Wherefore Art Thou, Mallard?

Day 9. Better than expected. But still not that good.

Fred, Blake, J-Hawk & I made our last trip to the Home Field for the first split of the 11/12 season. A heavy cold front moved through as we hunted, making for tough shooting. 30+ m.p.h. winds and spits of rain from the north ultimately resulted in expensive ducks. We left with 20.



20 Ducks
10 Shovelers
05 Gadwalls
03 Teal
01 Mallard
01 Speck

FOR THE SEASON:
179 Birds
99 Shovelers
42 Gadwall
23 Greenwing
05 Mallard
04 Redhead
02 Speck
02 Mergansers
01 Pintail
01 Bufflehead

19.00 Birds Per Day

Well, It Hasn't Been Pretty . . .

But we're still gettin' a few from time to time. Today, November 26, Tasha, Fred, Blake, Dave & Cannon rolled back up on Chuck's. Slow, to say the least, but we managed to knock out 9.

9 Ducks
6 Gadwall
2 Shovelers.
1 Bufflehead



Friday, November 25, Franks, Blake, Reece, Garrett, Olivia, Dave, Jordan, Fred, Barret & Ole Gibby broke the seal on Chuck's and bagged 27 before the dust settled.

27 Ducks
24 Gadwall
2 Shovelers
1 Teal



Thursday, Thanksgiving Day, November 24, John, Jordan, Franks, Garrett, Reece, Ryan, Dave & I again returned to the Homer. 10 Ducks.

10 Shovelers

Mediocre, As Anticipated

Well, this morning, November 23, 2011, Olivia, Garret, Jordan & I returned to the Home field blind for a final consecutive day. North winds meant facing South, which isn't our favorite way to hunt that field, but the un-forecasted clouds made it okay. 16 Birds today. Tomorrow we crack Chuck's.

16 Ducks
12 Shovelers
1 Mallard
1 GWT
1 Redhead
1 Pintail.



On Nov. 22, I didn't make it to the blind. J-Hawk did, and he left with 3.

3 Shovelers

Monday, Nov. 21, J-Hawk & I were joined by the fabulous Baker boys in the Home field tank. Slow, to say the least. We left with 6.

6 Ducks
3 Redheads
2 Hooded Mergansers
1 Shoveler



Sunday, Nov. 20, Fred, Blake, J-Hawk, Dave, Meredith, and I returned to the Homer. Left with 23. Sunday afternoon, Olivia, Garrett, Franks, and I returned and pulled off 2 more. 25 for the day.

25 Ducks
16 Shovelers
5 Greenwings
4 Gadwall

Ahhh . . . Didn't See This One Coming . . .

Lets face it, there's simply nothing quite like proclaiming my vast intelligence and superior knowledge to make me look like a complete douche-bag in a day's time. If you've read below, you'll know that I "called it", and by "called it" I mean made my prediction for the very crappiest of openers, especially if we were cursed with clouds and wind. Well, gentlemen, get out your pen and paper and take a note: I WAS WRONG!!!!!! Something tells me that God gets a kick out it, but then I couldn't blame him . . . I had to have gotten my sense of humor from someone.

We hoped for sunny weather and a few birds early that would give us a chance to save face. What we got was 20 m.p.h. winds, with gusts to 30, dense clouds, and mild temps. Doesn't sound promising, does it?

Well, it was. I can't tell you exactly how it came about and I certainly don't have anything resembling a rational explanation for the matter, but the birds descended upon our blind from daylight right up to the point when we called her quits. Fred, J-Hawk, Willie, Danger Dave, Dead-Eye, Blake, Tasha, Meredith, & ole Gibby traipsed into the Homer this morning for a hunt that truly exceeded expectations. When the smoke cleared, 54 ducks and 1 speck came over for dinner. Official time of death was 8:25, and because we carried out 9 limits on a field where we didn't expect to drop 5 in, we considered it a very pleasant surprise.

Its official, the 2011-2012 season is in full-swing.

Quality was different matter altogether. Simply put, that's just a topic we'd rather not discuss in detail.

13 Greenwings
3 Mallards
3 Gadwall
1 Speck
35 Shovelers

From Heros to Zeros

Well, if there's a silver lining to this apocalyptic death-ray of a cloud, its that I'm just as intelligent as I thought I was. As I predicted, the rains came, and they came HARD. Five inches, to be exact. As I predicted, the birds went West, and they did it with style. As I predicted, we are screwed, and we are screwed with flair. There's really no upside here.

As of this morning, I made the entire loop around the farm without seeing so much as a single duck until I was almost back to the shop, wherein I witnessed the true spectacle of a whopping 30 shovelers swoop at the Homer before barreling off to Lindy's.

The Cache is currently perched at 9.9' and is on the rise. The mighty White at Augusta has risen from 12.5' to its present level of 24.57', which is less than 1-foot below flood stage. Big Creek is stuffed to the brim. Every field that ever thought about holding a duck is stopped up and topped off with water. There'll be no eliminating competition at this point.

Options. As for tomorrow, I'll be spending the day on the scout. I'll start at the farm, but I already know what I'm going to see. The river is the second most viable option, but that trip means spending the night in the woods, which I'm not particularly excited about. Option C is a well-known WMA, and while pressure won't be heavy there, historical patterns strongly suggest that the presence of ducks won't be heavy either.

