2019 Waterfowl thread

It was one wicked cold northwest wind this morning but worth every second. Got myself a beauty of a greater snow(must have been lost?) that is heading to the taxidermist. I wouldn't trade these kind of fowlin' days for a tropical vacation with a gifted unlimited credit card!!
My 20 gauge is literally a bloody mess after this mornings hunt. Am loving shooting a 20. Been hammering geese and ducks no issue at all out to 40 yards with 7/8oz of Kent Fasteel 2's through the factory supplied IC choke. And a great bonus when you come across a flock of huns and can just drop in a few light target loads of 7/8oz 7.5 shot and go jump them.
 
Great work Spank

I was out today in what turned out to be beautiful October morning. Not many birds cooperated, and the ones that did must have been wearing their bullet proof vests because they refused to die. Spent a lot of the prime time hunting hour chasing down birds in the boat and unfortunately some ended up evading me. I did have a first for me though. A group of three ducks came flying in about a foot off the water and I delayed shooting as those low flyers tend to be divers which I don't like eating. As they were passing, I caught a glimpse of something I hadn't seen before with the usual divers I come across. Curiosity got the better of me so I shot the last of the three which was still somewhat in range. Turned out to be a drake Ruddy Duck which I’ve never seen before. Unfortunately this duck was one that required a few more shots to the head to stop it from diving and getting away. I ended up making a mess of the thing so not photo to share. But it was an interesting catch nonetheless. Im sure it will taste like ass as it was feasting on a ton of zebra mussels. May end up being a cat treat
 
1963beretta said:
Great work Spank

I was out today in what turned out to be beautiful October morning. Not many birds cooperated, and the ones that did must have been wearing their bullet proof vests because they refused to die. Spent a lot of the prime time hunting hour chasing down birds in the boat and unfortunately some ended up evading me. I did have a first for me though. A group of three ducks came flying in about a foot off the water and I delayed shooting as those low flyers tend to be divers which I don't like eating. As they were passing, I caught a glimpse of something I hadn't seen before with the usual divers I come across. Curiosity got the better of me so I shot the last of the three which was still somewhat in range. Turned out to be a drake Ruddy Duck which I’ve never seen before. Unfortunately this duck was one that required a few more shots to the head to stop it from diving and getting away. I ended up making a mess of the thing so not photo to share. But it was an interesting catch nonetheless. Im sure it will taste like ass as it was feasting on a ton of zebra mussels. May end up being a cat treat
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Very cool, in all my years duck hunting I have never seen one.... but you're right may not be the best eating duck.
 
Canso said:
It was our Heritage Days, youth hunt opener near Vancouver on saturday. We took out 4 boys, youngest was a 13 yr old first time duck hunter. The 16 year olds let him take first shot, no disappoints as he nailed the first single and we all have a great memory from the day!
Boys shot their limit of ducks and added 12 geese, dogs did a great job on their first day out this season. One more weeks wait for the rest of us....











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great pics.
is your other dog a korthals or drathaar?

Phil
 
1963beretta said:
Great work Spank

I was out today in what turned out to be beautiful October morning. Not many birds cooperated, and the ones that did must have been wearing their bullet proof vests because they refused to die. Spent a lot of the prime time hunting hour chasing down birds in the boat and unfortunately some ended up evading me. I did have a first for me though. A group of three ducks came flying in about a foot off the water and I delayed shooting as those low flyers tend to be divers which I don't like eating. As they were passing, I caught a glimpse of something I hadn't seen before with the usual divers I come across. Curiosity got the better of me so I shot the last of the three which was still somewhat in range. Turned out to be a drake Ruddy Duck which I’ve never seen before. Unfortunately this duck was one that required a few more shots to the head to stop it from diving and getting away. I ended up making a mess of the thing so not photo to share. But it was an interesting catch nonetheless. Im sure it will taste like ass as it was feasting on a ton of zebra mussels. May end up being a cat treat
Click to expand...

There is lots of them here and in spring they are fun to watch doing their mating ritual. The drakes are actually pretty nice looking and that blue beak stands out like a beacon on a sunny day. Congrats on getting one. They must migrate early as I see very few on the sloughs shortly after early september.
 
the spank said:
There is lots of them here and in spring they are fun to watch doing their mating ritual. The drakes are actually pretty nice looking and that blue beak stands out like a beacon on a sunny day. Congrats on getting one. They must migrate early as I see very few on the sloughs shortly after early september.
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That blue beak was what caught my attention and why I decided to take the shot. There wasn’t much of the beak left after I had to give it a couple more kill shots
 
medvedqc said:
great pics.
is your other dog a korthals or drathaar?

Phil
Click to expand...

My buddy said it’s a DD/GWP cross. He got the dog at 2yr old, guy had it trained but couldn’t get out hunting. Was moving into a townhouse and decided to give the dog the life it deserved. He gave it to my buddy Chris, best day of both of their hunting lives!!!
Awesome dog, a pleasure to hunt over.
 
I gotta stop coming to this thread... I can't get out for waterfowl until November... been whacking a lot of grouse while moose hunting, and slaying the walleye and whitefish, but I miss watching the birds spiraling down into the dekes... chomping at the bit!

Eureka!!! It just occurred to me that I have two days off between clients up north... I'm going to pack my Maxus and half a dozen dekes and hunt a pretty little marsh that I found while scouting for moose... now I'm jacked!
 
It's the toughest time of the year here in NB ... the week between the opening of deer bowhunting and the Zone 1 waterfowl (Zone 2 opens Oct. 1).

Been running around checking deer stands, and got a couple of short hunts in. Wind hasn't cooperated. But I'm trying something new in Zone 1 when it opens Tuesday--setting up between two big groups of hunters with a massive decoy spread. One of two things will happen: they'll either scare off all the birds away for miles around, and I'll be skunked, or I'll catch the stuff all around AND the stuff coming from them, and look like a genius.

I suspect I'll look like an idiot, but worth a try, anyway. Headed to a spot with lots of birds, but no hunters on opening day because it's too hard to get to unless you're motivated. Which I am. The Zone 2 opener was terrible.

Gotta say, I do end up skunked a lot of time trying new stuff, but when it works, you look like a genius, and you learn so much that it's worth the bad days anyway.
 
A new influx of geese in the last couple of days. This morning started with hundreds of ducks, buzzing our spread, then a huge mass of geese that ignored us, then the smaller flocks of Canadas started showing up, and we had our limit of 24 in 30 minutes.

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Saw a few good duck spots while hunting elk yesterday.

I honestly didn't know that there was much for waterfowl in the region I live in.

I guess I have to buy a 12 gauge and get back into it now.
 
My girlfriend joined me in the blind this morning. Sadly she didn't want to buy a SK license this late in the season so it was basically a solo hunt with company. However she shot alot of pictures and video today and that was really cool to watch on the smart tv tonight and relive this morning's hunt.
 
Had a nice goose shoot on a friends field. My youngest daughter, oldest son, future son-in-law, father-in-law and I set up a spread of 5 dozen dekes and our coffin blinds for the day and managed to bring down 12 Canada’s and one speckled. Yesterday we had one of the geese I smoked at thanksgiving dinner and it turned out great!
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