2023 Waterfowl Thread

Nicely done.
With the colder weather in the north, we will soon see the ducks showing up in numbers. Very few here yet.
We saw two small groups of snows (20 or 30 each) on the ground last week but we haven't seen any since, even flying over.
Most of the corn fields in our area were off early and the cover crops are 4 to 6 inches tall. Not ideal for ducks and geese.
 
DFarmer said:
Nicely done.
With the colder weather in the north, we will soon see the ducks showing up in numbers. Very few here yet.
We saw two small groups of snows (20 or 30 each) on the ground last week but we haven't seen any since, even flying over.
Most of the corn fields in our area were off early and the cover crops are 4 to 6 inches tall. Not ideal for ducks and geese.
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Such a huge difference in flyway timing! We are running minus temps daily, few waters except rivers and deeper waters are open and the birds are feeding heavily prior to moving on. We'll be down to a trickle soon and then nothing and it will be any time.
 
We set up this morning hoping for a mixed bag of Canadas, Snows and Mallards. Fortunately the Canadas co-operated. Shortly after sunrise the roost came to life. Flock after flock of geese lifted off, about 1000+ in each of which there was at least 8 and we watched as they migrated out on the west winds.
I thought for sure we had had it and after another half hour I was ready to pack it in convinced everything had left but my buddy Ed started to regale me with a tale of patience and how it had paid off this past fall on their annual Moose and Elk hunt when his nephew connected with a Bull Elk after a 4 day sit on a spot Ed suggested he watch and the next morning in the same spot he took a Bull Moose.
Well he was right and all the geese had not left the roost and we found ourselves in the midst of non-stop flights of Canada Geese beginning around 09:15!
The ducks went to an adjoining field and not even a single duck came our way but by 10:30 we had our count of Canada Geese and Ed whacked a lone Snow Goose that committed to the spread at about 15 yards.
The 20 minute drive home was an awe inspiring sight as dozens of fields were just packed with Canadas, thousands and thousands of them.
I have a spot to check this afternoon that yesterday had a few thousand Canadas and several hundred Mallards for a hunt in the morning.
I suspect either today's or tomorrow's hunt will likely be our last hunt for the 2023 season as Monday and Tuesday we have some business that needs tending to and Wednesday is rifle opener for deer.

A few pics and some shotkam footage from our last couple hunts...

https://youtu.be/hFS6dJMJLTg?si=cLeb35QODdW9KDC-
 

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DFarmer said:
Thats some great footage with the shotkam, and some very good shooting.
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Thanks for pointing that out, I had missed the link.

I hunted a couple days with Frank, and when he draws a bead on a bird, it's pretty much game over for that bird. I was shooting a semi with three shells, and he was shooting a double. He shot at least two birds for every one I got...:rolleyes:

Doug
 
Spank, I always look forward to your shotkam footage. And every time I watch your videos, I think I need to buy a shotkam myself.

I haven’t posted about my last few hunts, but I’ve been out a handful of times and have been smashing the ducks. Lots of woodies and teal. This morning I quickly limited out on mallards in a little over 30 minutes. The geese haven’t been cooperating though. Singles here and there. Fortunately my shooting has been on point so whatever has flown in close enough has succumbed to the end of my shot string. Not many wasted shells this season which has been a bonus.

P5XoK31.jpg
 
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DFarmer said:
Thats some great footage with the shotkam, and some very good shooting.
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Thank you!

Doug said:
Thanks for pointing that out, I had missed the link.

I hunted a couple days with Frank, and when he draws a bead on a bird, it's pretty much game over for that bird. I was shooting a semi with three shells, and he was shooting a double. He shot at least two birds for every one I got...:rolleyes:

Hahaha! I don't recall much getting missed by either of us that cold snowy morning Doug!

Doug
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1963beretta said:
Spank, I always look forward to your shotkam footage. And every time I watch your videos, I think I need to buy a shotkam myself.

