And That's It!!!!!

Well, its over. I'd like to say that I was regretful, but the truth is, I'm tired and ready to change up the schedule for a while. Don't get me wrong, I'll be missing it in a month, but as for now, it feels good to start washing clothes and putting up gear.

On Sunday, January 29, Grant, Olivia, Fred & I slipped back out to Chuck's pit to try our hand. We blew an opportunity for a good shoot on a group of teal that buzzed just outside the spread, but other than that, the opportunities were few and far between. We scratched out 2 before we left at 8:00.

2 Birds
1 Gadwall
1 Shoveler



In the afternoon, we were joined by Blake and pitched our blocks on the West treeline of the Lost 20. We had a number of extremely good looks at birds that wanted in our dek's, and although our shooting was horrific, the hunt was a success. We left just before hours went out with 3 birds.

3 Birds
1 Mallard
2 Shovelers

With the end of the season at hand, we couldn't resist the chance to do a little celebrating, so we cooked burgers and 1/2 hour-old duck at the shop and ate until we were sick. Excellent end to an excellent season, if you ask me.




So here we are: 2011/2012 season has closed, and we've got nuthin' to complain about. This would be the first time in my life that we've hunted an entire season without getting skunked on a single hunt. We closed it out with 910 birds, which is a lead-pipe-cinch for 240 more than we've ever bagged in a year. Granted, the mallard count wasn't what we'd have liked for it to have been, and we worked our guts out for every bird, but you can't break records and call it a failure. We won.

The Breakdown:

Across the Farm: 910 Birds on 60 Hunts: 15 Birds Per Hunt.
Mallards: 141
Gadwall: 131
Wigeon: 006
Pintail: 018
GWT: 049
BWT: 001
Wood Duck: 001
Shoveler: 499
Red Head: 005
Speck: 028
Snow: 028
Wood Duck: 001
Buffie: 001
Merganser: 002
Coot: 001

Memphis Blind (Home Field): 480 Birds on 34 Hunts. 14 Birds Per Hunt.
Mallards: 68
Gadwall: 22
Wigeon: 02
Pintail: 10
Greenwing: 30
Shoveler: 313
Redhead: 05
Snow: 14
Speck: 12
Merganser: 02
Coot: 01

Chuck's West (Beans): 254 Birds on 15 Hunts. 17 Birds Per Hunt
Mallards: 21
Gadwall: 107
Wigeon: 01
Pintail: 02
GreenWing: 10
BlueWing: 01
Shoveler: 94
Snow: 07
Buffie: 01

Chuck's East (Rice): 43 Birds on 2 Hunts: 22 Birds Per Hunt
Mallards: 06
Gadwall: 01
Wigeon: 02
Shoveler: 30
Snow: 01
Speck: 03

Lost 20: 40 Birds on 3 Hunts: 13 Birds Per Hunt
Mallards: 12
Pintail: 02
GWT: 09
Shoveler: 05
Snow: 04
Speck: 08

Jones: 31 Birds on 1 Hunt
Mallards: 01
Shoveler: 26
Snow: 01
Speck: 03

Gaylon's: 23 Birds on 2 Hunts. 12 Birds Per Hunt
Mallard: 01
Shoveler: 22

Amy's: 12 Birds on 1 Hunt
Mallards: 06
Gadwall: 01
Pintail: 04
Speck: 01

Baser Northwest. 19 Birds on 2 Hunts. 10 Birds Per Hunt.
Mallards: 10
Gadwall: 01
Shoveler: 06
Snow: 01
Speck: 01

GW's. 8 Birds on 1 Hunt.
Mallards: 07
Woody: 01

Grinding To A Halt

Saturday, January 28, 2012, was a short one. Because I am now the coach of the City Stars Flame Throwers, an honor which I received on Thursday morning, I had to make short work of the a.m. hunt. A 9:00 a.m. game meant that I'd have to be in the truck by 8:00, at the latest. Howling north winds and crystal clear conditions meant that Memphis would be a certain possibility, so John, Blake, Franks, and Garrett headed out in that direction. To avoid interrupting their morning activities, I eased out in the treeline on Chuck's and hoped for the best. When It was all sad & done, the Memphis blind had scratched out 1 green wing and I'd popped 5 Gadwall & 1 Teal. After I left, Fred & Blake crossed over to Chuck's and bagged another Shoveler & 1 Snow.

9 Birds:
5 Gadwall
2 GWT
1 Shoveler
1 Snow.




Friday, January 27, Papa, J-Hawk, John, Blake & I went for 'em on GW's. We knew from the get-go that the number of ducks holding in the field would be fairly slim, but it was our best option, so we set a levee blind and did our best. We left with 8 Birds.

8 Birds:
7 Mallards
1 Woody