Duck reports

[choptank]

Shot one lonely Blubill this morning at fishing bay and only saw 2 other ducks flying in the distance!! Stunk ! Good for the averages 1 shot 1 bird.

What did everyone else do or not do?

[GaryS]

Sorry I couldn't go - had to work. Are the marshes down that way frozen over yet? Hope to get out this weekend.

[moronehead]

Checked my blind site on the Elk last night and it was surprisingly open water. Decided to give it a go for a couple hrs before work since with this cold the next hunt could be the last. Arrived at 6am to a frozed tundra. Broke out the axe and a rake. Carved out a hole, maybe 10 x10', threw out 7 dekes (I brought 4 doz). Nothing flew til 7 when a group of 10 greenheads circled the area. I gave em some chunklin and a couple highballs and they tolled right into my hole in the ice. One shot and I drop a drake, then do the double shuck, lots of cussing, no second shot. I look out at my duck and theres 2 greenheads dead on the ice. That definately helped my average. A few distant groups of big ducks and mergs around. Quite a few geese but Im afraid it will be locked tight by Sat. Looking for a good rain to break things up.

[rbr]

Choptank, which ramp and what were the ice conditions?

Bert

[Shag Nasty]

Hey Choptank, Killed 2 greenheads and 2 ruddy's this morning in Chesapeake. Was expecting rain but got wind and sun.

[Dave Sikorski]

We shot a bill, redhead, goldeneye, scoter and a few buffs...on a Choptank blindsite.

good but COLD morning. Def gonna get a cold now.

-D

[choptank]

Off elliots Island rd and only the pot holes were froze.

[cntryrebel]

hopefully going to get a chance to run to assateage this weekend finnaly got the boat ready will be the first time for my partner going there any body have any reports from don that way

[eastduck]

Just heard there are alot of birds down. Should be a good hunt.

[Dave Sikorski]

There are a good number of birds on the way too...full moon and cold clear nights means BIRDS BIRDS BIRDS....we watched a ton of birds coming down yesterday.

Can't wait till saturday.

-D

[moronehead]

Just in the last few days theres definately been a new push of ducks and geese into the upper shore. Most if not all ponds are now frozen up in PA and thats when we get the final push of our winter geese and diehard mallards and blacks.

[eastduck]

That's the fact jack. Good luck to everyone.

[swancaller]

we have a ton of birds on the currituck sound right now i am going to video some this week. we open sat!!

[choptank]

Shot Hudson creek this morning with DerekG saw a fair number of Scaup we shot 6 with 4 people ... loads of geese up close!

[Big E]

Hey fellas we went out the last two afternoons on an EBay blind site and got out bluebills.The Cans are back in numbers as well. It should be a great late season.

-evans

[Durado]

We did really well!!!
Lots of birds around!
......me thinks it's gonna be a short, cold split....ending a little early.[smile]

[moronehead]

Let 'er rain. Its my only hope up here in Cecil.

[contender27]

me and a few friends hunted Back bay yesterday and killed 10 ducks. 4 Pintails , 2 Teal, 1 Redhead, 2 Blackheads,and a Mallard

[nchaput]

Just wondering being new at this but what are the regs for buffleheads? I see a bunch of them at ragged island but I have not seen a published reg for fresh or sea ducks that covers their limit. Want to go out mon and tues but all I see is buffs and rail and I don't know enough about either, especially after running into johnny law the first trip[smile]

[choptank]

As far as I know they are a regular duck limit not like BB's (2) or cans (1 drake)...No rails. Have fun getting the Butterballs to decoy![wink]

[wahoo4228]

How many dekes do you use for buffleheads? Can bluebill decoys work? I'm seeing a lot in the Piankatank right now and I'm eager to go shoot some.

[getwood]

nchaput yes you can hunt buffs out at ragged island went last week and this past sat and mon. and on the contrary yes you can decoy buffs i painted cheap mallards from walmart all black and white patches on the back of there heads and forheads and painted there beaks orange and red they look like scoters or buffs mostly the males will pass over and the females will decoy,7 bird limit estimated 2 to 3 million of the these birds in the us .enjoy trying to shoot these little fast fliers it aint easy.[grin]

[rbr]

3 or 4 Buff. decoys seperated from your bluebill spread
will make a BIG difference. Just paint a few that you have to look
like buffs.

