2022-2023 Season Log

[Duck Engr]

Lol she was coming for revenge!

[5 stand]

Rick you just keep raising the bar...
Killing a thousand ducks...
Now we're catching Ducks by hand...
My goodness...

[DComeaux]

I had to laugh.....

[Rick]

Rick you just keep raising the bar...
Killing a thousand ducks...
Now we're catching Ducks by hand...
My goodness...

Lucky I didn't get an eye, or two, scratched out. Have pulled an awful lot of mallards from under rocket nets without giving their claws much, if any, thought. Had she been a coot, fulvous or black-belly with real hooks, I'd of been shredded.

[Rick]

Date: 1/13 Fri

Time: morning

Location: mudhole

Cloud Cover: clearing to clear

Wind Direction and Velocity: NNW STRONG

Temperature: 40 but plenty cold w/wind

Moon phase:

Special Notes:

Waterfowl Activity: Teal mostly moved early, but also some big ducks until the last, very slow, hour.

Waterfowl Responsiveness: Both a wind that had birds slowed to easy blind inspection speed as they tried to finish dead over it and shots on Cherry Ridge and our marsh that seemed impeccably timed to screw us up conspired against our success in getting birds where we needed them.

Hunters: 2, father, Steve, and grown son, Eli, who made their first waterfowl hunts with me last year and their second today.

Guns:

Malfunctions:

Dog(s): Feared Marsh might be lost after flushing and chasing a barely flight-worthy mallard way the hey out of sight towards the IC. Couldn't catch it, but did eventually find his way back.

Special Equipment: SOS

Curses: Only the conditions and ill-timed shooting that screwed our pooch.

Kudos: Nice folks had a big time.

Birds By Species: 5 blue-wing teal, 2 green-wing teal, 3 mallards, 1 ringneck, 2 shovellers and 3 wigeon

[SpinnerMan]

Lucky I didn't get an eye, or two, scratched out. Have pulled an awful lot of mallards from under rocket nets without giving their claws much, if any, thought. Had she been a coot, fulvous or black-belly with real hooks, I'd of been shredded.

I had a mid-sized heron get their wing looped in my fishing line after dark. I gave a whole lot of thought to claws and beaks Almost no light and nothing to cut the line with while trying to avoid any permanent damage to either party. We both parted intact and unscathed, but I'd say we both got our feathers ruffled a little

[Ricky Spanish]

Lucky I didn't get an eye, or two, scratched out. Have pulled an awful lot of mallards from under rocket nets without giving their claws much, if any, thought. Had she been a coot, fulvous or black-belly with real hooks, I'd of been shredded.

I had a mid-sized heron get their wing looped in my fishing line after dark. I gave a whole lot of thought to claws and beaks Almost no light and nothing to cut the line with while trying to avoid any permanent damage to either party. We both parted intact and unscathed, but I'd say we both got our feathers ruffled a little

suppose heron tastes like cornorant...
You gonna eat one?
I'd try a crane but heron? No thanks.
Probably tastes like rotten sardines.

[Rick]

Have yet to meet anyone touting cormorants on the table, but several old Cajuns have told me blue herons are good, with some even claiming they're the only bird with marbled fat in their breast meat. Two I'm virtually certain have eaten a mess of them have questioned that marbled claim, but remembered them being good. They both shot theirs, but one old trapper's daughter whose mother served them at family gatherings thought her father somehow trapped theirs intentionally, but couldn't tell me how.

[Ricky Spanish]

Have yet to meet anyone touting cormorants on the table, but several old Cajuns have told me blue herons are good, with some even claiming they're the only bird with marbled fat in their breast meat. Two I'm virtually certain have eaten a mess of them have questioned that marbled claim, but remembered them being good. They both shot theirs, but one old trapper's daughter whose mother served them at family gatherings thought her father somehow trapped theirs intentionally, but couldn't tell me how.

They eat fish.
I've eaten fishy birds even mallards and if I had the choice I want the corn or rice fed fat ones. No way I'm shooting a cormorant. I set up on this cove once. Was young and super unexperienced. I thought they were geese but one squawks funny so I didn't shoot. When they started landing in dead trees I knew I'd screwed up ....again.
lol.
Learned the hard way on most things duck.

[Ericdc]

Reminds me of a young fella I started bringing to the pit blind years ago. They struck out on their own one morning and made themselves a little boat slip blind on black lake north of Natchitoches, LA.

They were so proud the next day at church to show me their 2 man limit of black jacks and teal, only for me to as graciously as I could....say

You guys didn't kill 1 duck. You have 10 coots and 2 grebes.

They then told me they swam into the decoys.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Bud]

Wake up, little Suzy, wake up!

Had one or two fly away thought was dead, but never at me. Rick, you stated years back about a young man calling your bucket "The Bucket of Death". When ducks came to your blind alive, they were twisted and dropped in the bucket. Maybe you just reacted the way you usually do. Had to laugh, too. Your writing abilities allowed me to almost see it happen. Actually glad someone didn't attempt to blow it to smithereens.

