Teal Season 2014

[Darren]

Sat. 9/13/2014
Opening Day Teal Season - SE La public marsh
Anthony & I
North/NE Winds 5-10+, low cloud deck

We scouted around thoroughly yesterday and found that our marsh was in full support of what the LDWF aerial surveys were telling us....pretty much no birds in SE La. That said, we had found a good looking hole that was full of mottled ducks so gave it a shot this morning and was pleasantly surprised (thanks Uncle Rick). Started off morning early with a single and was thrilled with that alone but later had our hands full when action picked up with small groups working us and even two different flights of 18-20+ that we did not capitalize on as we should have. Ended up knocking down 10, losing 3 in tall grass across the pond. Better shooting on our opportunities would have had us back at the launch by 7:30 with our 12, the chances were there.

Story of morning was that we goofed and didn't put much of any thought into the spread and that ended up biting us a bit because the birds wanted in but they were coming in low right on the dekes and we had to hold some shots to keep from sinking all our floating imposters. Just didn't have tactical decoying in mind this morning as I haphazardly tossed them, not actually expecting any visitors other than the mottleds. Lesson learned..be prepared even when there were no birds to be seen the day before. Saw decent flights until around 7:30 or so and it was all shut down by 8:00am. Think we faired better than most with reports largely ranging from a few to DNS. Historically jam-up areas to our south were very spotty this morning as well but still think most over this way saw more than expected today. Hope tomorrow to see some new birds that pressure may have bumped southward today. We're going to make a small move for the morning to the other side of this hole which the birds seemed to favor. There's empties in the boat, feathers on the cleaning table, college football on TV, all is well in S. Louisiana.

7 blue wing teal

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[Flightstopper]

Thanks for the write up Darren. Much needed sitting on the couch all morning.

[Rick]

Glad to hear they showed.

[DComeaux]

YES!! Glad to see you got a few.

[DeadEye_Dan]

. Good deal

[jarbo03]

Good job.

[Bad17]

Awesome

[Darren]

Sun. 9/14/2014
Day 2 Teal Season - SE La public marsh
Anthony & I
North/NE Winds 5-15+, pt cloudy, pleasantly chilly at times

As we feared, some shotgun blast scouters beat us to our hole from yesterday, not a huge surprise as this particular area is known for that and largely the reason we don't ever hunt regular season here. Moved west a tad which had us lined up for a grand scheme to both be in the flight and be downwind of the intruders thus hoping to steal some traffic. Unfortunately, however, the birds just didn't work the area like they did yesterday. Had one suicide single off the bat at LST and then a pair lit wide on us later in the morning, taking one and losing the other as a very capable crip in some really ugly stuff. Yesterday's honey hole had but a fraction of the traffic today so not sure if we'll give that pond one more go or adjust a bit per the flights we did see today. Of note, did see multiple groups of 40-50+ so guessing these are new birds. Planning to try 'em again Wednesday

2 blue wing teal

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sweet lil hole that I think would have been jam up with same flights as yesterday

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[DComeaux]

Nice weather for opening weekend, wasn't it? Just needed birds.

[Darren]

Yea this morning was really nice, chilly on the boat rides for sure. From what I'm hearing we're actually seeing more birds in our area than those south of me that are more traditionally the teal hotbeds, especially for the September season. Fewer small groups today but the large wads were a sight to behold as they dipped and dove across the marsh trying to make up their mind.

[Darren]

Wed. 9/17/2014
SE La public marsh
Anthony & I
North/NW Winds ZERO and occasionally up to maybe 2-3 mph, clear skies mostly, loads of bugs

Back in our hole from opening day and finally got to set it up how we wish we had for the opener, but didn't have the birds on us today to really test it out. Worked only a handful of birds today, all in singles. Downed 4 and lost 1 to tall stuff behind the blind. Saw some nice bands including a good many working just west of us as noted on first two days. Finally took time after the hunt to go scout it and really like what we saw so will give it a shot in the morning. It used to be just an shallow wide open pond but has grown up with grass in it making it tighter and we watched some impressive groups circle and circle it today so hoping we see a few in the mornning there. Of course, three BW's buzzed our hats as we paddled out the pond, lighting just where we'd left. See them tomorrow......

