2017-2018 Season Log

[DComeaux]

I've a young grandson making his first duck hunt in the morning - that's daunting.

Oh my.... Mummy wrap.

[Rick]

Date: 1/1/18 Mon

Time: morning

Location: Mudhole

Cloud Cover: partly to heavy and back

Wind Direction and Velocity: Screaming out of the NNE

Temperature: mid 20s

Moon phase: full

Special Notes: Was supposed to take a young grandson and his dad, but they chose not to fight the weather. Wish the boy had gotten to see so many ducks work, but glad he wasn't there being discouraged by the wind.

Waterfowl Activity: The first day of such fronts are often poor, but we had some nice bunches of teal and a few woodies in the pond early on and mostly high flights of big ducks periodically all morning.

Waterfowl Responsiveness: Little ducks didn't matter, as I'd not let them be shot in my decoys and were out of range before a gun went off when flushed. Big ducks often broke from way the hey up, to include a couple BIG bunches of pintails, and many worked pretty as possible to front and center, but they, too, were usually too quick getting out for my man. Ran the pee out of the Alan Stanley call all morning without a freezing issue, perhaps because I kept it out of the wind in an uninsulated jacket pocket

Hunters: 1 Clyde was sick, so I took his hunter, Dusty, a super nice big old boy from MS on his first duck hunt of the year.

Guns:

Malfunctions: Dusty's magazine wouldn't take two shells until I dug out some 2 3/4" shells for him, and I had a likely frozen dog water related "Benelli click" when I really wished I wouldn't have.

Dog(s): Marsh worked his buns off on chipped birds sailed way over the iced up flotant behind the blind by the wind.

Special Equipment: SOS

Curses: It was not a day for Dusty to be out there. We were soon hunting him standing up, and even that wasn't enough to get him in the game on landing birds, much less those pushing off the big guy standing in the blind.

Kudos: Nice guy still had a big time, and it was a grand day to be alive in the marsh.

Birds By Species: 6 mallards, 2 pintails and 2 shovellers and 1 pintail decoy (shot as a Scotch triple when the spoons lit in front of pintails I was working while hissing "Let those go! Let those go!")

Photo Ops: Even though I ferried Marsh across the deep water to his floatant searches, he didn't seem too thrilled by how things were going:

004.JPG

Lagniappe: Though we saw plenty of ducks on our end, the three blinds hunted to our east all got to see an "unbroken fifteen minute flight of mallards". A modern day "grand passage," if you will. (But Issac and his girl friend, who hunts more than most men, were the only ones to fill on mallards plus a pair of pins. Other parties had as tough of a time in the wind as mine or worse. Anyway, it's pretty exciting to think of that many new mallards being around for at least a few days.

[Ericdc]

I was hoping to see the big flights from Corey’s lease but it was dead. We stayed till 9, saw one group of 4 mallards and a single and a pair along with a few pins. Makes me wonder how oak grove and grand view are fairing??

Glad they showed up over there to the east where you are though. I’ll be out till I hunt the thaw probably midday Saturday. Will have to break ice though but it won’t refreeze Saturday night it looks like.

It baffles me that people will pay to hunt with you but won’t listen to you and let you put them on the birds.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Rick]

It baffles me that people will pay to hunt with you but won’t listen to you and let you put them on the birds.

I think most of the new hunters, like Dusty, really try to follow instruction, but there's a lot of new information coming at them at once. And if it wasn't exciting, folks wouldn't pay for it. Probably especially tough to hold your water when you're struggling and don't know a spoon from a pintail in the air and there's a bunch of ducks RIGHT THERE! on the water.

[Ericdc]

Yea that’s true, no doubt it’s exciting even when you’re missing.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Rick]

Date: 1/2 Tues

Time: morning

Location: Mudhole

Cloud Cover: cloudy

Wind Direction and Velocity: NE Strong to not as strong by curfew.

Temperature: low 20s

Moon phase: full

Special Notes:

Waterfowl Activity: No teal whatsoever and few jacks seen, just mostly HIGH mallards and pintails.

Waterfowl Responsiveness: Loving the Stanley Deceiver, as it helped account for the only strong hunt in our marsh this morning. Less wind than yesterday was letting me break some stuff even I wouldn't normally try hailing with long, drawn-out "contest" hails.