Bert

[Durado]

......I agree with bert. You may have some decoy, but it has been my experience with Buffleheads that they decoy very well to a few of they're kind on the outside edges of your spread. Most of the time without Bufflehead decoys, they will land wide and swim away.

[moronehead]

Yrs ago I had a blind site on Perry Pt and my bro-in-law had lent me his 3 hand-carved buffle decoys. I would put out a dozen or so blacks and mallards in close and those 3 buffles out deeper and it seemed buffs would B-line for miles all the way across the flats to those 3 decoys. It was amazing. Saved many a day.

[TDLewis]

Another good trick for diving duck hunting is to rig something up to splash. Especially on a calm day, those ducks see splashes from way far away and will come right over..

Set up a typical diver rig...with ducks set in a line and a knot of ducks at the end of the line right where you want them to land. They will follow the line right up to the knot of dekes at the end...

[contender27]

Just curious as to what other kinds of ducks you guys are seeing at Ragged island.

[pbramble]

a few buffy decoys off by themselves (3-6) work great. The new mojo spinning wing has been really good for attracting buffy's and other divers (old squaw and scoters really liked it)

[getwood]

hey all i went today shot three buffs they flew shrait over the decoys had blast four shots three birds, saved some shells today. outside of ragged island i saw in the distance bluebills or redheads couldnt really tell. there is some puddlers inside the island on the small salt ponds and battens bay. had a good day[grin]

[swancaller]

some more happy clients
http://images.snapfish.com/34579%3A6323232%7Ffp335%3Enu%3D3269%3E5%3A3%3E44%3 B%3EWSNRCG%3D32333987595%3B%3Bnu0mrj

[nchaput]

I know I am always asking questions but heres a new one. Is there anywhere on the Hog Island tract where you can take a boat without having to put in for the lottery?

[poon patrol]

We killed a few on Friday morning, all wild mallards. Poon

http://momentoffame.com/photopost/data/501/medium/tuck1.JPG

[swancaller]

good shoot

[choptank]

Here recently our hunts have sucked...our Wye bobby blind thru Shraders ( which was supposed to be the hot ticket) in 8 hunts we have not pulled the trigger yet! Hunted Fishing bay with Eastduck one day last week and learned alot about the area and had good numbers around and we managed to kill two drake widgeons (real pretty birds). From numerous reports plenty of birds just hunting the wrong place at the wrong time I suppose.

[wahoo4228]

I know I've asked this question before on this board, but does anyone here hunt on the Piankatank or near Gwynn's Island and Winter Harbor? I'm relatively new to duck hunting and I'm out looking for tips on location and decoys. Thanks in advance.
Thomas

[Durado]

Choptank,
I wonder how the other 16 people that lease the same blind that you do, have been doing? If it's a "Shrader" blind, I can guarantee your not the only one hunting it and it's getting the snot knocked out of it everytime your not there.....do you still have to call him the day before to let him know your hunting "your" blind?

[poon patrol]

Choptank,

That is not the greatest duck area where you are. You should be able to kill geese there I would think. Poon

[Harry]

Three of my hunting buddies shot a limit of mallards and blacks at fishing bay last Fri. Best shooting ever for them in their spot.

[shoreman]

What state are most of you located. I live in the eastern shore of virginia and we are in a dry spell. Haven't seen many duck all year. Had one good migration and that was it. And of course that was the week that it was out.

[moronehead]

They are stacked right now in the upper bay area of MD at the freeze line, ducks and geese. Some fine shootin indeed. Theyll be headed your way in due time.

[nchaput]

Half day schedule let me out in time to grab my stuff and make it out. Saw a ton of buffs that would stay just out of range. Talk about aggravating. Decided to pick up a little before dark to look for a lure that I found and later dropped a little farther up shore, in the middle of picking up the dekes and a flock of about 8 mallards come bombing over giving the perfect shot... if I didn't leave the gun on shore! Oh well. Going up north to do some river hunting for mallards and blacks in CT. Merry xmas to all.

