We Won't Be Breaking 1,000

Crap, at this pace, we're gonna do good to break 900. Fred, J-Hawk, Cannonball (singular), and I went back to Memphis this morning. Temps in the low 40's, NE Winds, and rain. Could've been worse, cause we came out with 7 birds.

7 Birds.
4 Mallards
2 Snows
1 Speck

Slowly . . . but Surely

Today, January 24, 2012, Papa, Fred & I tried the East Chuck's in rice, and while we didn't GET'EM, we did alright. Skies were clear, temps were a crisp 29 degrees, and the winds were light & variable, for the first time in a long time. It was absolutely beautiful to finally see green heads working in the sunshine. We left with 13 birds.

13 Birds
6 Mallards
3 Specks
2 Wigeon
1 Gadwall
1 Snow Goose




Monday, Jan 23, J-Hawk & I were joined by the Baker boys in the rice field on the West side of Baser. We set up a blind in the right spot, but fought 25 mph winds from the wrong direction and intermittent sun. We left with 10.

10 Birds
7 Mallards
2 Shovelers
1 Snow



Sunday, Jan 22, we tripped into Memphis for another go-round. To our credit, Johnny & I were graced with Olivia's presence. We had to leave by 8:30, and the birds just weren't there. We left with 5 birds.

That afternoon, Blake, J-Hawk, Fred & I returned to the farm to hunt the West rice field on Baser. 9 Birds.

Home: 5 Birds
3 Snows
1 GWT
1 Gadwall

Baser: 9 Birds
4 Shovelers
3 Mallards
1 Gadwall
1 Speck

Saturday, January 21, Franks, Garrett, J-Hawk, Blake & I hit Memphis. Not great, but decent enough. 20 Birds.

20 Birds
9 Mallards
5 Shovelers
3 GWT
2 Pins
1 Snow.

Slower . . . Much Slower

Memphis. Flea-bag, J-Hawk, Gipper, Cannonball. Upper-20's, lower-30's, South winds, partly cloudy. Crapfest. 5 birds.

5 Birds
3 Specks
1 Snow
1 Shoveler

YEEEEAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

Finally, a day with light winds and sun when the birds actually sorta wanted to work. Taylor Baker, Flea-bag, J-hawk, Fred & Gipper on Chuck's beaner. Limits of eater's.

30 Birds
16 Mallards
9 Gadwall
3 GWT
1 Wigeon
1 Pintail

PM . . . Amy's

Tuesday, January 17, 2012, J-Hawk, Fred & I tried a p.m. shoot over semi-dry conditions on Amy's. It was tough. 35 mph north winds combined with mid-40's temps made for a bone-chiller. Lots of working birds, but had to have 'em inside 15 yards to get 'em in the wind. We left with 12.

12 Birds
6 Mallards
4 Pins
1 Speck
1 Gaddie

For The Record . . .

Memphis Blind:
437 Birds on 28 Hunts: 15.6 BPD
Mallards: 50
Gadwall: 21
Wigeon: 02
Pintail: 08
Greenwing: 25
Shoveler: 307
Redhead: 05
SnowGoose: 08
Speck: 08
Merganser: 02
Coot: 01

Charles West:
214 Birds on 12 Hunts: 17.8 BPD
Mallards: 15
Gadwall: 92
Wigeon: 01
Pintail: 01
Greenwing: 06
Bluewing: 01
Shoveler: 92
Snow Goose: 05
Bufflehead: 01

Charles East:
30 Shovelers on 1 hunt.

Lost 20:
37 Birds on 2 hunts: 18.5 BPD
Mallards: 11
Pins: 02
Greenwing: 09
Shoveler: 03
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:
Mallards: 01
Shovelers: 22

This Wind's About to Piss Me Off!

Taylor Baker, Fleabag, J-Hawk, Gipper, Cannonball. Memphis Blind. Clouds, 55-degree starting temps, and winds at 35-40 from the South. Extraordinarily tough shooting, but we came out with 20.

20 Birds
7 Shovelers
5 Gadwall
4 Mallards
3 Pins
1 Coot!

We're Still In The Game

Granted, it ain't hammerfest down here, but we're takin' out a fair number. Today it was John, Jordan, Blake, Grant, Olivia and I, and we managed to wack 25 of 'em in the Memphis Blind. Not too bad, considering the circumstances.

25 Birds
7 Mallards
13 Shovelers
02 pins
1 Gadwal
1 Snow
1 Speck

When God Smiles On Ya . . .

