Season Log 2024-2025

[Duck Engr]

A fine strap! 4 mallards?! They’re back in south LA! Print it!

[Rick]

4 mallards?! They’re back in south LA! Print it!

Pretty sure that equaled or bettered the rest of the camp's total, so I'd rate it an anomaly.

[Rick]

Date: 11/30 Sat

Time: morning

Location: #3

Cloud Cover: partly

Wind Direction and Velocity: NE to E moderate

Temperature: was frost at the camp

Moon phase: sliver

Special Notes:

Waterfowl Activity: Easterly winds don't seem to treat #3 well. No squealers (which we really needed) were seen within working range, early or late, and few teal or even jacks came by withing hailing distance. But we did have big duck chances when not banged out by Byron's folks to our north.

Waterfowl Responsiveness: Lord knows most of the big ducks within hailing tried to get themselves shot.

Hunters: 2, father, Johnathan and young son, Ethan, both new to the game

Guns:

Malfunctions:

Dog(s): Wore Call out on chipped birds, most of which stayed in the water, instead of heading for the grass as most often the case with puddlers. Lost a mallard, a mottled and a woodie, for which I'll not blame him.

Special Equipment: SOS

Curses: The lost birds, of coursee, but more so that I snapped at my guys on our last op. Pair of pintails low and right up the middle over the decoys and when I said "Stand up and shoot them." nobody did, until I barked, "Get up!" Not even sure they caught my frustration, but I did.

Kudos: Super nice folks.

Birds By Species: 2 green-wings, 3 mallards, 1 mottled, 1 pintail and 2 wigeon

[Ericdc]

Do you wish tomorrow was the last day of the 1st split?


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[Rick]

Do you wish tomorrow was the last day of the 1st split?

Don't know that I've ever "wished" for the end of a split, though I've been less annoyed by when some came than others. Still having a big time learning #3's ropes and dialing it in. (Do think the three split thing silly.)

[Rick]

Date: 12/1 Sun

Time: morning

Location: #3

Cloud Cover: partly

Wind Direction and Velocity: nil to light NE

Temperature: low 40s at LST but warm by 10

Moon phase: new

Special Notes:

Waterfowl Activity: Squealers remain AWOL near us. Jacks/ringnecks seemed everywhere but where we needed them. And teal and big ducks were both in short supply.

Waterfowl Responsiveness: Most big ducks tried to work, but timing of other blinds' shots was uncanny.

Hunters: Ben and Dale

Guns:

Malfunctions:

Dog(s): Call's handling remains balky in swimming water, but he saved a chipped jack and a chipped green-wing.

Special Equipment: SOS

Curses: Just the lack of game.

Kudos: Good guys seemed OK with it.

Birds By Species: 1 blue-wing, 2 green-wings, 1 mallard, 1 mottled, 1 pintail, 3 ringnecks and 2 shovellers

[Ericdc]

Do you wish tomorrow was the last day of the 1st split?

Don't know that I've ever "wished" for the end of a split, though I've been less annoyed by when some came than others. Still having a big time learning #3's ropes and dialing it in. (Do think the three split thing silly.)

I meant, preference as towards timing. Would u rather close after today like the east zone or continue like you are? The reopening later in December rather than the 14th.

I am very pleased with how our season was structured this year for East side.


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[Rick]

Hadn't given it any thought beyond figuring split timing a weather dependent crap-shoot.

[Darren]

Do you wish tomorrow was the last day of the 1st split?

Don't know that I've ever "wished" for the end of a split, though I've been less annoyed by when some came than others. Still having a big time learning #3's ropes and dialing it in. (Do think the three split thing silly.)

I meant, preference as towards timing. Would u rather close after today like the east zone or continue like you are? The reopening later in December rather than the 14th.
I am very pleased with how our season was structured this year for East side.

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I think the EZ timing is pretty good this year, but absolutely hating what's in store for my marsh purposes in the WZ. That said, a fella named Rick once noted to me something along the lines of "not a whole lot you can do about it, so I'll just go when we can go." So that's what I'm trying to keep in mind, but sitting closed 2 weeks in December in favor of going all the way to FRIDAY Jan 31 is just lunacy.