[choptank]

Durado,

We have 5 hunters only and an accumulated 16 hunts with no shots. If I found someone in our blind I would ring their neck we paid BUCKS for that spot. We have a ton of geese passing by but not even an interest in coming down. All good, I will never go out w/ or lease from "Mr. big shot" again. Went with Tom Marvel and he has been great! And I preach to everybody what a good opperation he runs..Chesapeake outfitters! Enough already, need to find ducks!

[GEORGE ZAHRADKA]

Thats what happens when it 's all about the money.These guys don't care if you shoot a duck or not .And they'll be some other fool to fill your spot next year,no doubt.
Tommy runs a top notch service and is a great guy who's always on the birds.HE SHOULD BE INTO THE DIVERS NOW THERES QUITE A BIT AROUND HERE.

[swancaller]

if you have buffle heads pull all your decoys in and put out 2 dark and one white decoy...... 2 hen ring necks and one drake blackhead. put out 4 groups one on each corner of the blind. they will come right in and sit with them put them close to the blind and they will come. you can also use a white hanky and flash them when they are passing to turn them.

[moronehead]

Can you say candy?

[pbramble]

I agree with swancaller, tight groups of 3-5 decoys. If you got both buffy's and other birds, just put a group or two of buffies off by themselves away from your other decoys.

[MarkTakacs]

Poon,

Wild mallards??......did you ask them?

That can be a bold statement with the greenhead.
They might not have had any hind toes clipped but that doesnt mean they did not spend most of their time sitting on boat piers around Talbot Co.

Not to take away from your hunt but just think how many other species you see in the summer (none)....all mallards.

Mark

[pbramble]

That's a broad interpretation of tame, I see wooducks all summer long nesting in boxes we put out, does that make them tame?

However, if your gonna get on Poon about anything, he sure likes to slay the ladies

[tongue]

[poon patrol]

You can say what you like Mark, those birds were wild mallards killed on the Tuckahoe River, not the Tred Avon next to someones dock! Good Luck. Poon

[moronehead]

Over the last week there was a huge push of migrant mallards into the Elk river area. Literally saw many 100s Sat am (at the same time) and steady flights all morning (killed a few to boot). Maybe they are all from Central Park NYC. Heck, Id rather eat a popcorn mallard than a mudhen any day. Keep shootin poon.

[Steel Fly]

Any bird gets pretty wild after a couple weeks of being shot at...[smile]

[Big E]

Boys the Ebay is on fire. I shot about six times in the last two weeks. Every time we shot we got our Blues, our Geese, a few Mallards, and as many Buffleheads as you want (we don't shoot many cause they're worthless ducks) but man oh man are the Cans in thick this year and they only seem to be getting thicker. It's kind of frustrating when every five minutes theres a pack of 5 Cans dumping in. Makes us get all jumpy for nothing. Come on 26th.

-Evans

[MarkTakacs]

Just stirin' the pot and keeping the discussion on the level.

I never saw a pintail sitting on a pier and I was not going to mention the hen thing, also woodducks dont really count.

I would have shot them.

Mark

[WyeBlueStriper]

Choptank
I had a Schrader blind a few years ago on the same stretch of river.
He has kept the premium blind(s) for his guides.
Where you are the river is too dark for the geese to feel comfortable landing there. The shoreline is too high so they feel like they are landing in a black hole. The mallards you see move from farm ponds to Schnaitmans and back. Your best shots will be on ruddy ducks or divers who use the top of the river as a turn around, although most turn around at the first blind on the property.
Last bit of bad news is that your blind ices hard and becomes absolutely inaccessible in a cold snap. I have broken alot of ice up there and would have to stop well before your blind
Enjoy the view though. I have seen many eagles up there as well as plenty of turkey and deer including nice bucks.

[poon patrol]

Mark,

Are those sika's that you keep killing wild or released? They were introduced here on the shore not natives. Just curious?


