Preseason '25-'26

[Duck Engr]

Looking good!

[Darren]

Perhaps the BirdCast was right; Rick's seeing specks and a bunch of tardy little ducks showed in Delacroix over the weekend. Standard Sportsman (ARKY based) mentioned reliable report of legit numbers of grays showing in Ark in their recent episode. Sure hoping it's more of an "on the way" type thing, and less of a "we've made it, settle in here" sort of gig.

Area outfitters high on seeing the little blue ducks but of course kicker being the weather we're all hoping for will be what runs 'em all out, especially given we've still a month to go (thank goodness).

It's warm and will be this weekend but hope on the horizon, pattern looks to be turning and will be seeing some more fronts. Will be glad to bring more details as they become more reliable, but models appear to be aligning.

[Darren]

Front #1 of the week is through the marsh today:

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Next one later this week.

[Darren]

Big chill down and stout northerly winds on the flyway today/tomorrow and later this week.

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This week is good, late next week looks better. Glad to see weather pattern heading in right direction at the right time.

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A buddy videoed a wad of 40+ specks over his house in Slidell yesterday.....birds are on the move.

[Darren]

Next front working its way in tonight for a reinforcing cool down. After that, all eyes on next week for a more stout system Wed-Thurs timeframe just in time for tricks n treats (see below), and lot of smoke on another on its heels in first few days of Nov.

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Sure am giddy to have this stuff to track given per my notes a year ago we got a front through on Oct 16th then NOTHING until nearly a full week after opening day, Fri Nov 15th. Everything in between simply fizzled out/stalled well north of us. Which left us with this awesome stat we were thrilled with:

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Told the neighbors to plan for fire pit in the front yard for post-trick or treat gathering. Halloween should just always be on a Fri or Sat by law.

[Darren]

Still perty dry in MO and AR, hopefully it eases a bit for LA with rain expected this weekend

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Next week's front and another behind it still looking good, and was awfully pleasant/"chilly" this morning in BR, low 50's.

[Ericdc]

We got 4" at farm last Saturday.


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[Darren]

We got 4" at farm last Saturday.
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Glad to hear it, whole region could use it. Couldn't believe how low the little bayou was behind the Bunkie camp on recent visit.

[Darren]

Much of the state seeing hopefully productive rains today, probably almost to 1.5-2inches here in BR so far, much more to come tonight/tomorrow apparently.

Small front on Monday but Wednesday is really when it gets going on the second front with stout north winds across the MS Flyway following that pretty good cool down. Really need those anticipated N/NW winds to get our water levels down.

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Now that this one looks to be essentially a lock, also looking to the following week, and sure enough Wed. 11/5 looking like a repeat which may bring into question our brushing plans for Friday morning 11/7 given we could find ourselves short on water. Little ways out but fun to keep an eye on as the pattern appears to be plainly flipping and letting cold out of Canada.

Wed 11/5 AM w/ big time N winds top to bottom to go with it

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Morning of Thurs 11/6

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[Ericdc]

Wednesday evening will probably be my first deer hunt of that season. Opening day today for area 2 rifle season, but too warm and wet for me.


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[Darren]

Yea oughtta feel great, although maybe too breezy ??

[Ericdc]

Should settle down by 5-6 pm in the piney woods. Anything north is good for my spot and having some west in it is ideal.


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[Darren]

Looking ahead to this week’s big front, exactly what we look for this time of year. Didn’t get that till almost Thanksgiving last year:

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It continues for three days


From NOAA marine forecast for Lake Borgne:

Tuesday Night
Northeast winds 10 to 15 knots, becoming northwest 15 to 20 knots after midnight. Waves 2 to 4 feet. A slight chance of showers after midnight.
Wednesday
Northwest winds 20 to 25 knots, increasing to 25 to 30 knots in the afternoon. Waves 4 to 6 feet.
Wednesday Night
Northwest winds 25 to 30 knots, diminishing to 20 to 25 knots after midnight. Waves 4 to 6 feet.

[Darren]

Here on Mega Front Day Eve, our marsh club is under a gale watch with quite the marine forecast for my stompin' grounds. Couldn't script it any better for this calendar date. Wouldn't want to hunt in this, but it's just what we need 2.5 wks out from opening.

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It gets our excess water out and food on the table....what comes to eat it remains to be seen. Have plans to get out there next Friday morning dark-early to brush blinds so guess we'll see then. Videos online (from Missouri) showing swarms of teal have finally turned green instead of what had been mostly blue; a migration is afoot.



Prayers for those in Jamaica with a Cat 5 on their doorstep, never wish that on anyone anywhere.

[Rick]

Last weekend's little wet front brought a few poule d'eau to our marsh, so there's that...

[Darren]

Last weekend's little wet front brought a few poule d'eau to our marsh, so there's that...

