kwill1911
Member
Any other waterfowl hunters here? How was your season?
Duck Season
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I guess you hunters left plenty of breeding stock. The last few days I have seen/heard many flights of both ducks and geese coming north.I live on a fair size lake in northern NY and seeing plenty. Many will stay here and the rest will continue their migration north.
You got to love it, the beautiful sound of spring!-
Duck hunted for many many years starting in 1976 during the old point system for bag limits.
First to answer your question, I did not hunt this season, but I did some scouting to determine if the juice was worth the squeeze and the answer was empty skies. Central Ohio is pretty much flyover country. The ducks hit the Lake Erie marshes and loaf till weather pushes them south. We see some good hunting when there is heavy snowfall along the lakefront and the ducks push into the cornfields and marshes just north of Columbus.
I am now 62 and the amount of labor and lack of partners willing to share the load have put me in a holding pattern so to speak.
I have hunted in Arkansas, Missouri and South Dakota which was heaven compared to Ohio.
I see you have a nice lanyard of spoonies and a nice GW Teal in the picture. The drakes are surprisingly pretty when fully plumed.
I hope to get a few more hunts in but I need the gentleman's hunt with 4 wheelers or a boat and blind. Just can't marsh march anymore. I don't want to suffer a massive coronary in the cattails.
Good luck to you and enjoy it as long as you can.
First to answer your question, I did not hunt this season, but I did some scouting to determine if the juice was worth the squeeze and the answer was empty skies. Central Ohio is pretty much flyover country. The ducks hit the Lake Erie marshes and loaf till weather pushes them south. We see some good hunting when there is heavy snowfall along the lakefront and the ducks push into the cornfields and marshes just north of Columbus.
I am now 62 and the amount of labor and lack of partners willing to share the load have put me in a holding pattern so to speak.
I have hunted in Arkansas, Missouri and South Dakota which was heaven compared to Ohio.
I see you have a nice lanyard of spoonies and a nice GW Teal in the picture. The drakes are surprisingly pretty when fully plumed.
I hope to get a few more hunts in but I need the gentleman's hunt with 4 wheelers or a boat and blind. Just can't marsh march anymore. I don't want to suffer a massive coronary in the cattails.
Good luck to you and enjoy it as long as you can.
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OP
kwill1911
Member
I started about the same time (1976) and have hunted off and on since then, when I had a place to go. A couple of years ago I moved to the central TX area (from the hill country in TX) and was pleasantly surprised to find a couple of duck hunters in my neighborhood and, more importantly, some good hunting in the area. We killed 14 different species this year and only one duck was a mallard.
Slogging through mud, in the dark, sleepy, freezing cold, shivering, fighting limbs and logs. Hauling decoys, bateau, dogs, guns, food and warm beverage. Finally get blind set up and as light begins to appear......have to identify type, gender, and point value in seconds before shooting. Not good at math that early in the morning. For those that enjoy it, I wish you the best of luck, you can have all of mine! Went with upland hunting and never looked back
First thing that popped into my head when I read the title was, "Wabbit season!"
[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-k5J4RxQdE[/ame]
I hunted ducks & geese since I was a kid in the 1940's. Geese were rare then, ducks were plentiful. My how times change. Haven't busted a cap on either for years now. My old Win. double 16 is not meant for steel shot.
I haven't hunted ducks since about1980 when my buddy and I walked out the gate at Fairchild AFB and sat in the wheat fields around there. Now, if I wanted to, I could pop ducks with a pellet rifle on my back yard as they raid my bird feeder, but I doubt the neighbors would appreciate that.
Not much in the waterfowl line here in Dryland Wy...shot lots(and lots) of geese in Md. Ducks too. I've had about 5 days of duck shooting here...in corn fields shooting Pintails and a few mallards. About done on waterfowl esp geese. Guided waterfowl hunters in Md for 35 years. 'nuff
Duck hunting or deer hunting. It was a tossup which my father loved more. Me? I preferred to eat venison.
I see that you don't mind shooting those, "Hollywood Mallards" ?
My favorite is a small teal,which I like the best, flavor wise, from my area.
When I hunted the Sacramento Valley, sprig and mallard were the best, for meat quality.
In the SF Ca. area the meat took on a bad tastes, from the sea grass and stuff.
I pick my ducks and place on the BBQ with the skin, cut up the back and the breast, breast up, then to the skin side for 5 minutes then flipped with
the ribs down, until they are medium rare.
Many just breast their birds and toss the rest, but all that "other meat"
if kept and ground up goes great with Pasta. (coots or mud hens )
I will even pick ONE Honker a year, to cook in the oven, as a special meal. Now that, is dedecation !!
My favorite is a small teal,which I like the best, flavor wise, from my area.
When I hunted the Sacramento Valley, sprig and mallard were the best, for meat quality.
In the SF Ca. area the meat took on a bad tastes, from the sea grass and stuff.
I pick my ducks and place on the BBQ with the skin, cut up the back and the breast, breast up, then to the skin side for 5 minutes then flipped with
the ribs down, until they are medium rare.
Many just breast their birds and toss the rest, but all that "other meat"
if kept and ground up goes great with Pasta. (coots or mud hens )
I will even pick ONE Honker a year, to cook in the oven, as a special meal. Now that, is dedecation !!
OP
kwill1911
Member
Teal are the best and shovelers eat the same diet so, yes, we shoot them. The only one I don't care for is a merganser. We don't shoot coots or grebes.
YeshuaIsa53
Member
Hunting has always excited me. Just getting everything pack to go kill ducks is a thrill to me. Almost anything about duck hunting thrill my soul.
A pointer over quail means a covey rise, and I always try for three.
Did not hunt last season. Hopefully it's not over yet. Guess I'm a die-hard duck man who would settle for a wood duck hole or a pothole in the marsh. Many duck stories in my heart.
I have not killed my last duck, and always save the thighs of the puddlers for the crock pot dinner of breasts and thighs. Some diver thighs can be tough. Never shot a lot of divers.
Congrats on finding ducks where you moved. Corpus Christi and south of there have redheads and pintails galore, so I hear. The Laguna Madre. Wow. I'll find someone to hunt with where I moved, and hopefully somewhere easier to hunt than where I hunted on public land. Still have everything, including shells. Let there be ducks!!!
A pointer over quail means a covey rise, and I always try for three.
Did not hunt last season. Hopefully it's not over yet. Guess I'm a die-hard duck man who would settle for a wood duck hole or a pothole in the marsh. Many duck stories in my heart.
I have not killed my last duck, and always save the thighs of the puddlers for the crock pot dinner of breasts and thighs. Some diver thighs can be tough. Never shot a lot of divers.
Congrats on finding ducks where you moved. Corpus Christi and south of there have redheads and pintails galore, so I hear. The Laguna Madre. Wow. I'll find someone to hunt with where I moved, and hopefully somewhere easier to hunt than where I hunted on public land. Still have everything, including shells. Let there be ducks!!!
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