Preseason '25-'26

[Darren]

It's July so only about 80 days to go until teal season, I'm sure MB can give it to us down to the hour.

Have made a couple of offseason trips to the lease, finding some great SAV stands in place with plenty growing left to go. This past weekend made first trip to another nearby area we frequent to check out the scene and was pleased to find a variety of SAV going on there as well. Perhaps most noteworthy of the trip was first boat ride for a new puppy I've got coming along, as it was also her first trip to the camp.

The raising of an eventual successor to Harry has been quite a saga, unfortunately. The first one taken ended up being plagued with never-identified lung/pneumonia-like episodes that, loooong expensive story short, resulted in her being returned to the breeder under his health guarantee. I do not recommend anyone trying to take away a Christmas time puppy from their young children, 10/10, not recommended at all.

BUT, upside has been the kids got to come along to choose a replacement a number of weeks later, and this one has stuck with us. She stays very close to Harry, their dynamic has been phenomenal together, and she's flat dynamite around the house and the camp alike, low-key female like I'd hoped, given I'd seen same in so many others I envied.

Not much training going on beyond first swim and few obedience basics, and not in mad rush to do whole lot more just yet. Plans are for Harry to hunt this fall, and for new one to come along when it makes sense down the line. Quite new to this whole 2-dog system, but know some on here know it well and likely to be of help with the nuances of training a replacement while working the current.

She's Indigo May (picked up in that month), goes by INDY, and she's a spunky but super sweet little rat. Like her elder, just wants to be at your feet, wherever that might be.

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Late June 2025

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Late December 2024

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With really no significant offseason projects needed, at least for now (knock wood), trying to just do summer stuff and do more fishing than I had been in recent summers, then take the training as she shows she's ready.

[Ducaholic]

Good Stuff

[Rick]

Appears Harry already has Indy well versed in the important stuff.

[Duck Engr]

Good to see that trainer and trainee are getting along so well!

[Deltaman]

Congrats on your new pup Darren, she's a good looking little booger!

[Duck Engr]

https://a.co/d/87q28B6

Darren I don’t know if your style of hunting requires waders for little ones but here’s a pretty good deal. I just received some for my 6 year old. They size them based on pant sizes, which is a little different from adults obviously. They also run a size large. So my son wears a 6/7 pant and a 13 kids shoe, but I ordered him the 4/5 waders. Boots fit well, just hope he doesn’t grow too much between now and November!. May have to get some strap extenders. Figured for $42 I’d take the chance.

[Darren]

https://a.co/d/87q28B6

Darren I don’t know if your style of hunting requires waders for little ones but here’s a pretty good deal. I just received some for my 6 year old. They size them based on pant sizes, which is a little different from adults obviously. They also run a size large. So my son wears a 6/7 pant and a 13 kids shoe, but I ordered him the 4/5 waders. Boots fit well, just hope he doesn’t grow too much between now and November!. May have to get some strap extenders. Figured for $42 I’d take the chance.

Thanks for sharing! Those look dang nice for the price point.

Given they're neoprene, though, my crew wouldn't get a whole lot of use of them down this way. Waders at link below have been the ticket for my son so far, and even handed down his first set to a cousin of his:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07S22FXSB?re ... th=1&psc=1


He wears sweat pants (or pajama pants) under them, which is great for rolling him out of bed pre-hunt and right into his waders. They are not breathable, but given relatively little exertion by him on our hunts, that hasn't proven problematic, and they've been great blocking wind and water in both teal season and Nov-Jan.



Not a whole lot of ducky activity this weekend but did put some time on the new-ish duck boat for it's summer duties pulling a kneeboard or tube at False River/New Roads, LA, and Graham's eye for fowl proved to be in mid-season form, spotting and ID'ing BBWD's far and wide.

[DComeaux]

Seeing Harry in white face alongside Indy, which seems like only yesterday Harry was that size. Time fly's.

[Darren]

Seeing Harry in white face alongside Indy, which seems like only yesterday Harry was that size. Time fly's.

Crazy, huh?!

She continues to get redder by the day as her adult fur seems to be coming along replacing the lighter puppy fur. Though I've been holding off on getting retrieving training going, she's really starting to show some early grasp on it already just playing in the house with squeak toys. Have in mind I need to get going with a "place," both in location and command, for use in our blinds where "load up" for Harry is get to your place/dog stand, and stay there, and returns to there with retrieves.

