Preseason

[aunt betty]

3.5" shells are hard on the guns, the shooters, and the ppl sitting next to them.
They miss just as good as anything else.
Both 3.5" shells and ultra-fast loads are something a gunsmith invented to increase his workload.
Go visit your local gun shop and ask to see the line of 3.5" semi-autos he is repairing before you buy one. Might also ask how long it takes to get to the front of the line.

Bigger is better so buy the biggest one you can find and use the fastest ammo you can get.

[Rick]

Don't waste your time on those light loads - 3 1/2 inch # 2 Heavi-Metal thats for teal get the heavy stuff for ducks

Would like to think the 3 1/2" Hevi-shot and Blackcloud hulls I find in the blind after teal season are closet clean-outs, but...

[DComeaux]

3.5" shells are hard on the guns, the shooters, and the ppl sitting next to them.
They miss just as good as anything else.
Both 3.5" shells and ultra-fast loads are something a gunsmith invented to increase his workload.
Go visit your local gun shop and ask to see the line of 3.5" semi-autos he is repairing before you buy one. Might also ask how long it takes to get to the front of the line.

Bigger is better so buy the biggest one you can find and use the fastest ammo you can get.

This is true, I've heard it from the shops around here....No matter the brand.

[DComeaux]

Did a little bit of work at the camp, installing concrete blocks and concrete for walkways. Made another trash dump run, and we made a trip to the blind. The Brigg's is running bad again and I wanted to drop it in marsh.

View from inside the boat cover and around the blind.

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I cooked a chicken Fricassee yesterday evening.

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At the beginning of the clip my videographer pans to the right in the direction of the blind. We have to travel 150 yards or so to the west to get back to the ditch. At the end of the clip he must have been been a bit unsure of our jump through that little shallow window of grass.

[Rick]

Appears a lot of solid structure to disguise.

[DComeaux]

Appears a lot of solid structure to disguise.

All of those white boards you see to the right of the blind will be removed, and the high post cut to a lower level. All exposed boards will receive a coat of olive drab paint. I don't think they've ever had paint.

I don't care much for the boat hide but the convenience of it will win out..... for now anyway. I'll have it looking like a large roseau island before too long, and I'll try to use some shorter, local marsh grasses around the pit. I should have way better chances with keeping them in place at this blind.
I was grumbling about the boat hide while we were sitting under it and Blake made the comment, " I can hear it now, every time some birds flair", and he's probably right.

[Rick]

I was grumbling about the boat hide while we were sitting under it and Blake made the comment, " I can hear it now, every time some birds flair", and he's probably right.

Or surprise you from behind it.

[Ericdc]

Yea at Corey's lease they all face south...on a south wind the teal can tear you up and get out unscathed.

What direction does yours face?


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[DComeaux]

Yea at Corey's lease they all face south...on a south wind the teal can tear you up and get out unscathed.

What direction does yours face?


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We're facing west, which I think is a good thing. We'll be in the shadows all morning, sun at our back. The predominate wind down there last season seemed to be E-SE which will work great for this set up. North and south winds will be good left to right, right to left swing shots. East winds, they'll be in our face.

[Ericdc]

Yea at Corey's lease they all face south...on a south wind the teal can tear you up and get out unscathed.

What direction does yours face?


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We're facing west, which I think is a good thing. We'll be in the shadows all morning, sun at our back. The predominate wind down there last season seemed to be E-SE which will work great for this set up. North and south winds will be good left to right, right to left swing shots. East winds, they'll be in our face.

Yea the pit we are switching to on same farm we've been on faces west too. Will be an adjustment after hunting north facing pits since 2009.


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[Rick]

Have long been thankful that the old boy who initially placed my mudhole blind, Obrey Trahan, knew his business. Makes a difference in comfort and kill.

[DComeaux]

Last year we were facing south and the birds came from the east and south east mostly. The sun was a bugger for most of the hunt. With the winds and set up we had their approach to the decoys was always screwed up, which would allow for only one, occasionally two men to get a shot, safely. We should all get to play a majority of the time with this new set up.

[aunt betty]

One of the best blinds I've ever shot from was set up facing eastward. Sunny sunrises hurt bad but the future was so bright we all had to wear shades. Welding (blood) goggles at times.

[DComeaux]

Bear, I'm going to do my damnedest to make it look like all of the other roseau clumps around us, though it may restrict visibility at times. I'd rather be surprised then frustrated.
I plan on adding roseau outside, and building away from the main structure to give it a more natural shape. What ever don't take and grow will be pulled after the season.

[Rick]

I hope your ducks work better than ours in an east wind. We can have a good 10 - 15 mph wind from the east, but the ducks just sit - no movement in an east wind at our place, been that way for over 30 years.

Ironically, that reminds me of about the only thing I can recall your old neighbor there said that I bought into: "Wind from the west, birds fly best. Wind from the east, birds fly least. It's a lie, but it rhymes."

Being as how our wind far more often than not has a strong eastern slant of some sort, I'm sure glad our birds differ from yours.

