2014-2015 Season Log...

[DComeaux]

Good to see the birds,Rick! I'm ready to get back out there.

Darn blind is still leaking after $200.00 worth of goop poured on it. Bout to buy a 12 volt submersible pump for the remainder of the season.

[Rick]

Most success stopping blind floor leaks that I've had is with Quick Steel to stop the flow followed by a coat of 3M 5200 to stand up to the flexing of the floor when the blind is in use. But it sounds too late for that if something else has been applied.

[DComeaux]

Most success stopping blind floor leaks that I've had is with Quick Steel to stop the flow followed by a coat of 3M 5200 to stand up to the flexing of the floor when the blind is in use. But it sounds too late for that if something else has been applied.

I'm pretty sure I can pop that crust off without much effort. It's just keeping the geiser from shooting up in my crotch. Quick steel will be my next goop smathering attempt.

[Rick]

Date: 11/26

Time: morning

Location: mudhole

Cloud Cover: clear

Wind Direction and Velocity: dead-a calm for the longest time before becoming light to moderate SW near hunt's end

Temperature: pleasantly cool

Barometer: 30.19-30.21

Moon phase: sliver

Special Notes:

Waterfowl Activity: Least flight to date.

Waterfowl Responsiveness: Red God's smiled and much of what was around came nicely.

Hunters: 2, 89yr-old Cal and his much younger buddy and helper, Ray, who have been hunting with our camp forever, Cal before I signed on in '85

Guns:

Malfunctions: Only Cal's ancient knees, if that counts.

Dog(s): Peake had an easy morning.

Special Equipment: SOS

Kudos: Not a lot of shooting opportunities, but a fine time was had. And a lot of younger hunters could take notes from Cal who hid better standing than many do sitting.

Birds By Species: 2 gw teal, 5 mallards and 1 pintail

Photo Ops: Ray and Cal:


Three greenheads:

[Darren]

Wind Direction and Velocity: dead-a calm for the longest time before becoming light to moderate SW near hunt's end

This much I can attest to with certainty, then began to ripple the pond around 10:00am for us as we picked up.

[Rick]

11/26 addendum:

Found the following from Ray in my e-mails this morning:

Rick:

Thank you for a great hunt today. Mr. Cal and I really appreciate the pictures that you sent us.

Also thank you for your patience with getting mr. Cal in and out of the boat and blind.

On the way home, mr. Cal decided that today was his last duck hunt. It was to much on him. He said that it was fitting that his last hunt be with you and me. It will be strange after 22 years not having mr. Cal there but I plan on hunting for another 22 years. See you in 2 weeks.

Asked that he tell Cal I appreciated the sentiment greatly but hoped to see him in two weeks, too.

[Ducaholic]

That right there is what it's all about!

[Flightstopper]

Know you have to handle a number of crazy hunts but to be able to hunt with people like that are good as gold.

[Rick]

Date: 11/27

Time: morning

Location: mudhole

Cloud Cover: clear

Wind Direction and Velocity: light to strong NNE

Temperature: chilly in the wind

Barometer: 30.41 rising

Moon phase:

Special Notes:

Waterfowl Activity: All morning flight of geese from the south, but teal flight was very brief and big ducks most mile high (new?) from north with few at workable altitude in such wind.

Waterfowl Responsiveness: Thankfully good or it would have been a very different morning.

Hunters: 2, father, Darren, and daughter, Savannah

Guns:

Malfunctions:

Dog(s): Wore the coyote flat out this morning, and he and I went to war over the second bird of long in-line blind across thin flotant. Something we trained for in his early years but haven't addressed in recent ones.

Special Equipment: SOS

Kudos: Pretty morning with plenty of birds over the decoys, but the best part for me was watching Darren and Samantha's relationship. Not just father and daughter but plainly best buddies.

Curses: Darren cursed their shooting by telling me how well they'd shot on mostly passing birds the day before. Made me think of Duffy's Law: "The dog you brag on is about to screw up." And so it came to pass, with a mess of misses and chips over the blocks.

