Preseason 2017

[Darren]

Post teal hunt this morning, loaded up and headed south for a blind build on the lease. Roped my dad into it and he was a huge help. Had most of the lumber already on site having dropped it off last trip down here. Ended up even visiting the blind we built last year in the hole we lost access to in order to salvage a few pieces from it that proved handy today.

Got it built at the right height I had in mind, change of pace from the hotel-like behemoth on south pond of the lease. This one's railings are beneath the grass height, perfect. Threw a half ass paint job on it and we're in the game. Will brush with local bushes in about 30 days, nearby crop is looking top notch.

IMG_5198.JPG

IMG_5209.JPG

IMG_5211.JPG

And from the pond side view

IMG_5214.JPG

Did see some teal a few miles away on the ride to and from the lease, they weren't there a couple weeks back on last visit.

[Darren]

Many are pointing out how dry we've been here in S. La since the tropical activity from August passed on; much of the flyway is also dry, common to late September and all of October most years.

This has been great for those recovering from flood events, most importantly, and also doesn't hurt in other ways, such as how it helps to put more birds further south on a quicker pace when water is less than abundant north of us.

This as of end of September

Capture1.JPG

[DComeaux]

I hope it stays dry...Water is falling and the grass in my yard has stopped growing.....

[Darren]

I hope it stays dry...Water is falling and the grass in my yard has stopped growing.....

yep mine has certainly slowed down, but the leaves......they are 'a-fallin from the poplar and gum trees in the yard, oak tree still to come later in season. If it's not one thing it's another.

Also, with all this nice easterly breeze we're enjoying yesterday and today, the water is over the dock at the camp. Waiting on word of whether we need to go get the big boat out the slip. Know it's over the roads in many places and not looking to subside or change direction until later this week

[DComeaux]

Seeing your blind reminds me of a time when I hunted down at the very end of bayou dularge road in Theriot LA. The grass in your area is the same as we had down there. I built small chairs with sides and was able to pull and loosely tie that grass to the sides. The (3) narrow chairs we're placed in a line as close as possible, leaving just enough space for thick grass to remain in between each.

While sitting in those chairs our heads were even with the top of the grass. We had to use one,narrow route in and out so we'd not trample it. Worked really good, and was pretty comfortable.

[Darren]

Seeing your blind reminds me of a time when I hunted down at the very end of bayou dularge road in Theriot LA. The grass in your area is the same as we had down there. I built small chairs with sides and was able to pull and loosely tie that grass to the sides. The (3) narrow chairs we're placed in a line as close as possible, leaving just enough space for thick grass to remain in between each.

While sitting in those chairs our heads were even with the top of the grass. We had to use one,narrow route in and out so we'd not trample it. Worked really good, and was pretty comfortable.

Similarly we hunted for years in plastic patio chairs with the legs cut down to about half length. Were great for our run-n-gun public land tactics, and as you said, were killer with our heads below the marsh grass height. Very comfortable to boot, though some just couldn't handle shooting sitting down.

[Ducaholic]

Seeing your blind reminds me of a time when I hunted down at the very end of bayou dularge road in Theriot LA. The grass in your area is the same as we had down there. I built small chairs with sides and was able to pull and loosely tie that grass to the sides. The (3) narrow chairs we're placed in a line as close as possible, leaving just enough space for thick grass to remain in between each.

While sitting in those chairs our heads were even with the top of the grass. We had to use one,narrow route in and out so we'd not trample it. Worked really good, and was pretty comfortable.

Similarly we hunted for years in plastic patio chairs with the legs cut down to about half length. Were great for our run-n-gun public land tactics, and as you said, were killer with our heads below the marsh grass height. Very comfortable to boot, though some just couldn't handle shooting sitting down.

Rarely shoot standing up hunting out of my boat blind on public ground unless it's at first light when concealment is not as critical.This year I have joined a lease and will be hunting out of pits. Going to take some getting used to.

[Darren]

You can see them in this pic, they stack nicely. These have been pulled up from how we would hunt them.....they are set down on the "ground"/mud and sunk till the seat hits the ground. You sit in there with your feet out in front of you. Ideally you put them on edge of a shoreline so your feet (chest waders recommended) may even be in the pond and you pull the grass around you. Super effective and mobile, killed a ton of birds from these.

tonylimit1201.JPG

[aunt betty]

Found one of them patio chairs out in the woods one day. Nice white one.
Had been hoping to find a bucket. The guys down where I go have been trying to figure out for three seasons who is marking holes with buckets...and chairs tied up in trees.
When you here about the epic chair-hole...

[Darren]

that redleg mallard call is a good call

Yea he always liked it; though we didn't have a whole lot of use for it when those grays were just dropping on in. That was the Katrina season, actually, 2005.

[Darren]

Not looking good this morning, all models have come into fair agreement on landfall in or around Louisiana.

Capture.JPG

Capture1.JPG

Just hoping the strengthening is minimal

[Darren]

Southeast LA could take a big hit with tide, wind and rain. Not much time for getting the marsh ready for hunting season.
Good luck - hope the storm takes a turn to the east.

this track could be OK if bulk of storm stays off to our east. However, if the eye went over new orleans..... not good

[DComeaux]

We need a steering front.

