2016-2017 Season Log

[Darren]

The 8 GW and 4 mallards alone would have been a pretty collection, glad to see it rebounded.

[Rick]

No one to blame for not filling but ourselves, though it would have been much easier had the dumb-assed guide not opted to go for a tipped teal in the boat at what turned out to be the beginning of a sweet mid-hunt wave of greenwings crossing the marsh.

But we had a big time they're anxious to repeat, and that's the real bottom line in our business. Back blind had considerably more teal shooting than we did but hit less, and one of its guys was plainly miffed that they didn't get more shooting, so I was plumb lucky to have the guys I did and not have to please his sorry self.

May, of course, all suck wind tomorrow...

[Rick]

Our guys are still killing geese in a sublet-to-a-guide's-friend blind in the NW (Scanlan) corner of the farm.

[Rick]

Date: 1/21/17

Time: Morning

Location: Mudhole

Cloud Cover: cloudy

Wind Direction and Velocity: easterly light to moderate

Temperature: warm

Moon phase: waning 33%

Special Notes:

Waterfowl Activity: Precious few big duck around, but lots of high teal passing.

Waterfowl Responsiveness: Big ducks wanted to work, but crowd control issues prevented it. Teal showed me where I may well have been screwing up during my time at the Mudhole. Long ago got it into my head that even if I could get the high little duck flights to break for us, they would invariably power dive by, get over the more attractive chain of big ponds beyond us and follow them to the east. So I've almost always let the high flights like today's pass unhailed. But needing 24 ducks of some sort with a crew that wouldn't all hide well, I was desperate enough to look the fool and hit the high teal with ringing hails until a string would bunch, then hammered them some more with a high, squacky teal version of the every-hen-on-the-pond "come-back" I use to break down super high big ducks. And the results were nothing short of remarkable to me, as many flights would not only break and power dive down but could be brought back off the more favorable water by continuing to raise holy cane. Feel like an ass for being too cool to act the fool and, perhaps, kill a whooooole lot more ducks over the years. Might, of course, have been an anomaly, but we weren't just out an hour and change sooner than the other blinds but the only one to fill.

Hunters: 3, Jim, Josh and Tom, super nice guys but not well experienced hunters and out as much for the party as the hunt

Guns:

Malfunctions:

Dog(s): Couldn't be much prouder of Marsh. (So I figure he'll eat a duck or three tomorrow.)

Special Equipment: SOS

Curses: Suggested - without result - that we watch the big ducks work from behind the front edge of the blind, instead of cocked back and mooning, so many times that I felt bad about it. Which doesn't mean I won't rat the culprit out to his buddies if I've the same crew again in the morning.

Kudos: I'd teased them about bringing a literal case of shells to the blind, but it turned out not such a stretch.

Birds By Species: 2 bw teal, 21 gw teal and 1 pintail

Photo Ops: Marsh and a load of green-wings:

[Rick]

Addendum to 1/21 "Waterfowl Responsiveness": Should point out that I'd think today's squackfest as good of a test as any, short of sideways rain, of the few swipes on 320 emery cloth I risked with my favorite MVP, and it passed with flying colors: sounds sweet and never threatened to stick.

[Rick]

Date: 1/22/17

Time: morning

Location: Mudhole

Cloud Cover: Heavy to clear with a night of rain ending about as we entered the marsh

Wind Direction and Velocity: Moderate westerly to screaming due west.

Temperature: warm to cool with the front's passage

Moon phase: small waning crescent

Special Notes: last morning of Coastal Zone ducks

Waterfowl Activity: Had a few early teal and jacks low on the marsh and a fair number of HIGH big ducks bucking the heavy wind early on when it kicked up, then nothing, zip, nadda for the last hour or so.

Waterfowl Responsiveness: Had a little luck breaking down some mallards and pintails, but most plainly deemed whatever I was selling not worth the trouble of breaking down in such wind.

Hunters: 2, Jim from the day before and nephew Ryan, who'd had a bad hunt then.

Guns:

Malfunctions:

Dog(s): Marsh did his usual sweet job of cleaning up our messes but did lose a pintail when we chipped three from one flight, and by the time he got to it, the third was tracked to big gator water I made him return from.

Special Equipment: SOS, with spinner off once the wind kicked up because it would flip and flip and flip in the wind when I tried to kill it for big ducks that would have to come right over it to get in front of the blind. Probably should have pulled it from the pond, but the wind made maneuvering the boat to do so likely impossible without wiping out a lot of the spread.

Curses: While I've been looking forward to the rare west wind, because they usually draw birds to our end of the marsh, this one was the devil.

Kudos: Nice folks who weren't used to killing much of anything and were tickled with our hunt.

Birds By Species: 2 gw teal, 2 mallards, 3 pintails and 3 ringnecks

[Rick]

Without going into detail about the last day after-hunt, when we break the marsh curfew with friends and family, I'll just note that friends Bobby and Rowland and I went out around noon to give it a go, which this shot of Marsh pretty well sums up:


Suffice it to say he was just as clean and dry when we packed it in at sunset.

[Darren]

Sounds like you saw the same end-of-flight we saw yesterday. I thought sure it would have kept going most of morning so didn't feel too bad about our early misses.........but then it just switched off like a light. Massive movements of geese, though.

[DComeaux]

Waves in the mud hole is telling of the wind we had.

[Rick]

Date: 1/24/17

Time: morning

Location: Pine Island

Cloud Cover: clear

Wind Direction and Velocity: SE light to moderate

Temperature: warm

Moon phase: tiny

Special Notes: my first hunt in the new "East" Zone north of Rt. 14

Waterfowl Activity: Very few ducks moving but a big body of mixed geese too close to our west.

