upcoming season

[don novicki]

Thanks DE. I have to take some goose decoys out there maybe next week when it warms up. I don't plan on doing it in the rain I can tell you. If it goes as planned there should be birds down early on the 26th. I've got 1/2 dozen of the old Flambeau 32" pontoon perimeter decoys that I'm going to drag out there. I haven't used them in years in the water. I usually just threw them in when I field hunted with shells. Looking forward to seeing them floating once more.

[Rick]

Would think that goose show still worth the price of admission.

[don novicki]

Yes it was.

[don novicki]

Warm weather here and a lot of places is killing the hunting. I like to look at the DU migration map and see how the rest if the country is doing. It was.90 in North Dakota last week and Canada isn't much better. Nothing we can do about it but when your duck season is over Nov 29th, the weather sure doesn't help.

[don novicki]

Date: 10-26-24

Location: Crane Rd. Albion, Pa.

Weather: 52 degrees, partly cloudy that gave way to bright sunshine

Wind: negligible while hunting but picked up on my way out N-NW

Decoys: 12 Flambeau mallards and 4 Flambeau pontoon perimeter Canada geese 32"

Calls: Tim Grounds " hen talk". Big River Long Honked flute

Camo pattern: Skyline Fall Flight

Arriving at the swamp this morning I found it loaded with geese and a few ducks. I could have hammered them in the water but that isn't what its all about anymore so I bumped them up and as they flew off I would guess that there were 75-100 birds in the flock. Additionally I kicked up a few mallards and some Woodies. I hoped everything would filter back.

As I set to putting out the goose decoys, I had no less than 3 flocks of Woodies pitch in and land 15 yards away. Of course my gun was not in reach so off they flew unscathed.

I didn't have long to wait after set up, as 2 mallards came in hard, but banked away and then turned back towards my position, only to land 40 yards from where I was so they got a pass.

A short time later, a number of flocks of Woodies, flew from behind me and on a bee line some place else, however 1 flock did it right and came right in and I managed to take a nice hen. I should have killed a couple more but it's tough to rack the gun following my shoulder surgery of a couple years ago. I guess I need an auto.

Regardless it was a fantastic day to be out, and I even got a little swim in this morning.

The walk out was brutal, because everything was soaked. I'll bet my sweater weighs 10 pounds when it's wet.

[Duck Engr]

Wow Don, sounds like your numbers are up from the last few years. Hope that trend continues. Sounds like a great morning!

[Rick]

Reads like you've a sweet spot.

[PorkChop]

Geese never came back?

Are the birds roosting there and then going somewhere to feed? If so, I would let them leave on their own and then set up while they’re feeding.

BTW, I love the name of the road!

[don novicki]

No they never did with the exception of a 5 pack that did a flyover. I think I could have reached out and gotten them but I wanted birds in my face. This is a roost pond, and I never hunt it in the afternoon/evening. I figure they need a place to go so I leave them alone later on. Looking forward to getting out next week.

[don novicki]

N wind tomorrow so I will be out at the swamp the Sat for turkey. Warming up again next week with more 70+ degree days. I guess I just have to pick and choose when I want to head out based on the wind. Good luck everyone...

[don novicki]

Was out 11-1-24 and the NW wind that was predicted but never materialized. Had about 30 Woodies fly out from a spit of water behind me and I never got a.shot. A short time.later a flock of maybe 8 mallards came in low and I didn't see them until it was too late so they took off for parts unknown. Had 2 Honkers come right in and almost land and I straight up missed. After that things went dead. No weather in the future as we are.going to be plagued by the SW wind again this year. Honestly think if things don't change this will be my last season. There is no point in going out day after day when its sunny and 60 degrees all the time.Our inland season closes.11-29 and the way it looks there won't be any weather either here or in Canada to get things moving. Couple that with the fact that there are only 32 million birds, means the big push that we all used to know, isn't so big anymore. Sad.

[DComeaux]

The "grand passage" is a thing of the past.

" You may recall a mass migration of waterfowl in November 1995. It was reported that 90 million waterfowl may have engaged in that "grand passage"; so dense were the flocks of birds that radarscopes at major Midwest airports couldn't distinguish birds from airplanes.


https://www.ducks.org/conservation/waterfowl-research-science/waterfowl-fall-migration

[don novicki]

You are so right DC.

[don novicki]

Headed out tomorrow morning based strictly on the weather. Last time I was out was 11-13 saw 10 Woodies, 3 small flocks of geese that never even looked my way, and 30-40 mallards flying high someplace else.

I'll be hunting a corn field that was just cut on Monday. I have.no idea if anything is using it but I'm going to give it a try. Supposed to be rainy, cold 30's, and a.SW wind at 20 to 30. In all honesty, if its really raining hard I might have to reevaluate and maybe hunt Presque Isle instead. Laying in a field in a driving rainstorm is no bueno.

[Duck Engr]

Good luck Don!

