Looking Ahead to 2018-2019...

[Rick]

Pounding timber, now, but that's something I've been incredibly lucky about over the years. A couple ago I popped a ball joint just shortly after coming off a particularly erroded levee and while slowed to a crawl turning off a bridge onto a gravel road with a little country boat landing parking area to pull off on. This time she quit me right at the jug across the road's deep ditches at the end of a farm's wide grass duster strip, where I was off the and out of the way.

Having bragged on that, will likely spend my morning trying to get a stuck air boat out of a dry marsh...

[Darren]

Looks like the stretch from Morgan City to Abbeville has been getting your much needed rain over the last 24 hours. Hope it swings your way soon

[Rick]

Probably just a tease. Got real black while we were in Illinois Plantation's marsh this morning, but nothing at all meaningful came of it.

[Rick]

A shot of perspective from the wall over this computer screen, "1992 Goose Hunt, 'Day's Bag'":

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[DComeaux]

I did laugh..... Would like to hear the story behind that photo.

[Rick]

Just some great guys (aside from that character second form the right) after a "bad" hunt in "the good old days". Scratched like a red-assed ape on the south end of Creole Bell (the only rice between what was then Shot's Camp and the marsh and first rice for the Amaco flight) on a morning when they didn't fly where they "always" do. But Goat and the guys didn't come all the way from Crenshaw County Alabama to hang their lips.

I try to learn from guys like them or the small handful of guides we've had who never seemed to kill much but most always brought their hunters back to camp happy. Albeit without a whole lot of luck. Just not much of an entertainer, and the tougher it gets, the more my ass too often puckers over the mistakes we're making, instead lightening up and otherwise making the best of the morning.

[DComeaux]

Just some great guys (aside from that character second form the right) after a "bad" hunt in "the good old days". Scratched like a red-assed ape on the south end of Creole Bell (the only rice between what was then Shot's Camp and the marsh and first rice for the Amaco flight) on a morning when they didn't fly where they "always" do. But Goat and the guys didn't come all the way from Crenshaw County Alabama to hang their lips.

I try to learn from guys like them or the small handful of guides we've had who never seemed to kill much but most always brought their hunters back to camp happy. Albeit without a whole lot of luck. Just not much of an entertainer, and the tougher it gets, the more my ass too often puckers over the mistakes we're making, instead lightening up and otherwise making the best of the morning.

It's a difficult thing to do, and I often think and talk of you with my bunch while in the blind, especially on slow days. Having to entertain a group you're possibly meeting for the first time, in the early AM darkness has its challenges, to say the least. I'm not a morning person most days, so I'd probably not be good company at the start.
I love to see people enjoying themselves in the blind, but it takes an effort to do it with those who maybe don't have the passion or understanding, and are only there as part of a corporate group outing.

[Deltaman]

A shot of perspective from the wall over this computer screen, "1992 Goose Hunt, 'Day's Bag'":

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That is hilarious Rick!!!!!!!!!
Takes a special kind of person to be able to take mostly strangers (and the occasional FE), day in and day out, knowing you cannot stop some of the silly mistakes, yet keep a good attitude. Your success is damn sure better than most though, so you are doing something right

[Darren]

Just some great guys (aside from that character second form the right) after a "bad" hunt in "the good old days". Scratched like a red-assed ape on the south end of Creole Bell (the only rice between what was then Shot's Camp and the marsh and first rice for the Amaco flight) on a morning when they didn't fly where they "always" do. But Goat and the guys didn't come all the way from Crenshaw County Alabama to hang their lips.

I try to learn from guys like them or the small handful of guides we've had who never seemed to kill much but most always brought their hunters back to camp happy. Albeit without a whole lot of luck. Just not much of an entertainer, and the tougher it gets, the more my ass too often puckers over the mistakes we're making, instead lightening up and otherwise making the best of the morning.

So it was, indeed, possible to have a slow hunt(or even scratch!!) long before these current times some are calling "the beginning of the end". Just wanted to make sure

Kind of like the globe is so hot these days from our human contributions, "its so hot that it hasn't been this hot since the record set in 1897".......so it was this hot (or hotter) back then sometimes too huh?

