2014-2015 Season Log...

[Rick]

Date: 9/27

Time: morning

Location: mudhole

Cloud Cover: light to heavy

Wind Direction and Velocity: Easterly moderate to fairly strong

Temperature: pleasant

Barometer: 29.97 gradually rising

Moon phase: new

Special Notes:

Waterfowl Activity: not nearly what I'd hoped given the weekend and heard little shooting anywhere, so many may have given up...

Waterfowl Responsiveness: Thankfully very good.

Hunters: 2, George and Don

Guns:

Malfunctions:

Dog(s): lots of flotant work and some sweet tracking through mixed flotant and shallows

Special Equipment: Same circus, two spinners and MMM

Kudos: Was real worried about my guys' shooting/hitting early on, but they were deadly when dialed in and birds fell in multiples.

Birds By Species: 17 bw teal (12 m, 5 f)

Photo Ops: Lots of grass work today:


albeit with a ride to the AOF:


And one tipped bird track that lead Peake through places that made me glad to have a gun on hand:

[banknote]

I'm really glad I don't have to worry about dinosaurs eating my dog here.

[Rick]

Can be a nuisance.

[Rick]

Date: 9/27

Time: afternoon

Location: John's

Cloud Cover: cloudy

Wind Direction and Velocity: easterly moderate

Temperature: hot walking in but comfortable sitting in the breeze.

Barometer:

Moon phase:

Special Notes:

Waterfowl Activity: Arrived earlier than yesterday afternoon and found roughly the same numbers of birds sitting on roughly the same spots as then, but watching them move out of our way was virtually the sum total of the teal activity we saw. Might have seen a dozen teal pass wide, with just one working the spinners long after we'd been lulled into just enjoying the afternoon and conversation by their inactivity.

Waterfowl Responsiveness: spinners get full credit for the one bird that passed - but wouldn't come back.

Hunters: 2, buddy Mike and his grandson, Gabe, joining me for another play hunt.

Guns:

Malfunctions:

Dog(s):

Special Equipment: spinners large and small, plus a dozen or so decoys

Kudos: Was a nice afternoon with an old friend.

Curses: Had young Gabe all fired up by hearing of yesterday's action and put him through a miserable long walk across wet plowed ground for naught.

Birds By Species: DNS in a place that was covered up in birds under apparently identical conditions the afternoon before - when I also did not shoot for a good while because there were for that time so many more birds working the field than I was willing to educate to do so. Fat lot of good that caution did.

Photo Ops: Forgot camera.

[Rick]

Date: 9/28

Time: Morning

Location: Mudhole

Cloud Cover: heavy

Wind Direction and Velocity: Easterly moderate.

Temperature: cool

Barometer: 29.92 rising

Moon phase: new

Special Notes: last day of September teal

Waterfowl Activity: Dead where we were early on, with little shooting heard, then improved as after the first hour or so until we finished after 9. Few big ducks of any kind seen.

Waterfowl Responsiveness: Super if I got on them and stayed on them. Lost a couple far bunches that turned for very aggressive calling then slid off for more open marsh when I let up.

Hunters: 2, buddy hunt with Bobby and his friend, Steve.

Guns:

Malfunctions:

Dog(s): Lots of flotant work today and plenty of demonstration that the nose knows.

Special Equipment: Spinners large and small and MMM

Kudos: Was more than a little worried we'd scratch for the first hour, and happily surprise that the flight turned on so well for us later.

Curses: None at all. Feel we've been blessed to have the season we have, given the general dearth of birds in our area.

Birds By Species: 18 bt teal (15 drakes and 3 hens)

Photo Ops: Last September retrieve:


and a tired pup:


Bobby and Steve on the ride out after shutting it down in style:

[Ericdc]

Pretty slow in little chenier today. Shot 8, all before 8. Hung till 10:30, mouth called my first ever teal to land in decoys 10 yards away from us while sitting in boat in the decoys.. Had to unpack gun and get a shell, reduced to possession. Pretty funny.

[Rick]

...mouth called my first ever teal to land in decoys 10 yards away from us while sitting in boat in the decoys...

Wish you'd posted that earlier and made me think to give it a go again. Have probably mouth called for them more seasons than I've stuck with conventional calls, but it's been quite a few years since I've done it. Whenever Primos started making their blue teal call would mark the switch, because it was a normal call with a shorter than normal reed that inspired me to try the same, only with more open bored calls than the too-quiet-for-me Primos. Prior to that, I felt I could get closer to the real deal in tone and louder than the teal calls then on the market. Really ought to remember to give it another shot, but find myself carrying a bored-out MVP with a modified reed in my pocket from the time I expect I might run into teal in August to the end of the September season.

