Slowly, But Surely

This morning, Fleabag, J-Hawk & I took a short run out on Chuck's bean field, and whilst we didn't smoke 'em, we did manage to take a few before we left.

6 Birds
4 GWT
2 Gadwall



Wednesday, December 28, Fleabag, Papa, Fred, J-Hawk, & I broke the seal on Chuck's rice field. I noted on Tuesday evening that birds had been using the field, although I couldn't identify the species. Wulp, again, no mallards. No gadwall either, for that matter. We did emerge with 5 man limits of spooners, though.

30 Shovelers

Well, Not What We Were Lookin' For

J-Hawk, Casey, Fred, Cannonball & I returned to the Homer this afternoon hoping for a repeat of yesterday, only with closer ducks. Didn't happen. 10 Birds, all shovelers.
27 days, 500 ducks.

10 Spoonbills.

Well, Somewhat Better

This afternoon, in an effort to finish what we started this morning, we eased back out on the Home Field with our guests and Blake and tried it again. Mallards actually showed, and we left at the close of hours with 28 to add to the bag.

Home Field
28 Birds
21 MALLARDS!!!!
4 Shovelers
2 Greenwing
1 Gadwall




This morning, December 26, the 26th day of the '11/12 season, Johnny, J-Hawk, & I made a somewhat optimistic trip to the blind on Chucks. Clouds again, which couldn't come as a huge surprise since we've seen only two sunny days this season. Given the overcast conditions, our expectations were fairly low, but to our surprise, the birds cooperated a bit better today. We had six mystery guests along that asked to remain nameless for employment purposes, but when we left at 9:00, we carried out 27. Not too shabby.

27 Birds
13 Gadwalls
13 Shovelers
01 Bluewing

Two Down, One To Go

So here we are, at the end of the second split. Not anything particularly bragworthy, I suppose, but we have killed quite a few birds. Of course, the mallards have been noteably absent from our totals, and we're hoping to correct that over the next 34 days.

End of 2nd Split Total: 435
Shovelers: 312. That'd be a record, and one we're not proud of.

Yesterday, we started on the Home field (and by "we", I mean John, Jordan, and I), but left with only one shoveler. Later that afternoon, Jordan, Natalie, Olivia & I set up on the point at Chuck's, and eventually picked off 3 Gadwalls & 7 Shovelers.

Home: 1 Shoveler
Chucks: 7 Shovelers, 3 Gaddies

11 Birds


Thursday, December 22, the Baker Boys, Jordan, John & I gave it another whirl on Chuck's, but left extraordinarily disappointed with only 6 birds.

6 Birds
2 Gadwalls
4 Shovelers.

Something Like a Small Part in the Clouds

Today, I planned on taking the day off. Whilst drinking my coffee, I noticed the stars in the sky and couldn't resist slippin in late for a short hunt. I stayed only an hour in the Home Field, but I brought out 2 mallards, 2 shovelers.

4 Ducks
2 Mallards
2 shovelers



Tuesday, December 20, I was accompanied in the Home Field blind by Olivia, J-Hawk, Casey Spencer, Fleabag, and Fred. Slow, to say the least, and we left at 9 with 4 shovelers. Later that afternoon, Johnny called and said Homer was covered up, so we snuck back in about 3:30 and downed another 3 Mallards, 2 Shovelers.

9 Birds
3 Mallards
6 Shovelers

Same Old Song & Dance

Today, I was privileged to be accompanied by my oldest, Olivia. As the first duck slipped into the dek's this morning, I remembered that I had a 10-year old that really wanted to pop one. It was too late for a wing shot, so she water-swatted him and left him for the dog to retrieve. Along for the trip were the Baker Boys, Papa, Cannonball, and myself. Good shoot . . . low quality birds. We were out with limits by just after 8:30.

30 Ducks, all shovelers.





Sunday, December 18, 2011, Fred, J-Hawk, Fleabag, Blake & I returned to the Home Field. Not terrible, because we had to leave by 8:00. We took 12 out when we left.

12 Ducks, All Shovelers.

Same Stuff, New Day

Well, I was blessed to be accompanied by my precious bride Tasha to the blind on Chuck's this morning, But not before we stopped to fill the tank on the Jeep.


The temps were just below the freezing mark, and it was a windless, but beautiful morning.


Also along for the ride were the Baker Boys, Blake, Fred, Jordan, Franks, and old Cannon.


Tasha had to pull out at 8:00, so we were left with 7 in the blind and hoped to pull out limits.



Whilst we didn't exactly smoke 'em, we did manage to scratch out 22 before the morning was over.



22 Ducks
7 Gadwalls
1 Mallard
14 Shovelers

Season Total: 363

Homer . . . Saving Grace

Well, thank God for the Home Field this 'round. Once again, we graced the pit under cloudy, rainy conditions, although this time with strong northerly winds. John, Tom, Grant, Fleabag, Blake, Jordan, Gibby & Cannon. Johnn had to pull out early and took his limit when he left. Thereafter, we bagged a decent number of birds. Left with a grand total of 29 birds. Not too shabby.

29 Birds
05 Mallards!!!!!
23 Shovelers
01 Speck
Homer total: 262.
Total for Season, 341
BPD = +/- 19

Spoonbill Slap-O-Rama

Okay, so things really haven't changed much. Thankfully, the full-moon issue has been resolved by several days of super-cloudy nights. As per what seems to be the norm this season, we got another 1/2 inch of rain last night. Spoonbills are thick. Mallards aren't to be found.

Back to the Homer. Cousin Andy, Grant, Tom, Fred, Fleabag, J-Hawk, Yours Truly, and of course, ole Cannon. Took us 3 hours, but we finally reduced full bag limits to possession. 42 birds.

