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This guy showed up on my pond in Southern VA, about 100 miles inland, today.
Been watching him for a few hours now.
Picture is from my dining room window.

He lost.

Cool bird

Did you ask if he needed directions?

The Duck Hammer wrote:Did you ask if he needed directions?

Directions hell. I'm curious as to why it is not dead

Cool picture.

SpinnerMan wrote:

The Duck Hammer wrote:Did you ask if he needed directions?

Directions hell. I'm curious as to why it is not dead

Cool picture.

.17 hmr

SpinnerMan wrote:

The Duck Hammer wrote:Did you ask if he needed directions?

Directions hell. I'm curious as to why it is not dead

Cool picture.

Be a shame to shoot that little lost soul, and neat that you got him with the camera. A few years back we had one like it land in my Southwest Louisiana spread, it sure tickled me that my party was no more anxious to kill it than I. Wasn't so tickled to have been so taken aback by his visit that I didn't snap the little Yankee duck's picture.

Dan must be scaring the hell outta them

Rick wrote:

SpinnerMan wrote:

The Duck Hammer wrote:Did you ask if he needed directions?

Directions hell. I'm curious as to why it is not dead

Cool picture.

Be a shame to shoot that little lost soul, and neat that you got him with the camera. A few years back we had one like it land in my Southwest Louisiana spread, it sure tickled me that my party was no more anxious to kill it than I. Wasn't so tickled to have been so taken aback by his visit that I didn't snap the little Yankee duck's picture.

Well, maybe others will pass on what is likely a once in a lifetime duck, but not me. If I were that lucky, the duck would not be and there definitely would be plenty of pictures taken

I'm fine with knowing that I could have killed him.
My video finally finished uploading.

He must be on that trans-Appalachian migration

tucker wrote:I'm fine with knowing that I could have killed him.
My video finally finished uploading.

That's awesome.

I have found myself in the same position twice, a drake goldeneye and also five specklebelly geese. I have pictures of both that could have been legally killed but it just wouldn't have been the same as killing them while hunting so they got their pictures taken and lived to see another day.

Speck would have gone down for sure.

Flightstopper wrote:Speck would have gone down for sure.

It's likely that I will never see one again and certainly not a couple hundred yards from my house.

Bufflehead wrote:

Flightstopper wrote:Speck would have gone down for sure.

It's likely that I will never see one again and certainly not a couple hundred yards from my house.

I caught one once. Mean little bastards when you get ahold of them.

Flightstopper wrote:Speck would have gone down for sure.

Yup. And twice on Sunday

Unless in Maryland.

I had the chance to eat my first speck recently and I can say on the off chance I ever encounter another it will not be getting a pass.

By killing that bird it would not hurt anything. It's not like it's going to start an oldsquaw migration in Louisiana by laying it go. But cool pic nonetheless

Damn. One got away.

quackhead wrote:It's not like it's going to start an oldsquaw migration in Louisiana by laying it go.

It's also not like giving one of the precious few to make it here a pass is going to stop us from enjoying duck hunting in Louisiana, quite the contrary in that case.

Rick wrote:

quackhead wrote:It's not like it's going to start an oldsquaw migration in Louisiana by laying it go.

It's also not like giving one of the precious few to make it here a pass is going to stop us from enjoying duck hunting in Louisiana, quite the contrary in that case.

I'm not saying he should or shouldn't shoot. It is most definitely his choice. I'm simply stating that if one does shoot it then that's okay also

There is no right or wrong in this situation.

I had three reasons for not shooting.

1. I am trying to get through my first season of retirement from waterfowling.

2. I have vowed to not shoot any ducks on this pond, although I never thought that vow would have included sea ducks.

3. No fed or state stamp in possession. see #1

quackhead wrote:I'm not saying he should or shouldn't shoot. It is most definitely his choice. I'm simply stating that if one does shoot it then that's okay also

Agreed, but I would have shot it if legal. And any crap I give anyone for not is just that.

