2025-2026 Season Log

[Rick]

Funny how the camps are becoming more posh as the hunting wanes.

[Rick]

Date: 12/3/25 Wed

Time: morning

Location: #3

Cloud Cover: light to heavy and back

Wind Direction and Velocity: east light to moderate

Temperature: mid 30s

Moon phase: waxing nearly full

Special Notes:

Waterfowl Activity: We were in a teal and black-belly dead zone, but still had jacks and the occasional big duck

Waterfowl Responsiveness: Thankfully, the big ducks' response was very good.

Hunters: 2, Sam and Chris

Guns:

Malfunctions:

Dog(s): Call tracked a wounded greenhead to Timbuktu and then stopped to lick blood or feathers at water's edge on his return until I fussed him. Didn't hurt the bird beyond a half dollar sized bald patch, and I dispatched it.

Special Equipment: SOS

Curses: Just Call's miscue.

Kudos: Nice guys who didn't hide well but shot well enough to make a nice hunt.

Birds By Species: 2 black-bellies, 2 gadwall, 1 green-wing, 4 mallards and 9 ringnecks

[Duck Engr]

FOUR MALLARDS?!? Cold front helped!

[Rick]

FOUR MALLARDS?!? Cold front helped!

Apparently not too much, as, aside from a single mottled duck, ours were the only big "ducks" shot by six blinds.

[Ericdc]

I didn't see any new big ducks yesterday coming out of Arkansas that's for sure. They are closed though so I'm sure they are holding tight.


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[DComeaux]

Mallard ducks. I've been hearing geese at home in the evenings this week headed south. Would like to know if they still roost on marsh island as they did for years in the distant past.

[Rick]

Since they started showing this past week or so, we've been seeing some morning flights from the south. Always felt most such overshot the rice and hung out on the coast for the night before rebounding for ag land, and that some at least used to still spend significant time in the deep marsh, as was once the rule for all.

Could well be wrong.

[DComeaux]

I know some have been spending the night in the Refuge. I've watched them coming in late evening into nightfall.

[Rick]

Back when I was banding there, it appeared grit was holding them just west of the headquarters complex. But I never asked about it.

[DComeaux]

Back when I was banding there, it appeared grit was holding them just west of the headquarters complex. But I never asked about it.

It is a grit pile.

[Rick]

Date: 12/4/25 Thur

Time: morning

Location: #3

Cloud Cover: Pissing down rain most of the hunt.

Wind Direction and Velocity: NE mostly moderate

Temperature: chilly when wet, but not too 50s

Moon phase: big somewhere

Special Notes: Went back out to clean up the mess hunters and weather have left and re-brush what hunters more than weather beat down, and by the time I left around 11, the parish road to camp was flooded in several places. May make for an "interesting" morning commute...

Waterfowl Activity: Rain had squealers so bumfuzzled that they passed my blind all morning - a first in my time there. Also saw our first high big duck flights of the season during lulls. Scads and scads of too fast for us jacks all morning and more teal than we've been seeing - also too fast.

Waterfowl Responsiveness: Could break up, but not down, a number of the high flight, with those that made it all the way down a rarity.

Hunters: 2, Warren and Laughton(SP?)

Guns:

Malfunctions:

Dog(s): Call flipped me off again, this time when unwilling to give up on a tipped bird. Will be e-collared tomorrow.

Special Equipment: SOS

Curses: Aside from the weather, flooding and blind mess, just how long it took our new hunter to hit the last bird after we got greedy and decided it should be a big duck.

Kudos: Still passed a big time.

Birds By Species: 9 black-bellies, 4 green-wings (one banded), 1 mallard, 1 pintail, 2 ringnecks and 1 scaup

[DComeaux]

Band info?

[Duck Engr]

Sweet!!

[Rick]

Band info?

Don't know. Didn't even know it was there until one of the cleaning ladies brought it to me, saying it was from the last birds in. (By a half hour or so.) But a couple of the other guides did the pre-wax prep on my birds (plucking a strip down the breast and chopping the wings off), so I'm more surprised it made it past them than I missed it in the deluge. Doubt he was who hit it, but I'm going to pass it to the much less experienced of yesterdays guys this morning.

[Duck Engr]

Special Notes: Went back out to clean up the mess hunters and weather have left and re-brush what hunters more than weather beat down, and by the time I left around 11, the parish road to camp was flooded in several places. May make for an "interesting" morning commute...

Guess it turned out to be more than interesting?

[Rick]

No, made it there OK, just forgot to take a photo of the book with what we shot and didn't want to log an incorrect species list.

[Rick]

Date: 12/5/25 Fri

Time: morning

Location: #3

Cloud Cover: heavy w/light rain at times

Wind Direction and Velocity: NE moderate

Temperature: chilly

Moon phase: big

Special Notes:

Waterfowl Activity: Not what I'd hoped but still more big ducks than most days to date.

Waterfowl Responsiveness: Many, if not most, broke down for a too close look at folks thinking them blind.

Hunters: 2, Warren again and TJ

Guns:

Malfunctions:

Dog(s): Call had a good morning.

Special Equipment: SOS

Curses: We were educators and conservationists.

Kudos: Still had some fun and, mercifully, shut it down early.

Birds By Species: 8 black-bellies, 3 blue-wings, 2 mottleds, 1 ringneck, 1 shoveller and 1 wigeon

[Rick]

Date: 12/6/25

Time: morning

Location: #3

Cloud Cover: raining to partly

Wind Direction and Velocity: Easterly moderate

Temperature: upper 40s?

Moon phase: full

Special Notes:

Waterfowl Activity: Hoped for teal or big ducks were virtual no-shows, but enough squealers eventually did.

Waterfowl Responsiveness: Nothing liked being pointed at.

Hunters: 2, father and grown son, Wayne and David

Guns:

Malfunctions:

Dog(s): Call made a couple more fans.

Special Equipment: SOS

Curses: Nothing I'll commit to print, aside from that many, many, many shells were shot.

Kudos: We emerged victorious.

Birds By Species: 14 black-bellies, 1 blue-wing and 3 ringnecks