Teal Season Log

[jrock75]

Date: 9/14

Time: Morning

Location: Blind #12 (Alamo)

Cloud Cover: Partly cloudy

Wind Direction and Velocity: SW 0-5

Temperature: Hot and humid

Special Notes: September teal opener

Waterfowl Activity: Teal were everywhere. We jumped birds out of the field when we drove in and activity was very consistent the entire time we were out there. Birds were coming from all directions and not following a particular flight path. The flights that came in were generally 1-6 per. Didn't have the groups of 25+ where we drop 6-8. Lots of groups where we shot 1-3. Big high groups started high and stayed high.

Waterfowl Responsiveness: It was so fast and furious from all directions that we didn't have the opportunity to "work" groups. They clearly wanted to be in this field though so no complaints about responsiveness.

Hunters: 5; me, Grant, Dad, David, Marc.

Malfunctions: none

Dog(s): Jake in his first hunt as a 2 year-old. Jake was the real star of the hunt. He marked, he didn't break, he listened to the whistle, he took off like a bullet, he chased cripples, he used his nose and not just eyes. It really shocked me how great he did given some of his struggles in his inaugural season last year. He is the 2nd dog that I have trained and he has been really good at the bumper game from an early age but last season was a tough one in the "real world." He just didn't get what we were doing out there hunting and got overwhelmed and to top it off was chewing on every teal he brought back. In his defense, last year was tough as our bird numbers were as bad as I can remember so there were many slow hunts and the dog whose place he took hunted with me for 14 years so knew our game cold.

Special Equipment: 3 spinners and 2 wonder duck swimmers. Not sure they helped but they sure didn't hurt.

Curses: None.

Kudos: Grant (now 10 yrs old) shot his limit of birds and made the long shot of the day. He is gaining confidence shooting but is still too slow to be competitive when the rest of the group is shooting. The steady action gave us many chances to let him play lead.

Lagniappe: I am thankful that neither Beryl nor Francine pushed saltwater into the bottom end of the farm leaving us with great habitat to hunt even though the rice on the north end is still drained, unharvested, and thus unavailable to hunt.

Birds By Species: 30 bw teal

Teal Opener.jpg

[Duck Engr]

That’s what you dream of all off-season!

[Darren]

When the habitat is right, you can't hardly keep them out. See vids of guys walking in decoys picking up downed birds and more dropping in around them.......when they want to be there, there's nothing like it !

[jrock75]

Date: 9/15

Time: Morning

Location: Blind #12 (Alamo) - ~100 acre moist soil unit

Cloud Cover: Partly cloudy

Wind Direction and Velocity: Nothing to speak of

Temperature: Hot and humid

Special Notes:

Waterfowl Activity: Very similar to the day before. Teal were everywhere and resulted in non-stop action.

Waterfowl Responsiveness: Couldn't ask for better response. Like the day before we did not have big groups, but there were ducks trying to land all over the hole.

Hunters: 6; me, Grant, Dad, Will, Josh and Will's friend

Malfunctions: none

Dog(s): Jake. He did really well again. Started the hunt breaking at the first shot but I got that solved quickly. Had a couple of cripples in the thick vegetation that he marked, ran straight to but after hunting came back with nothing. I went out and couldn't find them either. With no wind there was no logic to the birds' flight patterns and thus the landing zones of the shot ones encompassed the entire 360 degrees around the blind. He really had to keep his head on a swivel to mark and it led to a bunch of blind retrieves in all directions that he executed at a level above my expectations.

Special Equipment: 3 spinners and 2 wonder duck swimmers. Not sure they helped but they sure didn't hurt.

Curses: None.

Kudos: Timing worked out great where I could get a hunt in but also keep the girls happy in Houston with an early return. I was not going to hunt Sunday due to Grant's baseball obligations but the quick hunt Saturday gave me confidence we could hunt, clean up, and get back to Houston before 10:00 and it all worked out.

Lagniappe: The two main blinds we added at the farm in 2023 shot a combined 22 limits this weekend. Very satisfying seeing our hard reclamation work really pay off.

Birds By Species: 36 bw teal

[DComeaux]

[Rick]

All that investment in time and money is paying dividends.

