Preseason

[Rick]

Dave, I lacked the presence of mind to ask about the immature wing returns from Louisiana, in general, when we spoke the other evening, but have it in my head that the info you received on yours should have included that, as well.

Am also thinking some others here might find your returns of interest.

From the hunt with you on 11/27/2020 I sent in (6) wings which were identified as (1) Widgeon, (3) blue wing (1) shoveler and a ring neck. All were shown to be immature but the ring neck, which was marked as an adult. If I'm not mistaken, all were female. I will be receiving another wing packet again this year.

Did they include statewide info? Your immature ratio really surprised me, given what I saw while banding, and I'd love to learn your ratio was more the norm than an anomaly.

[DComeaux]

Dave, I lacked the presence of mind to ask about the immature wing returns from Louisiana, in general, when we spoke the other evening, but have it in my head that the info you received on yours should have included that, as well.

Am also thinking some others here might find your returns of interest.

From the hunt with you on 11/27/2020 I sent in (6) wings which were identified as (1) Widgeon, (3) blue wing (1) shoveler and a ring neck. All were shown to be immature but the ring neck, which was marked as an adult. If I'm not mistaken, all were female. I will be receiving another wing packet again this year.

Did they include statewide info? Your immature ratio really surprised me, given what I saw while banding, and I'd love to learn your ratio was more the norm than an anomaly.

It was very limited info with only the info I shared typed on the back of the letter. I'd like to know more as well.

[DComeaux]

I went down to the camp on Friday to meet the guy I lease from and stayed the night. We were to run the lease in his boat the next morning but we couldn't get out of the launch area due to the short, narrow pass near the launch area being silted in. The water is low and it seems we've picked up some sediment after the storms. He is scheduled for surgery on an elbow so I was to drive us around, and if we would've stuck that boat trying to cut our way through I would have been alone to get us out, not to mention that the boat and surface drive isn't mine to tear up. I didn't think to get pictures of the cut. I so wanted to get out there to check on vegetation growth. The roseau and other plants down there are green, thick, and seem to be growing fast.

Blake knows a guy that has a mud boat with a Subaru aircraft engine that he's used to cut trials to deer stands in the marsh where there aren't any. We're planning to drag it down there next weekend to run the lease and open up the runs. It should have no problems with this place.

I dug out and fired up my old computer today and was able to grab some pictures and old logs from it.

I found some treasure on that computer. This is my Ellie 12 years ago. She still acts like a pup today but her stamina is lacking a bit. I hope to take her out this season but will take it easy on her. She will retire after this one.

Ellie.jpg

This is her today.

Ellie 2.jpg

I found these logs from 2011-2012 and 2012-2013..... I'd take either one of those this season.

2011 1.jpg

2011 2.jpg

2012 1.jpg

[DComeaux]

2012 2.jpg

These photos are from the hunt on 11/23/2011 with my son and daughter. I sure hope this season goes well.

129302B4-E73F-4F39-BB88-DC0820A76DAF[1].jpeg

15D7613A-B417-4869-A542-43A2F0CB5DAA[1].jpeg

[Rick]

Ellie may be the grayest Lab I've seen, but does still have her puppy "Let's go." smile. Pretty neat, that.

Re: old logs, mine from 2007 to 2014 remain locked in a crashed hard drive. Sometimes think it just as well, as I can get heartsick enough just driving through our area and remembering what once was... Spoils my appetite for crawfish, too.

[Ducaholic]

Ellie may be the grayest Lab I've seen, but does still have her puppy "Let's go." smile. Pretty neat, that.

Re: old logs, mine from 2007 to 2014 remain locked in a crashed hard drive. Sometimes think it just as well, as I can get heartsick enough just driving through our area and remembering what once was... Spoils my appetite for crawfish, too.

Well said Rick Hall, Well Said!

[DComeaux]

"Duck hunting could dry up this fall" ...... This is the title of the Outdoor Life post on Face Book.


https://www.outdoorlife.com/hunting/older-and-fewer-ducks-upcoming-hunting-season/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook&fbclid=IwAR1VmpJg7_Vih4qJ-6gi9rMMt6gnP7B9rQjVwU999sL18SYtqc0mDc1fOFc

[Darren]

"Duck hunting could dry up this fall" ...... This is the title of the Outdoor Life post on Face Book.


https://www.outdoorlife.com/hunting/older-and-fewer-ducks-upcoming-hunting-season/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook&fbclid=IwAR1VmpJg7_Vih4qJ-6gi9rMMt6gnP7B9rQjVwU999sL18SYtqc0mDc1fOFc

“That’s a big reservoir of ducks,” says Walker. “And that’s a buffer that we didn’t have the last time we went into a prolonged drought. But if you’re talking about this fall flight, I would anticipate that there will be fewer young birds in the harvest. I’m preparing for a fairly small fall flight comprised of older birds compared to normal.”

