Preseason 2015-2016

[Darren]

Delayed my planned early morning scout mission a couple of hours due to storms. Caught a break and got out there for a couple of hours to poke around between 9:30a and 11:30a. Noticed water is down a little bit due to the westerly winds we've had last few days but didn't take long to start bumping some birds. Still not using any hole in particular, just a few in each puddle. Marked a few more holes that are on the more difficult end of accessibility, and headed home before the heavier rain returned. We'll see what the morning brings: Johnny and I taking Harry along for his first hunt.

[Rick]

Hope you show young Harry a big time.

[Darren]

Harry and I headed back out this afternoon around 3:00p for some scouting and a head start on some early blind prep for regular season. Water was a little higher than what we saw during this morning's hunt and actually saw a fair few birds in the area of our big blind which is a bunch of flooded broken marsh right now. Good many mottleds and woodies but also a few dozen blue wings buzzing around so we'll give it a try tomorrow morning in that general area. Got some of the old cane out of the blind and started replacing with new cane, nice weather for a little work anyway and fun to see a few birds around to boot.

[Darren]

Harry and I headed back out this afternoon around 3:00p for some scouting and a head start on some early blind prep for regular season. Water was a little higher than what we saw during this morning's hunt and actually saw a fair few birds in the area of our big blind which is a bunch of flooded broken marsh right now. Good many mottleds and woodies but also a few dozen blue wings buzzing around so we'll give it a try tomorrow morning in that general area. Got some of the old cane out of the blind and started replacing with new cane, nice weather for a little work anyway and fun to see a few birds around to boot.

My helper from yesterday's blind work, staying busy gnawing on the old cane.

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[Darren]

As a note to the log, had our first fairly substantive front come through for Thursday Oct. 1, been blowing stout from the north since then, with the remainder of the weekend's forecast below. Lows in the mid 50's; water in marsh had been very high but has been falling steady.

.TODAY...NORTH WINDS NEAR 20 KNOTS. WAVES 3 TO 4 FEET DOMINANT
PERIOD 3 SECONDS.
.TONIGHT...NORTH WINDS NEAR 20 KNOTS. WAVES 3 TO 4 FEET DOMINANT
PERIOD 3 SECONDS.
.SATURDAY AND SATURDAY NIGHT...NORTH WINDS 10 TO 15 KNOTS. WAVES
2 TO 3 FEET DOMINANT PERIOD 2 SECONDS.
.SUNDAY...NORTHWEST WINDS 10 TO 15 KNOTS. WAVES 2 TO 3 FEET
DOMINANT PERIOD 2 SECONDS.
.SUNDAY NIGHT...NORTH WINDS 10 TO 15 KNOTS. WAVES 1 TO 2 FEET
DOMINANT PERIOD 2 SECONDS.
.MONDAY...NORTH WINDS 5 TO 10 KNOTS. WAVES 1 TO 2 FEET.
.MONDAY NIGHT...NORTHEAST WINDS 5 TO 10 KNOTS. WAVES 1 FOOT OR
LESS.

Probably one of the more potent fronts we've seen in a while this early. Hope it continues through this month.

[Darren]

Though we've enjoyed some nice early October weather down here in S. la, the overall picture across regions north of us does not bode well for an early migration. Some excerpts from a report on Weather Underground below

If you're in the Central and Mississippi flyways, this isn't what you want to see:

actual-highs-10_11_15_450px.jpg

October 11 was cooler in Louisiana than in much of the Dakotas, not good.