On another note myself, bcw1, and a couple boys from down south went and shot some seaducks this morning. There were a ton out there but they weren't decoying very well and we might have shot 10

Good Luck,

Poon

[MarkTakacs]

Poon,

You called the mallards wild...........I just asked.........how do you know?
A hen heavy straight bag of greenheads from a populated tidal trib spells marina duck to me..........but the Tuckahoe is a backwater.....OK........but to me a Dorchester hunter, wild birds might of had some blacks or other species around.

Again, I would have shot them even though I have never duck hunted where fiberglass pleasure boats once anchored a few months earlier................I will start a related post this weekend.

Poon..........just really responding to comments as I see them.
I have seen your teal photos form FB and your divers from the TA?
I have many similar photos from FB and we used to fill out our bag limit with state birds or RSA birds but the other were pure wild...........no open blinds like down in NC sounds........blacks circle for ever.

Some ducks and some deer are just not that wild........Baltimore deer wild.......no, bumpers drive by two feet away on the shoulder every night......they just keep eating grass. You never see this in Dorchester Co..........they jump over the hood of the car or try to get their footing in the road and then jump intop the ticket.

New post to follow.

Sikas are wild but not that young and the hinds sure are not wary......if anything they are curious and will follow you or not run......we don't shoot those.

Poor Choptank.....this probably never would have happened in Frederick[sad]

Mark

[Durado]

..not sure I'm following your point here, MT. Actually, I'll be the first to say it....I prefer tame animals!!! The more tame, the easier they are to bag.....which means I can go home and go back to bed alot sooner. [smile]

[poon patrol]

Mark,

I've been hunting ducks on the shore my whole life from Crisfield, to Deal Island, to Fishing Bay, to Talbot, Kent, Queen Anne, and Caroline Counties. I have hunted in every condition you can think of and have shot every species you can think of, and yes I have killed released mallards before as a guest. I don't enjoy killing released mallards but I will do it. We shoot these WILD MALLARDS on the Tuckahoe every year and there are literally hundreds there every year. In the summer we fish quite a bit on the Tuckahoe and rarely do we see a mallard, if anything its a lone woodduck or two. So, I know you like to stir the pot and I know you think you know everything about everything, but why don't you just keep your comments to yourself and make most of us on here happy. Never do I put down any reports that people post on this board and neither should anyone else. Just my two cents. Good Luck on the rest of the season. Poon

[contender27]

I agree with you Poon. I just think Mark is jeolous because he hasn't been shooting any ducks.

[MarkTakacs]

Poon,

You made the comment and I just asked a question which you answered........done.

IF IT WERE NOT AN ISSUE ABOUT THE WILDNESS OF THE BIRDS WHY WOULD YOU SAY IT????
WE DONT USE IT IN ANY OTHER SITUATION EXCEPT MAYBE TROUT.

I also made the comment below.
Not to take away from your hunt

Durado, doesn't the quality of the game come into play or why don't we all join RSA's and shoot raised bird that decoy easily and never flair. Hunt deer in the Baltimore beltway from your backyard if you can put an arrow in him before a car runs him over.

I just asked a question or two or three.
I thought that they were good questions...............look at my antler growth posting.

Any day hunting is a good day.
Mark

[pbramble]

MT,
There was no issue until you made the comment, which as far as I'm concerned was unnecessary. Despite the supposed disclaimer of "I don't want to take away from your hunt", you decided to split hairs. Good sportsman know not to question another man's bag like that.

[Doug Coats]

Fellas, its all about what you like.

A friend of mine only "hunts" ducks at an RSA a couple of times each year. He only has to bring a gun and shells; no waders, no decoys, no calls, no boat, no scouting, no jumping through hoops just to get a place to hunt. He shows up and they put him a blind near the pond and tell him to shoot. He comes home with 6-7 mallards each time, or how many they allow him to shoot. He loves it and that it is great.

I, on the other, jump through all the hoops just to get a place to hunt (which is a success in and of itself sometimes), I like to fill up my boat with decoys, etc, take boat rides in the morning darkness with my young boys, wear waders, put out my own decoys just how I want, call for ducks with what little skill I have, and in the rare event I actually kill a duck or goose, I know it was all from my own efforts.