Did that cross your mind? like, get it out of the air as quickly as possible? Maybe a quick "Don't Shoot".

Where we hunt, think I would've cooked that bird in self defense.

Nice to see three wigeon!!! Keep um coming.

[Ricky Spanish]

Reminds me of a young fella I started bringing to the pit blind years ago. They struck out on their own one morning and made themselves a little boat slip blind on black lake north of Natchitoches, LA.

They were so proud the next day at church to show me their 2 man limit of black jacks and teal, only for me to as graciously as I could....say

You guys didn't kill 1 duck. You have 10 coots and 2 grebes.

They then told me they swam into the decoys.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

When you've got an eager puppy and a grebe swims into the spread is a very hard to resist temptation.

[Rick]

Reminds me of a young fella I started bringing to the pit blind years ago. They struck out on their own one morning and made themselves a little boat slip blind on black lake north of Natchitoches, LA.

They were so proud the next day at church to show me their 2 man limit of black jacks and teal, only for me to as graciously as I could....say

You guys didn't kill 1 duck. You have 10 coots and 2 grebes.

They then told me they swam into the decoys.

Made a few lottery hunts at West Virginia's McClintic WMA which required checkout with the area manager, and while doing so one morning, a couple guys came in asking if there was a boat they could borrow to retrieve a wood duck and teal they'd shot. Rather than go to that trouble, we took my setter, Duffy, retrieve them. Turned out their "ducks" were a woodcock and a grebe.

Since they'd come looking for official assistance in their recovery, I knew it to be an innocent mistake and had decided not to mention it to the manager, when the proud pair couldn't resist showing off the dead tame Canada they had stashed in the bushes, despite the WMA's numerous signs forbidding their taking. For that, I ratted them out, and when we returned to the scene, Duffy quickly recovered the evidence from a new hiding place.

Moral perhaps being ignorance is one thing and willful dumb-ass another.

[Rick]

...Rick, you stated years back about a young man calling your bucket "The Bucket of Death". When ducks came to your blind alive, they were twisted and dropped in the bucket. Maybe you just reacted the way you usually do. Had to laugh, too. Your writing abilities allowed me to almost see it happen. Actually glad someone didn't attempt to blow it to smithereens.

Did that cross your mind? like, get it out of the air as quickly as possible? Maybe a quick "Don't Shoot".

"And into the bucket of death he goes!" Brought a big smile to think of that little rip. At one point in that same hunt, I had specks coming straight in on the deck until just before they were in the pot, he saw them and blurted out a very loud "Holy crap!"

Had a lot of fun at that Reese farm blind in some of the first rice north of the marsh. You might recall it was made from an underground fuel tank, and the "bucket of death" was used to keep flopping birds from getting under the floor I'd put in it.

Now thinking of another morning in that blind, when we had what I could only identify as a mallard or mottled coming in front of a rising sun, and our friend, Ronnie, said, "Bud, you're going to want to take this one." as it was, in fact, one your favorites. How he knew that silhouette was a mottled's, I'll apparently never know.

Saw he and his son, Ben, at Doug's funeral, and gave him a big hug, only to learn his back was still open for frequent "clean out" from a September surgery. But as you might guess, he's still hunting with Ben. They recently shot their 5th blue Ross in a place few healthy young men would challenge, despite Ronnie saying he has to "slither into the boat, like an alligator" and had to crawl to a tree to stand up after shooting the geese the blue Ross was with. "It's embarrassing, but no one but Ben sees it." Still one tough SOB at 79, that one.

[Rick]

Date: 1/14/23 Sat

Time: morning

Location: mudhole

Cloud Cover: clear

Wind Direction and Velocity: E moderate

Temperature: frosty

Moon phase: waning 56%

Special Notes:

Waterfowl Activity: Pretty steady with more little than big ducks until we finished, then the Chamber of Commerce sent a passel of big ones to say, "Y'all come back.'

Waterfowl Responsiveness: Whole lot easier to finish birds with wind that didn't finish them over the back of the blind, like yesterday.

Hunters: 2, Steve and son, Eli again

Guns:

Malfunctions:

Dog(s): Bad, bad day for Marsh who decided to eat a mallard. Didn't go well for him...

Special Equipment: SOS

Curses: Just the bug's "indiscretion".

Kudos: The guys have gotten more of their misses out of their barrels. Eli finally got a mounting mallard with big, full curls, and Steve shot a banded mottled.

Birds By Species: 1 gadwall, 10 green-wing teal, 4 mallards, 2 mottleds (1 banded) and 1 pintail

[Rick]

Date: 1/15/23

Time: morning

Location: mudhole

Cloud Cover: kinda partly to cloudy

Wind Direction and Velocity: SE moderate to brisk

Temperature: 40s

Moon phase: 45% waning

Special Notes:

Waterfowl Activity: least we've seen in this split

Waterfowl Responsiveness: OK

Hunters: 2, Steve and Eli's last morning

Guns:

Malfunctions:

Dog(s): Easy morning except for one green-wing that flat disappeared

Special Equipment: SOS

Curses: Pulled a 30(?) bird flight of pintails from way the hey up to over the decoys right at quitting time that should have been the cherry on top of their trip - 'cept none ran into shot.