Birds By Species: 3 gw teal, 2 mallards, 1 mottled, 3 pintails, 4 spoons and 3 wood ducks

Photo Ops: Darren and Savannah:


Taking a banner shot for a buddy who chairs the Baton Rouge Delta Waterfowl chapter:

[Rick]

Date: 11/28

Time: morning

Location: mudhole

Cloud Cover: clear

Wind Direction and Velocity: nil to moderate easterly

Temperature: colder than expected

Barometer: 30.37 flat

Moon phase: waxing cresent

Special Notes:

Waterfowl Activity: What little there was was high, high, high.

Waterfowl Responsiveness: Wind was light enough that they'd drop from way the hey up, and super aggressive calling (and not sparing the spoons) gave us the only good hunt in the marsh.

Hunters: 2, Mark and LIsa

Guns:

Malfunctions:

Dog(s): Couple interesting tracks, but mostly easy pickings.

Special Equipment: SOS

Kudos: My folks hid and shot well, making their own hunt where most would have run our birds off before they got down to us.

Curses: Only the lack of game, particularly teal and mallards

Birds By Species: 1 gadwall, 3 mallards, 2 pintails, 2 ringnecks and 10 spoons

Photo Ops: Mark and Lisa:

[Rick]

11/28 addendum: A check of the logs shows we missed tying the blind's spoon record by one bird, but it wasn't for lack of trying.

[DComeaux]

Really nice, Rick!

[Darren]

Definitely not afraid to hammer out some spoons, we've been seeing quite a few on our end ourselves.

[Rick]

They filled the strap on a morning when no others in the camp were filled, so we were proud of each and every spoon on it. Darren, it looks as though you'll be here during a stretch of stale weather that may have us praying for them...

[Rick]

Date: 11/18

Time: all afternoon

Location: compressor

Cloud Cover: clear

Wind Direction and Velocity: SE moderate

Temperature: warm

Barometer:

Moon phase:

Special Notes:

Waterfowl Activity: Tons of mostly blues in four bodies mostly seen in the general, mostly distant, area. But everything trafficking at twinkler altitude or waaay the hey beyond hailing from my field.

Waterfowl Responsiveness: Just wanted one pair of specks to pass within calling range and actually had three such over the course of a very long afternoon. All with the wind at their backs and tails on fire, and none so much as peeping in response to my calling, much less slowing. Then near sunset, when geese are normally going to roosting water and don't respond well to land rigs, a very high single dropped beautifully, as did a big bunch shortly after.

Hunters: just the coyote and I

Guns:

Malfunctions:

Dog(s): Peake mostly slept.

Special Equipment:

Kudos: Was great to have our birds work so sweetly after a long, frustrating afternoon.

Curses: I shouldn't have called to, much less shot a bird out of, the big bunch that bought in near sunset, but didn't even think about not burning the spot for so many to kill one. That, and after I went to the trouble to dress the bare levee to match the haystack-looking blind, one of our geniuses gathered those bundles up and piled them on the haystack to make certain it looked like what shoots at the birds.

Birds By Species: 2 specks

Photo Ops: Sleeping beauty:


Finally woke him up:


Thought I'd picked a young bird from the flock for our table, but turned out just to be a nearly speckless adult:


Our "big" rig used because we needed something to distract from the "blind," and the wind suggested a few on each side of the levee it blew down:

[Rick]

Date: 11/29

Time: morning

Location: mudhole

Cloud Cover: clear

Wind Direction and Velocity: none to moderate southerly

Temperature: warm

Barometer:

Moon phase:

Special Notes:

Waterfowl Activity: little moving, even high

Waterfowl Responsiveness: super good or we'd have been in a bind

Hunters: 2 young bucks, Trenton and Jude, from down on da Bayou Lafourche in SELA

Guns:

Malfunctions:

Dog(s): easy morning

Special Equipment: SOS

Kudos: Guys wanted mallards and pins that they don't get at home and were super excited to get a few.