[jrock75]

Date: 9/21

Time: Morning

Location: Blind #14 - ~100 acre unit that we kept flooded all off-season to fight potential comeback of cattails after the war we waged on them in summer/fall 2023

Cloud Cover: Partly cloudy

Wind Direction and Velocity: Nil to very light NE

Temperature: While it was hot, it wasn't as humid as usual

Special Notes: This is the 10th annual teal season get together for this group. We all grew up together in West Monroe and this trip has been a great way to stay connected as we have almost all moved away at this point

Waterfowl Activity: Activity was nothing like the first weekend. Some birds around but it seemed like all "local" ducks in small groups.

Waterfowl Responsiveness: While the activity numbers were not great, the responsiveness was more or less perfect

Hunters: 7 hunters plus 1 watcher; me, Brett, Shane, Chris, Jason, Cory, Charlie, Lane

Malfunctions: none

Dog(s): Jake

Special Equipment: 3 spinners and 2 wonder duck swimmers. I set the spread tight to try and get them close and the ducks seemed to want to land right in the middle of the spinners and swimmers which made for some easy shooting where the entire group could participate.

Curses: None.

Kudos: For a bunch of deer hunters, these guys shot really well. For the first time in quite a while we had a 100% wake up rate. Typically 1-2 decide that the previous night's festivities are too much to overcome.

Lagniappe: Simple additions of magnetic gun mounts and shingles on the shooting platform and floor have made this lodge blind a very comfortable, safe spot to house and hide a large group.

Birds By Species: 23; 21 bw teal, 2 gw teal

2024.09.21.jpg

[jrock75]

Date: 9/22

Time: Morning

Location: Blind #14 - ~100 acre unit that we kept flooded all off-season to fight potential comeback of cattails after the war we waged on them in summer/fall 2023

Cloud Cover: Partly cloudy

Wind Direction and Velocity: Nil to very light E

Temperature: While it was hot, it wasn't as humid as usual

Special Notes: Day 2 of the annual WM trip

Waterfowl Activity: Similar to the previous day. Saw some larger groups late morning but we had to get out by 9:00 to allow everyone to get on the road

Waterfowl Responsiveness: Not quite as responsive as the day before but pretty dang good.

Hunters: 5 hunters ; me, Shane, Jason, Cory, Charlie

Malfunctions: none

Dog(s): Jake

Special Equipment: 3 spinners and 2 wonder duck swimmers. Same spread and setup as day before.

Curses: None.

Kudos: More good shooting. Only one group got away where we should have shot better

Lagniappe: None.

Birds By Species: 17; 15 bw teal, 2 gw teal

[Darren]

That is some great stuff! Glad it worked out for your guys on annual trip.

[Duck Engr]

Heck yeah! The magnetic gun mounts became a must back when we hunted in a pit.

As we’ve aged I’ve become the guy having to rally the troops to wake up. Not everyone bounces back as good as they used to from those weekend coca colas.

[Deltaman]

Awesome reports jrock75, and glad to see that your efforts last year are paying dividends!!!!!

[jrock75]

Date: 9/28

Time: Morning

Location: Blind #12 (Alamo) - ~100 acre moist soil unit

Cloud Cover: Clear

Wind Direction and Velocity: Nil early, light NW as the morning progressed

Temperature: Nice weather given no wind

Special Notes: None

Waterfowl Activity: I had heard reports of thousands of ducks on the farm from a group that hunted Friday. Either those reports were overblown or many of the ducks left. That being said there were plenty of birds around to make a good hunt. Lots of early movement before shooting time that slowed a bit after the first 30 minutes. Mainly singles and doubles early. The groups started moving later in the morning. We flushed a bunch of mottled ducks driving into the hole. Seems like they tried to come back 100x throughout the morning.

Waterfowl Responsiveness: Not all that responsive early. Unlike last weekend, they did not really respond to the call. Improved as the morning

Hunters: 4 hunters ; me, Grant, David, David's friend Greg

Malfunctions: None

Dog(s): Jake

Special Equipment: 1 spinner and 2 wonder duck swimmers

Curses: I left the box with our spinners at home and had to borrow one.

Kudos: None

Lagniappe: Need to remember how real evaporation can be in September when I am setting teal season water levels. I pulled a board to lower the water level after the teal opener. That got the water perfect, but evaporation (and zero rain) since then has dropped the water level significantly. Lots of exposed mud flats now. Need some rain on the farm or north of us to make sure the bayou is fresh enough to pump before big duck starts.

Birds By Species: 24; 22 bw teal, 2 gw teal

2024.09.28.jpg

[Rick]

Happy pups.