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It's snowing!

Regular season first split numbers

10 hunts, of which one logged as a scratch. 91 birds - 9.1 birds per hunt

Green wing - 61
Blue wing - 12
Gadwall - 8
Reheads - 2
scaup - 4
shoveler - 3
mallard- 1

I'm really looking forward to to next Saturday. Hopefully the birds will be a bit more active.

Finished the installation of the new motor yesterday and made a few circles in the pond here at home. So far so good. Tapping into the low oil sensor wire for the oh crap kill works great. It's going to be really nice to have a motor that runs we'll, for a change.

Hope it serves as expected. Genius that I am. I didn't check the bag of parts I'd picked up from Blacks until I got ready to take the boat to the shop last Monday and am still waiting on the arrival of the correct ones. Supposedly reordered when I discovered and brought the error to their attention and waiting on UPS cyber Monday mess, but I'm beginning to wonder.

Assuming said parts eventually show and I get the boat to the shop, I'll try to remember to ask about their two recommended Predator mods that I'd heard of second hand.

Rick wrote:Hope it serves as expected. Genius that I am. I didn't check the bag of parts I'd picked up from Blacks until I got ready to take the boat to the shop last Monday and am still waiting on the arrival of the correct ones. Supposedly reordered when I discovered and brought the error to their attention and waiting on UPS cyber Monday mess, but I'm beginning to wonder.

Assuming said parts eventually show and I get the boat to the shop, I'll try to remember to ask about their two recommended Predator mods that I'd heard of second hand.

I wanted to mention that talking to some experienced mechanics, describing the symptoms of the vanguard, I think we had it narrowed down to the valves. We'd pretty much eliminated fuel issues. I had a long blue flame shooting out the muffler, which was very visible on the runs to the blind in the morning. We looked like the batmobile going down the ditch.

After weighing the possible cost of a valve job with it's unknowns on the old vanguard verses this new motors cost, it was a no-brainer.

Hahahaha DC going to catch the marsh on fire


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Marsh Bear wrote:DC - a member of our club that lives in Sulphur rode out to our lease this morning, did not go out in the boat, but rode along the oil field roads and said the grey ducks are all over our marsh - good chance you have the same thing in your area - good luck this weekend.

That's good news. I'll find out what we have on Friday morning, when I go check and add brush to the blind... Good luck to you as well.

I ran the dogs yesterday on the piece where I'd deer hunted and been surrounded by preseason ducks, then drove down to Mallard Bay Co. and back on the south end of the 717 loop without seeing a single duck using the however many miles of flooded field and sheet water along that route. Guessing you've seen Larry's post that Rockefeller's December count was the highest in 15yrs, so you guys may have them all on the coast..

I did see that. They're going to be fat.

How'd Blake handle that push pole?

12/16/2017 Opening day second split.

Overcast- mid 40's brisk NE wind. It twas a little chilly.

Blake me,and Bennett

Birds- 18 - 11 GW 1 BW 5 spoonbill 1 scaup

Not fast and furious, which made it nice. Truly a nice morning in the blind. I got down here with the new motor yesterday morning, launched it and never left our landing. Loaded it up and went back to the camp to figure it out. To make a long story short,I had Blake bring down an inline electric pump, installed it and we're now in business. Launched the boat after 10 last night and got in bed at midnight.

We found out that he new motor fuel pump hose length limit is 18 to 20 inches max, with the tank above or below the motor. This will not work for us. I bypassed the stock fuel pump.

Duck numbers seem the same as the first split, with a substantial increase in shoveler. Ruddys seem to have increased in numbers as well, and we're seeing a good many bufflehead. Those drakes are looking good. The marsh was noisy with duck chatter early on. Green wing are in fair numbers and the grays are still skirting us. I can't help but think we'd have a better chance at those if we weren't hunting from a Hilton.

DComeaux wrote:
We found out that he new motor fuel pump hose length limit is 18 to 20 inches max...

How could you even turn a motor full range with a 20" fuel line? That sucks - or doesn't suck, which sucks.

Also been bugging me that I forgot to mention on the phone that we've been told that electric pumps push better than they pull, so if the hose is really long, IE: tank in the front of the boat, it may be necessary to have the pump near the tank. But I gather you either knew or avoided that.

So...




You have to have a less than 20" hose?
Damn. I gotta quit duck hunting because my hose is too long.

Ellie is tired

Sitting here at the camp listening to the rain fall this morning, and hearing a few shots in all directions. Radar showing one more line of showers to push through. We may give it a go in a bit. The weather got pretty intense eariler, when the initial line came through.

We went out around 8 for about an hour after bailing the boat. We took one spoonbill, and when we were leaving there were some big bunches of GW swarming over the marsh. The other blinds that sat through the rain took 5 or 6, each blind. When we got settled in the wind dropped to nothing. It was very still.

My third granddaughter was born tonight at 10:09 pm here in my house, midwives. The one minor issue is they were told it was a boy by the ultrasound tech some time ago. Lots of things to return, and mom and dad have to now name a girl.

Congratulations.

DComeaux wrote:My third granddaughter was born tonight at 10:09 pm here in my house, midwives. The one minor issue is they were told it was a boy by the ultrasound tech some time ago. Lots of things to return, and mom and dad have to now name a girl.

Congrats! Little bundle for Christmas

DComeaux wrote:My third granddaughter was born tonight at 10:09 pm here in my house, midwives. The one minor issue is they were told it was a boy by the ultrasound tech some time ago. Lots of things to return, and mom and dad have to now name a girl.

Congrats on the new family addition and glad ya'll killed some birds for the second split opener.

Thanks guys.

Home birth wow!! Congrats DC.


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Ericdc wrote:Home birth wow!! Congrats DC.


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Thanks! This one and the last, Avery, we both home births, but all three were natural.

DComeaux wrote:

Ericdc wrote:Home birth wow!! Congrats DC.


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Thanks! This one and the last, Avery, we both home births, but all three were natural.

More power to Mom.


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Two of the blinds on our place hunted this morning taking limits of grays, teal and mallards. As soon as they let us go, I'm headed to the marsh. Front coming through in the morning, and forecast show it to be slipping through our area around LST.... Might shake things up a bit.

DComeaux wrote:Two of the blinds on our place hunted this morning taking limits of grays, teal and mallards.

Were they not socked in by ground fog? (Ours was the only limit in our marsh this miserable morning.)