Curses Getting tough with no big weather change pending before the break.

Birds By Species: 1 bw teal, 6 gw teal, 3 mallards, 2 pintails, 2 ringnecks and 1 wood duck

Photo Ops: Guys were so excited they took time out from the hunt to document a mallard and pintail:

[Rick]

Date: 11/29

Time: afternoon

Location: thornwell middle

Cloud Cover: clear

Wind Direction and Velocity: Strong south.

Temperature: warm

Barometer: 30.06 flat

Moon phase: waxing nearly half

Special Notes:

Waterfowl Activity: two bodies of geese on the farm when we got there and had to ease one over to hunt without blowing them out. But guys hunting Observatory blind, blew one out around four. Everything new went to the bodies, and we made hay with birds coming off them.

Waterfowl Responsiveness: The blind's setup stunk and fighting the hard wind gave the birds way too much time to see that, but enough screwed up to give us what should have been much more than enough opportunity.

Hunters: 3, young new to the sport guys who were enthusiastic and took instruction pretty well.

Guns:

Malfunctions:

Dog(s): Still staking the coyote to get past the breaking he started, which seem to be behind him but...

Special Equipment:

Kudos: Had a big time with plenty of birds to shoot at.

Curses: Unfortunately there seem a whole lot more shooting up amongst 'em than at them.

Birds By Species: 2 mallards and 6 specks

Photo Ops: One of their hero shot ("Hurry, they're heavy."):


My hero shot:

[Darren]

They filled the strap on a morning when no others in the camp were filled, so we were proud of each and every spoon on it. Darren, it looks as though you'll be here during a stretch of stale weather that may have us praying for them...

Well aware, just hoping for some decent wind from the south. Will be more than happy to iron out a wad of spoons or whatever else. Seems that my spoons were also no shows today on our end

A buddy is back in our blind tomorrow, I'll get the report

[DComeaux]

Nice hunts, Rick! Glad to see you have some birds to play with. Those speck decoys look gooood! Are those the ones that fella was telling me about a year or so ago over at the lodge? I can't remember his name. I think he was from, or hunted, Thornwell.

Doing what you do, especially two-a days, has got to wear on ya. The 3:15 wake ups have me about worn out after a few days.

[Flightstopper]

That has to be one of my favorite shots of Peake yet.

[Rick]

That has to be one of my favorite shots of Peake yet.

Mine, too.

[Rick]

Those speck decoys look gooood! Are those the ones that fella was telling me about a year or so ago over at the lodge? I can't remember his name. I think he was from, or hunted, Thornwell.

Doing what you do, especially two-a days, has got to wear on ya. The 3:15 wake ups have me about worn out after a few days.

James was playing promotional staffer for Blue Collar decoys, and there were both those and GHGs out in the Thornwell rig we hunted yesterday afternoon. My new ones, shown in the photo from the afternoon before (which I somehow labled "11/18" instead of 11/28), are from Deception and blow my DSDs out of the water. Guy who started Hard Core now makes Replica Decoys that are also sweet. Nice to see some competition in the custom market - but there's still not enough to spark a price war.

[IndianaYakFish]

That has to be one of my favorite shots of Peake yet.

I agree. Best lookin' coyote I've ever seen.

[Rick]

Date: 11/30

Time: morning

Location: mudhole

Cloud Cover: partly to clear

Wind Direction and Velocity: Southerly nil to moderate

Temperature: warm

Barometer: 30.1 to 30.15

Moon phase: waxing half

Special Notes:

Waterfowl Activity: dribs and drabs of little ducks w/next to no big ducks seen

Waterfowl Responsiveness: thankfully good

Hunters: 3, Madison, BJ and Johnny from yesterday afternoon again (hoping for pins that were no-shows)

Guns:

Malfunctions:

Dog(s): Peake's deafness and resulting handling difficulties probably cost us a bird. Hard not to get frustrated and take it out on him, but not his fault.

