Duck Season 2024-2025

[Darren]

Sun. 12/15/2024
Bunkie area ag land
Johnny with my son and I, plus Harry
60s, winds 0-5+ from SE, pt cloudy to sunny, full moon

Back to same spot to see if a few more would play today after yesterday’s haul. Not a ton of birds but what was out and about for ducks was working us well. Ran no spinners today, only two splasher feeder butts on the rear cut, they ate it up. Again shot well and we were done for 8a. Again a lone snow goose came to the speck call looking. A bazillion other snows in the area and down the road on the way out. Small bunch of mallards lit out in the field on us. Harry was nails again and my son was rewarded for getting out of bed, had big time. Nice to be first ones back at the barn both days, and with our birds having already been cleaned at the lil camp to boot.

(12) 3 GW teal, 4 BW teal, 5 spoons + 1 snow goose

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Back down to the marsh Friday for Saturday’s West Zone opener down at Shell Beach.

[DComeaux]

Good weekend!!

[Duck Engr]

Glad the little guy got in on some action!

[Deltaman]

Great reports Darren, and you need to put a frame on that pic of your son holding the snow goose

[Darren]

Gross, likely plenty days with fog.......terrible/dangerous for marsh hunting, but could be good in the field.

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[Duck Engr]

DC will be excited

[Ericdc]

Gross, likely plenty days with fog.......terrible/dangerous for marsh hunting, but could be good in the field.

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Our field sucks when it's like that .


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[SpinnerMan]

Gross, likely plenty days with fog.......terrible/dangerous for marsh hunting, but could be good in the field.

Our forecast temperatures in January looks good if we get some snow. I'll be back in Florida Monday. Hopefully can have some luck this weekend before I leave. I'll be there for at least 2 weeks, so the warm weather the next week or two doesn't effect me. If we do get the cold, that won't move the geese. It takes snow on frozen lakes to move them. Let's hope after this warm snap, we get some good hard winter and a foot or more of snow over the northern half of the country. Send the ducks down your way and the geese my way.

[Darren]

DC will be excited

He sure will, but then it may cause fog and shut his hunt down......always gotta be something!

[Darren]

Gross, likely plenty days with fog.......terrible/dangerous for marsh hunting, but could be good in the field.

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Our field sucks when it's like that .

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We have had some jam up hunts in the fog up there. Green wings show out of nowhere, geese stay LOW.

[Ericdc]

My buddy's place in pine pasture area is same way. Warmer and nastier the better


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[DComeaux]

Be sure to think of DC on that cold boat ride!

If I get cold for nothing this weekend it's your fault...... I had typed something else but thought is was a little extreme..

An Alberta Clipper

https://weather.com/storms/winter/video/alberta-clipper-wind-snow-upper-midwest-great-lakes-northeast

[Duck Engr]

Leave my mother and the horse I rode in here on out of this!

[Darren]

A very Merry Christmas for DComeaux, indeed

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[DComeaux]

I love how they use that deep red for special effect. If being cold really mattered anymore I'd deal with it?

[Duck Engr]

I’ve wondered if color choice has changed on those maps to push the idea things are boiling hot.

[DComeaux]

I’ve wondered if color choice has changed on those maps to push the idea things are boiling hot.

I'd say it has.

[PorkChop]

That’s a great picture holding that snow!

The Alberta clipper brought my area about 7 inches of light fluffy snow. Chances of more snow tomorrow and Sunday. Might go down to 17 below tonight and then our lows will stay above zero and I see 30s in the 7 day forecast.

[DComeaux]

Might go down to 17 below tonight and then our lows will stay above zero and I see 30s in the 7 day forecast.

Ouch!

[Darren]

Harry & I spent from 9:30a to 1:30p in the marsh today, checking our public land stuff and also the lease. Didn't see much of anything but misc buffleheads and a FEW scaup on bays in between, but in our holes in each respective area, there were grays and teal in numbers we hadn't been seeing previously.

Thinking we're doing the lease tomorrow given it's an easier boat ride with more protection for the expected big north winds, but the public spot looks like it's going to continue to be good for at least a few in future outings. Water is low, it's cold, it's finally winter down here typing this at the camp with the north winds on the front door.


And this excerpt from the December survey is OK by my:

Aside from the Terrebonne marshes, ducks were most abundant in both the Delacroix marshes and areas at the mouth of the Mississippi River.

[Darren]

Sat 12/21/24 LA West Zone 2nd Split Opener
HBFC Delacroix - Heart Pond
Johnny, Raymond and I with Harry
Winds rippin 15-25+ from north, 40 to start, mostly sunny

Coldest boat ride of the season so far, glad we opted for a pond on the smaller side. Other than Ray knocking the rust off by whiffing on four committed/landing grays off the bat on his end, we did pretty well with what else came. Grays mostly worked pretty and teal lit on us. Shortly after telling the guys “he won’t come, but hide anyway” I brought a lone drake mottled right to the blind with uncle Rick’s signature sorta-secret calling cadence for an easy shot, our first of the season. Could have had a few more birds for sure but really nice time, and Harry was strong for us though largely just worked the decoys.

