2019-2020 Season Log

[Rick]

Right up front (where it's easy for me to copy), here is the template I will be using:

Date:

Time:

Location:

Cloud Cover:

Wind Direction and Velocity:

Temperature:

Moon phase:

Special Notes:

Waterfowl Activity:

Waterfowl Responsiveness:

Hunters:

Guns:

Malfunctions:

Dog(s):

Special Equipment:

Curses:

Kudos:

Birds By Species:

Photo Ops:

Lagniappe:

[Rick]

Date: 9/14/19 Sat

Time: morning

Location: mudhole

Cloud Cover: clear

Wind Direction and Velocity: easterly nil

Temperature: nice to not so

Moon phase: full

Special Notes: Was a much better aerial survey count than last year’s but very few birds seen by self in our area.

Waterfowl Activity: East blinds were in so much more business early on than we were that they should have been finished before we really got underway. Most of our birds were initially high and hauling south.

Waterfowl Responsiveness: Used the extra loud, teal cut Stanley Deceiver start to finish and got to break a lot of flights I’d not have called to a few years back by staying on them long, long, long and LOUD, LOUD, LOUD.

Hunters: Spencer from last year and new to me guy, Chris

Guns:

Malfunctions:

Dog(s): As always, Marsh was plainly put out by our leaving ducks on the water but didn’t whine and did a fine job when boated to flotant birds.

Special Equipment: 2 customized mojo mallards and my jacked-up Mallard Machine dipper-splasher, hereafter known as “SOS”.

Curses: None at all from the mudhole, especially considering our spooky slow start.

Kudos: Birds worked well enough that we ended up being first out by over an hour.

Birds By Species: 18 blue-wing teal (lacked presence of mind to check sex ratio)

Photo Ops: Marsh back from the flotant with number 18:

011a.jpg

Lagniappe: Nothing profound, just sweet to be seeing birds work again.

[Rick]

Date: 9/14 Sat

Time: afternoon

Location: SC

Cloud Cover: clear

Wind Direction and Velocity: East moderate

Temperature: hot

Moon phase: full

Special Notes: morning party only shot 10, but saw “a lot” of high birds

Waterfowl Activity: were set up just after 6, and saw our first game shortly after

Waterfowl Responsiveness: Hailed the heck out of high flights with the Deceiver and got shooting at most everything we saw, though some of them worked the pond well away from our poor hide for a good while before finally giving in.

Hunters: 5, Mike, John, Jeremy, Glen and new to me, Wayne (Mike’s BIL)

Guns:

Malfunctions:

Dog(s): Pond was super sticky once-plowed clay that wore bug down.

Special Equipment: Drew’s baby Mojo and dove spinners

Curses: Started out with four lively cripples down well out on the first volley and thought we might kill the bug with heat exhaustion right there.

Kudos: After that mess, the guys shot the best I’ve seen them manage on their first hunts.

Birds by Species: 26 blue-wings (once again failed to sex them)

Photo Ops: Mike, Wayne, Jeremy, John and Glen (and some nosy dog)

016a.jpg

[Rick]

Date: 9/15 Sun

Time: morning

Location: mudhole

Cloud Cover: clear

Wind Direction and Velocity: Easterly moderate

Temperature: still hot

Moon phase: still full

Special Notes:

Waterfowl Activity: considerably lower than yesterday.

Waterfowl Responsiveness: still good to SD

Hunters: 2, Gary and Gene from the camp’s “way back when”

Guns:

Malfunctions: My old Montefeltro was hang-firing just enough to screw me up.

Dog(s): Marsh had a good morning

Special Equipment: SOS

Curses: Not nearly enough birds for my guys to succeed.

Kudos: Had a nice visit.

Birds by Species: 10

[Rick]

Date: 9/15 Sun

Time: afternoon

Location: SC

Cloud Cover: partly with rain cell that eventually clipped us

Wind Direction and Velocity: northerly to southerly with cell's passage

Temperature: hot to cool when wet

Moon phase:

Special Notes:

Waterfowl Activity: very little moving

Waterfowl Responsiveness: fortunately good

Hunters: 5, same as yesterday, only with Lance subbing for Wayne

Guns:

Malfunctions:

Dog(s): easy afternoon

Special Equipment: 2 spinners

Curses: no birds

Kudos: they killed everything that came

Birds By Species: 4 bw teal

[DComeaux]

Nice start.

[Rick]

Date: 9/16 Mon

Time: morning

Location: mudhole

Cloud Cover: partly

Wind Direction and Velocity: sweet easterly breeze

Temperature: not bad with the breeze

Moon phase: still BIG

Special Notes:

Waterfowl Activity: very little moving high or low

Waterfowl Responsiveness: Thankfully excellent.

Hunters: 3, grown father and son, Don and Matt, and a pal,?

Guns:

Malfunctions:

Dog(s): Marsh had to be called off a long track north of the blind for fear of reptile.