[PorkChop]

Good luck to you. Looking forward to hearing about the hunt!!

[don novicki]

Thanks guys appreciate it. Today was a bust. I didn't really have high expectations as there was nothing using the field yesterday but I decided to take my chances It poured rain from 1700 to about 0300 and was windy as all get out. This morning was cool 34 and exceptionally wet,but not raining. Also the wind that howled all night was gone and it was dead calm at LST. Didn't matter as I didn't see or hear anything.

Tomorrow I'm going to Presque Isle State Park to hunt one of the blinds. Supposed to be NNW wind at 20. Hoping to see a few divers and !maybe get a Bill or two. Tomorrows another day.

[don novicki]

Sat at Presque Isle yesterday for over 4 hours. After the morning flight of ducks left the bay and headed for the lake, is was still dark, I got set up and hoped that today would be a decent day. Despite having a favorable strong wind, and temps in the low 40's (41), I never shouldered the gun. I would guess I saw no more than 200 birds all morning long. I'm calling it a season, and going to contact my Cardiologist and set up my heart valve operation as soon as I can get in. I don't know what has happened here, but it is bad. Now I barely even see any geese anymore. Big decisions coming for me as to whether I will return to this sport again next fall. Good luck to all.

[Rick]

Way too soon to worry about next season. Get your heart taken care of and focus on rehab.

[don novicki]

At least 2 feet of the white stuff fell yesterday and as I write this now, at 05:30 11-30-24 it is still coming down. I'm not sure I can even open the back door to get out to the snow blower. Most everything is paralyzed, and they have issued a county wide Emergency because of the snow. Lake Erie remains wide open and we have almost a constant West wind which will ensure that the snow keeps coming. I'm calling it a season, and am getting set up to get my heart valve repair done some time in the immediate future so I can be around to piss and moan about the lack of ducks. I know you all are looking forward to that (ha ha). Regardless, even though I didn't kill many ducks I had a good time this year, and in the immortal words of the Terminator..........."I'll be back". Over and out.,

[Duck Engr]

You’ve been asking for snow!! Too much now haha. Good luck going forward with the procedure and I look forward to your reports next year!

[don novicki]

Thanks DE, appreciate it.

[SpinnerMan]

getting set up to get my heart valve repair done

Best wishes. My buddy that I traveling with on hunting trips, he had heart valve repair late summer. All went well and he was good to go by the season. Hope it goes as well for you. Sounds like it's a pretty routine surgery nowadays.

[don novicki]

Thanks Spin. The advent of the TAVR surgery for Aortic valve replacement is huge. No more opening up your chest and spending a week or more in the hospital afterwards . If I have to have valve replacement done then I'm glad it's by this mode. Grateful that it wasn't one of the other valves that require the full on heart surgery .

[PorkChop]

I saw that there was gonna be a lot of snow up there, and I was wondering if you would be in its path. Stay safe and get that heart operation taken care of! Definitely keep us posted.

Also, not sure if we’ve ever had this conversation or not but do you get any of the greater Snowgeese coming through your area? Forgive me if I’ve asked this before, but with all the gas at work, I don’t even remember my own name sometimes.

[don novicki]

Well fellas it's been a good season, even though I didn't shoot many birds. I managed to get out in the layout boat that I built this last summer and managed to tag a hen Butter Ball using 7-1/2 low base steel. Poor shooting limited my take that Wednesday 12-11-24, however it's tough to see birds coming in against a dark back round, so I missed more than a few without even firing a shot. Dam divers are so fast, and low to the water that if you don't see them in time they blow by before you can do anything about it. The layout and spray shield functioned perfectly as it was really choppy that day. We had a good time and the young guys took care of this old duffer as I didn't have to worry about set up or pick up. I did have an episode of extreme shortness of breath getting back into the tender from the layout and they were very concerned, as was I, but it did pass and I was able to get myself home.