[Rick]

Suppose it's been drier, too, but you wouldn't know it from some of the "marsh" just west of the Bell City ditch. Still a little water in some of it, but you'll need an airboat to get to any of the blinds we saw, much less those that'll still float a decoy. Walked to some nests we've always boated to and even found some of what we picked on last year had been plowed. Don't see that every day. Plowed to dust fields there were just that, so they've missed the 3 or so inches we apparently lucked into the past couple days.

Mallard Bay tomorrow, but don't know if I'll be on it or next door on LA Reclamation.

[Darren]

Mallard bay marsh is what the Oak Island folks hunt? And LA Reclamation the marsh across the ditch to the west of them? Saw there's a Reclamation Road that serves a little tank battery down that way.

Drought monitor shows entire state in the dust. Heard a report of awfully dry conditions recently from N. La as I'm sure Eric can attest to.

Capture.JPG

[Rick]

Mallard bay marsh is what the Oak Island folks hunt? And LA Reclamation the marsh across the ditch to the west of them?

Yes, Oak Island is Mallard Bay Co's camp (I assume) and yes, LA Reclamation is the deeded name of their western neighbor, sometimes called Chapman's marsh.

[DComeaux]

Just some great guys (aside from that character second form the right) after a "bad" hunt in "the good old days". Scratched like a red-assed ape on the south end of Creole Bell (the only rice between what was then Shot's Camp and the marsh and first rice for the Amaco flight) on a morning when they didn't fly where they "always" do. But Goat and the guys didn't come all the way from Crenshaw County Alabama to hang their lips.

I try to learn from guys like them or the small handful of guides we've had who never seemed to kill much but most always brought their hunters back to camp happy. Albeit without a whole lot of luck. Just not much of an entertainer, and the tougher it gets, the more my ass too often puckers over the mistakes we're making, instead lightening up and otherwise making the best of the morning.

So it was, indeed, possible to have a slow hunt(or even scratch!!) long before these current times some are calling "the beginning of the end". Just wanted to make sure

Kind of like the globe is so hot these days from our human contributions, "its so hot that it hasn't been this hot since the record set in 1897".......so it was this hot (or hotter) back then sometimes too huh?

PICOCHER!

[Ericdc]

Mallard bay marsh is what the Oak Island folks hunt? And LA Reclamation the marsh across the ditch to the west of them? Saw there's a Reclamation Road that serves a little tank battery down that way.

Drought monitor shows entire state in the dust. Heard a report of awfully dry conditions recently from N. La as I'm sure Eric can attest to.

Capture.JPG

Attesting!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Ducaholic]

Dry in July. Good to see we are having a normal summer for a change. Last two summers have been wet in July and then it got really dry. I'm hoping for water in the woods in time for the 2nd split opener. It's been a while. Need that holding power we haven't had the last few years.

[Rick]

Darren, all four of the Mallard Bay Co/Oak Island's blinds looked pretty sweet, though some runs had some problem spots. Lot more encouraging than what we were in to the west. Cherry Ridge tomorrow morning for semi sure - and our marsh Mon???

[Rick]

Couple of summer' progress observations: saw some rice so yellow in the sun it made me squint and my first big bunch of wood storks yesterday. Autumn at least seems en route, if still not close.

And one for AB: bees tried to take our outside AC unit yesterday. From a distance it looked like a popcorn maker with swarming bees being blown into the air by its fan. Closer up it appeared an aerial battle grounds littered with broken fighters while others continued to dive bomb the fan. Couldn't find my permethrin bottle, but Yard Guarding the unit's intake vents turned the battle's tide. Pretty crazy that a queen, or whatever was drawing them, would be in the unit, given how much it runs this time of year.

[Rick]

Really don't know what we'll find in ours, but this morning's work in the neighbor's connecting marsh encouraging. Not "good," mind you, but better than feared. Of course, theirs has benefited from a full-time keeper with a serious budget and ours is, well...ours.

Still slated to see what we've got Monday and hoping we're not too far from getting a Go-Devil to most ponds. Most relevant gauge is up about a half foot from when I found the one we kept in the boathouse for summer work grounded.

[Ducaholic]

I spoke to soon. Forecast is wet next 8-10 days. You may get what you need Rick.