Really going out on a limb with that prediction!

I have a feeling numbers observed will be fine, just overall more difficult to trick. Prolonged condition of this type could indeed lead to restrictions in coming years I would think, fine by me, we're still going! If only south Louisiana's rain could be dropped up there.......

[Rick]

I have a feeling numbers observed will be fine, just overall more difficult to trick...

Sure hope you're right. It's the ones that aren't there that are the real bitch to toll.

[DComeaux]

Rick, is this your Idea of snow cover to bring the ducks? This picture was taken in North Dakota in 1966.

4-36f174347d10c35898b51579419fa129.jpg

[Rick]

Remember similar Michigan Upper Peninsula pics of snow to the roof.

Probably a great relief to duck hunters, given how bad the early '60s are said to have gotten.

[DComeaux]

We made an attempt yesterday to open the ditch that lets us out of the launch area but it didn't go well. When we first arrived I noticed that the water was even lower than last weekend and the mud seemed to be at a higher elevation and much drier, even cracking on the top layer. We launched the mud boat and I got in with the owner with the intention of easing up to the mudflat and accessing the situation. As we approached the mud flat at full throttle I realized he had decided to attack the mud flat full on and was going to try to make it through to the other side.
We went about 2 boat lengths before the boat came to an abrupt halt but my body continued it's forward motion, driving me out of my seat with my left cheek slamming into the trolling motor bracket on the front deck. A little blood was dripping from my face so I turned and asked him the extent of my injuries and he said it was just a couple of scratches, which it is, and a sore left face, today. After accessing our situation and not allowing him to get out of the boat knowing it would turn into a human mud extraction, Blake headed to the lease holders camp to get his surface drive. After some back an forth, coming at us in reverse, I was able to get in the other boat and attach a rope and pull the mud boat out.
The above events are a very abbreviated account of this fiasco. We did continue trying to make it across to the big water on the south side but I stopped it after seeing that we didn't have any water flowing into the ditch we were trying to open. We'll just have to wait and see what the tides and or rain can do for us as teal season gets closer. Taking pictures of this outing didn't even enter my mind at the time.


The three of us had drove down on Friday evening and stayed the night. After we got cleaned up Saturday I drove home and while unloading the truck I realized I had forgot my my bag and dirty laundry in the camper. I took off again and headed back down there to get it but took a different route. From Bell City on hwy 14 to hwy 27 I noticed many, many acres of what were rice fields still holding water and they were dirty. In those I saw two flocks of mottled ducks rise which contained 15 birds in total. I was thinking of how nice of an area this was for nesting mottled ducks. I'd like to know how many have nested in that area this year, or every year if the water is held this way undisturbed.

I've been researching surface drive boats and motors for some time now and was probably going to go with the go-devil 40 hp FNR unit. The lease holders motor is a new 40 hp ProDrive which he's been pushing strongly on me. After operating it and seeing what this motor can do with it's full power reverse feature (rotating lower unit) I may have been sold. I don't see the others with the conventional reverse doing what this motor did or can do to get you out of a bind.

[Darren]

Sounds like quite a fiasco indeed, glad to hear you aren't worse off from that impact.

Does rain or high tides do you the most good for bringing water up? I sure dont want the persistent east winds any time soon, and remember a good many late summers like this where water in marsh was really low like a bad winter front. Allows for some plants to grow on mud flats before the higher tides of September come flooding back in.

[BGkirk]

DC I’d encourage you to get the PD as well. It’s truly un matched in situations like those.

Your story reminds me of a mud boat gathering/party I went to in SETX. some guys started “jumping” across this piece of marsh. Then here come an older fella in a true inboard mud boat that slid for a short distance and stopped very suddenly launching him off his drivers seat, rolling in the front of the boat and out into the water. It made for a good laugh once we realized he was ok.


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[BGkirk]

I’m not a PD owner either, just a non biased opinion I know I wish I had one for our marsh for different occasions. I will say any of those mud boat manufacturers boats are much heavier than your regular old Jon boats and alwelds. Besides the true flat bottom, I don’t think having the 1/8th (.125) thickness is necessary for a boat that stays in the marsh.