I haven’t posted about my last few hunts, but I’ve been out a handful of times and have been smashing the ducks. Lots of woodies and teal. This morning I quickly limited out on mallards in a little over 30 minutes. The geese haven’t been cooperating though. Singles here and there. Fortunately my shooting has been on point so whatever has flown in close enough has succumbed to the end of my shot string. Not many wasted shells this season which has been a bonus.

P5XoK31.jpg
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Great job! Nice looking brace of birds! Glad to hear you are healing well and able to hunt. I'm going under the knife for a hernia surgery Nov 22 so losing the last 10 days of rifle deer season...arghh.
 
the spank said:
Great job! Nice looking brace of birds! Glad to hear you are healing well and able to hunt. I'm going under the knife for a hernia surgery Nov 22 so losing the last 10 days of rifle deer season...arghh.
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Thanks Spank. It’s unfortunate that you’ll miss some of the hunting season, but you’ll be glad that you got the hernia taken care of. The good news is you can enjoy the comfort and warmth of the inside of your home. Isn’t it like minus 50 by Nov 22 in your neck of the woods?
 
1963beretta said:
Thanks Spank. It’s unfortunate that you’ll miss some of the hunting season, but you’ll be glad that you got the hernia taken care of. The good news is you can enjoy the comfort and warmth of the inside of your home. Isn’t it like minus 50 by Nov 22 in your neck of the woods?
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Pretty darned close but it is much more bearable since I moved into an insulated hunting blind. Don't even have to run the Buddy Heater most days!

medvedqc said:
hope you ll recover fast and good. take care.
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Waterfowler said:
Always love your posts and updates Spank, thanks.

All the best with the surgery.
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Thanks fellas. Appreciate the well wishes.
 
Another nice day to be out chasing ducks. Migration is starting to get heavier. I could have shot many multiples of limits if I didn’t care about what species of duck I was shooting. But to keep things interesting and prolong my hunt longer then 30 mins, I decided to target drake mallards and I made out with a handful of them.

Doesn’t look like there will be much time left in the season as the snow and ice is starting to make an appearance. Hopefully I can get out a few more times and have a partner or two with me. The last few hunts were the type where there were too many ducks and not enough guns.
 
1963beretta said:
Another nice day to be out chasing ducks. Migration is starting to get heavier. I could have shot many multiples of limits if I didn’t care about what species of duck I was shooting. But to keep things interesting and prolong my hunt longer then 30 mins, I decided to target drake mallards and I made out with a handful of them.

Doesn’t look like there will be much time left in the season as the snow and ice is starting to make an appearance. Hopefully I can get out a few more times and have a partner or two with me. The last few hunts were the type where there were too many ducks and not enough guns.
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:needPics:


And on that note...

Well one day in the deer blind without seeing anything but geese convinced me to re-grass one of the blinds and go back after the waterfowl and of course my buddy Ed was ecstatic to be back after the birds too and get a reprieve from chasing coyotes...here is a video from today's( Nov 3/23) hunt.

https://youtu.be/Tc7Sc46CVWg


 

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Well done Frank.
We got into the ducks last Wednesday and Thursday. Wednesday I had to go alone as my hunting partner was busy. I left home at 1:45, was set up by 2:08 and had my 8 mallards by 2:23. Thursday my buddy came along and after 2 hours we had 12 but I couldn't stay longer. We should have had our limits but our shooting was very sub par.
Even the dog was disgusted.
 
Interesting bird from Saturday’s hunt. Brandt goose with solar powered GPS tracker on its back and some cool jewelry. Seen lots of bands and tarsal bands,toe tags,neck collars etc, but this was a first! It was quite tight (the harness) and joked the bird committed suicide the way it came in solo!!
 

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Longstud said:
Interesting bird from Saturday’s hunt. Brandt goose with solar powered GPS tracker on its back and some cool jewelry. Seen lots of bands and tarsal bands,toe tags,neck collars etc, but this was a first! It was quite tight (the harness) and joked the bird committed suicide the way it came in solo!!
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Give the people tracking it something interesting to do. Put it in your pocket and take it to work everyday for a month and let them see whats its like to live a month in your life.

Or if you want to really mess them up, put that GPS tracker in a package to Russia. Let them figure that one out.
 
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