[Darren]

Rick,

Stumbled on episode of Paradise Louisiana from the week following the teal opener. They were talking about a couple of key things from the '17 teal season:

1.) water was still over some roads in the greater Gueydan area, had to have hurt significantly by spreading birds out so much; and

2.) LOTS of reports from people saying they were loaded with birds week before the opener but had surprisingly slow opening weekend; guess they all went back north to eat corn
That was some guys in Vermilion Parish all the way east to Capt. Ryan Lambert in Buras/Plaquemines Parish, similar story.

#2 above would support the idea kicked around about missing the mass of BWT, or at least the first big push of them. Hope you get your needed rain.........without covering the roads in 2018.

[Rick]

Feel like I've been in the rain all morning while in our marsh (and just got out of a hot shower that felt flat wonderful), and we're still pretty low on the Clyde's boat and Isaac and Ed's slips indicators:

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But I've seen the marsh a lot drier. Was disappointed with my spring cane spraying results and all the more so that the rain sabotaged my plans to hit another lick this morning, but I'd at least knocked them back some:

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And praise be to Ma Nature that the mudhole was much, much better than expected:

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Very much expected it to be covered in goose weed (like Isaac and Ed's boat slip), as was the case during the 2010 and 2011 droughts. Not sure how I escaped that so far, and may not in the long run, but I'm thankful to see what little bottom's showing, instead of goose weed prairie. Will little doubt look much different come September, but hopefully still manageable...

[Lreynolds]

2.) LOTS of reports from people saying they were loaded with birds week before the opener but had surprisingly slow opening weekend; guess they all went back north to eat corn
That was some guys in Vermilion Parish all the way east to Capt. Ryan Lambert in Buras/Plaquemines Parish, similar story.

Twas true .........

We got a rather unique look at a rather unique situation last year via band recoveries as well. LDWF NAWMP Coordinator, Paul Link, has been banding large numbers of bluewings in March/April the last 3 years as part of an avian-flu research project, mostly around Port Barre, AND he is the chair of the Mississippi Flyway Council Technical Section Banding Committee, which holds the permit and oversees the banding of ducks in Yorkton, SK, where we have banded large numbers of bluewings for the last 5 years.

Remember how unusually cool the weather was in early September last year? Almost freakishly so, AND the Waterfowl Program Manager, and a big majority of hunters, thought it a good idea to postpone the opening date 6 days and open on a Friday to hunt the last 16 days in September.

So now the stage is set for what I wanted to say ......

During the first 6 days of Texas' teal season, when we were NOT open, TX hunters killed 84 bluewings that had been banded in either Port Barre, LA or Yorkton, SK. I also flew the Coastal aerial survey during those 6 days, and counted the highest number of bluewings in 10 years. So there were plenty of birds around.

[Lreynolds]

Wow! That looks relatively nice, Rick.

I've not been out to my lease, mostly because I'm fearing the walk in the heat to what may well be a growing salvinia disaster. I'm still taking refuge in my ignorance and denial.

[Darren]

2.) LOTS of reports from people saying they were loaded with birds week before the opener but had surprisingly slow opening weekend; guess they all went back north to eat corn
That was some guys in Vermilion Parish all the way east to Capt. Ryan Lambert in Buras/Plaquemines Parish, similar story.

Twas true .........

We got a rather unique look at a rather unique situation last year via band recoveries as well. LDWF NAWMP Coordinator, Paul Link, has been banding large numbers of bluewings in March/April the last 3 years as part of an avian-flu research project, mostly around Port Barre, AND he is the chair of the Mississippi Flyway Council Technical Section Banding Committee, which holds the permit and oversees the banding of ducks in Yorkton, SK, where we have banded large numbers of bluewings for the last 5 years.

Remember how unusually cool the weather was in early September last year? Almost freakishly so, AND the Waterfowl Program Manager, and a big majority of hunters, thought it a good idea to postpone the opening date 6 days and open on a Friday to hunt the last 16 days in September.

So now the stage is set for what I wanted to say ......

During the first 6 days of Texas' teal season, when we were NOT open, TX hunters killed 84 bluewings that had been banded in either Port Barre, LA or Yorkton, SK. I also flew the Coastal aerial survey during those 6 days, and counted the highest number of bluewings in 10 years. So there were plenty of birds around.

Very cool. So it was basically a perfect storm of MIS-fortune for Louisiana hunters. We gambled on a later than usual start because that's what everyone's been crying about for years now, and then the birds/Ma Nature showed us who's in control by bringing down cooler than usual temps and early masses of birds.