For October 11 highs observed:

International Falls, MN: 88°F
Duluth, MN: 84°F
Redwood Falls, MN: 90°F
*Fargo, ND: 97°F
Grand Forks, ND: 90°F
Aberdeen, SD: 93°F
Pierre, SD: 95°F
*Broken Bow, NE: 98°F
*Grand Island, NE: 97°F
Lincoln, NE: 94°F
**Colorado Springs, CO: 87°F
(asterisk = October record broken;
double asterisk = October record tied)

"The poster child for this autumn heat wave may be Fargo, ND, where the high on Sunday, October 11, was 97°F. Not only was it Fargo’s hottest day of 2015 thus far, but it was by far the warmest temperature ever observed so late in the year. Nothing so toasty had ever been recorded in Fargo any later than September 22, when the city soared to 101°F in 1936. Even in midsummer, hitting 97°F isn’t all that common in Fargo: from 1990 to 2014, that mark was reached in only 7 of 25 years."

brettschneider-freezes-10_8_15.jpg

As shown above, good many places that normally have had a freeze so far, have not. Decent front coming through today that should get things back to remotely seasonable for the upper Midwest, though could sure use a shift westward of the jet stream, just hope we continue on that trend for remainder of October.

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[Rick]

Gonna be what it is. I'm goin' regardless.

[DComeaux]

I had read this a little while back and figured it would be one of those years. El-nino is here.

I'm like Rick, I'll still go, I may bitch about it, but I will go.

http://www.weather.com/news/climate/news/strong-el-nino-noaa-update-september2015

[Darren]

As my hunt log of '13-'14 season can attest, even if birds are few, our crew still goes. We'll have a handful of comfy spots, bring along the dog(s) and snacks, and just go see what sunrise brings. Sure hope it's not as bad as that season though....

[Darren]

Speck Day in Mandeville! (kinda)

To see or hear any geese other than local pond-hopping Canada's in Mandeville is fairly rare, but Anthony caught these specks cutting up over the neighborhood today. Hope it's a good sign of things to come


With yesterday's front, apparently they're on the move

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[DComeaux]

YES!! I hope to hear that sweet sound this weekend.

[Darren]

As an update to yesterday's speck observation over town, Anthony's out fishing in our marsh this morning and had what has to be the same group (or portion thereof) of specks bump from one of our favorite ponds. He was able to call me as they flew toward him low and I was able to hear them cutting up over the phone, fired up!! Reported a few BW teal, pair of mallards and few other big ducks and coots in the area observed this morning.

[Rick]

Need to send those poor lost gooseses on over here where they belong.

[DComeaux]

My thoughts were the same, "lost like a goose",when I read Madeville. Not an area you'd associate with these fine fowl.

Darren, I'd assume you guys get a few strays every now and again? Most are probably just off coarse or grab a tube of air aloft and ride it out to the marsh.


This map is constantly updated and had a strong northerly flow yesterday.
http://hint.fm/wind/

[Darren]

One well known land mass in the area is called Goose Point, for good reason I'm told, by old timers of the area. Another area not too far to our SE is called "Goose Flat", which I'm told historically held a respectable population of wintering snows, with huntable numbers present until Katrina (Aug 2005). Just yesterday a local guide in the area tells me they were piling them up pretty good through January 2005, and that the storm tore up some of their favorite hunting areas. He says they would hunt areas where the nutrias had sort of rooted up the marsh grass with full body decoys and had some good hunts. A well-told tale of this very area is depicted in the story I linked below by Mr. Fontova, the uncle of an old friend of mine, and fellow La Sportsman contributor. Last I heard, Venice still winters a good few geese, primarily hanging out on the many mud flats down in that area.

http://www.louisianasportsman.com/details.php?id=491

Raymond & I took the pair of specks below in the 2010 season. I took my youth hunter to the same exact island last November and he was able to fire on a 4-pack of snows that swung for the blocks on the speck call. Today's sighting is not but 500 yards due north of this location. The surrounding area has some sandy flats that are exposed when water is lower so I figure that's what attracts the few that come through. In total we've killed only 3 snows since 2003 in this area but have fired on a few others or seen some that didn't present shooting ops on occasion.

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[DComeaux]

That was a good read.