Hunters: 2, Marty from yesterday's hunter, Dusty's, party and Fred, a new guide this year getting to see the marsh for the first time.

Guns:

Malfunctions: Marty didn't know how to load his Benelli properly and was suffering occasional Benelli clicks as a result of closing the bolt by hand and letting its face properly lock until I caught him at it and showed him what was happening and how to avoid it.

Dog(s): I wouldn't let marsh swim for anything today, and thicker ice on the flotant kept him nearly dry. He handles the ice well and has yet to be cut up like Peake used to be. KNOCK WOOD!

Special Equipment: SOS

Curses: Only that Marty was nearly as slow as his buddy, Dusty, and struggled with what should have been "gimmes" right over the decoys.

Kudos: Both guys had masks and got to see nearly all of a really neat bird show. Could easily have limited if we'd shot spoons or Marty was just a bit quicker, but were all tickled as it was. And once all of our mallards were strapped, Marty got some good phone video of working mallards to forward to friends who'd backed out of the trip. (Before I said "enough" and quit educating a too precious commodity.)

Birds By Species: 2 gadwall, 12 mallards and 2 pintails

Photo Ops: Cost us some shooting, but I boated Marsh to the flotant for everything that fell there this morning:

012.JPG

Sure nice to be seeing more yellow on the rides out this split:

026.JPG

And Marty in one for the guys who didn't come:

019.JPG

[Ericdc]

Great hunt. Hope we get some this weekend when things start thawing out.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Darren]

Wow! There it is! very nice

[DComeaux]

See what happens when those park ducks move in? Nothing else to shoot at.






Nice hunt Rick.

[simplepeddler]

Braveaux amigeaux

[Rick]

See what happens when those park ducks move in? Nothing else to shoot at.

We'll miss 'em when they're gone. Unless, of course, teal show in numbers that lets us play with them, too. Marsh is low again, but this cold should help bring some of what water's left and trafficking teal closer to the mudhole...

[Ericdc]

Rick are you no longer doing ag evening hunts?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Rick]

I'm done with that unless Doug's leasing practices change, which isn't apt to happen even though he's swearing they will - again.

[Ericdc]

Because you were hunting stuff that somebody else was hunting in the AM?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Deltaman]

Damn fine string of birds Rick, impressive!!!!!!!!

[Rick]

Because you were hunting stuff that somebody else was hunting in the AM?

Anything he kept for us that was decent was, in fact, getting hunted every morning and almost always by guys who left it in embarrassing condition, and I did get awfully tired of righting wrongs only to find them wrong again a day or two later, but he now has precious little (OK, nothing) that even is fixable - that isn't sublet out. And I'm done fighting it.

[Ericdc]

Does he still have the momba? I think that’s what it was called. My brother and I hunted there evening before our hunt with you.

[Rick]

No, but that's a good example of a good spot completely boogered:

P1010450.jpg

Well, not completely. The dogs and I killed a lot of specks there by staying away from the blind.

Bud, who browses here, hunted my last permanent ag land blind, and I'm pretty sure he'll vouch for how it was set up, kept - and worked. Eats my lunch to have to hunt behind whackers.

[Bud]

First morning hunt, we were getting ready and I asked Rick if that was a goose flying right down the levee at about seven feet up in the air. Rick said, "Kill it," so I obliged. That was my first eagle head. Think it fell very close to Rick. We paid attention to walk in water to the blind in many places to keep it pristine. Tried not to step on anything whatsover that would take away from its masterpiece. It looked the same when we left as it did the next morning. Had I been a gozillionaire, I would have tried to buy that place. Maybe ask Rick to watch over it for me.

Also been to places not all the bundles of cover were in place as we approached in the evenings. Looked like a blind. Success and enjoyment are so much about the little things, too. The more little things we get right, the more self-satisfaction we have. When we see such sights, it surely makes us wonder how many birds were educated the past few hours.

We all have to learn, though. I've had junk in my eyes after firing at birds. Crawled into a buried drum with no camo on the downwind side of a half frozen pond with a guide with wind chill -17. Decoys were frozen sideways and upside down in the ice. Watched the birds come and go to open water til I told The Guide I had enough. We want to think maybe they just haven't learned yet, whether it be so or not. It can be embarrassing. Miss those days, but have a bird mount killed there back in the days 12' from me: shot over the decoys feet down right above the water. "You'll want to take this one, Bud," whispered from my left that is so much a part of that memory. Enough. I'll talk all night.