Special Equipment: SOS

Curses: just the lack of game

Kudos: After that first long chipped bird, the guys shot great and saved their own hunt.

Birds By Species: 10 bw teal

[DComeaux]

Sweet!

[Rick]

Date: 9/17 Tue

Time: morning

Location: mudhole

Cloud Cover: cloudy and hazy

Wind Direction and Velocity: SE moderate

Temperature: saved by the breeze

Moon phase: still big

Special Notes:

Waterfowl Activity: Not good, but certainly better than yesterday.

Waterfowl Responsiveness: SE breeze had them working right into our faces, which was a big help for our new teal hunters.

Hunters: 2, Dave and Christine

Guns:

Malfunctions:

Dog(s): Marsh did a fine job on some could-have-been-gone birds well out on the flotant.

Special Equipment:

Curses: Wish we could have shown them more game.

Kudos: Most grateful for what we had and how pretty they worked.

Birds By Species: 14 bw teal

Photo Ops: Dave and Christine with their first teal:

002a.jpg

[DComeaux]

Date:

Curses: Wish we could have shown them more game.

Birds By Species: 14 bw teal

I would love enough activity for the possibility of 14 BW. The mud hole, it does it's thing with help from the pied piper.

[Darren]

great hunt for anyone, much less those new to gunning teal.

[Duck Engr]

Sweet first hunt! Have you been keeping up with male to female ratio?

[Rick]

Have you been keeping up with male to female ratio?

Today was the first time I remembered to: 12 drakes and 2 hens.

[Rick]

...the pied piper.

That's been bugging me, because it's really more like the mad squawker. Mostly I'm just fussing them long and loud, and sometimes it works.

[Rick]

Date: 9/18 Wed

Time: morning

Location: mudhole

Cloud Cover: cloudy

Wind Direction and Velocity: SE moderate

Temperature: warm enough to make breeze a blessing

Moon phase: still big

Special Notes:

Waterfowl Activity: Saw a fair number of mostly high teal, along with the usual mottleds and woodies.

Waterfowl Responsiveness: Dave put the gris, gris all over me with that "pied piper" stuff, as my breaking average was weak.

Hunters: 2, brothers Brian and Camron

Guns:

Malfunctions:

Dog(s): Marsh is the man.

Special Equipment: SOS

Curses: Birds are getting stale and/or I'm losing my touch.

Kudos: Guys were pleasant company and shot well

Birds By Species: 12 bw teal (2 hens and 10 drakes)

[Duck Engr]

If 12 is a bad day of squawking I need to work on my squawking.

[DComeaux]

...the pied piper.

That's been bugging me, because it's really more like the mad squawker. Mostly I'm just fussing them long and loud, and sometimes it works.

I'm going to let lose in the morning and probably embarrass myself. I'll just tell em Rick told to me to. Hopefully they'll not be many hunting around us, because I plan to give it hell.

[Duck Engr]

...the pied piper.

That's been bugging me, because it's really more like the mad squawker. Mostly I'm just fussing them long and loud, and sometimes it works.

I'm going to let lose in the morning and probably embarrass myself. I'll just tell em Rick told to me to. Hopefully they'll not be many hunting around us, because I plan to give it hell.

We’d appreciate a video or two if you can slip a bug in your hunting partner’s ear.

[Rick]

Helps to have no shame. I tell my guys before hand to get ready to listen to the guy everyone in the marsh wishes would park the call in his arse.

(Did have one BIG bunch break down and take the tour of most everything west of Clyde's blind while I hollered away before turning and coming straight into the wind to us - only to get blown out by Ed or Isaac's shooting just outside the mudhole. Could have cried.)

[Rick]

Date: 9/19 Thur

Time: morning

Location: mudhole

Cloud Cover: raining

Wind Direction and Velocity: nil

Temperature: too hot for a rain slicker

Moon phase:

Special Notes:

Waterfowl Activity: lots of woodies and what looked like it might have been enough teal

Waterfowl Responsiveness: excellent

Hunters: 1, Tom long time friend of camp w/membership

Guns:

Malfunctions: Boat's electronic ignition quit working while I was boating Marsh to flotant birds from our second volley, and the pull start wouldn't recoil, thankfully after cranking the boat. So we called it quits and packed up while the motor was still running.

Dog(s):

Special Equipment:

Curses: Dead boat.

Kudos: Happened with a fellow who gets to go a lot and knows "shit happens".

Birds By Species: 4 bw teal

[Duck Engr]

Had it been a “once a year” client would you have tried to continue the hunt under Rick-power around the mudhole and attempted to get them an alternative ride from the marsh?

[Rick]

I offered Tom that option, but think he'd had enough of the rain, anyway.

[Ericdc]

Helps to have no shame. I tell my guys before hand to get ready to listen to the guy everyone in the marsh wishes would park the call in his arse.

(Did have one BIG bunch break down and take the tour of most everything west of Clyde's blind while I hollered away before turning and coming straight into the wind to us - only to get blown out by Ed or Isaac's shooting just outside the mudhole. Could have cried.)