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[Rick]

Needed more mufboat:


"More mudbpat" being akin to "Hold my beer." Once missed a super shallow turn by just enough to carom an on-step Hemi powered one onto hard marsh and had to walk out and return with a couple five gallon cans of gas to have enough to eventually wash its way out.

[BGkirk]

Rick your video says we need granted Access


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[BGkirk]

Well look what I found. For those of you like me, who have a hard time not laughing when people may or may not be hurt…. Here ya go

https://youtube.com/shorts/tQ-jX-uens0?feature=share


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[DComeaux]

Sounds like quite a fiasco indeed, glad to hear you aren't worse off from that impact.

Does rain or high tides do you the most good for bringing water up? I sure dont want the persistent east winds any time soon, and remember a good many late summers like this where water in marsh was really low like a bad winter front. Allows for some plants to grow on mud flats before the higher tides of September come flooding back in.

Tides were the main filler during the hunting season with the big SSE winds before a front, but this time of year I believe it's rain. We're unsure of how the hydrology may have changed, if at all, after the last two storms. I guess we'll find out this season. Our marsh is usually as low as it is now this time of year as is all of the natural flowing marsh south of 82 at the moment. I noticed the water pouring out of the marshes in the afternoons over the last two weeks and wished I could have been sitting at one of the cuts with a rod.

I do know one thing, as low as the water is now we don't have to worry about erosion from waves.

[DComeaux]

Well look what I found. For those of you like me, who have a hard time not laughing when people may or may not be hurt…. Here ya go

https://youtube.com/shorts/tQ-jX-uens0?feature=share


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That was me! But I was able to hang on, even if was with my face.

[Duck Engr]

Ooof! That hurt me just to read it. I feel your pain, except mine was hitting stump at a high rate of speed that then sent me into a cypress tree. I went from standing up having a nice little morning to crumpled up in the bow of my boat in an instant.

[Rick]

Well look what I found. For those of you like me, who have a hard time not laughing when people may or may not be hurt…. Here ya go

https://youtube.com/shorts/tQ-jX-uens0?feature=share


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Might have made some money on that from America's Funniest Videos.

[Deltaman]

Glad you came out ok Dave, and still have both eyes working!

[Ducaholic]

I've been stuck many times in a surface drive until I realized they were meant to run on the surface of the water and not much else. Glad you ok DC.

[DComeaux]

I've been stuck many times in a surface drive until I realized they were meant to run on the surface of the water and not much else. Glad you ok DC.

There is nothing with a prop that would have made it through this drying mudflat on step. It wasn't liquified enough.

[Rick]

There is nothing with a prop that would have made it through this drying mudflat on step. It wasn't liquified enough.

I was pretty bummed to find that the video I posted above wasn't of when I initially busted that trail, as I thought it might be. Like you, I was little doubt too busy getting unstuck to think about a camera. Whole lot of patient grindin' and washin' goin' on.

No way was I going down the little side trail to that pond creation project that day. Thankful just to finally make it to the nid d'algie lake where I could get turned around and grind and wash my way back to the truck.

[MARSH BEAR]

We have had a few dare-devils in our club who thought they could make it through anything. We had a shortcut thru a shallow cut that was only passable in high water - Phil said with a running start and don't let off the gas he could make it through. He got about half way and that was it. We laughed at him until it was time to help him get out then we cussed him. We could not get him out, we left the boat, went back to the camp got 2 2x4s and some rope. We tied the 2x4s to the boat so 4 men could push on them and get good leverage - after we got him out it was time for a few beers and more memories were made

[Ducaholic]

We have had a few dare-devils in our club who thought they could make it through anything. We had a shortcut thru a shallow cut that was only passable in high water - Phil said with a running start and don't let off the gas he could make it through. He got about half way and that was it. We laughed at him until it was time to help him get out then we cussed him. We could not get him out, we left the boat, went back to the camp got 2 2x4s and some rope. We tied the 2x4s to the boat so 4 men could push on them and get good leverage - after we got him out it was time for a few beers and more memories were made

Been there and done that. It's funny then you cuss yourself for being so dumb and then you laugh about it in the end. I learn my lessons the hard way.

[Deltaman]

Those bought lessons usually don't get forgotten

[DComeaux]

Fall Flight Analysis DELTA


https://youtu.be/FOIYM85-Rt8