The furthest east I've ever hunted was at the end of the road south of Theriot LA following bayou Dularge,and that was in the very early 80s. I don't remember seeing geese out that way and don't remember ever hearing reports of geese being taken in that east marsh. I have taken gesse in the marsh on several occasions over the years from Pecan Island to Creole and know that there is a large population that spend time in the Rockefeller refuge on the food plots. They were sure out there last year.

This from his writing is so true. They seem to respond so much better in the marsh.

You don’t have 10,000 real geese in an adjoining field to compete with, as in normal “goose country.” You don’t see many out here, but you tend to blast a much higher percentage of the few you do see.

[Darren]

This from his writing is so true. They seem to respond so much better in the marsh.

You don’t have 10,000 real geese in an adjoining field to compete with, as in normal “goose country.” You don’t see many out here, but you tend to blast a much higher percentage of the few you do see.

Just the same, they typically respond really well to the call, figuring anybody speaking their language is a long lost friend since there's not many other buddies hanging around.

Guide buddy said they'd use smaller spreads, but high quality full body dekes and that's all it took.

[Darren]

Spent much of the day in our marsh piddling and was happy to see a few birds, including coots, BW teal, grays, spoons and loads of mottleds. Got to work on a few hides and tour around with the elevated tides. Think we saw more today than we did on our Nov 1st jaunt in 2014 so it looks promising. Wind was getting after it from the NE so made for a great day to be out and about.

[DComeaux]

Sounds like a good day!

[Darren]

One key factor that looks to be going our way (for south Louisiana hunters in the Miss. Flyway) would be the ongoing drought conditions across much of the areas north of us. As shown below, much of Louisiana is in "extreme drought" which generally helps get more birds down to the coast, earlier in the season. Note drought conditions of varying degrees persist in Missouri and Arkansas as well.

Capture.JPG

My season notes for the 2010-2011 season mention drought across much of the flyway that year, with quite a number of birds showing a bit early for us that season. Early observations on our end so far this year are aligning up with that so far. We'll see what next week's marsh visit shows.

[Ducaholic]

I'll go out on a limb now and speculate that you will wish you were in the coastal zone once you see what's out there. We have had three really good October fronts.

[Darren]

I'll go out on a limb now and speculate that you will wish you were in the coastal zone once you see what's out there. We have had three really good October fronts.

Saw decent few birds on Monday, will look again next Friday. I'll be opening in coastal zone down in Delacroix then will do a youth hunt in EZ on the 14th. Will likely be a long wait till the 21st. Really not happy with the proposal to put us all in EZ on this end, if anything entire coast should just be CZ but have other things to worry about than go make some racket at the meetings (likely for naught anyway, right!?)

[Ducaholic]

I'll go out on a limb now and speculate that you will wish you were in the coastal zone once you see what's out there. We have had three really good October fronts.

Saw decent few birds on Monday, will look again next Friday. I'll be opening in coastal zone down in Delacroix then will do a youth hunt in EZ on the 14th. Will likely be a long wait till the 21st. Really not happy with the proposal to put us all in EZ on this end, if anything entire coast should just be CZ but have other things to worry about than go make some racket at the meetings (likely for naught anyway, right!?)

For sure but I would like to be a fly on the wall in all of the pre-meeting discussions. I'm certainly not in favor of any part of the coast being in the East.

What's really ironic is this first Saturday opener for the coastal zone is only likely to happen in the years when the calendar pushes the second Saturday date beyond the 12th.

Courville will keep things interesting for a while.

[Darren]

Back out in our marsh for sunrise this morning to see what the high tides have left us. Marsh is a bit beaten up and water still on the higher end. Saw a fair many birds, about the same as last trip on 10-19-2015 with grays, coots, mottleds, and some teal, of which one group I'm pretty certain were the green variety. Got some work done on our hideouts and had a good time in the process. Still have 2 weeks to go before we can even youth hunt here, 3 weeks till regular opener in this zone.

last year's big blind starting to look right inside

IMG_7592.JPG

Off to Coastal Zone waters next Friday for that opener on the 7th.