[Ducaholic]

If we don't speak up this year the EZ ends up with a 23-day first split which is what was initially proposed by LDWF and something we have never had before. What you never know is what the conditions will be on our ground and in the flyway no matter what dates are chosen. On that we have zero control.

[Rick]

Date: 12/2 Mon

Time: morning

Location: #3

Cloud Cover: mostly clear

Wind Direction and Velocity: NE moderate

Temperature: 40s

Moon phase: new

Special Notes:

Waterfowl Activity: Very, very nearly none. Next to no teal or divers. No black-bellies at all within hailing distance. And worked exactly one little group of grays that was banged out on final by another blind.

Waterfowl Responsiveness: Couldn't say.

Hunters: 2, Chip and Landon

Guns:

Malfunctions:

Dog(s): Call did a good job of hunting down our ringneck then acted an ass about retrieving it.

Special Equipment: SOS

Curses: Barren sky until we packed it in at 8 to get them back to a BR meeting.

Kudos: My nice guys had big hunts at other blinds yesterday, and the other 4 blinds that hunted all limited, albeit with mostly black-bellies.

Birds By Species: 2 green-wings and 1 ringneck

[DComeaux]

Looking forward to temps in the 60's with a SE wind.

[Ericdc]

Date: 12/2 Mon

Time: morning

Location: #3

Cloud Cover: mostly clear

Wind Direction and Velocity: NE moderate

Temperature: 40s

Moon phase: new

Special Notes:

Waterfowl Activity: Very, very nearly none. Next to no teal or divers. No black-bellies at all within hailing distance. And worked exactly one little group of grays that was banged out on final by another blind.

Waterfowl Responsiveness: Couldn't say.

Hunters: 2, Chip and Landon

Guns:

Malfunctions:

Dog(s): Call did a good job of hunting down our ringneck then acted an ass about retrieving it.

Special Equipment: SOS

Curses: Barren sky until we packed it in at 8 to get them back to a BR meeting.

Kudos: My nice guys had big hunts at other blinds yesterday, and the other 4 blinds that hunted all limited, albeit with mostly black-bellies.

Birds By Species: 2 green-wings and 1 ringneck

Sounds like a it could have been a good day to start the split. I know there are many other factors, but Thanksgiving week always seems lol a pressure cooker, followed by a week of tough hunting,


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[Rick]

Eric, if you enjoy second guessing the weather have at it.

[Ericdc]

Eric, if you enjoy second guessing the weather have at it.

Weather looked good. Like I said, other factors.... Monday after Thanksgiving week, birds have been pressured and lots of folks back to work.

Just having a little fun.


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[Ducaholic]

Weather looks good Thursday and Friday

[Rick]

Date: 12/3 Tue

Time: morning

Location: #3 and north blind

Cloud Cover: clear

Wind Direction and Velocity: nil to light NE

Temperature: 40s

Moon phase: tiny

Special Notes:

Waterfowl Activity: Umpteenth day of same "wind" has the birds settled in elsewhere, and we bailed from my blind after killing but 1 pintail and seeing next to nothing else in our first hour. Moved to north blind and found it surrounded by black-bellies, enough of which tried to return.

Waterfowl Responsiveness: Black-bellies tolled a whoooole lot better than our crew shot.

Hunters: 2, David and Chris

Guns:

Malfunctions:

Dog(s): Guy's chipped a bird down at my blind that got up when Call got close and proceeded to lead him all the heck over the marsh between Wayne's blind and mine. Couldn't whistle him off it (as we'd practiced with "crippled acting momma black-bellies time and again in crawfish ponds last summer and found I'd also failed to get his e-collar turned on. Mighty embarrassing and piss poor training.

Special Equipment: Flicked the north blind's spinner on and off to help tease our black-bellies in.

Curses: Guys couldn't hit a black-belly's front end to save their souls, so Call and/or I (in the boat) chased down most of them.

Kudos: Guys had a big time.

Birds By Species: 17 black-bellies and 1 pintail

[Duck Engr]

Black bellies to the rescue!

[Deltaman]

Dang, what a Black-Belly beat down!!!!!! Glad they cooperated despite your customer's poor shooting skills. My teeth would be worn down from grinding them if I was in your position, and I applaud your patience and your holding of the tongue

[Ducaholic]

Sounds like the push never got here

[Rick]

Sounds like the push never got here

Was a brief show, aside from the geese which seem to be sticking around.