[Rick]

Bear, I'm going to do my damnedest to make it look like all of the other roseau clumps around us,

Cattle panel slanting away from the blind is a fine way to add 3-D effect and keep canes in place through wind and rain. Will also discourage Ellie traffic through it.

[DComeaux]

I hope your ducks work better than ours in an east wind. We can have a good 10 - 15 mph wind from the east, but the ducks just sit - no movement in an east wind at our place, been that way for over 30 years.

Ironically, that reminds me of about the only thing I can recall your old neighbor there said that I bought into: "Wind from the west, birds fly best. Wind from the east, birds fly least. It's a lie, but it rhymes."

Being as how our wind far more often than not has a strong eastern slant of some sort, I'm sure glad our birds differ from yours.

Back when I had a blind in creole on the "ridge", I had some acquaintances that hunted about 4 or 5 miles west of my current location. On east wind days their birds wouldn't move so I would drag em with me, if I had an opening, and they'd take me for a change of pace.

Their place was, and still is an awesome marsh. Though James, the patriarch has passed, his son lost it a three or four years ago to land owner demands which were costly. Everyone that was on that section, I think, was squeezed out. I think James had it for 40+ years.

[DComeaux]

Bear, I'm going to do my damnedest to make it look like all of the other roseau clumps around us,

Cattle panel slanting away from the blind is a fine way to add 3-D effect and keep canes in place through wind and rain. Will also discourage Ellie traffic through it.

Sounds good..Thanks for the idea.

[Darren]

Dave you going to need a barge to haul that much cane! Any way to scale back the structure at all? Know the boat hide is a big convenience for yall, so figure scaling it back to just a pirogue hide setup is out of the question at this point? Probably could end up as more hassle than its worth when you end up with a few long off crips downwind that get too far for Ellie......chase 'em down in a pirogue or a mud boat. Easy choice there

[DComeaux]

Dave you going to need a barge to haul that much cane! Any way to scale back the structure at all? Know the boat hide is a big convenience for yall, so figure scaling it back to just a pirogue hide setup is out of the question at this point? Probably could end up as more hassle than its worth when you end up with a few long off crips downwind that get too far for Ellie......chase 'em down in a pirogue or a mud boat. Easy choice there

I'm going to appease everyone and keep that boat hide. I may be able to close it in a bit but I don't know if I want the extra work, we'll see. I'll just hunt like someone who hasn't a clue, and keep telling myself that it'll be easy to make it disappear....


Oh...and we'll have a flat in tow with as much as it can hold.

[Darren]

Roseau structures larger than that one have been cancelling the migration for a looooooooong time in South La. Don't see why this one would be different, especially if you're going to bring some marsh grass into the game as well. If it's an enjoyable blind to hunt that also gives you some shooting ops, it's a winner in my book.

I've started leaning toward that approach more and more following a long (mostly public land) approach that had us runnin' and gunnin' all over, hiding all kinds of uncomfortable ways to try to be on the X.

[Ericdc]

I think Phil Robertson said there's 3 c's to duck hunting. Concealment, comfort, and consistency.


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[DComeaux]

I've seen some big ones and they do kill. I'm just used to being below the surface and not being able to see, or point out a blind in the pound. It's nice when your pulling up to it and the guys in the boat hadn't a clue it was there. I just need to get in the right mind set and let that go....for now.

[Ericdc]

I've seen some big ones and they do kill. I'm just used to being below the surface and not being able to see, or point out a blind in the pound. It's nice when your pulling up to it and the guys in the boat hadn't a clue it was there. I just need to get in the right mind set and let that go....for now.

That's what some of my guests say when we pull up to the pit on 4 wheeler.


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[Darren]

Typically would be in that camp, but last year ended up constructing a legit monstrosity we'd long mocked, and killed the heck out of the birds from it. For example, if a pit blind sticking up about 10 inches above the mud line were even possible in my location, it would be absolutely the ultimate with regard to optimal concealment, hands down. You could "brush" it with low growing cord grass and it would slay.

Other end of the spectrum being what we implemented, using much of an existing blind frame that was already there. Brushed it with roseau and local mung bushes, etc. Looked like a brush patch, but it was "huge" on our scale, but the birds had no issue with it. Killed plenty at too-close range, and enjoyed watching wads of green wings literally work it's extent, circling behind it on approach to the blind, far too close to shoot.

Sure had me changing my tune

Bring your brush, they'll come

[Ericdc]

We grew up hunting big brush blinds on bundick lake since it was so close to home. We would pile the wax myrtle on them until they looked like an island. Enjoyed hunting this big comfy brush blinds.


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[Rick]

We would pile the wax myrtle on them until they looked like an island.

That's the Cherry Ridge formula. Well, that and a confidence decoy:

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[Darren]

I hear that blind does ok , even without the flamingo

[Ericdc]

Hahaha... friend of mine gave me a huge FB Canada goose decoy last year. He got it on sale at cabelas for $5. Might try deploying it this year.


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