I could not deal with that day in and day out like you do. Especially when you work so hard to break them down.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Johnc]

...the pied piper.

That's been bugging me, because it's really more like the mad squawker. Mostly I'm just fussing them long and loud, and sometimes it works.

Word on the street is that they responded beautifully for first few days but now turn around immediately and fly other way especially to mallard call

For past two days

Why—-you tube

[Duck Engr]

...the pied piper.

That's been bugging me, because it's really more like the mad squawker. Mostly I'm just fussing them long and loud, and sometimes it works.

Word on the street is that they responded beautifully for first few days but now turn around immediately and fly other way especially to mallard call

For past two days

Why—-you tube

Sounds like the regular season. Educations are happening faster.

[Rick]

Word on the street is that they responded beautifully for first few days but now turn around immediately and fly other way especially to mallard call

For past two days

Why—-you tube

Cadence wise, I've been breaking them down and around just as I would high, recalcitrant big ducks, only with extra high pitched (as opposed to "ringing") hails followed by every-hen-on-the-pond teal kack "come-backs" once they've bobbled, and finally a "Momma" or assembly kack series to keep them on line coming in. Did have a bunch bug out when I started calling this morning, but they were the first to seem put off by the call - and there's no telling how many times they've been by my pond this week...

[Rick]

Date: 9/20 Fri

Time: morning

Location: mudhole

Cloud Cover: heavy

Wind Direction and Velocity: southerly moderate

Temperature: warm

Moon phase:

Special Notes:

Waterfowl Activity: Fewest birds of any sort, except squealers, seen to date.

Waterfowl Responsiveness: Had one bunch seem to push off the call, but great luck getting most everything else to work pretty - thankfully.

Hunters: 2, Tom from yesterday and brother Mark (who we blamed for the dearth of game)

Guns:

Malfunctions: Newly repaired boat starts fine but still not stopping as it should.

Dog(s): Easy morning with just one bird on the flotant.

Special Equipment: SOS

Curses: no game (ours was the "big" hunt for the area)

Kudos: nice guys and a nice time

Birds By Species: 7 bw teal (5 drakes and 2 hens)

[Rick]

Date: 9/21 Sat

Time: morning

Location: mudhole

Cloud Cover: light/partly

Wind Direction and Velocity: Easterly strongest to date

Temperature: nicest to date

Moon phase:

Special Notes:

Waterfowl Activity: Not at all what I'd hoped for a weekend and very slow starting.

Waterfowl Responsiveness: Thankfully first rate, giving us "in your face" gunning.

Hunters: 2, long time regular father and now-grown son, Jim and David

Guns:

Malfunctions:

Dog(s): Marsh remains the man, doing a fine job of tracking down "stoned" birds that were only upper wing broke.

Special Equipment: SOS

Curses: Not enough ops after they'd worked much of the missing out.

Kudos: Still a nice time with nice folks.

Birds By Species: 14 bw teal (10 drakes, 4 hens)

[Rick]

Date: 9/22 Sun

Time: morning

Location: mudhole

Cloud Cover: clear

Wind Direction and Velocity: easterly moderate

Temperature: comfortable in the breezw

Moon phase:

Special Notes:

Waterfowl Activity: Next to nothing moving, but did see our first spoon since last weekend.

Waterfowl Responsiveness: Thankfully excellent with what was within earshot or spinner sight mostly coming to die.

Hunters: 2, father and son, Steve and Jason

Guns:

Malfunctions: east spinner has hard-wiring issue and had to be put on a mojo battery

Dog(s): Marsh lost a cripple I was sure I'd finished at the edge of the pond and didn't put him on for an hour or so.

Special Equipment: SOS

Curses: Just not enough birds for our purposes, and I didn't kick about quitting early to feed the boy.

Kudos: Nice folks and a pleasant time.

Birds By Species: 8 bw teal and 1 gw teal

[Rick]

Date: 9/23 Mon

Time: morning

Location: mudhole

Cloud Cover: clear

Wind Direction and Velocity: easterly mod

Temperature: ok

Moon phase:

Special Notes:

Waterfowl Activity: Seemed like what was out there was on me, judging by how little shooting I heard from Isaac and Cherry Ridge guys.

Waterfowl Responsiveness: could not have been better

Hunters: Just the bug and I

Guns:

Malfunctions: still couldn't find the short in hard-wiring to my east spinner

Dog(s): Marsh had a little fun hunting up three in the weeds, but all three were defunct, and he wasn't too pleased with letting so many pass while I worked at the spinner problem after finishing.

Special Equipment: SOS

Curses: Would have been nice to have more guns in the blind, and the wiring problem's still there.

Kudos: Nice to be able to clean up our mess, work on my Go-devil and learn I can't fix the spinner wiring in place.

Birds By Species: 6 bw teal (all drakes)

Photo Ops: The things you see when you can't shoot any more:

003a.jpg