How's your season going so far.

[M.T. Pockets]

We're a week into the season and I've gotten out a few times. Overall it's been pretty good. One of the best things I've done in the last couple years is to get a small one person kayak. This lets me hunt the meanest mud bottomed sloughs that others won't wade. I tie a bag of decoys behind me and paddle to the far end of those bottomless mud puddles. I didn't realize til the last couple years how much it helps to add some goose decoys to your duck spread. Now I bring a bag with 9 goose decoys and 15 mallards.

Yesterday I could have taken about 4 or 5 geese (limit's one) and many teal. I took one goose, a pintail & widgeon. Could have shot some mallards that came in but they weren't colored enough for me to make out drakes, I bet a buddy a case of long necks I could go a season without shooting a hen, so far he's buying. Out limit is 4 ducks and I was holding out for greenheads, guess I'll have to wait til the big ones show up in a couple weeks.

Super X-2 is working great, I shoot it better than any shotgun I've tried over the years. I was always a pump gunner but I'm finally sold on autoloaders. Some might think I'm nuts, but I shoot Winchester Xpert steel ammo, the cheap stuff that sells for $69 a case. I shoot 3" #3 shot at everything and am very satisfied. I grew up in the lead days and know the difference, but I'm very happy with the performance I've gotten. I usually hunt alone over decoys so I have the luxery of picking my shots, but I have taken at least 3 geese at around 50-60 yards with this load. I've hunted big game in Alaska, Wyoming, Idaho but I enjoy a good duck hunt a few miles from home as much as anything. Got the goose on the grill right now, Hope everyone has a good, safe waterfowl season.

[Tater]

I haven't gotten out yet cuz deer is still open but I'm anticipating a good season.

[rubicon]

Just waiting for season to open ( sea duck is in ) Found a new place to hunt. I was told the puddlers stack up in the back of a creek where I sika deer hunt. But the problem is all the land surrounding it is posted except for a big swamp. Actually the swamp is posted too but the owner of the swamp has an argo with tracks on it and is going to take me, the dog, and the boys back.
I cant wait.

[TreeDoc]

I'm just now taking a quick break from stocking up my travel trailer which in the next couple days I will pull up to the club about 6 hours north of me. I'll return to the club a few days after that with my flatbed loaded with with dekes and one of my ATV's to get set up before they flood my rice ponds. A lot of expensive driving to get set but I can't figure any other way to have it all completed and ready before our opener on the 22nd.

[kt]

a few years back my group of friends all bought up some xperts, geese flaring back at 10 yds would take 3 rounds and continue on. but they have the new and improved high velocity xperts out, perhaps they are indeed a better shell. as for the auto, join the club, i think the only people not sold on autos are those who havent hunted with them! that oughtta fire some one up. i just dont know how you cant like it more. when 4 geese come in and buy the time so and so shoots and pumps i have killed the other 3. its a conversation we have had a million times, one i still like to have. as for my season, opened saturday, some one named tammy decided to dump 8 inches of rain that day, i slept in, tomorrow bright and early look out woodies!
kt

[fabsroman]

Rubicon,

You haven't been looking at the DNR website close enough. Duck season opened up this past Saturday, and I was thinking about going out, but the rain convinced me to stay in. I'll probably be heading out on Wednesday or Thursday. I'll hunt ducks in the morning, crows afterward, and doves in the afternoon. It should be a good day.

[M.T. Pockets]

Wrapped the goose breast in tin-foil with a little bacon and grilled low for 3 hours - excellent.

I used a ginger/teriyaki marinade on the ducks and grilled the boned out breast like a small steak - also very good.

[rubicon]

Hey Fabs, Man I blew it. Sat around most of the day sat wanting something to do and finally made a run to bass pro and bought a couple dozen more dekes. And to add insult to injury I have seasons marked on calendar. Looks like I might have to sneak off work this week.

[fabsroman]

My brother went to Outdoor World on Sunday afternoon for his first time and at dinner Sunday night, he asked me if I knew it was there and if I had ever been. My wife started laughing at that question and said that I have been there so many times already that my car can drive itself there. Funny thing is, she and I weren't dating when it first opened up and I bought $1,600 worth of rods and reels along with a ton of hunting equipment from Outdoor World.

Don't feel bad about missing the first day. The only reason I knew it was the first day is because I marked the entire season on my calendar just a couple of weeks ago. If I knew where the ducks are, I would have been out there in the rain, but I haven't really been seeing the birds moving. I saw a pair of geese fly by the house today, but nothing like the big groups I saw last year around this time. I think the weather is still a little too warm. However, it looks like the deer are starting to move around a little.