My friend shows me pictures of his 8 mallards that he shot with little effort. I show him a picture of an occasional mallard or goose that I shot. We are both happy. Its all about what you like.

[Durado]

Well said Doug, how's those boys of yours? They gearing up for turkey season yet?

[SeaDuck]

Well said Doug.. I think you may have put the last nail in this one. Now for a report. Earlier in the week had a great hunt at a friends farm outside of Chestertown took mallards, blacks and woodies... Saw hundreds in the sky which was an amazing site Looking forward to Monday hunt at our stake site at Marley creek if we can break through the ice. Plenty of buffleheads on the bay front near Thomas Pt. and reports of Canvasback and Blue bills inthe same area.

Hunting partner took a drake mallard and a goose at our Round bay stake site.

With all the landowners taking the good squatter sites in AA co, joining an RSA doesnt sound bad.. any suggestions on a good one?

[Doug Coats]

Durado - boys are great, thanks. Looking forward to turkeys, but first need to get some more ducks and geese.

Doug

[GAW]

Dag gummet--- and I was going to post my report on the Great Muscovey Slaughter at the cemetary pond.
Seriously, REEEEAAAL slow on the Pamunky R. this week

[MarkTakacs]

Paul,

I asked a question and he answered it.

You had a commet.
However, if your gonna get on Poon about anything, he sure likes to slay the ladies

I had another question.......and no one answered it.
IF IT WERE NOT AN ISSUE ABOUT THE WILDNESS OF THE BIRDS WHY WOULD YOU SAY IT????

It was nothing against anyone......I even told of my days shooting the released state birds......they are the lowest of low.
It is just through my training that when someone makes a certain comment on a topic a switch goes off and a responce comes foward..........nothing personal.........geesh!!!

If you think this is bad......you dont want to know what questions I almost asked on another topic.

Back to the reports

Mark

[getwood]

hey every body went huntin out at ragged island today ,late went after mid shift 8 in the morning took a shot at a male buff. missed ,had a man and his dogs walked bye, talked for awhile and about a half hour later i thought i heard his dogs barking back behind me so looked , and holy cow a big flock of twenty tundra swans was about 100ft in the air above me what a sight ,glad i went couldnt been a prettier sight[grin]

[swancaller]

Glenn do you want to come down and hunt currituck?? If you have a NC license bmail me!

[cskiff]

Swancaller, hunted Currituck this morning just off Swan Island and we only shot 2 buffleheads, didnt see any groups of blackheads all morning, didnt hear much shooting going on, you guys still having any luck?

[Shag Nasty]

Message for Eastduck...Thanks for the tip dude. Limited out in Geese and Mallards, 1 Wigeon..2 of the ducks were banded as were 3 of the geese. It's going to be interesting to see where they were banded. Take care, Dave

[eastduck]

Awesome! sounds like a good hunt. I would now suggest, at least that is what I used to do, that you give the spot a 1 week break between hnts and it will remain good for the rest of the year.[wink]

[swancaller]

We hunted southwest of you today I am the one doing all the shooting [grin] finally my party killed there limit of bluebills. we lost 8 this morning they just dove and grabbed grass right away. I got 8 mallards in side of 20 yard they only got one. 4 wigeon 25 yards and floating nadda damn one. 200 blackheads eating up the blind they managed 2 birds. man I had one gunner that could shoot today. finished with 9 scaup and 1 drake banded mallard. good shoot for the guys they went through 3 boxes each. black heads really worked good today. you guys should be shooting all those ruddys that are up there about 5000 or so in one bunch.

[cskiff]

Yeah, we were expecting the ruddys but they didnt cooperate, hunting Back Bay tommorrow hopefully the snows will fly a little lower, they shot a couple out of our blind the other day, slow day for us yesterday, going in to Brumble rd ramp we saw tons of bufflehead and when we went out we saw about 5000 blue petes around the ramp and cove.

[Steel Fly]

Badger,

Thanks for sharing a great hunt today! I'm going to have the Canvasback plucked and roasted in a plum wine and apricot glaze - yum. [smile]

Jonathan

[cskiff]

Steelfly, where are you guys hunting?

