Date: 1/5/19
Time: Set up well before LST on a darker than normal night
Location: Mobile River Delta
Cloud Cover: Cloudy at first light, then clearing and sunny
Wind Direction and Velocity: NW 15+ most of morning
Temperature: Upper 40's
Moon phase: New moon
Special Notes: The dark night made the run somewhat of a challenge as we headed upriver, with the river full of floating debris from the floodwaters coming down from upstate. Water higher than normal because of the added water as well (as one of my coonass buddies would say "low tide is high tide")
Waterfowl Activity: Was a slow trickle of birds (almost all Gadwalls), throughout the morning, and just enough to keep us interested
Waterfowl Responsiveness: Started out acting like the typical "seasoned" Gadwalls, working the decoys, and then lighting out at 80-100 yds to feed, and pull other newcomers Again, pulled a rabbit out of the hat when we added 3 of the flock-a-flickers to the spread. Although the wind was blowing fairly hard, we are hunting a thick milfoil grass bed, in a pocket along a bay, and very little wind movement of decoys. The added movement turned the trick.......again, and was glad I brought them along.
Hunters: Stepson (Dustin) and myself
Guns: SBE and Nova
Malfunctions:
Dog(s):
Special Equipment: Despite the negative reviews I have read, these flock-a-flickers are making a difference. No other blind traffic to screw us up,and it was night and day as to how the birds finished. Coming back to the blind after chasing a cripple, 3 Gadwalls sitting in the decoys jumped up, and damn if one of them didn't circle around and sit back down in the decoys, next to the movement, before jumping up a second time as we got closer.
Curses: Bent barrels and mis-communication..........we had added some thick cover to the blind, and on several occasions, when alerted by Dustin that birds were coming in that I didn't see, we would jump up to shoot, and I found myself shooting at different birds, further out than others that I had not seen, that were on top of us We both just plain missed some other easy opps for no reason as well.
Kudos: We had action off and on most of the morning, but heard very little other shooting.
Birds By Species: 5 Gadwalls (lost another Gadwall to the bank, and knocked down a hen Canvasback that gave us fits diving. We chased that bird for 20 minutes, in open water, and still lost it )
Photo Ops: Did not take camera
Lagniappe: Watched a Bald Eagle off and on all morning.
Of Note: We do not have any coots to speak of............not that I care to shoot them, but it seems like it has been that way the last few years, and I reckon, indicative of our duck migration pattern. My usual go to for late season is a large spread of coots, with just a few duck decoys mixed in, but this year, with so few coots around, that may not work as we hunt over the next few weeks.