WaterfowlForum.Net

Date: 1/15/2022

Hunters: Me, Blake and Tim

Cloud Cover: Overcast with showers in the area early. Broken and clearing later

Wind- Sw early turning west then northwest at high velocity

Temperature: 60's to start and dropping during the day.

Waterfowl Activity: Nothing much moving

Waterfowl Responsiveness: N/A

Birds total and by Species: 1 BW 8 GW



The birds of yesterday were gone. Not much shooting heard, and it seems every blind in the area was occupied this morning. We hunted till 11.

3 birds a piece with “nothing much moving” is nothing to sneeze at.

No bands??? Thought we'd banded every teal on the chenier.

1/16/2022

Did not hunt. I wasn't feeling up to par this morning and didn't want to be out in the low 20's wind chill. Tim and I went to get the boat out of the water once the sun came up a bit. The water level at our boat launch was the lowest I've seen it in some time. The immediate enclosed area was a mud flat with a fairly narrow trenasse down the middle.

Duck Engr wrote:3 birds a piece with “nothing much moving” is nothing to sneeze at.

There were a few groups of teal sitting around us in the marsh and would only move if pushed by a hawk or a group of hunters leaving the marsh. Taking only one, two, or three birds per the occasional large group over the decoys makes for a long morning.

Rick wrote:No bands??? Thought we'd banded every teal on the chenier.

I checked every leg. We'll get some next season when they return. A few craws (crops) were packed with rice.

Blake sent this to me in a text tonight and I didn't know he had recorded this retrieve. It's poor quality coming from two different phones, but it shows what we get with a strong WNW wind. My 12-year-old Ellie gets a workout.



She loves the boat ride.

Looking like a Great Lakes dog in the video, and a great pic of Ellie's heart in the boat, as well.

Any word on the mud-bound?

Rick wrote:Any word on the mud-bound?

Airboat got them out before dark. We're not quite sure what was really going on out there. New guy on the lease who had the boat launch blocked when I got there. He may not have a blind with us next season.


I spent the morning with Bennett getting a start on our outdoor kitchen and lounging area. This is what will take up my weekends going forward. I rode to our boat launch this morning and the water is still too low to chance it, so I came home this evening. I sure hope it comes up a bit next week so we can get our decoys and other things out of the marsh.

Lookin good!

Just got a call from Randall from out in the marsh. The water is still extremely low but he was able to make it out okay to our blinds. Said our decoys are good and when asked about birds he was excited. Told me it was "FULL", "FULL". GW by the large bunches.

Blake and I are headed down there later today and will definitely make a hunt in the morning. A Sunday hunt will all depend on how we feel after the hunt tomorrow. We have so much to get out of the marsh, and I don't really care to do that on a Sunday. I would also prefer not the let it linger. The camp rebuild is about to be in full swing and time will be limited.

Hope those green-wings stick around long enough for you to go out on a barrel burner - then haul tail for our marsh...

We sat in the blind until 9 yesterday and never fired a shot. There were very few birds around and the water level is way below normal. We decided to call it a season and picked up the decoys we could reach with the low water and removed the grass matts from the boat hide for storage. We pulled the boat out and spent the rest of the day washing and packing things.

Later in the afternoon yesterday I noticed the wind had shifted from the south and we had a decent breeze. I drove back to our boat launch, which was nothing more than emulsified marsh mud to put into and found the water level had risen just a bit. We decided to throw a few decoys in the boat and make quick hunt this morning hoping to get the remainder of our decoys out with the slight rise in water level. We hunted until 8 and had one group of three or four teal turn hard and head or way, they flared far out and made a rapid climb. That was our hunt

We did get to climb onto a now wetter mud flat which had a slight film of water over the top part ways in. This got us close enough to reach the majority of the high and dry remaining decoys with the push-pole. I pushed in grinding up the mud and had to power reverse back out. I had to drop my son on an island, and he walked to a point to reach the remaining two with the push pole that were too far in on the still dry potion of the mud flat. I doubt seriously that we would have even attempted going out there this weekend in the go-devil. The mud is too firm.

I learned a lot this weekend about the ProDrive and shallow to no water. The new to me flat boat coated with gator glide is slick as heck on the mud. She doesn't want to stop. It's sweet.

I had a long and interesting conversation yesterday evening with a certain person concerning ducks and it may be an interesting spring and early summer concerning the 2022-2023 waterfowl season.