3 BW teal

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[DComeaux]

Good to see y'all got a few. It sure beats sitting in here wanting to be out there.

[Rick]

Saw some nice bands including a good many working just west of us as noted on first two days. Finally took time after the hunt to go scout it and really like what we saw so will give it a shot in the morning.

Read: "Tomorrow dem teals gonna be tic', tic' tic in da hole we hunted today."

[Darren]

Try as we might, could not pull them off this spot with the call today, they just kept circling and circling. So tomorrow, we shall be there and not be able to pull them off today's hole. In addition to a few kills, we're enjoying the chase......

[Darren]

Thurs. 9/18/2014
SE La public marsh
Anthony, Raymond, & I
North/NE Winds ZERO 5+, clear to pt cloudy skies mostly, loads of bugs, 70's, hot and sticky

Battery in my truck was dead when I went out to leave this morning, had to scramble to get a back up vehicle hooked up while shuffling cars in the driveway at 5:00am. Only put me a few minutes late to the launch and added a little hustle to our set up routine. Hunted the hole we scouted yesterday and all went to plan on the logistics of getting there, no one anywhere near us. Single right off the bat, little while later a nice pair, all three having worked our setup perfectly. That was it! Had one other pair land wide on us, may have been hip to the spinners or maybe just decided they weren't interested in socializing like the others. Very little shooting overall this morning and definitely the fewest birds seen this season, especially noting there were no groups of 5 or larger seen at all. We're thinking the slight northerly breeze of last 24 hours bumped them southward without recharging us.

Really nice spot, birds just didn't show but Raymond got to at least sling some steel for first time this season and we had a nice morning. We're not loading the boat in birds but it's sure been beating all the (DNS)'s I posted last teal season. Taking the weekend off to do LSU stuff for the Miss State game in BR. Back at them next week

3 BW teal

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Raymond with our first (and only) three visitors, as early as it appears is about when the flight was done

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[hudson]

Pretty spot bud, hopefully this weekend shows you more birds.If your going in the morning good luck! I'll be out there as well

[Darren]

Pretty spot bud, hopefully this weekend shows you more birds.If your going in the morning good luck! I'll be out there as well

Hope you did better than the guys that went over in our area. Saturday they reported decent flights but none on their specific hole, some guys at the launch had 10 on the strap but my buddy had a goose egg. He went back yesterday and had zero again and said fewer birds seen. That said, no one hunted within a mile or so of the three holes we've hunted so far, so not sure if that may have been any better, I'm planning to give them a shot on Wednesday.

I stayed in BR for the weekend to tailgate and go to LSU game, now kinda wish I hadn't considering the team largely failed to show up.

[hudson]

Pretty spot bud, hopefully this weekend shows you more birds.If your going in the morning good luck! I'll be out there as well

Hope you did better than the guys that went over in our area. Saturday they reported decent flights but none on their specific hole, some guys at the launch had 10 on the strap but my buddy had a goose egg. He went back yesterday and had zero again and said fewer birds seen. That said, no one hunted within a mile or so of the three holes we've hunted so far, so not sure if that may have been any better, I'm planning to give them a shot on Wednesday.

I stayed in BR for the weekend to tailgate and go to LSU game, now kinda wish I hadn't considering the team largely failed to show up.

good luck Wednesday morning

[Darren]

Wed. 9/24/2014
SE La public marsh
Johnny L. & I
North/NE Winds 10-15+, temps in low 60's to start.....teeth chattering (short sleeves) on boat ride out, chilly on ride back in
clear to pt cloudy

Stellar teal season conditions with unusually chilly temps on stout NE winds. Returned to hole from last Thursday but opted for a litle more nosing around in the area before committing to set up. Good choice: found more open area with great hides that was firm ground so we could walk all around in the pond. Told Johnny while setting dekes "I don't know if we'll kill anything but this is the finest looking little teal hole we've hunted so far out here."