[Duckdog]

Hey Rick,
Any way you could video or throw up some audio of you (or anyone else for that matter), mouth calling? I can't say that I've ever seen it done. (successfully)

[Deltaman]

Rick, Thanks for sharing your season with us! Very enjoyable reading, and some really great pics of your coyote in action!!!!!

[Rick]

Hey Rick,
Any way you could video or throw up some audio of you (or anyone else for that matter), mouth calling? I can't say that I've ever seen it done. (successfully)

Been so long since I've done it (maybe 10 years), I felt silly trying and my throat's now sore, but this should give you the gist of "kaick"ing:



As for "successfully," most "successful" teal calling I've seen, and done, has been little more than noise making that helps draw attention to visual attractions teal find more compelling without managing to drive them off. They're just not as responsive to good calling as mallards - or as easily put off by bad calling. But proper timing and cadence can still turn some tricks with teal that would otherwise stay on their way to points elsewhere.

[Rick]

Rick, Thanks for sharing your season with us! Very enjoyable reading, and some really great pics of your coyote in action!!!!!

And I'm thankful for the support received here and Olly providing the opportunity, as I've had no luck at all maintaining previous logs without public commitment to do so.

[Woody]

Hey Rick,
Any way you could video or throw up some audio of you (or anyone else for that matter), mouth calling? I can't say that I've ever seen it done. (successfully)

Been so long since I've done it (maybe 10 years), I felt silly trying and my throat's now sore, but this should give you the gist of "kaick"ing:



As for "successfully," most "successful" teal calling I've seen, and done, has been little more than noise making that helps draw attention to visual attractions teal find more compelling without managing to drive them off. They're just not as responsive to good calling as mallards - or as easily put off by bad calling. But proper timing and cadence can still turn some tricks with teal that would otherwise stay on their way to points elsewhere.

You bayou fellers are awful strange.

[Duckdog]

Thanks Rick.

[Rick]

You bayou fellers are awful strange.

That's funny, the bayou fellers tell me, "You Yankees are awful strange." And the Yankees told me, "You hillbillies are awful strange."

Am beginning to think there's a message of some sort there...

[Woody]

You bayou fellers are awful strange.

That's funny, the bayou fellers tell me, "You Yankees are awful strange." And the Yankees told me, "You hillbillies are awful strange."

Am beginning to think there's a message of some sort there...

Everyone is strange. I guess.

[Rick]

That's a relief. I was beginning to suspect it was me.

[Woody]

That's a relief. I was beginning to suspect it was me.

[Bud]

Thanks, Rick. Great times reading your log and laughing with you, and the pics are great. On a side note, you must have tried peeping at the little guys. I have found it useful when caught late or can't get to the call. A little whistling peep brings 'em back around now and then, and on the last day of the season sometimes. I can't say I haven't cackled at them, but the peep comes out automatically. Seeing a few more specks yet?

[Rick]

I've not found much real leverage in whistling and doubt they could even hear it at the distance there usual paths over more open marsh are from us. Most of my whistling is done just after LST but before it's light enough to see well in the big season. Then I'll usually stick a whistle in the corner of my mouth and "advertise" pretty much constantly for unseen birds while we BS in the blind. Other than that, I generally only whistle to show something different to birds that plainly want to be nearby but know the blind.

That said, I once told your friend, Ronnie, I found no leverage in the whistle when we were hunting the Reese farm blind you know, and he turned the next bunch of green-wings passing on the south cut with but a cheep or two. But when I told him I'd like to see that again, he declined and quit with the upper hand. Pretty sure a whistle is all he uses when hunting alone or with son Ben, but even more certain they're hunting "X"s the birds are anxious to sit on, rather than trying to influence trading birds.

[Darren]

Have seen many green wings turn on dime to peeping via a 6-in-1 whistle and/or me just making my own high pitched "peep" via mouth. That said, have seen many many more show no response whatsoever to that calling. Think it's what you have confidence in and may have seen some birds react to recently that keeps you doing it. I've about given up on peeping at them in recent seasons.....

That said, so many people swear by pintail call/fluttering whistle, though I've yet to see a single or wad of pins show the slightest of response to this calling. Granted my experience is fairly limited with working pins compared to others, but considering that so many would bet their boats on its effectiveness, I've been pretty frustrated in the non-response of the few I have worked.