[Darren]

Report I got from friend/local guide in the area we're hunting next weekend was that the youth hunts went well, good many grays and teal along with redheads, spoons, and wigeon among others. Reports from Venice were also good with a fair many grays reported down there as well.

Looking rainy next weekend with a frontal passage so hoping that's enough to move some birds around, there should be plenty of pressure for sure.

[Darren]

Took advantage of the off weekend between splits to take a trip to NYC, having never been before. There too it is abnormally warm, with most thrilled to not be during the usual frigid temps (I'm told). I know for sure we didn't wear most of the heavy clothing we'd packed so that was telling in itself.

Spent a good chunk of last Friday strolling the famed Central Park and found it not only as-advertised with beauty, but also had a lot of ducks on it I'd figure to be more than the usual collection of park ducks so common to these types of areas. Saw mallards, spoons, ringers, buffleheads and a few other divers I couldn't quite make out with no binoculars at hand, along with plenty of Canada geese. Was neat to watch buffleheads and ringnecks dive and come back up only 10 feet from us (and below our vantage point) since it's a behavior we'd never see at home in the wild so close up. Found at least a dozen places that would have made for great blinds.........

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Usually this sort of experience on vacation during the season would have me dying to get home but routine checks of the weather back home included fog and warm temps with no decent fronts coming through. Hoping this front Sunday night and another to come later this week will at least do something to help the cause. There were very very few birds in our home marsh at end of the split. Think we may be headed down to Delacroix Friday to see if our luck holds down there Saturday morning. Probably stay close for Sunday AM

[Darren]

Figured it also a good time to check in on the snow pack comparison for this year vs. last season. Though early in season it looks like there was only slightly more snow around last year, for more recent comparisons it looks like there's actually a bit more snow this year than last, likely largely due to recent snows in upper Midwest and Dakotas. That said you also do not see the frozen waterways (yellow) across Canada that were present in 2014.

Early Season - November

Nov 1 2015.JPG

Nov 1 2014.JPG

December comparison

Dec 1 2015.JPG

Dec 1 2014.JPG

Maybe the recent snows will be enough to help give us the push we need, last year spoiled us with the early push before the first split kicked off.

[DComeaux]

I'd like to see the white and yellow all the way down to the border of La and AR, and it be tick, tick!

I've been looking at this and the winds over the last week or so. Not good upper level stuff for migration in our direction.

This map updates, so what I saw when posted is not what what you'll see when you open it.
http://hint.fm/wind/

We need some northern fronts and we're getting western. The wind patterns have been screwy.

[SpinnerMan]

I'd like to see the white and yellow all the way down to the border of La and AR, and it be tick, tick!

I'd be happy with that myself, but a least to I-80 would work for me. A couple cold days later this week and then we are back into the 50s

I joined a club near a cooling lake since by late November we are usually walking on the ice and the ducks and geese are moving to the giant bath tub. It doesn't look like that is going to happen any time soon if the long range forecast holds.

I like this map and it is not good.

http://www.accuweather.com/en/us/winter-weather

We are talking inches and not feet of snow where there is snow.

Not to mention, most of our rivers and streams are very high and moving fast. Water everywhere that is not going to freeze easily.

[Darren]

Thanks for the insight from the perspective of way north of DComeaux and I down here in S. La; the reality is we just have not had the weather to put significant numbers of birds down the flyway, they're likely strung out all over the place, particularly with the abundant rain. As I understand it to be typical of El Niño, we'll largely get these pacific fronts and not the Arctic fronts plunging down from Canada like we would typically see. What ya gonna do!? Can't do a d@mn thing about it!

I know locally the speckled trout are in a pattern that's typical of fall or very early spring because the water temperature in Lake Pontchartrain is abnormally warm for right now (60s today). Guess the upside is the good fishing and the fact that the poor hunting has the public grounds pretty much wide open because so many of the yahoos have just given up and gone deer hunting or fishin.