[badgerhunter]

Congrats on the can, steel fly. Like to get another next week.

[poon patrol]

Now this was an RSA shoot that one of my clients took me on yesterday afternoon. I got to shoot my new browning citori (spelling) so it was a blast. Sorry about the crappy picture. They all had clipped toes. Poon

http://momentoffame.com/photopost/data/501/medium/rsa.JPG

[bcw1]

Nice work on the birds Poon. I got a few guns for Christmas as well. My father is slowing down with age and steadily handing down his collection throughout our family. I picked up a Stevens 16 gauge double model 311, and a .270 rifle for dorchester sika. the .270 is 40 years with a then state of the art Bushnell banner scope. And get this, the gun was made by Huqsvarna. Yep same folks from Denmark I think.

[Steel Fly]

Hey CSkiff,

Sworn to secrecy by my host so I can't say exactly where we hunted but it was on the tidal potomac. My thought would be to get a boat blind license and a few dozen diver dekes and you should find some divers. This is as much as I can do for you - sorry. Good luck...

[Durado]

....are they still banding RSA birds along with the clippings?

[cskiff]

Swancaller, good thing we chose Back Bay today, me and my buddy filled our swan tags with a pair locked up for the decoys, then killed snows coming in in singles, blackheads flew well, shot our share, good luck, let you know how we do the rest of the week

[bcw1]

A friend went to Fishing bay this morning. He saw and killed but one lonely black duck.

[swancaller]

http://images.snapfish.com/345928%3B4%3A%7Ffp336%3Enu%3D3269%3E5%3A3%3E44%3B% 3EWSNRCG%3D3233428%3B32785nu0mrj

you talking about these birds skiff

[swancaller]

http://images.snapfish.com/345928%3B4%3A%7Ffp338%3Enu%3D3269%3E5%3A3%3E44%3B% 3EWSNRCG%3D3233428%3B3278%3Anu0mrj

Or are you talking about this fine specimen. this is another happy customer!

http://images.snapfish.com/345928%3B4%3A%7Ffp336%3Enu%3D3269%3E5%3A3%3E44%3B% 3EWSNRCG%3D3233428%3B32794nu0mrj
just like this doctor and his son

http://images.snapfish.com/345928%3B4%3A%7Ffp338%3Enu%3D3269%3E5%3A3%3E44%3B% 3EWSNRCG%3D3233428%3B32788nu0mrj
No it must be these two lucky hunters with a 15 bird bag!!

[swancaller]

fellows it just doesnt get any better than currituck sound for duck hunting!!!!!!!!!!!

[cskiff]

Swancaller, those are precisley the birds I am talking about, looks like you had some luck with'em too, the snows are pretty thick where we are, my buddies killed more snows this morning, I stayed home and took down Christmas light, whoopy

[fin/fowl]

Rcvd. a marsh report from a buddy saying no ducks @ F.B. on Friday so only game in town was either sea ducking or geese. Decided on the lazy man hunt - slept in late, cooked breakfast, spread set in the field by 8:15 & had a 5 man canada limit in no time. lots of shots to be had & left the field with them still pitching in to feed. Sometimes being lazy pays off.

[poon patrol]

Six of us shot yestarday afternoon on the Tred Avon and ended up with 4 geese, 5 blackheads, 1 ringbill, 2 goldeneyes, 1 canvasback, and about 10 buffleheads. We didn't see many cans. Poon

[contender27]

pretty work. Glad to hear there r still ducks up that way. Going to hunt in Chestertown on Friday

[SeaDuck]

Shot our stake site on the bay front near Thomas Pt on Friday. One blue bill, four buffleheads. Saw hundreds of what looked like Cans a mile up coming from the South river and headign north. Hoping for a freeze but dont see one in the forecast.