[Rick]

Date: 12/4 Wed

Time: morning

Location: given more of the same wind conditions, we skipped on my/#3 blind and went straight to the north blind for squealers.

Cloud Cover: cloudy

Wind Direction and Velocity: light easterly

Temperature: same as it's been

Moon phase: ?

Special Notes:

Waterfowl Activity: Passed a few squealer ops at LST because it was too dark to see if birds were dead or heads up, but most were passing high on a beeline for the marsh interior, anyway. Aside from one big bunch of green-wings power-diving by en route to the body, we didn't see more than a half dozen real ducks.

Waterfowl Responsiveness: Nil early and much better later in the morning.

Hunters: 2, David again and Kevin

Guns:

Malfunctions:

Dog(s): Call is full of forchettes from a foray into a thin floating turf jungle of them.

Special Equipment: spinner flicked on and off to tease the black-bellies

Curses: Probably not much, if any, more than a dozen real ducks for 6 blinds.

]Kudos: Thank goodness for the squealers that filled everyone's straps.

Birds By Species: 17 black-bellies and 1 shoveller

[DComeaux]

I heard deer love to eat forchettes.

[Darren]

Curses: Probably not much, if any, more than a dozen real ducks for 6 blinds.

]Kudos: Thank goodness for the squealers that filled everyone's straps.

Birds By Species: 17 black-bellies and 1 shoveller

Goooood, night

[Rick]

Date: 12/5 Thurs

Time: morning

Location: #3

Cloud Cover: fog

Wind Direction and Velocity: light to moderate NW

Temperature: upper 50s

Moon phase:

Special Notes: Interesting trip to the blind on a dark night w/fog, especially across the big open flat where I ran up on the submerged run berm at one point.

Waterfowl Activity: Black-bellies were coming into the marsh across us.

Waterfowl Responsiveness: Easy to tease many to the guns.

Hunters: 2, David and Duane

Guns:

Malfunctions:

Dog(s): Call had a good morning.

Special Equipment: SOS (MMM not working but teased birds flipping spinners on and off)

Curses: None.

Kudos: Guys who didn't want to bother with black-bellies, shot at "a few" for giggles and snorts and ended up eventually hitting enough of them for us to be packed up and on our way out before 7. (Didn't get a shot off at a pair of pintails trying for their hats.)

Birds By Species: 18 black-bellies

[Deltaman]

And the BB beatdown continues

[Rick]

And the BB beatdown continues

First time wind direction allowed us to kill one at my blind since 11/27. Not that the fog hurt, either. Might not have another chance there this split. Guess "we'll see..."

(But its nice to have the north blind for backup black-bellies if the real ducks don't pass #3 either.)

[Duck Engr]

“Shot a few” and done by 7!

[Rick]

“Shot a few” and done by 7!

No matter how much they poo-poo shooting the squealers, once they pop a couple, it's like eating potato chips. Nobody stops with a few unless "real ducks" (which these cats couldn't hit at all) are plentiful.

Felt like a mallard wind when I aired Call a bit ago. Probably a cold trick.

[Rick]

Date: 12/6 Fri

Time: morning

Location: #3

Cloud Cover: clear

Wind Direction and Velocity: NE strong

Temperature: low 30s

Moon phase: waxing 31%

Special Notes:

Waterfowl Activity: The hoped for cold front big duck bump didn't materialize, and If a black-belly ventured within a couple or three hundred yards of us, I missed it. Did have a little of this and that vcome by - as well as swarms of ringnecks.

Waterfowl Responsiveness: Had somewhat surprising good luck barking at the jacks (ringnecks) with the coarse Singleton cutdown, second time that's happened, only more frequently today, so may be something to it,

Hunters: 2, Eric and Kevin

Guns:

Malfunctions:

Dog(s): Call handled his first really cold morning well.

Special Equipment:

Curses: Just the new bird no-show.

Kudos: Guys shot a whole lot better than yesterday's pair.

Birds By Species: 2 blue-wings, 2 gadwall, 2 green-wings, 1 mallard, 9 ringnecks and 2 shovellers