[Darren]

You can see them in this pic, they stack nicely. These have been pulled up from how we would hunt them.....they are set down on the "ground"/mud and sunk till the seat hits the ground. You sit in there with your feet out in front of you. Ideally you put them on edge of a shoreline so your feet (chest waders recommended) may even be in the pond and you pull the grass around you. Super effective and mobile, killed a ton of birds from these.

tonylimit1201.JPG

cool deal, I like sitting low but I don't like sitting in the water. Seems we've had high water the past 2 years so it seemed there was always 4-6" of water where we would hunt


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Yep that's a downfall of the rig; works best with low water levels. But works really well!

You could likely modify the chairs by adding a cross bar of some kind using a little lumber at a predetermined depth so that the chairs sink some, but not all the way to the seat. Just a lil marshland engineering.

Speaking of, been taking bets with my buddies on whether my new blind built last week endures Nate. Like my chances, but we shall see.....

[Darren]

Not really the weekend forecast we look for on the hunting/fishing grounds

Capture.JPG

This track puts it right over the camp basically, with some luck it stays east of it a bit

Capture.JPG

[DComeaux]

That sucks this late in the year.

[Darren]

Interestingly enough, log says storm years have been very productive with the ducks for us. Not worried about our ponds losing their shape, just of what feed will survive the wave action. Thankfully our feed doesn't mind salinity

Theory on the success on storm years is that Venice, with its abundant freshwater feed, isn't as appealing to the birds when the saltwater burns that food, so they rebound back north to us after initially overflying. Katrina season, for example, was stellar, as was Gustav, Isaac, TS Lee.

[DComeaux]

That's understandable, but it just makes a mess of things.

[Darren]

Thankfully it looks like we've largely dodged the bullet that was Hurricane Nate. From monitoring the water gages in area of the camp and hunting grounds, water level never exceeded the height it had gotten the week before with the persistent east winds. And it appears that the winds were largely kept to the east side of the storm, and we stayed on the west side. That's unfortunate, however, for our remaining (fragile) barrier islands of the Chandeleur chain that likely took a pounding.

Track stayed just east of us and the nearby Biloxi Marsh

Capture2.JPG

Water height on gage showed it was about 3-4 feet above normal which, from pics I got from the camp, looked about what we experienced. Was just enough to float a wooden picnic table that was tethered to a piling. As a reference, 5-6ft is "normal" tidal fluctuation range daily

Capture.JPG

The NOAA weather station is within sight of the camp, here's the wind log from it where it peaked Sat night

IMG_5270.PNG

Water is steadily falling so we'll hope that our SAV rode it out. It's a salt tolerant variety as our lease area and nearby marshes have a pretty high salinity year round so we'll see. Likely will be at least a few weeks before I get out there and put eyes on it, though.

Though warm here, holding out hope that this system on the north end of the game is helping to put wheels (and wings) in motion. Does not look like Nate's track made for much of any rain on the flyway so that remains in our favor.

Capture1.JPG

[aunt betty]

Holy shit!
Trough in the jet stream.
It's been a while since I've seen that pattern.

Now shove that sucker eastward by the fourth week in October please.

[Deltaman]

Thank God this storm was moving fast and didn't have time to get any worse, because it hit us on the nose. Storm surge was the worst part of it, and a lot of yard cleaning from limbs, leaves and pine straw in Mobile. You can generally gauge the strength of the wind by how shredded the leaves are on the ground. After Katrina, finding a whole leaf on the ground was unusual, but on this one, most were still whole. Lost the decking on our pier at the family home on Mobile Bay, and the new bulkhead we had put in a few weeks ago, took a head-on pounding. Curious to see how well it held up when the water recedes.

[Darren]

Looking warm for rest of this week, with potential for a weak front next week. From my preseason 2016 log, looks like we were in same situation in similar time frame last season. No big fronts projected any time soon

Capture.JPG

Still pretty happy with the lack of rain factor on the flyway, glad Nate bailed out to the east and not due north up the flyway.

Capture2.JPG

[Darren]

I like your outlook, and I'd agree that it would appear we had a better September this year, though I only hunted first few days of our teal season in 2016 so only have limited comparison of temps. Do recall there was a small front right about the first of October last year, as I got to enjoy much of it's results stuck indoors at hospital following my daughter's arrival.

Did, however, make a comparison of snow cover on the breeding grounds, and last year was well ahead of this year at same time as depicted below. 2014 was last year of lots of early birds here in La but the site was giving me an error when requesting the 2014 data for same date's comparison.

2016 snow cover Oct 9

Capture2016.JPG

2017 snow cover Oct 9

Capture 2017.JPG

Not sure if these temps are above or below average, but here's forecast for Fargo, ND for the foreseeable. Would prefer to see some flakes on that graphic

fargo.JPG

Thankfully I'm not reliant on the mighty greenhead to fill my strap in early season, or really any part of the season, just want to see my humble gray ducks, and they usually make their way early, big fronts or not.

Two seasons ago, for the 2015 opener, we hunted in teal season t-shirts and shorts under our waders, swatting mosquitos with temps in the 70's......and were done in less than 20 minutes. So we know it can be both warm and good, but we shall see! That was a particularly early opener as well for us, Nov. 7, which is closer to what we'd expect for our coastal zone youth hunt date than main opener.

[Darren]

.......and revisiting the 2015 preseason, I noted this in log at same time frame.

Capture.JPG

[DComeaux]

2015... heat to the Canadian border at this time.