[wahoo4228]

The Piankatank river above the bridge is full of cans, ruddys, and buffleheads. Unfortunately, its also full of blinds, so I have to take my boat downstream of the bridge. On Saturday, I got 4 buffleheads and a bluebill at ginney point. As I was picking up the decoys, a flock of mergansers flew right over. That's just my luck. I hope we get some colder weather to push those cans downriver.
Thomas

[swancaller]

fun hunting in the morning with my two brothers. it should be a quick limit of ducks by 0900

[swancaller]

new ducks today. we had pintails, green wing teal, mallards, scaup, and mallards
we ended with only 7 ducks but we had a mixed bag and a lot of shooting. looks like it is going to be heating up real fast in the next 2 weeks

[cskiff]

Swancaller, we had Pintails the other day too, we saw a lot of new birds in Back Bay, and killed some buffles in Currituck Wed. got out late in the morning, saw 2 nice flocks of surf scoters but didnt get the shot

[Moorefun]

Hunted Back Bay yesterday morning. Only killed one Black Duck, but did see a lot of birds including mallards and teal. Had a few more that just wanted quite commit. Had the weather been better I think we would have had a pretty good day.

[moronehead]

Decent mallard flight on Sat am on the Elk, amazing what a little cold weather will do. Shouldacouldawoulda on the first group of 20 but I was hoping they would commit a little better, let em pass 2x at 40 then they blew me off. An hr later another group of 10, same thing. Geese from our area seem to holding in upper Cecil and PA, every pond has a load of geese on it. Mallards are also to the north. We need ice to get em down here onto the rivers. Hope it happens sooner than later.

[stripermd]

Doodle doo.

[choptank]

Moreonehead,

I hear ya on that one ...We need cold bad! ( before its too late). Reports for the last two weeks, maybe hunted 1/2 dozen times with DerekG and others we have taken about 20 Geese 20 Bluebill, 1 Golden eye, 2 Cans, 3 butterballs and a merganzer. Nothing too hot just some speradic action at first and last light.

REALY need some COLD air to freeze up some places, bring more birds down and make em' move!

Good luck the rest of the way!!! Jason

[moronehead]

Nice report stripermd but 'doodles dont open again til Sat. Significant reverse migration of geese flyin north last night into So. PA.

[cskiff]

Swancaller, where you at? need some more Currituck reports

[swancaller]

I have not been duckin because the weather has been so nice. I have been killing the big strippers instead. I am going to duck friday sat and Monday will report the massacre. I have lost my digital camera and it is driving me crazy. want to post some pics!![sad]

[cskiff]

Swancaller, Hunted back Bay this morning from our blind and we didnt fire a gun, could have once two gadwall tried to work em in closer, only saw one group of blackheads the whole morning hunted till 1:00 and saw some snows in the distance seen more swans than ever

[swancaller]

Yeah we are only killing 6-8 ducks per guide right now and with that you really got to make your shots count.

[drakehunter]

I'm headed out on Saturday and looking to get into some cans. Anyone seen any big rafts lately?? Went out on the Choptank yesterday and only got a lonely bluebill, some longtails and a few scoters. Didn't see anything else except a bunch of buffles every now and then. I am in search of the prized bull can!

[SeaDuck]

We have seen what looks like large groups of cans coming out of the South River heading north , a mile up. With it being as warm as its has been, I can't image the Can hunting has been very good. We typically see them rafted up at our stake site the weekend after the season closes. Priceless..

But the good news is that its supposed to be windy on Saturday so who knows... you gotta play to win.. good luck.

[drakehunter]

Yeah, this warm weather is for the fish! I'm hoping that the leading edge of this cold front moves the ducks. A little bad weather and a dropping temp on Saturday could help. It will probably get cold in Feb right after the season closes. Oh well, no ducks in the bag mean more for next year, but you can't shoot'em from the couch. Unless your like a guy I heard about on the Choptank that has one in his blind. Thanks!

[EHOIV]

I hunt down in the coastal area of virginia and all I can say is that this season stinks and unless we get a real change in the weather soon the last two weeks will stink too

[EHOIV]

Sorry about the large icon. It was new and I didn't realize how big it was so I have removed it.

[Hockleyneck]

Had a good morning with some buddies on a large private pond near the Patuxent River. You have got to love it when the ducks want to be where you are.

