Post-Season 2018

[Rick]

How many of the above, other than perhaps Brian, will stay off the call long enough to know if the birds would have tolled without?

Kinda-sorta just pickin', there. But I have seen a heck of a lot of specks toll closer to the spreads of unmanned blinds than most specks are shot in our part of the country. Hard to imagine that you haven't, too. I don't recall seeing them finish, at least not in the spread, like ducks so often will, but most guys don't finish many specks, anyway. And I do recall often thinking, "Bet, those guys would like to be there right now." Generally followed by, "Probably would have blown 'em out."

But I doubt there are many, if any, serious speck hunters who'll let any but the most suicidal bird kill itself without calling. Know it's hard for me to stay hushed. (Though we did shoot a pair, including a band, this past season over literally nothing but the last moment redirection of what you call a "leet, leet" and I call a "couple clucks," when they began veering from the pond.)

None of that is a knock on good calling, it tops my waterfowling list, too. Particularly for specks, of which I've called more than a few to their deaths without a single decoy, much less the attraction of a big decoy show. (As with calling, sometimes "less is more".) It's just that I'm an "everything counts" believer. Which most certainly includes decoys. And the ability to sometimes, or even often, overcome a decoy shortfall with calling certainly doesn't mean that eliminating that shortcoming wouldn't enhance one's chances quite appreciably.

[Rick]

Nice to pass some off-season time talking specks, but I'd bet a dollar to a donut, DE was thinking "ducks," anyway.

[Rick]

Try it without the decoys and, especially over open water, next season and get back to us.

(He said with a wink and a grin.)

[aunt betty]

Not exactly worth starting a thread over but...
Meet Elliot the new grandson. Logan's little bro.
He's got "boots n bars" on for a while longer. His club foot has been repaired...almost.

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Check out them cold steel blue eyes. He's a duck killer I just know it!
Where he got them eyes is from my father. He could bore holes right thru you with them when he was angry.

[Darren]

Congrats AB!

Yea I'm largely talking ducks but I would apply it to specks to a degree as well. If there's a more realistic speck decoy I can swap out my last generation dekes for, I'm doing it. I'm the other side of Johns approach, my calling is not my strength, so I control what I can.....cover the heck up and put out the pertiest dekes I can get my paws on. That said maybe we have reached the peak of speck decoy realism as some of these boutique decoy makers have had about as real an offering as could be imagined for some time now, just the more mainstream (and thus more affordable) brands are now catching up.

Fair many of my friends hunting SELa are opting for tricking ducks with a different/unique spread in place of pure realism. They're using alternative species like scaup dekes,etc in hopes of triggering commitment from just being different than the next guy. On our end about everyone under the sun is running gadwall dekes now when they used to run mallards, pintails and teal even with very little chance of even seeing those first two. Only so much more "real" we can pursue given how nice duck dekes have come along to, "different" may be the way moving forward.

[Rick]

Glad to hear his corrective measures are working, AB.

DE, when everyone goes contrarian what was the mainstream becomes contrarian. It's so confusing.

[Rick]

-one bag at a time down the levee and the best cardio known to man

Nice to have a set of helping paws and a decoy sled:

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or two:

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[Rick]

Now that won’t cause ruts!

No, but the next however-many ghetto guides Doug sends to the spot most certainly will.

[Darren]

Different is good

Although it takes me days to get that spread out—-one bag at a time down the levee and the best cardio known to man

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That’s usually how you start—then add starting the week of thanksgiving

John,

is that big spread on both side of your levee, such that it would work OK in about any wind?

[Darren]

Looks great, may have to try a bit of that this year

[aunt betty]

It does look good.

[Ericdc]

I’m looking forward to getting back into a blind on an east to west levee this year. Can bring them mostly straight on in a northerly or southerly wind.

Like John mentioned, the veer off can be tough.


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[Ericdc]

obviously it was frozen this day but shows some of my blue spread---geese had already hit us once as seen by the clearing of stubble where the decoys are

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That looks incredible. I would like to build up to something like that. Right now I’ve got 3 dozen FB specks and 6 FB blues.


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[Darren]

obviously it was frozen this day but shows some of my blue spread---geese had already hit us once as seen by the clearing of stubble where the decoys are

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Oh yea that would work for us for sure. We've got....maybe 1/4 of that to work with in hand. Would just be a matter of whether or not to allocate available funds to bulking it

[Ducaholic]

obviously it was frozen this day but shows some of my blue spread---geese had already hit us once as seen by the clearing of stubble where the decoys are

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Looks good! Do you go out and walk around in your spread to stir up the mud? Do you feel that it's necessary? Water is awful clear and the bottom undisturbed that's why I'm asking.

[DComeaux]

obviously it was frozen this day but shows some of my blue spread---geese had already hit us once as seen by the clearing of stubble where the decoys are

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Looks good! Do you go out and walk around in your spread to stir up the mud? Do you feel that it's necessary? Water is awful clear and the bottom undisturbed that's why I'm asking.

That's something I've done in the rice as often as I could, depending on the amount and depth of the tractor ruts. The last couple of years we hunted rice we didn't do it because of the ruts. Not sure that it makes a difference, but it made me feel better about our chances. The cardio before the hunt would either wake you up, or wear you out...LOL!

[Rick]

Do you go out and walk around in your spread to stir up the mud? Do you feel that it's necessary? Water is awful clear and the bottom undisturbed that's why I'm asking.

Fwiw, I always drug my feet and kicked up flooded ag land's bottom to roil the water when putting out speck decoys, righting toppled duck decoys or just to kill time until LST - but was always clear or nearly so again by the time I picked the specks up at hunt's end. So was mostly show and good-faith effort.

Know guys with their own equipment who'll buffalo their duck ponds periodically during the season to more meaningful effect. But it's hard to find a farmer who'll want to dirty a tractor that's been put up for the winter for you.

[Ericdc]

Seems like once we get to the 2nd split our water stays muddy, especially on windy days.


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[aunt betty]

I hunt alone a lot and got busted by ducks muddying the water so many times that I started using a sling.
It was a long time ago when nobody put slings on shotguns. Got made fun of.

If I kept really good records I could probably prove that about 10% of the ducks I kill are while actually standing in the decoys. Maybe more. I'd say about 25% are killed while I'm not in the blind. Never ever ever leave your gun behind. Birds will arrive three two one NOW.


To illustrate: "Have you ever shot a scotch double with your waders all the way down?".

[Rick]

Seems like once we get to the 2nd split our water stays muddy, especially on windy days.

Turbidity likely born of plowing the right soil composition to dust. Could also result in sandy bottom looking like corrugated tin.