[kt]

today,
so i finally got out, me and two friends, well a few years back i had found this little side puddle off of the main lake and i have been cleaning up the woodies ever since, well today every one wants to hunt with me,its just too small though, so we split up, took one buddy with me. we set up by 5 of shooting time and 3 minutes in a woody jumped from a brushy pile beside me at 10 yds bang down he came. picked him up and saw one screaking right at me, when i stood he flared, bang, all done. got screwed waiting around for other people to quit slackin
kt

[skeet]

Hey man...if it don't quack the limit is 10...or more..Quackers is 5...at least in Md:D :D

The geese here on the Eastern Shore have just quit moving...and no new birds. That will change in the next few days to a week. Woodies are moving here and that is about it

[fabsroman]

Skeet,

You aren't saying that woodies are 10 a day are you? I thought the regs say 2 woodies, 1 black, 1 can, 1 pintail, 2 mallard hens, 4 mallards total, yada, yada, yada. AS you can see, I don't shoot any of the yada birds.

[TreeDoc]

what Fabs......no yada yada Spoonies?


:D

[fabsroman]

TreeDoc,

I haven't shot a Spoonie yet. Most of the ducks I have killed have been mallards, teal, and wood ducks with a couple divers thrown in there and about 2 black ducks.

[TreeDoc]

So I guess you'll be mounting your first as opposed to embibing in it's gourmet quality meat?

Mmmmmmmm........S P O O O O N Y !

:p :D ;)

[kt]

spoonies, as the duck commander would say, "save eating these for when times are rough and food is short"
i was gonna say, ten woodies? wow. no we are allowed 2 a day and i am afraid i have missed the teal this year due to low water conditions. gotta get back out i promised a professor a nice woodie drake for the school museum, yesterday one was immateur the other was crunched real hard at close range
kt

[fabsroman]

I didn't mount my first mallard, teal, woodie, or bufflehead, so I doubt I would be mounting a spoony if I run across one. If I were to shoot a goose with a neck band I might think about getting it mounted. I am a little disappointed that I didn't get that mallard with the reward band mounted, but such is life. If I ever come across another in my life time, I'll put the reward money toward getting it mounted.

[Kusko]

Our season here in Western Alaska is all but over. We have about 2 inches of snow on the ground and the ponds are starting to ice over. We had a spectacular year where 4 of us would kill 60-80 ducks together on a weekend. We also filled every swan tag except one. I completed my 100 bird year two weekends ago and finished last weekend with 20 more. Those of you in the Pacific Flyway should start seeing a pile of birds as they just started heading out 3 weeks ago.

What is the joke with shovelers? Do they taste bad down states? We shoot a pile of them up here and they don't any different than the rest of the ducks.

[TreeDoc]

Kusko,
Yeah...by the time those Hollywood Mallards make it down to our parts I think they've fed in every mud marsh and sewage treatment retention pond between here and Anchorage. They get a bit stinky or fishy to say the least. They're also one of the dumber birds too. When all the other birds are call shy, a rookie can give a flight of Spoonies a bad hail call from a half mile away, opposite direction, and those birds will come in to the decoys like they were in a trance! Great confidence builder though! ;) I don't necessarily avoid shooting them, especially if things are slow but if there are a lot of other options in the air, I'll pass on the spoony.

I have had reasonable success with a good marinade and make jerky strips or add them to the mix for sausage.

[kt]

water galore,
be careful what you wish for kt, a week ago, i was worried the duck season was going to consist of 10 guys around a 100yd puddle. well i said i wanted some rain, now make it stop, if it rains any more, i wont be able to cross the road i drive in to get to my spot. saturday over night the size of the place i hunt has increased easily by 400%. only problem is when the place fills up it isnt exactly hip boot territory. so this morning i sit on RR tracks waiting for shooting time. i eased into the water and 3 foot from the track it is 4.5 ft deep. decided i should take them close only. after passing about 40 woodies that would have made for a tough retrieve, a nice drake flew right up the tracks to me at 20yds i mashed him and he dropped in the water right at my feet getting me soaking wet with a huge plop. fired two other shots at a nice bird but he just left me some tail feathers to watch float down. still owe somebody a nice bird this one has some plumage issues that make him only 98% of what i would have mounted.
2 days left!
kt

[fabsroman]

KT,

I know exactly what you are talking about. This entire week has been pretty miserable with the rain, but this kind of weather usually makes for great duck hunting weather.