[tsclarkson]

Swancaller,

I am interested in these big strippers you say you've been nailing. Sounds like more fun than duck hunting or striper fishing for that matter.

[tongue]

[tsclarkson]

Swancaller,

I am interested in these big strippers you say you've been nailing. Sounds like more fun than duck hunting or striper fishing for that matter.

[tongue]

[fin/fowl]

I was with Hockleyneck this morning & can tell ya the birds were thick. warm weather means inland hunting. a pond in the woods produced ringers, spoonies, greenhead, a black, a surprise woodie & some geese. a 6 man limit was had & many more missed. Hockley's dog was awesome - alot of blind retrieves in the thickets, no mark-just scent. Hey Bags: post some photos

[EHOIV]

Fin/Fowl,

I know people protect their good locations during times like this and I understand that but can you tell me if you were hunting in Maryland or Virginia.

Thanks,
EHOIV

[fin/fowl]

EHOIV
we were in MD.

[moronehead]

At least somebodies killin something. I changed my chokes down to MOD thinking Id get some pass shots and the blacks were in my face this morning. Missed 2, 1 was hovering over mojo. I always shoot IC with steel, dont know what I was thinking. Still not alot of ducks around in my area in upper Cecil. Hopin a few get pushed down this weekend.

[moronehead]

Theyre back. Heard a major night flight of geese Fri night. All heck broke loose on Sat. Never fired a shot until 1:30 pm when the gale hit. 10 species of ducks and geese. Tough shootin in the wind, even tougher retrieving. Managed a goose and a greenhead. But passed on many 40 yrd pass shots. Good to see that the birds are back up here. If only it would stay cold.

[fin/fowl]

Sat. am same pond as Wed. - 2 geese, 2 widgeon, a ringer & a blackhead.

[pbramble]

Geese are back big time, had 3 limits in 20 minutes on Saturday

[choptank]

Yep, Derek and I had 3 limits in that time this morning off the Hudson with one nice Bull Can mixed in! Awesome bird that can was!

[pbramble]

nice work on the can, hope I get one before the season ends

[pbramble]

nice work on the can, hope I get one before the season ends

[pbramble]

nice work on the can, hope I get one before the season ends

[FishFever]

Monday hunt with my brother, nephew, a friend and my new girlfriend
We had a lot of fun with this one.

http://images.snapfish.com/345%3A69388%7Ffp338%3Enu%3D3269%3E5%3A3%3E44%3B%3E WSNRCG%3D323346%3A58866%3Bnu0mrj


http://images.snapfish.com/345%3A69388%7Ffp338%3Enu%3D3269%3E5%3A3%3E44%3B%3E WSNRCG%3D323346%3A588663nu0mrj
http://images.snapfish.com/345%3A69388%7Ffp336%3Enu%3D3269%3E5%3A3%3E44%3B%3E WSNRCG%3D323346%3A58865%3Bnu0mrj

[FishFever]

oopppps posted under my girlfiends login...
sorry swancaller

[choptank]

Dem sum rough lookin birds. That hen got scalped pretty good.

[moronehead]

Nice bag. Is that a spoonie and a ringer on the ends?

[FishFever]

yep spoonie came in just at legal shooting time. ring neck came in as a double and we took both of them as scaup.....one was a drake ringneck and the other one was a drake scaup.... go figure how you are supposed to sell them apart on the wing with you only able to shoot 2 scaup but 6 ringys

[moronehead]

The answer is: dont shoot. I hear ya though, ditto on blacks and mallards and hens under some low light conditions.

[FishFever]

ground check them until you get your scaup limit [grin]

[SeaDuck]

Saturday AM, Thomas Point area. 4 buffs, 1 blue bill 2 old sqauw. Had a few tolls of blue bills with wings set ready to come in only to have them spook from other gun fire.

Divers seem to be getting stronger in the area just in time for the end of the season.

[crow]

Went out yesterday seaduckin, hunting around Poplar Island . Ended up with 3 scoters and 2 oldsquawl. Birds look like they have been thinned out.

[Cutbait]

pintails around here