Kudos: Nice guys had a big time.

Birds By Species: 2 blue-wing teal, 1 gadwall, 6 green-wing teal, 1 mallard, 1 pintail and 1 shoveller

[DComeaux]

Nuce hunts, Rick.

[5 stand]

Three good hunts for Steve and Eli, I'm sure they did have a big time... I'm jealous...

[Rick]

Three good hunts for Steve and Eli, I'm sure they did have a big time... I'm jealous...

Issac's birds went home with his FIL, so I'm not sure how they did, but everyone else struggled. Hope the bottom isn't falling out, as a long time annual regular and friend, Bruce, is back for the January portion of what's become his twice annual visit. Hell, I hope the bottom isn't falling out for anyone that doesn't get to go a lot. Should always be a special occasion that fares well by the light of anticipation.

[Ducaholic]

I'll be curious how this season stacks up. The quality and numbers have been outstanding

[Rick]

I'll be curious how this season stacks up. The quality and numbers have been outstanding

Numerically, it's been the best since 2016-17, but will probably fall 100 or so mallards short of then...

[Ducaholic]

I'll be curious how this season stacks up. The quality and numbers have been outstanding

Numerically, it's been the best since 2016-17, but will probably fall 100 or so mallards short of then...

But the GWT will likely surpass it I would think?

[Rick]

Date: 1/16/23 Mon

Time: morning

Location: mudhole

Cloud Cover: cloudy

Wind Direction and Velocity: Pretty strong southerly

Temperature: warm

Moon phase:

Special Notes:

Waterfowl Activity: Little of anything moving, large or small, high or low.

Waterfowl Responsiveness: Seems like most everything knew me or, in the case of the teal, the spinners, as well. Two mallard pairs that gave us a chance were plainly "locals" the flat messed up. And I don't recall a season when so many spoons flipped me off, not that we saw more than a handful of those, either.

Hunters: 1, annual regular, Bruce

Guns:

Malfunctions:

Dog(s): easy morning

Special Equipment: SOS

Curses: Will see at least two more mornings of roughly the same wind and weather.

Kudos: Bruce is fine company and not as spoiled as I

Birds By Species: 1 blue-wing teal, 3 mallards, 1 ringneck and 3 shovellers

[Rick]

But the GWT will likely surpass it I would think?

Not at this morning's rate.

[Ducaholic]

But the GWT will likely surpass it I would think?

Not at this morning's rate.

Dat's true...Even if it tapers off given we have had one meaningful front since the Dec. 18th makes your haul even more remarkable. Personally I have had about 7 good hunts this year which surpasses the last few years easily to put things in perspective. It's been a good season. Far from great but good is better than the last three by a mile

[Ericdc]

But the GWT will likely surpass it I would think?

Not at this morning's rate.

Dat's true...Even if it tapers off given we have had one meaningful front since the Dec. 18th makes your haul even more remarkable. Personally I have had about 7 good hunts this year which surpasses the last few years easily to put things in perspective. It's been a good season. Far from great but good is better than the last three by a mile

Usually, I have 8 or so good hunts a season. This year, I've had 2. 1 down south and 1 at pit on a solo hunt before Christmas.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Rick]

Date: 1/17/23 Tue

Time: morning

Location: mudhole

Cloud Cover: fogged in tight all morning

Wind Direction and Velocity: Supposed to be southerly but calm

Temperature: t-shirt

Moon phase:

Special Notes:

Waterfowl Activity: Early jack flights were within sight, so we were hopeful birds would be under, instead of over, the fog but... Just wasn't much moving.

Waterfowl Responsiveness: Teal whistled much of the morning to questionable effect.

Hunters: 3, Bruce and Thacker

Guns:

Malfunctions:

Dog(s): easy morning

Special Equipment: SOS

Curses: I screwed up a gray and a fulvous op.

Kudos: Pleasant morning in good company, regardless.

Birds By Species: 3 blue-wing teal, 4 green-wing teal, 2 ringnecks and 2 shovellers.

[Rick]

Date: 1/18/23 Wed

Time: morning

Location: mudhole

Cloud Cover: partly to cloudy

Wind Direction and Velocity: nil to light southerly

Temperature: comfy

Moon phase: waning crescent

Special Notes:

Waterfowl Activity: Sans yesterday's fog, we could see how little is around. Scary.

Waterfowl Responsiveness: Thankfully good, though both a flight of green-wings and another of squealers blew me off.

Hunters: 2, Bruce again plus another long time regular, Tom

Guns:

Malfunctions:

Dog(s): Easy morning

Special Equipment: SOS

Curses: Given how little we had to work with, I was determined to triple on our first green-wing op and whiffed three times at the first.

Kudos: Good company and a few birds.

Birds By Species: 1 black-bellied whistling duck, 1 blue-wing teal, 5 green-wing teal and 1 ringneck

[DComeaux]

I think the birds know their safe places and aren't moving unless pushed.

[Duck Engr]

We started bragging on you too early.