(12) 7 grays, 1 mottled, 4 GW teal

My guy doin his thing

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May try to go back down to try them tomorrow AM, TBD.

[Duck Engr]

Beauty of a mottled. Nice start!

[Darren]

Sun 12/22/2024
Shell Beach LA marsh
Winds N/NE 5-15+, 40s, clear skies

Teal and divers out and about mostly early but very few grays seen at all, seems many birds largely sat today given the very little shooting going on in the distance. Wasn’t the day to be picky. Missed a couple ops of small windows to take our two mottleds, didn’t even fire on them. Nonetheless glad to have the action we did.

(7) 4 buffleheads, 3 GW teal

Harry had a nice time working the decoys, easy Sunday morning

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Resting up and doing festive stuff till late in the week. Merry Christmas, all.

[DComeaux]

That strap on Saturday was a nice one.

[Darren]

That strap on Saturday was a nice one.

Yea it had some heft for sure; yesterday's def should have had bit more heft with our two mottleds.

[Darren]

Fri 12/27/2024
Bunkie area ag land
Johnny and I with Harry
Wind zero to eventually very light SW, 60s, cloudy to clearing

Wild to see so many but kill so few. All morning ducks circled and dove into the cut on other side of our back cut. Train loads of geese off and on all morning. Specks would lock and swing, but plainly didn’t want to cross the lifeless duck decoys to get to the pit for us. Saw way more ducks than prior couple of hunts but these are super stale, would circle but avoid levees at all cost. Lost two crippled ducks that dove on Harry. Overall very little shooting other than when inopportune for us.

1 speck, 1 spoon

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[Ericdc]

There's nothing worse than being home base for stale birds. It hasn't happened to us yet , but I know how frustrating it can be. Especially shovelers, cuz they'll pull birds away. They seem to have impeccable timing on their "stretch our wings" flights.


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[Darren]

Sat 12/28/2024
Shell Beach LA marsh
Johnny & I with Harry
Winds ESE 5-15+, 60's, cloudy/storms in area/rain to clearing, little rain on the way in

Quite the lightning show in the direction we were heading this morning with storms that had just rolled through. Overall seemed like birds of all kinds largely sat today, especially early with the calm winds behind the rain. Buffleheads continue to love this spot and we aren't being picky, most of our birds are going to the duck sausage pile anyway. Hung with it till 9:15a or so and got flurry of grays late that wanted in, though let a couple get out we shouldn't have. Great time nonetheless. Lease partner Will got solo limit of grays in the area as well, but overall very little shooting heard and we were downwind of the bulk of this section of marsh. Did see a few groups of grays high coming from north late, maybe new to area.

(11) 4 grays, 7 buffleheads (which I have to believe is personal record high for a hunt I've been on)

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And some bonus blue cats off the dock using duck gizzards

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Hanging at the camp watching bowl games with a duck/speck goose/turkey/chicken "4-bird" gumbo simmering, back out in marsh in the AM.

[Darren]

Sun 12/29/2024
Shell Beach La marsh
Johnny and I with Harry
Winds 5-15+ from the NW, clear skies, 60 deg

Storm line passed through late last night, brought gusts to 40 kts on the nearby weather station. Off the bat a gray and a pair of green wings worked in pretty but too dark to do anything with, thought we were on to something but overall was pretty dead. Shot the buffles that visited, no sense in holding out on grays. The few that did come looking later wouldn’t commit and just moved on from us. No one else was shooting much either, Will scratched in the vicinity of his solo limit hole from yesterday.

5 buffleheads


Belly up buffle ducks in the kill hole, makes for fun shooting regardless

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Next hunt TBD

[Darren]

Tuesday 12/31/2024
HBFC Delacroix - Heart Pond then moved to A51
Johnny and I with Harry
Light fog, winds SSW to NW 5-10+, cloudy to sun to gloomy, 60s to start

Not much happening in the Heart Pond for first hour we gave it, just one dosgris from a small crew that worked to pond’s edge. Saw that the (very) few grays we were seeing were dropping around our beloved A51 hole so opted to make the paddle over there, jumped a few grays out of it. For those that came back, they were super sketchy and were bailing out hard just when we thought they were done deals. Grrrrrr

1 scaup/dosgris


Setting sights on late week/weekend before returning down there and new boat is in shop for break-in service, forecast for a field hunt doesn’t exactly have me motivated this week.