. . . Ya really can't screw it up. Blake, Fred, J-Hawk, Gipper, mystery guest. Back to Chucks. Smokin' ducks from the treeline on STIFF West winds. 30 birds.

30 Birds
11 Mallards
10 Gadwall
01 GWT
03 Shovelers
5 Snows

Well . . . Sorta.

Friday, January 13. Chuck's, over ice that the birds kept thawed overnight. Temps hovering at 23-25 degrees. Papa, Blake, John, J-Hawk, Tasha, Squid, Dave, & the Gipper. It was tough, but we came out with 47 for the day.

6 Gadwall
1 Pintail
1 Wigeon
39 Shovelers

And We're Back!

Cold weather! We took off January 10 & 11, yielding to fatigue and the rigors of hunting in mild, crappy weather. As of today, Jan. 12, we're back! Strong winds pushing 30 mph, temps in the lower 30's, p.m. hunt on the west side of the Lost 20. NICE! Left with 25.

11 Mallards
9 Green Wings
2 Pins
3 Shovelers

Crappy, Crappier, Crappiest.

It hasn't gotten any better. Today, I took to the Memphis Blind with only Cannon to accompany me. It sucked.

3 Birds
2 Specks
1 Shoveler




On Sunday, Jan. 8, Fred, Blake, Jordan & I gave it our best shot. Wasn't enough. We left with a grand total of 2 Snows, 3 Shovelers for the day.

5 Birds
2 Snows
3 Shovelers

Tough, Indeed.

Today Haun, Blake, Fred, Tasha & I eased back out on the Homer. Slow, to say the least. NW winds at 15 and 50 degree temps didn't help. 4 Birds.

1 Snow
1 GWT
2 Shoelers.





Yesterday we played host to the MS Flyway Rambler for the first of 3 days. It was a gift from God himself that we found a few birds on the zero-grade east of Gaylons. Started at 1:30 and left at 4:30 with 17 Shovelers.

17 Shovelers.




Thursday, I did not hunt.

Gees, We Sure Need Some New Birds

Prolly not gonna get any of 'em any time soon, either. Yesterday we tried to repeat the mid-afternoon feeding frenzy ambush on the birds. Unfortunately, they figured us out.

It should be noted that Amy's & GW's have been locked out by douche-bags hunting 30 yards from the borders on ground owned by adjacent landowners. Ray's is a nullity until we get fresh birds, and the 20 & Jones have been played out by snow geese. That leaves the Memphis Blind & Chuck's East & West. The unfortunate reality is that we're now forced to put waaaaay more pressure on those two locales than we're comfortable with, especially when we're hunting well-edumacated birds that have been here since October.

Fred, Tom, Grant & I eased into Charles about 1:30 yesterday afternoon. One flock of grey ducks showed, and we carved 2 out of it. Thereafter, it was quiet. At 4:00 we decided to try a 3-cornered 10 acre field next to a reservoir, and we killed another 5. Not terrible, but not exactly swarms like we want to see, either.

7 Birds
1 Mallard
2 Gadwall
5 Shovelers.

PM Over Ice . . . Gotta Love It

J-Hawk, Johnny, and the Gipper. Chuck's. It was 22 this morning when I got up. SE winds at 10 m.p.h. We dropped in to Chuck's at 1:30. We left at 3:30 with full bags. Last round of shooting was a Scotch Double on Gaddies that would have put us one over the limit if it hadn't been a one-shot kill.

19 Birds
2 Shovelers
3 Mallards
14 Gaddies

I Can Only Hope We've Bottomed Out

Well, today was a low point for the season. Reece, Fred, J-Hawk & I returned to the Memphis Blind. Were it not for Cannon's exceptionally long retrieve on a crippled snow goose and the continual chattering of our teeth, the day would have been utterly void of anything resembling excitement. Bluebird skies, NW winds @ 20 and temps hovering right around 30 degrees. No ducks. 2 Snows. Dear Lord, it was cold.

2 White Geese.

The Grind

Today. Meredith, John, Blake, Hunter, & I. Memphis Blind. 8 Birds

8 Birds
2 Wigeon
1 Snow
5 Shovelers




Saturday. Franks, Garrett, Olivia, John, Blake & I. Homer. 14 birds.

14 Birds
7 Shovelers
2 Pins
2 Gaddies
1 Redhead
1 Speck
1 Mallard



Friday, December 30, Blake, J-hawk, Fred, & I. Chucks on a p.m. hunt. 9 Birds.

9 Birds
6 Shovelers
3 Gaddies

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