Its anyone's game at this point.

SCREWED!!!!!!!!

Its official: we're done. I woke up to two inches of rain in the gauge at my house today. Forecast is calling for an additional 3, and I suspect that's a conservative forecast. As anticipated, when I drove to the farm I saw a few dozen shovelers loafing on the Home Field, but they'll only be there until they muster the energy to get off their lazy butts and head to the floodlands and backwaters of the Cache and White River Basins, where the rest of the ducks in North America are anxiously awaiting their arrival.

As a status report, it should be noted that the levees in the Home Field are presently under water. Chuck's looks like a small lake. By noon, you'll not be able to traverse the waters that are already flooding the gravel road around the farm. I expect that we'll have to re-pump the blind to get the water out of the pit.

This would be a "Game-Changer" in the purest sense of the phrase. Time to switch to Plan B. Unfortunately, I haven't the foggiest notion what "Plan B" is. I suspect, however, that it involves a boat, which pisses me off. Raise your glasses, gentlemen: Here's to ALMOST having an awesome opener.

Not Looking Good For The Home Team . . .

Here we are: 5 days before the opening of the 11/12 hunting season, and last night I witnessed a game-changer. First and foremost, we're lookin' down the barrel of near-record 79-degree highs today, which AIN'T good for keeping waterfowl glued down and happy. Add to that the fact that we're comin' out the back side of a full moon phase, and the unexpected seems fairly easy to expect. As per the norm, particularly under the circumstances, the birds shifted off to a night-feeding pattern. As I drove by the Home field last night, I was shocked at the sight of what was easily 7,000-10,000 birds rising up at dusk. I got some crappy video, which I will post later. Upon my return this morning, I saw a couple hundred using the field.

So here's what we've got working against us: (1) Uber-high temps; (2) 30-m.p.h. winds with gusts to 40; (3) full moon; (4) expected torrents of rain; (5) expectations for temps dipping into the upper 20's/lower 30's over the next 3 days; and (6) predictions for cloudy/rainy conditions on Saturday.

Recall that I said that IF the rivers didn't blow out AND IF the weather didn't change dramatically AND IF we were blessed with sunny weather on Saturday, we'd probably do alright. Apparently this week we'll be getting everything we hoped wouldn't happen. As little as an inch of rain will put the Cache, which is presently sitting at 8.4 feet, well outside its banks. Ducks will scatter, hunting will be poor.

Guess we'll have to wait 'em out.

Still Here . . . So Far So Good

You'll recall that in yesterday's post I commented that Chuck's would hold birds IF we had sufficient rain to inundate the place. Well, given the 2.7" of rain that was sloppin' around in the gauge this morning, I'd say we're well on our way. Looks like we got just enough water to sheet-over the fields, but not enough to hold significant amounts long term . . . that's perfect if you ask me.

New game plan: time to put the re-lift in the ditch and begin the arduous task of flooding the west side. Have water, will move it. All I've got to say to the birds is that if they know what's best for 'em, they'll stay out of that hole. 100 birds holding in that field on a sunny day will yield more results than 1,000 anywhere else on the farm.

The YouTube video below won't do justice to the number of birds that are hanging out on Homer, but you get the idea. We're still loaded with those pesky specks, and keeping the light geese out will almost certainly be a challenge, but if the weather doesn't change dramatically and the rivers don't top their banks, we might be able to hold a few of these birds for the opener. FYI, the Cache @ Patterson is presently staged at 4.92'. As you're probably aware, base moderate flood-stage for the river is 8', and that'll barely get her out of her banks. She's predicted to crest dead center at 8 feet on November 14. If we don't get rain between now and then, we may be okay.

Eleven Days and Counting . . .

For those of you who have been anxiously awaiting the State of the Union Address, here she comes:

The odd-year (as opposed to even-year) crop rotation on Gibson Farms doesn't exactly lend itself to variety, at least with respect to fowlin'. On even years, it isn't any secret that we've got one specific field that produces solid numbers consistently when it's in rice. During those years, however, the hunting doesn't have to begin and end there, as we still have spots all over the farm that, while anything but consistent, put up solid numbers at one point in the year or another.

The odd-year rotation is different. The old Home place is the "go-to" for the season opener, and it will be the "go-to" on the day season ends. Instead of rightfully expecting the 8-10 duck-per-day average that we see on the East side of the farm, we anticipate 3-5 duck-per-day numbers, which is, historically, a reasonable number.

Chucks will hold birds on the East and West farms, but it'll be later in the season and only then IF we get sufficient rainfall to inundate the place. As for the Lost 20, GW's, Amy's, Baser North, etc., they'll all play their roles, but the bread and butter will be right across from the shop, like always. Suffice it to say, it would be absolute folly to expect that we'll duplicate last year's numbers. We're good, but not that good.

As for the present day circumstances, we're at full pool on the Home field and the Lost 20, and while I haven't seen the 20, I'm absolutely certain that the Homer's holding a good number of birds. Up to ths very minute, we're extraordinarily dry in Northeast Arkansas, and I for one hope that it'll stay that way for a month or so. Less water means less competition, and less competition means more for me!

Should be fun.