[Rick]

That said, so many people swear by pintail call/fluttering whistle, though I've yet to see a single or wad of pins show the slightest of response to this calling. Granted my experience is fairly limited with working pins compared to others, but considering that so many would bet their boats on its effectiveness, I've been pretty frustrated in the non-response of the few I have worked.

I've so little faith in whistling for pins that it irritates the pee out of me when folks think they're helping by whistling while I'm working them with a mallard call, which I think best done by timing oriented reflex response whistling only dilutes. That said, I did watch a couple guys with Murillo type whistles work a lone drake and a pair of hens to the guns last season, which, though only a single and a pair, were high enough initially that I didn't give them much chance of success.

[Darren]

That said, so many people swear by pintail call/fluttering whistle, though I've yet to see a single or wad of pins show the slightest of response to this calling. Granted my experience is fairly limited with working pins compared to others, but considering that so many would bet their boats on its effectiveness, I've been pretty frustrated in the non-response of the few I have worked.

I've so little faith in whistling for pins that it irritates the pee out of me when folks think they're helping by whistling while I'm working them with a mallard call, which I think best done by timing oriented reflex response whistling only dilutes. That said, I did watch a couple guys with Murillo type whistles work a lone drake and a pair of hens to the guns last season, which, though only a single and a pair, were high enough initially that I didn't give them much chance of success.

It apparently works for some, thus so many heralding its effectiveness, I'm just flat frustrated every time I've given it a shot. For better or worse, we usually don't have pins in our marsh so not much to worry on, but down in Venice they're like the plague.

[Ericdc]

Here in northeast LA, in the fields we get big bunches of pins and I use mallard hen call to get their attention but I also do the fluttering whistle a lot and it seems pretty effective. Our hunting situations are really different though, we are usually working big groups down to a handful that finish. I don't know how many times y'all work big groups of pins down there. Pretty common up here though.

[Ericdc]

Ducks just act different in the marsh altogether I think.

[Rick]

Big groups rarely give us a chance in my little pothole, but we've a couple ag land blinds with BIG, wide floods that can be flat remarkable.

[outboardman]

Great thread Rick, thanks for taking the time to post all that. Really enjoy the pics of the dog retrieving. Would like to see more pics of the swamp-fields you hunt, if your worried about scouters don't do it.

[Rick]

Thanks. More pics will no doubt come as the season progresses.

[Ericdc]

About a dozen bw teal in the pond today, I usually only see then when there's a pretty good movement.

[Rick]

I took a deer hike in Klondike this afternoon and saw nothing flying but bec croche and doves. But a buddy, Ric Berkin, called to report seeing 18 specks go over his country place in Thornwell low, slow and looking for a place to be.

[Rick]

Date: 11/9/14

Time: Morning

Location: mudhole

Cloud Cover: clear

Wind Direction and Velocity: NNE light to moderate

Temperature: cool

Barometer: 30.06 rising

Moon phase: nearly full

Special Notes: youth day

Waterfowl Activity: plenty of teal plus some woodies, as well as grays and more mallards than I recall this early in recent years

Waterfowl Responsiveness: Getting birds within shotgun range was easy enough, but we stayed too caught to get as many to land as we needed.

Hunters: theoretically 2, Shreve (conceived in Shreveport) and Fin, but it turned out Fin was afraid of his .410 and not going to shoot regardless.

Guns:

Malfunctions:

Dog(s): Peake didn't get much work but was good about it.

Special Equipment: spinner and MMM probably helped keep eyes off the blind

Kudos: Mighty pleasant morning despite the bobbles. First big bunch to land looked like a bufflehead until right on us but could see hooded merganser crests on some when they got right on us and lit. Given how the air war was (or wasn't) going I called the shot on the water despite a backdrop of coot decoys, and Shreve "shot one with a Mohawk". But the dog returned with was, in fact, the first buffy ever shot at the mudhole. (Which a hoody would have been, too.) Shreve's dad told me he burned through over two boxes of shells, so we had some opportunity.

Curses: A gun was left at camp, so we weren't even clear of the boat house until after shooting time, Being the only one shooting, poor Shreve was on the spot, and though he took tail feathers out of his first two fliers, got worse, instead of better, as the morning went on, even missing water swats. And little brother Fin, who we'd screwed up some water ops trying to coach into shooting, had been scared by his gun the afternoon before and just flat wasn't going to pull its trigger.

Birds By Species: 1 bufflehead, 1 coot and 1 greenwing

Photo Ops: Our gang: grandpa Terry, Fin, dad Billy and Shreve:


Fin with our trophy buffy: