Where are the teal?

DelDuck · #1 10-17-2005, 06:18 AM

I spent about 2 1/2 hours yesterday scouting Primehook NWR. For those of you who are notr familiar with Primehook, this time of year this place is loaded down with teal. We had some good wind yesterday so all the ducks should have been blown out of the delaware bay and into Primehooks marshes. I saw maybe a total of 50 -75 ducks

and no teal. saw maybe a couple hundred geese scattered about. and one group of 300 or so snows. I know the birds could have been tucked up in areas i could not see, but I don't think i have ever been by some of the areas and not seen large numbers of teal, at this time of the year.
I hope this is not a sign of the times , and a indicator of how the season will go.

skeet · #2 10-17-2005, 11:02 AM

I hope you are right about the harbinger of a bads season...but most of the teal are long gone. 50 degree nights chase most of em out...and all the woods pomnds are dried up so there aren't any woodies around to speak of..dang it

kt · #3 10-17-2005, 12:12 PM

it seems they have already headed south of us northeast folk. every year that the weather is dry, our early duck season sux. just a handful of woodies around. last year, hurricane ivan had everything soaked and the teal were every where. now we got the water just need the cold to send some greenheads.
kt

tjwatty · #4 10-18-2005, 11:27 AM

Two friends were hunting in South Dakota last week, different places, and both saw and shot mostly teal. (Greenwings) We were at the blind doing some finish work and saw big bunch of Bluewings. Our season starts in 10 days and in my 20 plus years this is the latest I've seen big bunch of BW this late. Maybe something to that global warming thing afterall. The boys did see a lot of mallards and gadwall so I'm not giving up yet. Just gotta get those gas prices down so I can afford to go. I've got a 40 mile drive to the river.

fabsroman · #5 10-18-2005, 05:08 PM

I wish my drives were 40 miles. If I want to head over to the Chesapeake Bay, we are talking about 2 hours in the car. Before I moved into this place, my drives to hunt were about 50 miles each way to my post often hunting spot and about 25 miles to the next often hunting spot, both of which happen to be the closest to me. Now, they are a little closer because I moved a little further west, but the bay area is a little further.

If there is one thing about hunting, it usually involves a bunch of driving or other travel.

rubicon · #6 10-18-2005, 06:02 PM

Fabs- its about 100 yards to the boat launch. You'll have to come over.

tjwatty · #7 10-19-2005, 03:16 PM

My son is looking into renting a cabin for a month, my wife thinks that's a good idea. I think she just wants some peace and quiet. I have to drive 100 miles to my deer hunting place but it is in the #2 county in the state and we have 1500 acres of private farm to hunt. (my Uncles) My partner pays for the motel for the privilage to hunt and I use a friends 4 wheeler to get my crippled butt to my spot. Now if those trees just quit jumping in front of my shots I'm set.

fabsroman · #8 10-20-2005, 01:14 AM

Rubicon,

I rarely ever turn down an invitation and the car knows the way to Kent Island rather well.

DelDuck · #9 10-20-2005, 05:29 PM

Rubicon,

How is the hunting around Kent Island? Everytime i go to dark side of the bridge I have always thought it would be an absolutly wounderfull place to go guning.

rubicon · #10 10-21-2005, 06:26 AM

This will be my first year hunting on Kentland but have found several friendly people who have offered to let me use their blinds when they are not in them and have also offered to show me some of what they consider the best spots on public. So well see but it sounds promising. I cross the bridge daily to go to what I consider the DARK SIDE to work and it sure is cool getting to check out the birds and fishing boats daily. On the other hand I was in the Cambridge area yesterday sika hunting and have never seen so many teal and wood ducks in one area at one time.

DelDuck · #11 10-21-2005, 06:38 AM

guess thats where the teal are

skeet · #12 10-21-2005, 10:52 AM

Surprisingly I saw approx 35 teal fly past the pond here yesterday. They would have come in if I hadn't been out there working around it(cutting down some willow trees). They were, however, green wings. Didn't see any Blues. You know..it really is funny...but when you are in a marsh without the ability to see very far they really do come smoking...when they are in the open...they really don't seem to fly that fast. They do twist and dodge a bit though

fabsroman · #13 10-21-2005, 12:03 PM

At least the two of you are seeing ducks and geese. I spent most of the morning driving from Germantown to Upper Marlboro today and didn't see a single goose or duck. One would think that they would be moving in this kind of weather. Oh well, a couple more weeks until the season comes back in, so hopefully things will get cooking before then.

rubicon · #14 10-21-2005, 04:13 PM

Fabs, the geese are flying over the house here on the island like crazy. Just saw about 300 coming down Dominion road

skeet · #15 10-22-2005, 12:37 PM

Hey Rubicon...

There are so many people down on the Island anymore that I can't figure out where the geese go to eat

. Seriously I used to hunt on the old Turkey Point farm on the Island. It was owned by a doctor in our skeet club up here. He bought it expressly for hunting. After he died his daughter sold the place(after buying out the hunt club that had lifetime hunting rights). Now it is nothing but houses for those people from the dark side. We used to wade the grass beds for soft crabs there too. Ah..it was a great place to live at one time. Still better than the dark side I guess!

Hey BTW we ought to get Fabs, Delduck, you and me and go shoot sporting or whatever sometime real soon I live up in the Church Hill area.