Special Equipment: SOS think the mmm's splash is particularly helpful on these calm sunny days.

Kudos: Guys seem to be shooting better, which is to say "hitting".

Birds By Species: 2 bw teal, 6 gw teal, 4 ringnecks and 7 spoons

Photo Ops: none taken

[Ericdc]

Hunting has been on decline since Thursdays mallard flight, but it sure was fun.

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1417372104.884561.jpg

This coming weeks forecast is looking terrible. Going to get work done, hunt next Saturday and get ready for 2nd split. Typically y'all would be closing today on the coast.

[Rick]

This coming weeks forecast is looking terrible...Typically y'all would be closing today on the coast.

Eggzackly. Probably gonna be a loooong week that wouldn't be missed.

[Rick]

Date: 11/30

Time: afternoon

Location: thornwell

Cloud Cover: partly

Wind Direction and Velocity: South moderate to nil.

Temperature: warm

Barometer:

Moon phase:

Special Notes:

Waterfowl Activity: Next to nothing moving nearby, and no roost flight to boot.

Waterfowl Responsiveness: Had a few specks work until they saw the too familiar spot then split and one bought in completely and was killed landing in front of the blind.

Hunters: 3 amigos from yesterday and this morning

Guns:

Malfunctions:

Dog(s): Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Special Equipment:

Kudos: Nice guys made it a pleasant afternoon despite the lack of flight and were thrilled by the landing bird. Reminded me of a Ron White joke, to paraphrase: I don't know how many shots it took to kill the goose, but I know how many they used. Nine.

Curses: Just the lack of game, but it was probably good for the guys to see the flip side of goose hunting after getting to blaze away at so many yesterday.

Birds By Species: 1 speck

Photo Ops: Coyote at work:

[Rick]

Those speck decoys look gooood! Are those the ones that fella was telling me about a year or so ago over at the lodge? I can't remember his name. I think he was from, or hunted, Thornwell.

Doing what you do, especially two-a days, has got to wear on ya. The 3:15 wake ups have me about worn out after a few days.

James was playing promotional staffer for Blue Collar decoys, and there were both those and GHGs out in the Thornwell rig we hunted yesterday afternoon. My new ones, shown in the photo from the afternoon before (which I somehow labled "11/18" instead of 11/28), are from Deception and blow my DSDs out of the water. Guy who started Hard Core now makes Replica Decoys that are also sweet. Nice to see some competition in the custom market - but there's still not enough to spark a price war.

I checked to be sure of the decoys in the pic with Peake and the decoys, and they are, in fact, Blue Collars.

[DComeaux]

Those speck decoys look gooood! Are those the ones that fella was telling me about a year or so ago over at the lodge? I can't remember his name. I think he was from, or hunted, Thornwell.

Doing what you do, especially two-a days, has got to wear on ya. The 3:15 wake ups have me about worn out after a few days.

James was playing promotional staffer for Blue Collar decoys, and there were both those and GHGs out in the Thornwell rig we hunted yesterday afternoon. My new ones, shown in the photo from the afternoon before (which I somehow labled "11/18" instead of 11/28), are from Deception and blow my DSDs out of the water. Guy who started Hard Core now makes Replica Decoys that are also sweet. Nice to see some competition in the custom market - but there's still not enough to spark a price war.

I checked to be sure of the decoys in the pic with Peake and the decoys, and they are, in fact, Blue Collars.

Those deceptions look good! I'm using 6 GHG floaters right now and will replace those with the dozen GHG flocked later in the season. The flocked bunch are mostly feeding profiles with only a couple of sentinels as opposed to the floaters with resting or alert styles. To me, those flocked decoys are fragile due to the covering, but they do look awesome in the field.

[Rick]

To me, those flocked decoys are fragile due to the covering, but they do look awesome in the field.

Shoot, I'm back to double bagging the Deceptions after trying single bagging (in slotted bags) my last DSDs and having them polished by that practice (on left):


Far as I can see, they're all a compromise of some sort at any price.