Duck hunting is about entertainment, so whatever floats your boat

Since one of the things that I most enjoy is getting something that I have never gotten before. I'd go pretty far out of my way to get a duck I may never see again. I'd pass on a limit of mallards for a decent chance at a new duck without a second thought. And if it plops in the decoys in front of me, well, it has flapped its wings for the last time

I plan on some trips specifically to try and add new species. Old squaw on the great lakes may be the next one (any recommendations on guides please PM). Another reason I would not pass on an old squaw that drops in unexpectedly. It's high on my list.

As expected, he was gone today.
I hope my little rest stop was good for him.
Glad he didn't get hung up in the geothermal coils.

Curious why you've decided to hang up the waders??

DeadEye_Dan wrote:Curious why you've decided to hang up the waders??

Several reasons.

DD and Chad have flooded the waters with face-painted half-wits.

Since I bought this new place, a typical duck hunting day for me would start at 2:30-3:00 AM, a 45 minute drive, hunt a half day, 45 minutes back home, unload, shower, lunch, and then work until 5 PM or so.
Most of the hunts I've been on the last two years have produced little to no results, but left me worn out and pissed off.

I came to realize that I wasn't enjoying it anymore.

I saw a rig at the truck stop the other day, when I stopped in for a cup of coffee.
Crossed paths with the hunter inside the store, and asked, "how was the duck hunting today".
He said he killed a bufflehead.
I thanked him for reminding me of how much I was enjoying my retirement.

My previous partner has had similar experiences.

They went to the ramp we used to use on the second slit opener. We used to get there at legal minus 90 minutes, and there would be no one else there.
They got there at 2:30 and there were 16 trucks there.

They went back the next afternoon, and there were no others there.
They setup in a spot they'd chosen and settled in.
In 30 minutes, a boatload of 4 young morons came in and started setting up within 75 yards of them.
He got mad and picked up. Drove to where they were and stopped and asked them WTF were they thinking.
They said, "We setup this close to people all of the time and no one complains".

He explained to them that things didn't work like that here, and that if they keep doing that, some of the old timers who are used to low pressure and no crowds, are going to likely try to kill them. He was not exaggerating.

A much needed and overdue break.

Yeah, that's gotten to be a familiar story.
We've found that for every 20' of anchor line we've added, the assclown quotient decreases by 30%

DeadEye_Dan wrote:Yeah, that's gotten to be a familiar story.
We've found that for every 20' of anchor line we've added, the assclown quotient decreases by 30%

Well put.

tucker wrote:

DeadEye_Dan wrote:Curious why you've decided to hang up the waders??

Several reasons.

DD and Chad have flooded the waters with face-painted half-wits.

Since I bought this new place, a typical duck hunting day for me would start at 2:30-3:00 AM, a 45 minute drive, hunt a half day, 45 minutes back home, unload, shower, lunch, and then work until 5 PM or so.
Most of the hunts I've been on the last two years have produced little to no results, but left me worn out and pissed off.

I came to realize that I wasn't enjoying it anymore.

I saw a rig at the truck stop the other day, when I stopped in for a cup of coffee.
Crossed paths with the hunter inside the store, and asked, "how was the duck hunting today".
He said he killed a bufflehead.
I thanked him for reminding me of how much I was enjoying my retirement.

My previous partner has had similar experiences.

They went to the ramp we used to use on the second slit opener. We used to get there at legal minus 90 minutes, and there would be no one else there.
They got there at 2:30 and there were 16 trucks there.

They went back the next afternoon, and there were no others there.
They setup in a spot they'd chosen and settled in.
In 30 minutes, a boatload of 4 young morons came in and started setting up within 75 yards of them.
He got mad and picked up. Drove to where they were and stopped and asked them WTF were they thinking.
They said, "We setup this close to people all of the time and no one complains".

He explained to them that things didn't work like that here, and that if they keep doing that, some of the old timers who are used to low pressure and no crowds, are going to likely try to kill them. He was not exaggerating.

A much needed and overdue break.

It's sad to loose good people who get it about this sport because of a bunch of X Box hunters.
I've said it a few times before on here, you can blame the manufactures and TV shows for stroking these young kids sense of playing video game solider. Going on a waterfowl hunt now means you get to dress up like you're a Seal Team 6 snipper heading out on a mission.
Don't get me wrong, I love to promote this sport to the younger generation and believe it will not survive without them, I just wish they would show up for more of the experiance than the killing part.