Post-Season '14-'15

[Deltaman]

Good looking mount Darren

[Darren]

thanks!

and hunted up a picture of a live one preening for comparison:

R53-2011-071-Mottled-Duck.jpg

[The Duck Hammer]

I like that. Always been a fan of preening poses.

[flyn88]

He did a great job. Your gonna enjoy that for many years.

[Rick]

Looks like he got it right.

[DComeaux]

Nice mount

[Darren]

He enjoyed a glorious living room display for a short couple of days atop a table of sinker cypress, but already got the boot back to my office. I'll enjoy him there as well

Next season hope for a quality bull wigeon or sprig. Still hurts me to think of all the wigeon we plucked nonchalantly in the 2005 season:

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Now we're getting 2 or so a season at best in recent years; Venice being the only area on our end still seeing a fair many of them last I heard.

[Ducaholic]

If you don't mind riding blindfolded in a MM powered boat I can put you on some Cotton Tops in January...Widgeon make up a third of our bag in the last month of the season

Very Nice mount!

[Rick]

Was a morning in the '90s when my party shot 14 drake wigeon to get four footballs with clean caps and masks and long sprigs before filling out on other species. Last year we took 13 wigeon for the season. Where they went and why is a great mystery.

[Darren]

If you don't mind riding blindfolded in a MM powered boat I can put you on some Cotton Tops in January...Widgeon make up a third of our bag in the last month of the season

Very Nice mount!

You know I'm always up for a public land adventure and all the clandestine measures associated with it, if needed

While our marsh was hardly recognizable for that 2005 "Katrina season", we routinely worked wads 20-30 wigeon and was able to pick the drakes most mornings. We took 35 wigeon for the season, since then we've taken 24 cumulatively, averaging 2-3 with a high season since then being 5. I've polled Larry on the issue and it just seems there's been a shift west of them, though again Venice still holding its fair share but maybe not what it used to. Can't recall the last time I've heard a whole flock of them, more typically now we just kill one or two mixed in with the flights of grays.

[Darren]

Had been looking pretty bad in the South Dakota surveys, but looks like it got better when they made it to North Dakota:

http://www.flyways.us/flight-log/easter ... ing-strong

[Rick]

Have to admit being among the most casual observers of recent breeding grounds surveys, but it seems to me that if one of the Dakotas is going to be dry, it's best that it's South.

[Darren]

Have to admit being among the most casual observers of recent breeding grounds surveys, but it seems to me that if one of the Dakotas is going to be dry, it's best that it's South.

Yea its certainly not a particularly unusual occurrence, from what I've also casually observed over the last 5-8 years or so. Though obviously it's idea when it's wet to help spread birds out, they will apparently just pass it by heading further northward seeking wetter digs on such a year.

Went back to check around and found this update on the Canadian side just north of there which seems to support the above, and favorably:

http://www.flyways.us/flight-log/southe ... 015-survey

"Habitat conditions were good throughout most of the survey area, with only some slightly drier conditions in the western part of Stratum 39 and 40. Overall, this year appears to be similar to last year for water conditions in our part of the survey area. Duck numbers also seem to be good, with some transects recording record numbers counted on the ground."

[Darren]

Neat entry on the far northern portion of the waterfowl survey

http://www.flyways.us/flight-log/northe ... es/perfect

[Rick]

Saw that elsewhere and was taken aback by Fred's pending retirement. Doesn't seem that long ago that he was the new guy in the Lafayette office.

[Darren]

Our dock work continued over the 4th Weekend. Not sure if it'll help with his actual duck retrieving but young Harrison loves to leap from docks.

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the neighbor's handy jet-ski ramp makes getting out of the water easy

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ready to go again

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Hope all had a good weekend. Now that our early teal season is set (Sept 12 to 27) I'm hoping to soon go ride our holes from last year to see if they're still accessible/huntable.

[Rick]

Pup's looking good.

[Darren]

Pup's looking good.

thanks! Hoping to share some video sometime if I can get it formatted right