Date: 24 Sep 2022
Time: Morning time
Location: ND
Cloud Cover: yes but we did have to look into the sun for about 15 minutes
Wind Direction and Velocity: well when I first started setting up it was about 10 mph out of the west. It was only supposed to increase and change to the west northwest however as things go it started coming out of the south east and was blowing in our face. Did that for about 20 and then it switched to the way it was supposed to come from and really started blowing at about 18 mph
Temperature: When I got to the field it was 50° and when I left the field it was 66°
Moon phase: Maybe a sliver
Special Notes: It was our regular season opener. Even though there was a couple thousand birds using the pothole I had very low expectations! Also it very much sucks being colorblind!
Waterfowl Activity: Hundreds and hundreds of Greenwing teal and a couple hundred pintails. Very few mallards or gadwall. Also saw a handful of widgeon.
Waterfowl Responsiveness: Birds were acting like it was late season. Did not respond to the call but I’m sure you southern boys would get a good chuckle out of my calling skills. Since moving to North Dakota my calling abilities have really gone down into the toilet.
Hunters: Vinny Quack and I. Big D Dominic P was supposed to come however he woke up puking and instead of sucking it up he pussied out and went back to bed! In hindsight I wish I would’ve just stayed in bed. Not really it was a fun morning just a little frustrating.
Guns: We all shoot Winchester SX4
Malfunctions: with the exception of the ducks everything worked like it should have
Dog(s): Reaper Who was acting like it was his first hunt. He did not know what the back command was, didn’t stay all the time, wouldn’t come back when called, you name it he was doing it wrongly. That being said he once again demonstrated that he has an outstanding nose and a lot of drive to find the birds when he smells them. Even if sometimes he walks slow coming back to you, would think he’s walking backwards with the bird.
Special Equipment: just goose and duck decoys. Was supposed to have lots of wind so I told my wife not to bring my duck butts that make ripples. It was windy when I was setting up but of course when it was legal shoot in time the wind died and the water was like glass. I did not use any spinners. Winners don’t you spinners!
Curses: I don’t believe in curses!
Kudos: To the guys that I beat to the field. They did not try to downwind us. They just went to another spot and ended up doing better on geese than us. I taught the one kid how to hunt, he shot his first ducks and geese with me. That’s a whole different story though.
Birds By Species: Two dirty greenheads, two Greenwing teal, one gadwall and one Pintail. Definitely should’ve shot a couple more mallards but our shooting was like crap. Also if we wanted to we definitely could’ve been done in about 15 minutes if we would’ve just shot Greenwing teal. Like I mentioned above it seems like it was flock after flock after flock of pintails. It was pretty frustrating even though it’s good to see them. I usually save low number birds meaning birds that you can only shoot a couple of till the end. Just my preference or rule but I have been known to break that rule. My daughter broke it today as she shot the pintail.
Photo Ops:
Dirty Greenheads
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