2019 Waterfowl thread

It was calm yesterday, and the specs and lessers were circling three and four times, before committing. Even then, less than half finished, but we skill ended up with ten specs, and three lessers.
 
Season opener was good for me. Had about a dozen guys take over the area I hunt and they spent all day sky busting. I ended up having to hunt a spot that I didn't have prepared but knew the area well. It worked in my favour as the sky busters kept birds moving which came to seek refuge on the tranquil end of the lake and 5 geese and 6 mallards met their fate.

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Was out this morning setting up are duck blind Oct.1, it will be like Christmas morning.
I'll be using my beretta al391 or 1973 wingmaster.
 
Got 11 tonight for 3 guys. Seen 100 or so in this field last two nights, got set up by 5pm. 6pm they started to pile in about 20 or less at a time. Couldn't have asked for any better of a hunt.....well better shooters maybe lol

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Terrible opener here in Hampstead, NB. Went with some guys who ruined everyone's hunt by sky busting... so my buddy and I pulled up stakes, went jump shooting and all my usual spots were completely empty. And since he is basically deathly ill, he was too beat to paddle hard, which wore me out even more. We ended up with a mallard apiece ... I managed to fall in a hole in a bog and partially dislocate my shoulder while retrieving. Better luck next time I guess :)
 
So far my season has started off fairly well. I have about 30lbs of sausages and ground meat in the freezer which isn't a bad start. I decided to pick up a flat and a half of the new style Federal Blackcloud 3” #4’s as I found a ridiculous deal on them and Im super impressed with the performance of these shells. They seem to be much more lethal then the Winchester Xperts or Federal Speed Shok that I usually use. The old Blackcloud shells didn't pattern well out my gun and I got a lot of cripples. I’ll have to pattern this new batch to see what the pattern looks like. Ducks and geese have been dropping like stones which really makes me happy
 
prairie lover said:
How do you place that big blind so it does not flare birds?
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I just stick it there and set up. So far none have flared from it. They work due to the a-shape. They don't cast much shadow and if grassed properly they blend in pretty good. If you can set up on a field edge, ditch etc even better. In a big open field we will set them in the bottom of a dip so they are not skylined and blend into the rising field behind them. With a bit of additional stubble added when viewed from the angle of approach a bird uses they can almost disappear from view and the longer the grass to cover the open cockpit from above the better the hunters are concealed hiding any movement. The rest I can't tell you? All I know is they work and work well. A month into season and we are hunting the same fields and birds as many of the local outfitters and birds don't flare from them. Top cover is paramount. I keep a bag of the grass I use on hand and/or add stubble from the field to keep us covered from above.
 
Mrs Arclight and I went out for this year's first goose hunt. She got her first goose ever. We both had a great time. I was using 3" 12ga T shot, she was using 3" 12 ga No.2 shot.

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How do you clean all those birds? You have a mechanical device to de-feather them?

What is the limit for Geese ? You guys sure get in some good bird hunts. I need to come out for a visit....
 
We just breast the ducks and the geese we breast and cut the legs off. Takes about 1/2 hr to clean a limit of ducks and geese combined. We are allowed 8 dark geese(canadas/specks AB & SK), 50 whites(AB), 20 whites(SK), 8 ducks(AB & SK) and 5 sandhill cranes(SK) per hunter/day.
 
the spank said:
We just breast the ducks and the geese we breast and cut the legs off. Takes about 1/2 hr to clean a limit of ducks and geese combined. We are allowed 8 dark geese(canadas/specks AB & SK), 50 whites(AB), 20 whites(SK), 8 ducks(AB & SK) and 5 sandhill cranes(SK) per hunter/day.
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I never really understood why limits on migratory birds vary from place to place.
 
rkm456 said:
I never really understood why limits on migratory birds vary from place to place.
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Because game management is based on regions and zones... for migratory birds, it is based on flyways "and" winter and summer ranges... needs change up and down each flyway... it would make no sense to attempt to manage numbers in several flyways using data from a single flyway, ie. Using Brandt population data from the Atlantic flyway and applying it to the Pacific flyway... or Central snow goose data and applying it to the Atlantic. It is no different than managing deer herds in different provinces. Would you want the recently established Ontario elk herd to try to hold up under a No-Draw over-the-counter tag purchase system? We have already seen how that game management goes in the closure of grizzly hunting in the GBR... an area that has an extremely healthy, huntable population of grizzlies. In this day and age, emotion and rhetoric is ruling over science in game management and that does not bode well for the future.
 
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Bit of a slow day here as it was dead calm But managed 9 for 4 guys. Had 2 first time goose hunters out with a buddy n I today. They had a riot and are buying their own gear to help out.

Wasn't many geese in this field this week but at least 100 was roosting on a pond on the next property so we were able to convince a few our way.

Bad picture, half the spread was packed up before I remembered a pic.
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