Waterfowl Responsiveness: Was a fight just to get the specks to break for a look at our ugly duck blind when their eyes were on the body - which nothing came out of while we were there. Ducks came to die, despite the obvious blind.

Hunters: Ed, Matt and I on a play hunt

Guns:

Malfunctions: My little 20 was gummed up beyond cycling, and I learned that bug spray makes a serviceable oil substitute.

Dog(s): Diesel, Ed's borrowed Lab. Calm, good natured dog, but he'd sit up when a call was blown and broke when the guns went off. The latter of which was something he'd not do from a platform in the marsh, so he may have learned a new trick.

Special Equipment:

Curses: Just not much coming our way.

Kudos: Beautiful pressure free morning hunting with friends.

Birds By Species: 3 gadwall, 1 gw teal, 3 pintails and 1 shoveler

Photo Ops: Diesel handing Ed an early morning sprig:


and fielding another later on:

[Rick]

Guess I'll note that I buttoned up the Mudhole yesterday, which is always a melancholy task. Picked up the decoys and pulled every stick of cane I'd carried in for cover, least the dog be skewered on a seemingly petrified cut end:


or it all take root and bury the blind. Saw that a good bit of it was already sprouting roots and shoots, which speaks to our recent weather:


Looks worse than sad striped of it hunting garb and waiting out the long off season:

[Deltaman]

Glad you were able to get out and enjoy a hunt with friends, and Thank You for sharing another duck season with us!!!!!!!

[Rick]

You're most welcome, and I thank you and the others here, especially our host, Olly. Was never able to maintain a full season's log before making the public commitment.

Re: the hunting, I hope I'm not done, yet. Know my friend has the ex-father-in-law's blind we hunted today for two more mornings and hope I'll be invited along again. That, and I'd like to blood the Model 12 John blessed me with on a speck or two, which remain open until the 12th.

[Ericdc]

How far north would u drive for a buddy hunt Rick?


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[Rick]

Appreciate the thought, but I was near my limit not far above I-10 this morning.

[DComeaux]

Always bittersweet for me to end a season, but for you being out every day, it must need weaning.

We had to end up using roseau to finish off the year due to the cord grass tops shriveling after our few cold days. We pulled a butt load of those from the blind and used it on our last hunt on the end of the location road. I wish I would have taken a picture of it before we left, It looked lonely. I think I might go out and fertilize our "island" in the early spring.

[Ericdc]

Appreciate the thought, but I was near my limit not far above I-10 this morning.

Well I guess it's the thought that counts.


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[Ericdc]

I see you on the book of face


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[Rick]

Hmm, told Ed I didn't want to be seen holding no stinkin' ducks. You'd of thought he could have just got them and that belly I've been cultivating.

[Darren]

yep I seent it ma-self! It's going viral for sure

[Rick]

It is a very sorry day - the last day of hunting season. We had our best season since 2004-2005
Our final tally:
Early teal season - 201 Blue wing teal - no green wings

Regular hunting season:

Teal - 470
Gadwall - 406
Pintail - 66
Mallard - 10
Wigeon - 27
Spoons - 35
Geese - 0

We had 199 man hunting days for the regular season

I guess I should get a log page next year.

First time I did the math, it came out to over 6 birds per hunter effort, so I tried again just using the regular season numbers and came up with 5.09 birds per hunter effort, which still drew a "wow". Y'all some mighty fine shots in mighty fine blinds. Congratulations on both counts.

And, yes, you should.

[Darren]

That's a whole lot of grays and teal! very nice

[Rick]

Tried making a sentimental speck hunt this morning with the new-to-me Model 12 and my old partner Peake that was a certifiable belly-flop.

Changed plans and swapped dogs to include Peake while in the middle of loading the truck - which is all the excuse I can muster for beginning the misadventure by forgetting we'd need decoys on the clean freshly laser-leveled field taking the deaf dog dictated over the originally planed spot, where his handicap could prove a safety hazard.

Once on site, Peake made it absolutely clear that he was much more enthusiastic about "going" than "hunting". As the dog that once practically dove into cover by my side on hunts had to be coerced into doing so, and then proceeded to look horribly put out by having to remain stationary for the relatively short time we were there.

Was easy enough to get some groups to take a hard look at our field, but the devil to get them to work in tight to the ugly little grassy "spider hole," where Peake lay and I knelt and doubled over as low as could be, without the distraction from it of a couple or three decoys. And when everything did finally come together, I first struggled finding the gun's new-to-me safety location and then found I'd managed to pull the magazine I'd apparently incorrectly installed loose and goobered the works after whiffing the first and only shot.

After which I deemed it wise to at least make Peake happy by calling it a morning and granting him the pleasure of exploring that he really wanted on our way back to the truck.

Maybe tomorrow...

[SpinnerMan]

I first struggled finding the gun's new-to-me safety location

My backup shotgun has a different safety location from my primary shotgun.

Happens to me every time I use my backup when things happen quickly. Not to mention the backup is a pump and I forget to pump when I do remember to take the safety off.

Although, I seem to shoot better with my backup gun. I'm seriously thinking about switching the primary and backup.

[Rick]

I'd practiced with the front safety (and Model 12 requisite fore-then-aft pumping action), but apparently not enough.

[SpinnerMan]

It becomes instinctual. If you have time to think about it, you do it right. If you have to react, you revert to the instinctual muscle memory and press like hell on the wrong end of the trigger guard. At least that's how it works for me.

And putting the safety becomes just as instinctual. I've actually put my gun down on a few occasions without the safety on Not good.