[Rick]

Here's Peake sitting at the end of one I reworked and made right (and getting an ear-full from a traveling decoy we'd sat on a fire ant hill for the previous shot):

P1010024.jpg

Here's how our afternoon party found one that we'd left matching it's levee before one of our ghetto guides used it for a single morning:

P1030220.jpg

Grrr...

[Bud]

Have a few pics of my own hunting that bufflehead's ant hill. We limited on ducks that morning at the mudhole and shot three specks on that levee the same evening. I can't figure out those dad blasted pics.

[Rick]

No chance in hell of killing a speck or probably a duck out of that

That's horrible

That was a blind AJ and Erwin leased from us, and I was hunting with them when last we saw it before it was "borrowed" and bombed out. Was so pissed when I found it like that (and had to waste shooting time repairing the disaster) when I borrowed it with permission because I thought I knew it was right that I took that photo for Doug and AJ & E. Doug "couldn't remember" who he sent there, or there'd of been a reaming.

[Rick]

Date: 1/3 Wed

Time: morning

Location: mudhole

Cloud Cover: clear

Wind Direction and Velocity: North moderate to stron

Temperature: cold to COLD with the wind

Moon phase: full

Special Notes:

Waterfowl Activity: Elvis flat left the building. Shot our four big ducks early and thought, "Here we go..." and then we didn't, as nothing but local puddle-jumpers flew on our end (and then mostly to get out of an eagle's way) until after nine, when our bluewings showed.

Waterfowl Responsiveness: Text book while it lasted.

Hunters: 2, Frank and SIL, Lee

Guns:

Malfunctions:

Dog(s): Every retrieve was "chauffeured".

Special Equipment: SOS Spinner pole I'd straightened is seriously wind bent again.

Curses: Frank was new to me and Lee on his first hunt, and Doug had them all pumped up about how my blind was doing - and then it didn't.

Kudos: Our hunt was right at par, so they at least didn't have to look at anyone else's heavy strap.

Birds By Species: 2 bw teal, 3 mallards and 1 pintail

[DComeaux]

They probably had reservations at little pecan, and we're stopping by for fuel yesterday morning.

[Rick]

That's more plausible than I care to think.

[aunt betty]

Here's Peake sitting at the end of one I reworked and made right (and getting an ear-full from a traveling decoy we'd sat on a fire ant hill for the previous shot):

P1010024.jpg

Here's how our afternoon party found one that we'd left matching it's levee before one of our ghetto guides used it for a single morning:

P1030220.jpg

Grrr...

One year I worked REALLY hard brushing up a pit just like that by Cash, Arkansas.
By the time I saw it again after the "choice members" had hunted it for two weeks straight there wasn't a bit of straw within twenty feet of the pit. Smilin' Mallard was a total loss starting about then. I had no respect for them not respecting things like when I said "don't tear this up if you can help it". Nice looking pit.

[Rick]

Date: 1/4 Thur

Time: morning

Location: mudhole

Cloud Cover: clear

Wind Direction and Velocity: moderate NW to N

Temperature: 20s

Moon phase: still full

Special Notes: first time we found the pond frozen over

Waterfowl Activity: A bit better than yesterday, but not much. Were reports to our east of big flights of mallards or pins coming off Cherry Ridge's body headed south, but we didn't see them. And Issac had what may have been the first scratch at his blind since he took it over five or six seasons ago.

Waterfowl Responsiveness: Most of what wasn't plainly pond-hopping and a couple that were worked as well as could be hoped, and the specks pretty much committed suicide.

Hunters: 2, Curtis and Paul, a first-timer

Guns:

Malfunctions:

Dog(s): Marsh made a long long tipped greenhead track that ended when it got into a place he'd broken through the ice and apparently dove under it. Did catch another runaway drake and one of the specks far from where they went down on the flotant just outside the hole. Didn't help his chances that i gave our birds a head start by boating him across as much deep water as I could or that he couldn't stay atop ice they could.

Special Equipment: Spinner spun but MMM was iced in

Curses: Just the lack of a flight.

Kudos: Nice guys still had a nice time.

Birds By Species: 3 gw teal, 6 mallards and 2 specks (one banded)

Photo Ops: Rare scene at the mudhole:

009.JPG