"Poule d'eau invade Lake Arthur from recent front, hunters flock to G&H to stock up on shells!"

On-scene report I got from Delacroix outfitter this morning was lots of blue wings in the flooded marsh. I'm betting/banking that this changes this week, be it for the better or worse. The floods are going away for the foreseeable, and highly likely the blue teals are goin to Cancun. So can only hope something backfills.

[Darren]

Weeeeee, surf's up on lake borgne, gusting to 40+ mph. Gale warning in effect.

Sweet front is here

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[Duck Engr]

Hearing reports of “calendar migrators right on time” and “more mallards than normal.” Beats last year’s reports of “where are the Halloween mallards?” by a mile and a half.

[Darren]

Hearing reports of “calendar migrators right on time” and “more mallards than normal.” Beats last year’s reports of “where are the Halloween mallards?” by a mile and a half.

You know it.

I find the "Halloween mallards" concept interesting, have heard that for years, this one included. That something you've seen too over the years?

Not really related but nonetheless a fascinating observation: in the 2013 season we had spooky few grays, but our mallard sightings and harvest were comparatively WAY up, including opening weekend when what had been hot was changed overnight with a single big front.

[Duck Engr]

I’d say I probably don’t have enough time spent out that way around Halloween to have an informed opinion one way or the other, but the guys I know that live out there and have property for ducks swear by them. There was some serious freaking out going on last year about them. Turns out the “always no matter the weather” is “most of the time and can depend on weather.”

[Darren]

I’d say I probably don’t have enough time spent out that way around Halloween to have an informed opinion one way or the other, but the guys I know that live out there and have property for ducks swear by them. There was some serious freaking out going on last year about them. Turns out the “always no matter the weather” is “most of the time and can depend on weather.”

Aint that the truth. Liking what I'm seeing for the coming couple of weeks, significantly different than that calendar period from a year ago, Nov 1-Nov 15. Will revisit all that this weekend to see what Im looking at for planned blind work next Friday Nov 7.

[Duck Engr]

Looking forward to the report!

[Darren]

Reinforcing front is through down at the camp, we'll take it! Some buddies were brushing blinds nearby, off Lake Borgne on Friday and sent me a couple of videos of some nice wads of grays working their area, nice to see big ducks and not blue wings that aren't supposed to be here. SAV in their ponds is grade A++ so they should be in good shape.

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[Darren]

This week looking pretty stable, all eyes on next Sunday front that appears pretty likely at this point:

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Leaving us with these temp anomalies for Monday morning flyway-wide. Hard to beat.

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Will be interesting to see if these temps materialize:

Monday morning

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Tuesday morning

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[Duck Engr]

Can’t beat that with a stick!!

[Rick]

I'm in such a deep funk that I didn't launch or toss a single bumper for poor Call on our rice country circuit this morning. Just left him to his own devices while I strolled along thinking of how waterfowl barren our mornings there have become and wondering how many years it's now been since I've bothered to carry a call along to mess with the specks we'd see along our routes.

[Darren]

I'm in such a deep funk that I didn't launch or toss a single bumper for poor Call on our rice country circuit this morning. Just left him to his own devices while I strolled along thinking of how waterfowl barren our mornings there have become and wondering how many years it's now been since I've bothered to carry a call along to mess with the specks we'd see along our routes.

Standard Sportsman podcast this week mentioned more specks showing, and also apparent evidence, presumably from some access to telemetry data, of rebounded birds coming back to Arkansas having initially overflown to Louisiana......ughhhh

Report this AM from Delacroix outfitter who apparently went out and about today, said still seeing mostly teal by him, though that's pretty typical for his area.

[Darren]

Continuing to look ahead to start of game week, not mad about this:

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And for documentation's sake relative to a year ago:

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Whether this turns into better early season hunting remains to be seen, but weather is at least leaning our way.

[Duck Engr]

I'm in such a deep funk that I didn't launch or toss a single bumper for poor Call on our rice country circuit this morning. Just left him to his own devices while I strolled along thinking of how waterfowl barren our mornings there have become and wondering how many years it's now been since I've bothered to carry a call along to mess with the specks we'd see along our routes.

Standard Sportsman podcast this week mentioned more specks showing, and also apparent evidence, presumably from some access to telemetry data, of rebounded birds coming back to Arkansas having initially overflown to Louisiana......ughhhh

Report this AM from Delacroix outfitter who apparently went out and about today, said still seeing mostly teal by him, though that's pretty typical for his area.

Hmmm that rebounding deal is no good!! Does Louisiana have an early speck season too or just Arkansas?

[Ericdc]

Not detached from the regular duck season.

Arkansas hits them very hard in late October for about 9 days.

Probably not the best thing for the birds, but makes for big piles of juvenile geese.


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