42 Ducks
40 Shovelers
02 Mallards

Because Johnny keeps asking, I'll tally a running total for the Home Field. TBA.
Total for the season looks to be 312. 18.35 BPD.

Homer: 233 Birds, 12 Hunts -- 19.42 BPD
Mallards: 7
Green Wing: 22
Gadwall: 12
Speck: 3
Snow: 1
Red Head: 4
Hooded Merg: 2
Pintail: 1
Shoveler: 181

Chucks: 36 Birds, 2 Hunts -- 18 BPD
Gadwall: 30
Shoveler: 4
Green Wing: 1
Bufflehead: 1

Jones: 31 Birds, 1 Hunt -- 31 BPD
Shovelers: 26
Specks: 03
Snows: 01
Mallard: 01

Lost 20: 1 Hunt, 12 Birds, 8 Specks, 4 Snows.

Mr. Hollywood

Well, the mallards still haven't shown, but old Mr. Hollywood and his boot-lipped buddies returned with flair. Home Field, J-Hawk, Johnny, Papa, Yours Truly, and three mystery guests who requested that we NOT photograph them or mention their names for employment security purposes. Limits all-round. 42 birds. That makes 270 for the season, and exactly 7 of 'em have been mallards. Ouch!

Home Field.
42 Shovelers.

Suckin' It Up!

Don't ask. During the period beginning Friday, December 9, and Monday, December 12, a dazzling ball of fire-like light arose and hung lifelessly atop the frosty air like a giant Q-Beam in the sky. The birds traded delightfully back and forth from feed to roost by the magnificent light that pierced the darkness each night. During the daytime hours and well into the evenings, they loafed carelessly within the safety of a well-fortified roost. Full moons . . . I hate 'em.

Obviously, the hunting sucked. On Friday, we graced the Home field blind for just long enough to scratch out one snow goose. Friday evening, the Reeces entertained the participants of the Trigger Happy Hunting Club at their fine estate during what we have lovingly dubbed "Hellfest". Good times were had by all.

On Saturday, Reece, Ryan, Blake, John, Haun, John, and I returned to the Home field to harvest exactly 1 Speck, and on Sunday and Monday, we didn't even have the will to go after 'em.

The Baker Boys, Jordan, Cannon & I finally made our way back to the blind this morning. Not a steller day, to say the least, but we did manage to scratch out 4 shovelers.

Total for Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday: 6 Birds.
4 Shovelers
1 Speck
1 Snow

Right Back Where We Left Off

Okay, so the rains haven't been good to us. By this point, we were hoping for bags filled with yellow bills and green heads. Well, it just hasn't worked out that way. Everything is under deep water. The snow geese are so pervasive that we can't hold the stubble on a levee on any field on the farm. The specks are presently as intelligent as the snows. And finally, the shovelers won't give us a break to shoot mallards, which we should probably be thankful for.

Nonetheless, we're still killing birds, and killing 'em by the dozen. Today the Baker Boys, J-Hawk, Johnny & I threw up a levee blind on the Jones field. It should be noted that it is a rare treat to get to hunt that field with any expectation of heavy bags. It did not dissapoint, numerically speaking. Somewhat clear skies helped pave the way to leaving the field only 3 ducks short of a 5-man limit. 31 Birds altogether. Will post a pic later.

31 Birds
26 Shovelers
01 Mallard
03 Specks
01 Snow

Arrrrrrrrrrrrgh!!!!!!!!

Anybody know how to build an ark -- you know, like the one Noah built? We may need one before this is over.

I never cease to be amazed at the mambie pambies that whine each year that torrents of rain don't fall just before season opens. "We need water." "Hope we get lots of water." "If we don't get some water, the ducks will pass the state and head on South." Blah, blah, blah . . .

Well, we got water. Buckets of it. And for all those idiots that were whining about needing water in the woods, they'll not be able to stand in the woods when season re-opens on Thursday. The Cache @ Patterson now stands a mere 6" below the 3rd highest recorded crest in history, and you'd better believe she'll keep rising for a week.

I threw a walleye'd fit when we got the 9" of rain that fell just before season opened. Add the additional 2" that fell during the first split and the 6" that we got this weekend, and we've pretty much got ducks scattered over a 1,000,000 square acre area. Not a good thing when you're trying to pinpoint concentrated pockets of birds. Tis certainly a lemon, but as always, we'll make lemonade.

As for the farm, it looks like an ocean. Will post pics later. Big Creek obviously broke somewhere, although I haven't the slightest clue where. The pump is broken, and all our pits are brimming full, I'm sure. Tomorrow will be a labor, for sure. We'll have to drain pits, find decoys that are probably scattered all over creation, stop up levees, and try to find some ducks in the process. Only God knows what we'll be doing for the opener on Thursday. Thus far, I'm battin' 1,000 on getting everything I DIDN'T ask for, save, of course, the dreaded broken creek bank on the Homer, which I am truly thankful didn't happen.

Species . . . Bad. Numbers . . . Good.

This morning Fred, J-hawk, Mental Meredith and I took our first "dedicated" goose hunt of the season. Sure, duck season is out, but that don't mean that you hafta stop collecting the bills. We hit the pit on the Lost 20 and left with limits of Specks and 4 Snows to boot. Not a bad morning.

12 Birds
8 Specks
4 Snows



Ahhhh . . . and by way of correction, I stated in an earlier post that our final number for the first split was 171, which was absolutely wrong. That's because Johnny took a couple of youngin's out on the Homer Sunday afternoon and smoked an additional 8 shovelers. No improvement in quality of species, but the number of birds killed daily is lookin' good so far.