My dad and I were going to go out this week, but he had an ear infection on Sunday that just has not gone away. He didn't complain about it during the week, so today I mentioned hunting tomorrow morning and he said he would if the weather wasn't too bad because he didn't want his ear getting worse. At that point, I looked at the ear and it had discharge coming out of it. No hunting for tomorrow, but a trip to the doctor is planned. The ducks are going to have to wait until November for me, but I should have the time to give them some serious Hevi then.

[kt]

yeah fabs, you can always hunt later on, i can tell you from one who has done it the last thing an ear infection needs it a 12ga going off a few inches from it. no sense in being out there and being miserable
kt

[fabsroman]

Skeet,

Does that mean I can kill 10 pheasants, quails, or rabbits? Granted, I would be lucky to see half that many in a day, but who knows.

I have seen the geese move all of one day so far this season. For the most part, I have seen them sunning themselves on the sides of ponds, and they rarely ever leave. Hopefully, that will change in November because I might actually be able to hunt then.

[kt]

well now i want the rain to keep on again ( just as long as it stays out of the basement) yesterday the place i was deer hunting was covered in puddles in the winter wheat fields and the geese and mallards were taking all kinds of advantage. now i just need to keep them there till nov. 15, would have been some easy killing
kt

[skeet]

Well fabs.... You have to understand... I come from a long line of Eastern shore watermen waterfowlers quail shooting deer hunting rabbit killing squirrel popping farmer in the dove field outlaws. We never did know what the limit was.. Wellll we mighta known the limit but we didn't always pay attention to it. It was wrong...but everything was used...cept the feathers and fur. I wouldn't recommend shooting 10 of anything anymore except doves. Back in the 60's I would shoot as many as 70 woodies a year... I sold the feathers to Herters for fly tying believe it or notSquirrel tails too. I even had a nuisance permit for those ol squirrels. The local church...original was built in the latter 1600's(still there) had way too many of the critters around. They even had one chew a wire in a church service....zzzzaaaaapppp DRT so they got a permit for skwerl decimation. Shot 81 in 30 days....and they paid me to do it whoo hoo.

Seriously we did usually stay inside the limits except occassionally. But even then it was mostly subsistence hunting. And while guiding I had to stay in the guidelines. And I started guiding waterfowlers in 1962. Shooting is better for a lot of things nowdays but there aren't as many waterfowl as there used to be

[fabsroman]

KT,

I know exactly what you are talking about. I have seen mallards sitting in puddles in the middle of cut corn fields and they barely wanted to move. However, I doubt the water is going to stay around until waterfowl opens back up.

Skeet,

I hear what you are saying. I just want to know how to get paid for hunting. What a job that would be. I might actually like my job then.

[skeet]

Actually after the 3rd day or so of the goose season it just turned into another job. get up at 3:30 go meet the party..have breakfast and then hit the fields. Set decoys and all the other stuff ya have to do. And if ya hunt the water it is all a LOT more work...But i liked hunting the water. More opportunities and more to see. But it sure beat working at a real job. I was really lucky working in a Fire Dept like I did. Had a lot of time off to hunt...and took all my Vacationn holiday and personal time in the hunting seasons. Even a little sick time.... cough cough:eek: :D

[mtmiller]

Last weekend was pretty good. Took identical limits of 5 greenheads and a drake pintail both Friday and Saturday.

Deer rifle starts this weekend, so ducks will be on hold for awhile.

Friday
http://www.hunttalk.com/forums/gallery/files/5/2/7/P1140257.JPG

Saturday
http://www.hunttalk.com/forums/gallery/files/5/2/7/P1140355.JPG

Axl doing his job on finding a cripple.
http://www.hunttalk.com/forums/gallery/files/5/2/7/P1140262.JPG

Best of luck with the birds fellas.

[M.T. Pockets]

mtmiller, that's what I'm hoping to find in SW MN this weekend, most years the last week of October is the best of the year. I spent the last weekend in North Central ND and it was just too hot and still to move any new birds down, the locals were spooky but we got our share. Everyday we each got a large drake canvasback, none of us were smart enough to bring a camera.

Good luck on the rifle deer season.

[mtmiller]

Way to go on the cans. I have not taken one yet this year and I don't know if it will happen since it closes 11/8 this year. I know where to find some cans, but not many other birds are using the area. It is a trade off for me on whether to chase a can or puddle ducks. Not much overlap where I am hunting.

Get that camera out there with you, I would love to see some of the areas you are hunting.

Here is another shot of Axl chasing down a pintail. Good thing I am a bad shot, he gets more exercise this way.:D
http://www.hunttalk.com/forums/gallery/files/5/2/7/P1140135.JPG