Can you comment on the following:

1.) Do BW's move down in waves of some kind, sorted in some way? Early males that haven't stayed behind with broods? Other?
2.) When that mass is missed, as in 2017, are we basically SOL for the remainder of the 16 days? and
3.) These birds banded in Port Barre (in spring) opted to go to Texas coast in the subsequent fall migration. Is that common? Did they not imprint on Louisiana? Or is it just a crap shoot of which way they'll head each fall?

Thanks for kicking it around with us

[Darren]

Feel like I've been in the rain all morning while in our marsh (and just got out of a hot shower that felt flat wonderful), and we're still pretty low on the Clyde's boat and Isaac and Ed's slips indicators:

018.JPG

024.JPG

But I've seen the marsh a lot drier. Was disappointed with my spring cane spraying results and all the more so that the rain sabotaged my plans to hit another lick this morning, but I'd at least knocked them back some:

036.JPG

And praise be to Ma Nature that the mudhole was much, much better than expected:

039.JPG

Very much expected it to be covered in goose weed (like Isaac and Ed's boat slip), as was the case during the 2010 and 2011 droughts. Not sure how I escaped that so far, and may not in the long run, but I'm thankful to see what little bottom's showing, instead of goose weed prairie. Will little doubt look much different come September, but hopefully still manageable...

Glad to see you're in better shape than feared; would agree it looks much better than what you've started with in some past years where there literally was nothing resembling a "pond"

[DComeaux]

Mud hole looking good Rick. Hope it continues.


Wanted to add, that I went down to Chenier yesterday with the wife, daughter and a couple of the grand babies to have a look around and check on the camp. Seems the radar wasn't lying, and they did get a bunch of rain. The land lord lady said she measured 12" for the week, and Saturday was a toad strangler. That was evident from the looks of things.

Water level in our marsh looks perfect, from a dock perspective anyway. I probably won't get out in it until a couple of three weeks before teal season.

[Lreynolds]

Can you comment on the following:

1.) Do BW's move down in waves of some kind, sorted in some way? Early males that haven't stayed behind with broods? Other?
2.) When that mass is missed, as in 2017, are we basically SOL for the remainder of the 16 days? and
3.) These birds banded in Port Barre (in spring) opted to go to Texas coast in the subsequent fall migration. Is that common? Did they not imprint on Louisiana? Or is it just a crap shoot of which way they'll head each fall?

Thanks for kicking it around with us

1) Males have no role in brood rearing in most duck species. They "abandon" the hen once she gets into incubation, and goes on about his business of maybe finding another hen (one that lost her nest and has time/energy to renest), molting his wing feathers, and for bluewings, heading south. The first migrants are adult males, followed by females and juveniles.

2) I'm not sure. We almost always miss the first bunch of migrating bluewings that tend to move through in early September, but there is a steady, unpredictable stream in most years. I remember in the late-90's when I happened to be in North and South Dakota during mid to late-September for a string of years, and seeing the LA and TX internet forums light up with "they're here!" and tales of great early-season teal shooting. But all the while, I was seeing HUGE numbers of bluewings in every pothole in SD and ND.

I like to gauge the migration based on the age/sex composition of the harvest, acknowledging that I don't get to see a representative amount of it. On the opening 3-day weekend last year, we worked 2 "picking houses" for avian flu samples in SW LA, and the reports from my guys were that not only did they have about 1/3 of the normal number of birds, but nearly half were females.

Those are generalities. I have no idea how many we miss early vs how many migrate late. In some years a bunch of them stay (usually after a hurricane), and other years they don't. In the 14 years I've been flying the surveys, there seems to be more bluewings staying for the regular duck season compared to the past.

3) Bluewings are considered a "pioneer" species in the old waterfowl literature. They favor shallow-water habitats, which are highly dynamic, and they have the ability to find them when and where they become available. I think imprinting, especially to a winter site, means less to them than say a species like scaup, that exploit a food resource of more stable, predictable habitats.

I haven't followed up to know what a typical recovery distribution for those Port Barre birds looks like. If our season was open, we might have taken a lot more in LA than they did in TX. But remember those birds were banded on their spring migration, where ducks often use different habitats than in the fall.