The following week was the opener of goose season once again, I decided to head out to Fairview Evergreen property, as I had put a couple hundred Canada's to bed the night before, so I hoped they would come back the next morning, Arriving at the field at 07:00 I headed out to the spot. It had rained all night so the field was a total quagmire. There were small strips of ground that were still firm so I tried to walk out to the spot using them. However if you stepped off them, you sunk down 4-5" in mud and it was brutal trying to get back out. Setting up 3 dozen silly's was tricky, but there was a nice 3" deep sheet water of maybe 25 yards in diameter the birds were using the previous day so I set out decoys and waited. I didn't have long to wait as 2 groups of 2 birds came in, locked up and then flared off at about 60 yards. I thought I was well hidden as I was right next to some landscape shrubs and wearing 2 different camo patterns to break up the outline. I was wearing traditional Brown Camo bibs, and my all white parka as there was still snow on the ground. After shooting at the next flock of 5 birds, which did the same thing, I had a flock of swans come right in and land without any hesitation at all. As more Canada's came in, all doing the same dance, I fired 5-6 rounds and never touched a feather. The swans never moved. I decided to make a few changes to the spread, and the darn swans never got up to move even though I wasn't 5 yards from them, and was basically shooting over the top of em. When I got back to my ground chair, I had a coughing episode and guess what? That spooked the swans enough that they took off heading SW. Eventually a few more small flocks of Canada's came somewhat withing shooting range. But I passed on them as I wanted something feet down in the decoys which didn't happen. Then I had a big, not so pleasant surprise. I had a flock of Canada's go right overhead, there were 6 of them honking like crazy. I looked up and they were maybe thirty yards high right over me. I fired my gun, and one bird fell, hard into the mud and a second bird dropped low and landed normally, however it was a swan. I though to myself how in the world did I do that, but fellas, when 1 swan is flying with Canada's, all you can here is the Canada's and I'll be honest, I just was so focused on getting a bird I really didn't see the swan. So now I'm thinking I'm in deep do-do and am going to be fined, lose my license, and gun and probably my license. But the swan actually landed normally and it was in some cut corn with sheet water about 30 yards from me. It looked fine and I couldn't see any blood on it anywhere. Well as I went out to pick up my bird, the swan got up and flew off without a hitch. I hadn't hit it, because If I had it would have been damaged somehow as I was using the 10 gauge with "T" shot. After almost 40 years of hunting I can tell you that I have never had a bird get up and fly off when I'm using my 10 gauge. I was so relieved to see that bird fly off, nice and strong, I can't tell you. Shortly thereafter I had multiple flocks of Canada's fly over, all high and headed West. I waited about another 1/2 hour and called it a morning. I picked up my stuff and headed back to the road and waiting there for me was the Warden. I was having a hell of a time, and was completely out of breath getting back to the road, and this guy came out in the field, and dragged all my stuff back for me and stayed with me while I caught my breath. He did check my license, but I thought to myself, what a great guy doing this for me. He knew I was struggling and lent a hand. I felt lucky he was there.

I haven't been out since and it's a good thing I haven't. I had been extremely short of breath for a couple weeks and finally, as I tried to go to the gym on 12-31 the roof came crashing down. I went out my back door, down 4 stairs to my truck, and was so SOB I barely recovered. This was at 4;00 a.m.. I dragged myself back up the stairs, and went inside and called my wife, and then 911. I knew I was in serious trouble, but not how serious. When the squad arrived they put me on the monitor. I was in V-tach, a deadly arrhythmia with my heart rate in the 230's.Your heart is NOT pumping at this point and just quivering, and you are in mortal danger of death/ stroke. They rushed me to the hospital where they coded me twice but were able to bring me back. I spent this whole last week in the hosp. and now have a pacer/defibrillator in place, and next Thursday I have to go back and get my heart valve replaced. I am glad to be alive.

My hunting, snow blowing, and everything else is over for the foreseeable future, but at least I'm still here and God willing there will be a "next season". I can't put into words how grateful I am for the team at UPMC. They saved my life and if not for their quick action I wouldn't be writing this now. I am on the mend and my next hospitalization will only be a couple of days while I get a new Aortic valve via TAVR procedure. The procedure was planned for Feb 3, but they fast tracked me because of all my issues. It's scary, when you can't breath, but my O2 sats were always good it's just that my heart was not pumping blood.

I am glad to be alive, and glad to be sharing this with you guys. I don't know what the future brings, but still being here to hug my wife and daughter is all that counts. I hope to be fully functional for spring turkey in May. But right now that is not a top concern.
I'll keep you posted on my progress fellas, and good luck to all those still shooting ducks.

Please tag a Blue Bill or Can for me if you can.

Chop, we got 77.8 inches of snow between 11-29 and 12-1. It is snowing today and we are supposed to get a lot more. We have about 1 foot now. It is rare that we see any snows up here.

[Rick]

Hate to hear you've been through such a grinder, Don, but glad to hear they're getting a handle on it. All good thoughts for your complete recovery and return to the field next season.

[Deltaman]

Glad you were able to get help Don, and know that would scare the beejesus out of anybody! Let your body heal, and look forward to your Spring turkey season. Also, Thanks for hunting reports

[don novicki]

Thanks fellas. I'll be back at it as soon as I can. Heart valve tomorrow, then I'm done for a while. So far 101 inches of snow since Thanksgiving night.

[SpinnerMan]

Thanks fellas. I'll be back at it as soon as I can. Heart valve tomorrow, then I'm done for a while. So far 101 inches of snow since Thanksgiving night.

That was some scary shit. Hopefully you will be good as new come next season. My buddy had his heart valve replaced last year. He was out and about for the season, so hope yours goes as well.

I don't want 101 inches, but if you could send us 6-8" I would damn well appreciate it. I checked my goose club this morning, not a single person hunting. We should be packed for the draw this time of year, but no snow, no geese and we have no snow. I'll be back up north Friday. Plenty cold with some snow in the forecast, but not what we need in the forecast.