Latest with them:

indy and harry.jpg

Rogers is having their annual pre-season sale, and decided to give these a try after last year I returned a similar pair to Academy at season's end having never taken them out of the box. Breathable and unlined ideal for our climate where I can where them for teal season, and during rainy regular season opener weekends in November when, like in 2024, they sometimes seem more September than December, with warmth, high tides, rain, or all of the above.

https://rogerssportinggoods.com/rogers- ... ble-wader/

[DComeaux]

After this gooped-up pair of lacrosse I've had for several years, used only to keep me somewhat clean from the chest down are no longer repairable, I will not buy another pair of expensive waders. If I hunted timber, that would be a different story.

[Darren]

After this gooped-up pair of lacrosse I've had for several years, used only to keep me somewhat clean from the chest down are no longer repairable, I will not buy another pair of expensive waders. If I hunted timber, that would be a different story.

Thankfully the non-insulated breathable types so prevalent now, and most appropriate for our weather, are the cheap ones to be had.

[Darren]

Did some remotely-ducky piddling at the camp Friday, tended to some pirogue tether lines, checked supplies of teal season stuff like cans of fogger, Therma-Cell, and cheapo steel loads for my now go-to 20 gage, skeet choke installed. Had thoughts of heading out to one of our blinds that needs a little shoring work on its back rail but afternoon storms were constantly around, just never on, us.

One exciting turn of events is that my Friday afternoon hunt booked with local outfitter I teal hunted with last year was offered now as an opening morning outing instead, and didn't take much arm twisting of my crew to commit to that change. So we'll look forward to just jumping in the truck with our tennis shoes on for a Delacroix-area dock meet up instead of donning waders and all to go out on our own.

Fishing yesterday was slow, typical of this time of year, so we'll opt to maybe go shoot some clays for better use of our time in coming weekends instead of more speckled trout pursuits.

FedEx says the new waders are out for delivery today, so will offer some initial thoughts on them in-hand if they show.

[PorkChop]

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on those waders. I’ve been milking a leaky pair for a few years now. Not a real bad leak just kind of seeps in a little bit and by the end of the day though my right leg is all wet. With our lack of water the last few seasons, I haven’t been in a real hurry, but currently that looks like it will be changing this fall.

[PorkChop]

Congratulations on Indy!! Always a big bowl of emotions for me when I see the pictures of the new puppy and the older dogs!

[Darren]

Congratulations on Indy!! Always a big bowl of emotions for me when I see the pictures of the new puppy and the older dogs!

Thanks ! Yea I'm navigating that each day it seems, trying to stay close with my fiercely loyal fella while giving the young gal enough attention and direction to keep her development remotely on track. One thing key wild card in her training that wasn't in play for Harrison is that we have kids now, so my time is reduced, but also they like to contribute too, so it's just a tad more hectic in general.

Regardless how it turns out, there are far worse challenges in life, so we'll just keep riding along.

[Darren]

Re: Rogers Elite Uninsulated Wader

Came in yesterday, fits my frame well with the THIN/TALL version I ordered. It's much slimmer than average cut wader for my thin frame, very little excess material. Seems to be of high quality all around. I'll likely cut out the built-in fleece hand warmer as it gets too warm against my chest in warmer weather hunting, teal season for example. Besides, it's INSIDE the wader, without external access to it, thus would be under my jacket anyway which has fleece lined pockets on its own.

The boot is not overly bulky, seems to fit true to size, is well insulated (which I arguably dont need but should be OK).

Think I'm going to keep them and make a few tweaks to get it how I need it.


Side note:
I presume the hand warmer is inside the wader to be used by those who wear their waders over their jacket, that is, the jacket is inside their wader, which seems common. I don't get it; so when it rains you just have rain running down your jacket into your waders? No thanks.

[Duck Engr]

I’m a jacket inside the wader guy unless it’s raining. I hunt deeper water sometimes and I always seem to forget I have a jacket hanging down until it’s saturated.

[Darren]

I’m a jacket inside the wader guy unless it’s raining. I hunt deeper water sometimes and I always seem to forget I have a jacket hanging down until it’s saturated.

I figured that was the logic, and that arrangement seems far more common than the other way around. Some make a "wading jacket" of shorter length, presumably for that very factor.