Did see one wad of about 30 right before LST but no other large groups thereafter. Just singles and small groups in our area and we shot pretty well on limited opportunities, which included Johnny doubling on a group of 5 that of course swung by while I was out of the blind. Heard good bit of shooting in the usual places which is generally indicative of a fair amount of birds around. Another buddy's blind had 6 and lost 1, another crew had 3 and another 1.

Strapped 7 BW teal, lost zero, should have had another 2 on singles we missed on. Great time out there under awesome conditions for September in S. Louisiana, Johnny's first hunt of the season.

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easy to retrieve when we can just walk

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love it when it's easy to pick up

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[The Duck Hammer]

Good looking teal right there. Nice hunting spot too.

[firstflight]

Great job on the teal. Glad to see someone is putting them down .

[Darren]

Weather was best part of this morning, looks like tomorrow morning should be similar. Going to give them another try in the morning solo.

[DComeaux]

Good see y'all took a few! I'll be after em Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

[Darren]

Thurs. 9/25/2014
SE La public marsh
Solo hunt
North/NE Winds 10-15+, temps in low 60's to start.....identical conditions to day before

No takers for this morning so headed out solo to yesterday's hole but quickly noticed water was up 4 inches or so from day before due to persistent easterly winds. Higher water in our area generally isn't good for holding birds and today supported as much. Fewer birds seen overall and much less shooting out over the marsh. I took 2 from a trio that came in fairly dark and early and that was it for me. Had one other single that skirted me but had his sights set on one of our other holes nearby. High blind I heard of for the day had 2 guys with 3 birds, one other had 1. We'll try 'em again Saturday

2 BW teal

[DComeaux]

HA! The blind partners are as hard to find as the teal right now.

[Darren]

Thurs. 9/25/2014
SE La public marsh
Solo hunt
North/NE Winds 10-15+, temps in low 60's to start.....identical conditions to day before

No takers for this morning so headed out solo to yesterday's hole but quickly noticed water was up 4 inches or so from day before due to persistent easterly winds. Higher water in our area generally isn't good for holding birds and today supported as much. Fewer birds seen overall and much less shooting out over the marsh. I took 2 from a trio that came in fairly dark and early and that was it for me. Had one other single that skirted me but had his sights set on one of our other holes nearby. High blind I heard of for the day had 2 guys with 3 birds, one other had 1. We'll try 'em again Saturday

2 BW teal

Only photo of the day, with my two lil buddies riding on the bow

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[The Duck Hammer]

Looks like they had a rough morning. Better just let them sleep awhile.

[Darren]

HA! The blind partners are as hard to find as the teal right now.

Its a guarantee that Johnny would have returned with me this morning had work not kept him in. Didn't hurt him so bad when I gave him the report from our blind today. Was same story for others but definitely less apt to get folks to play hookie when we're short on shooting ops. We'll try 'em this weekend and see what we might dig up, may have to go look at a few other places as well.

[DComeaux]

HA! The blind partners are as hard to find as the teal right now.

Its a guarantee that Johnny would have returned with me this morning had work not kept him in. Didn't hurt him so bad when I gave him the report from our blind today. Was same story for others but definitely less apt to get folks to play hookie when we're short on shooting ops. We'll try 'em this weekend and see what we might dig up, may have to go look at a few other places as well.

Yeah, same on this end as far as making time for a hunt. I'll be in the blind the next three days, morning and afternoon if need be. WILL TAKE NO PRIOSONERS!!

[Rick]

HA! The blind partners are as hard to find as the teal right now.

Our camp's teal season business is mostly local and depends greatly on what folks are hearing at work and such, leaving us a ghost town right now. No hunters other than one member who will be here for Armageddon and maybe guest of his the past two days and again tomorrow.