barn but provided comic relief when the 9 year old limited before him and he continued to miss after while he was the only one firing.

Birds By Species: 18 BWT

Lagniappe: I was done shooting in 15 minutes and was able to focus on helping Grant. With Grant now an active, learning gunner plus a new dog, I envision my shooting will be more limited than in the past and I am 100% ok with that.

Photo Ops:

Grant's Limit.jpg

Teal Opener Sunrise.jpg

[DComeaux]

Awesome!

[Rick]

Awesome!

Absolutely.

[5 stand]

Mighty fine...

[Duck Engr]

Bet y’all had to widen doors to get that smile back inside!

[5 stand]

Those waders fit Grant about like waders fit me...
That smile is Pretty Special...

[PorkChop]

Great pictures and the smile sums it up!!

[Deltaman]

Congrats on a great Teal opener, and how awesome it is that Grant was able to shoot his first limit of ducks
Thanks for sharing, and glad that you have birds!!!!!

[Darren]

Love that, great stuff

[Ducaholic]

Bon Tempt!

[jrock75]

Date: September 17

Time: Morning

Location: Rolltop blind (rice field)

Weather: 5-10 NW wind. Pretty nice morning.

Special Notes: None

Waterfowl Activity: Not nearly the number of birds we saw the previous weekend or what the guys all saw the day before but enough to make for a good hunt. Saw some pintails.

Waterfowl Responsiveness: Very responsive. We had a couple of groups of 20+ that behaved just like you hope during teal season: buzz the edge of the spread, big bank and swing back, feet down trying to land in the hole in front of the blind.

Hunters: 3 me, Jason and Cory

Malfunctions: Track ranger blew the whole enchilada on a front wheel (bearing, hub, knuckle, and brake caliper) but with the marsh still dry we had an extra marsh master to take us out to the blind. The other front hub appears to be one step from the same outcome and everything needs replacing. I really like that Ranger but spending the money to redo all of this gives me pause as I live in fear the frame is going to rust out killing it once and for all. It's a hard life being a Ranger at our place and this one has been at it for 10 years. Will likely just roll the dice and get it fixed as I really like the roof rack that Grant and I made together and doubt it fits on a new one.

Dog(s): None. Jake gets his first try next weekend. Am very excited to pass bird boy duties to him.

Special Equipment: 3 Mojos

Kudos: Jason shot really well. Cory is a relatively inexperienced hunter who took a while to get acquainted with his 870 but caught on by the end.

Curses: None

Birds By Species: 18 - 17 BWT; 1 GWT

Lagniappe: Annual trip where high school friends from Louisiana come down. We left 2 guys sleeping at the house so it was nice to have a good hunt to waive in their faces.

Photo Ops:

High School Hunt.jpg

[DComeaux]

Waterfowl Responsiveness: Very responsive. We had a couple of groups of 20+ that behaved just like you hope during teal season: buzz the edge of the spread, big bank and swing back, feet down trying to land in the hole in front of the blind.

I actually saw this in happening my mind when I read it..... Nice hunt.

[Deltaman]

Congrats on another great hunt

[Rick]

Waterfowl Responsiveness: Very responsive. We had a couple of groups of 20+ that behaved just like you hope during teal season: buzz the edge of the spread, big bank and swing back, feet down trying to land in the hole in front of the blind.

I actually saw this in happening my mind when I read it..... Nice hunt.

Just like on TV.

[MARSH BEAR]

I am glad to see somebody has teal.

[5 stand]

NICE...

[jrock75]

Date: September 24

Time: Morning

Location: Rolltop blind (rice field)

Weather: 5 mph S wind

Special Notes: Jake's first hunt! My days as the duck retriever are hopefully numbered!

Waterfowl Activity: Not much flying at all. Reports at the farm had been slow the last couple of days as the farmer started draining some of the main rice fields that were holding birds.

Waterfowl Responsiveness: Not bad given how little we saw

Hunters: 3 me, Dad and Grant

Malfunctions: None

Dog(s): Jake

Special Equipment: 3 Mojos

Kudos: Jake picked up all 3 ducks that we shot with great enthusiasm! There were a lot of "new" experiences for Jake this morning that my training has not covered: decoys, sunken dog box, mud, levees, marsh master, etc. While the retrieves were certainly not textbook, he is learning the hunting game, which is waaaay different than the dummy game in the lot across the street.

Curses: None

Birds By Species: 3 BWT

Lagniappe: None

Photo Ops:

First Retrieve 2.jpg

[Duck Engr]

Nice! Glad to see Jake is getting the hang of it.

[Rick]

He'll spoil you.

[BGkirk]

He'll spoil you.

Spot on again.
Had to trudge the marsh Friday picking up ducks because of gator water. Hadn’t done that since my dog made his first appearance in late 2017.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[jrock75]

He'll spoil you.

We never had a true hunting dog growing up so I was always the retriever. That lasted until I got Roux and he hunted with me first in 2008. I was a passionate hunter before that but adding the dog work aspect is what I think really took my interest to the next level. Roux hunted with me for 14 seasons from 2008-2009 through 2021-2022 so last season was my first in a long time without a trusted side kick. In the blind Sunday I had a good laugh contrasting the style of late years Roux vs. Jake. One knew the hunting game cold yet was burdened with the slow speed of old age while the other knows nothing of the game yet but has endless energy to try. This year is going to be fun, but I bet he makes strong progress. He just has so much drive and a desire to please.

[Rick]

He just has so much drive and a desire to please.

His eyes are showing it in your photo. Makes it a great one.

[5 stand]

I sure do enjoy hunting with a dog, Good times ahead...