Boom!

Finally!  Good day. Louis Williams & fam made town just in time to crack the seal on the birds in Chuck's. Mid 30's, east winds @ 5, and heavy cloud cover. Tough conditions, but we got em.

Charles' Field
50 Birds
38 Mallards
10 Gadwalls
2 Pibtails

Numbers . . .

So, here I am, in the midst of what I consider a pretty rough first quarter of the 2014/2015 duck season. Daily, I'm getting phone calls, emails, texts, and personal visits from folks around here with the same question:  what the heck is going on?  

But then, I'm also hearing from the wannabe's without a clue.  How do I know they don't have a clue?  Because they're spouting numbers.  "We've killed 500, so far," or "they killed 1,600 during the first split."  What does that say to me?  It says one of two things:  a) I'm too stupid to know how to count; or b) I'm a bald-faced liar. How do I know?  Because there ain't a single blind in Northeast Arkansas that's averaged 35 ducks a day for the first 15 days of THIS season. That's how I know. 

Care about the ducks you're hunting?  Respect the species?  Wanna be taken seriously?  Good. Then don't be the idiot braggart that comes out of the gate offering those numbers. Why?  Because guys like me know better, that's why. 

Look, you wanna know how many birds we've killed?  Sure, I keep track, and I'll be willing to tell ya, but here's the baseline:  when I say "we" I mean I was there. If I wasn't there, I won't waste your time telling you about something someone else did from a blind I wasn't at. And, if you wanna know, you'll have to ask.  Why?  Because most people don't wanna know, and I'm intelligent enough to understand that. 

I'll answer the question before you ask:  not near as many as I hoped we would. Good seasons, bad seasons . . . that answer doesn't change. 

Let's Be Honest . . .

It's bad.  Really, really bad.  Family, club members, and random strangers that I chat with on duck hunting websites are contacting me regularly and demanding explanations for exactly what the heck is going on.  Well, to be honest, I think "normal" is what's going on. 

Okay, so in perspective, we're 14 days into the 2014-2015 duck season.  We killed 48 on the opener, and we've killed a grand total of 51 during the succeeding 13 days.  That sucks, and I recognize that, but from a historical perspective, it really isn't as bad as it sounds . . . at least not yet. 

Here are the facts:  We were holding thousands upon thousands of birds the first week of November when the crew showed up to brush blinds.  However (and this is a BIG however), that flock was composed almost entirely of pintails and blue wings, and those birds should have been gone by mid-October.  And, in much the way that they absolutely should have, they bolted the second week in November.  Then, as fate would have it, a very, very strong cold front hit.  Things froze.  Birds showed up.  Lots of birds.  There were mallards, shovelers, green wings, and gadwalls out the wazoo, and we were holding as many of em as anybody around, right up until the day before season opened.  Things looked good, but its important to remember that one has to view that from the proper prospective:  it was as dry as toast up here, and every wet spot had seven hunters in it.  And so, as quickly as opening morning came and went, the birds made tracks, and we're left holding empty bags. 

So what does all that mean?  Glad you asked.  Here's my observation and belief with regard to why things truly suck for duck hunters in NEA right now:  The birds that were here in late October and early November were our September birds, and they were late.  I dunno why, but they were definitely late.  The second flock that showed up, full of the mallards, GWT, shovelers and Gaddies, were the ones that we're accustomed to hunting during the first couple of weeks of season.  The reason for the extraordinarily high number of mallards included therein is fairly simple:  there just wasn't any water in the woods.  As for why they bolted, I'd give the same reason.  There was no place up here to stop off for a drink without being hammered from daylight to dark.  The mallards we shot were tiny little birds, which clearly signifies the fact that they're not the mid-season flock that everybody thought they were hunting.  That flock, when it leaves, NEVER comes back.  We just didn't hold em like we normally do. 

As for that mid-season flock I mentioned, history dictates that they don't show up until mid-December, but to their credit, they stick when they get here.  After a freeze, they're back the very day it thaws.  They hang around until the last week of January, and when they're gone, they're gone for good. 

My money says to expect a great day of hunting between the 12th and 16th of December, and that the hunting will get better from there until the first week in January.  Here's to hoping that I'm right. 

No. We Ain't Gettin' em.

Alright, here we go. 24-hours prior to the season's opening hours, we held a convervative  estimate of 15,000 birds in the Jones field, composed mainly of mallards. Sadly, sometime during that 24-hour period, those birds simply left. The opener forecasted to include 10-15 mph winds from the southeast. When it got here, there wasn't the first stitch of wind before 9:00. It just didn't come together. Sure, we got our birds, but let's face it:   It was one of the most disappointing days I've ever spent in the blind.

The crew included Tasha, Dawson, Dave, Andy, John, Blake, and yours truly. We left with 48.

Jones - 48
23 Shovelers
10 GWT
8 Specks
7 Mallards




Day 2, as expected, things went south. We slipped over to Chucks and managed to knock out 10, but the reality that the ducks just weren't here set in quickly. Dawson, Gates, John, Garrett, Olivia, Andy, and myself were along for a long, slow morning.

Charles' - 10
4 Specks
3 Mallards
2 Shovelers
1 GWT




On Monday, things continued on their downward spiral. John, Garrett, Franks, & I returned to the scene of the crime on the Jones field, and carried out only 11 birds.

Jones' - 11
4 Mallards
1 shoveler
6 GWT

Tuesday, we went back to Chuck's for a quasi-youth hunt. Hunter, Barrett, Johnny, and me.  Slooooooow.I had Tasha, Olivia, Hunter, John, and Barrett with me. Left at 8:30 with 9.

Charles' - 9
1 Wigeon
2 Mallards
2 Gadwalls
4 Shovelers

 
 

Wednesday, I was joined by Tasha, Olivia, Hunter, Garrett, John, Barrett, and John, for the maiden voyage in Baser this season. Again, slow, but better than expected. Left at 8:30 with 7 birds.

Baser - 7
3 GWT
2 Gadwalls
1 Speck
1 Mallard





Thursday, Reece, Jake, John, Blake, and I returned to Jones. Super slow. 4 Mallards.

Jones - 4
Mallards

Friday.  Reece, Westie, Jake, John, & I. Baser.  Terrible. Left with 2 birds.

Baser - 2
1 Snow
1 Mallard

Saturday, John, Blake, Reece, and I hit chuck's. Left with one scaup and narrowly avoided the maligned skunk.

Chuck's - 1 Scaup

Only 92 birds during the first split.

Second split picked up right where the first one left off. The numbers looked so bleak that I didn't even hunt on Thursday. On Friday, Blake & I returned to the Jones field, but we got rained out with only 2 specks to our credit.

Jones - 2
Specks

Saturday, John, Blake, and I returned to Baser and found a way to bag 2 GWT. Frankly, we were lucky to get em. North winds and no love from the birds.

Baser - 2
GWT

Sunday, John, Ryan Gibson, Landon, and I tried Baser one more time. Pretty much the same story again. 3 birds.

Baser - 3
2 Hooded Merganses
1 Shoveler