Last day…..

Well, it’s finally official…..Today marked the end of the 2004 duck season . Talk about depressing…..Now I have to wait 10 more months (maybe more) before I can get back in a duck blind. Sure, there’s still a few late goose opportunities…..then there are roosters to chase and grouse to flush……and in the spring we’ve got snow geese to whack and possibly a gobbler to go after……but for me, NOTHING compares to that feeling I get sitting in the duck blind waiting for ducks to bomb into the dekes !!!

My Season in Review

Overall, I’d have to give my duck season a fair rating (5 or 6 out of 10). I did have a few good hunts, and 1 GREAT hunt…..but also a lot of very very bad hunts (7 skunks in the duck blind and 2 in the goose feild ). This last week has been the most dissapointing of the whole year. The birds were thick down here on the river right around thanksgiving, but as soon as the first ice started to form, they were gone as fast as they showed. I was out 4 times since we got a four man limit of mallards on the 11/24, and never fired a shot…..the last two trips we never even SAW a duck . There is no way we can use “the ducks are still up north” excuse now. I think we just have to face the fact that the numbers were way down this year, and hope for a better spring for the hatch next year.

The season was far from a total bust though…..How could it be when I hunted more days and killed more birds than I ever have before……Infact, I accomplished almost all of my preseason goals:

-today marked my 30th day in the feild, exactly what I was shooting for.

-I did mush better job of shot selection this year, only losing 1 duck that I sailed and died over some cattails (which is saying something when I hunt dogless 80% of the time). Almost all my shots were fired at ducks over the decoys. I did however shoot a few hens, although all on accident while shooting at drakes (yeah, my aim still sucks ).

-I never fell in over my wadders while chasing after a duck (although I did trying to reach a beaver lodge)

-I did end up shooting a triple on 11/24……in 1 shot none the less !!!

-and as you may remember, I shot a banded drake woodie on 10/2.

Unfortunatly, I never did get my shot at the canvasbacks and I botched my opportunity at a drake pintail. I did however get that purdy teal .

But all in all, it was a year full of memorable adventures that I’m sure I’ll never forget . Losing boats, Talking to cops, Finding new spots, Geting way freakin lost trying find the new spots in the dark, Talking to cops, watching more than enough sunrises and most of all…….WHACKING DUCKS!!!!

ONLY 299 DAYS UNTIL DUCK OPENER 2005!!!

Good post Drake…er Jake!

To me…a guy that loves hunting ducks…but hasn’t for over 10 years…I would rate that year as a 10!

Maybe even an 11 since you didn’t get shot at…did you?

Good post Drake…er Jake!

To me…a guy that loves hunting ducks…but hasn’t for over 10 years…I would rate that year as a 10!

Maybe even an 11 since you didn’t get shot at…did you?

Jake,enjoyed reading your year-in-review post.
Hard to beat that sunrise in the morning isn’t it?
I hope you get that drake pin someday.I was lucky enough to get 1 about 5 years ago.
Did you ever get the GWT in to a taxi-guy?I shot a very nice one this year also and might put him on the wall.
Ryan Hale

Jake,enjoyed reading your year-in-review post.
Hard to beat that sunrise in the morning isn’t it?
I hope you get that drake pin someday.I was lucky enough to get 1 about 5 years ago.
Did you ever get the GWT in to a taxi-guy?I shot a very nice one this year also and might put him on the wall.
Ryan Hale

I know whatcha mean.

Duck season is what i look forward to 9 months of the year, and its done. it came and went so fast. i can remember getting up saturday morning and 4 to get to our spot. We lit a camp fire and talked about our favorite hunts of the past and what we hope is in store for us in the future. the 8 hours we waited untill noon that day went by just as fast as this years duck season. We had a great day the opener shooting and seeing alot of ducks. We also had a great second opener. after about the third week in october, the divers started to show up here and there. The first week in november, me and flick set up just for divers on a point down on big lake. The only duck that came in that morning was a big bull can. 6 shots later and 2 very unhappy dogs, we all watched him fly away. he came in about 35 yards, a very killable shot. Ducks were hard to find this year but when we found them, they were where they wanted to be and didnt take much coaxing in. I had one hunt in particualr. A friend of mine went to this one pond, busted a hole open in the ice and shot his limit right away in the morning. he gave me a call and told me to head there in the evening. we got there and there was prolly 150 ducks in his hole. we jumped them and got set up. in less that 5 minutes we had ducks everywhere. we got there and you could tell these were new ducks beacause they were pretty dumb. we shot our 8 mallards in no time at all. that was probably my best hunt this year. i hunted alot by my self particually during deer season. i had a farm pond that held alot of ducks this year and it was my go to pond when i couldnt find any other ducks. ide say me and my friends shot over 50 ducks in that pond this year. it was very close to my house so i would go out there about once a week and hunt before school and then jump it later that week. it held some woodies early on but then it was just mallards for the last month or so… i had a good year i guess. killed alot of ducks and geese despite the slow and way behind migration. shot that banded mallard, got a few bonus ducks like MY “Purdy” teal, and have alot of ducks in the freezer to get mounted (im a taxidermist in training) it just leaves this sinking feeling that i cant shoot a duck untill next october. i love the early goose hunt, that makes the month of sept go alot faster tho. all in all i would rate my season about a 7. we stayed on top of the ducks but it was very hard. i have about a 30 mile scouting trip i take each day after school that i am going to miss going on. it just comes and goes so fast. i had one occasion, where i got in some pretty deep mud. i was up to my waist, and i actually got stuck. i had to call one of my friends to come down and help me out, i had to crawl out of my waders, and by doing that my waders filled with mud. me and my friend the had to dig out my waders with out hands. the mud was like clay and just wrapped around my ankle so bad and i didnt have any leverage to move it around. i dont know what i wouldnt of done without a cell phone where as i was by my self. i have a picture of when i got home, i was covered in mud. ill have to post that one of these days. my computer crashed and i am at school now. anyways, i hope everyone had a fun and safe season despite the conditions. like jake said only 298 more days till the next season. 298 days too many i also apoligize to jake for being so cocky this year too.

I know whatcha mean.

Duck season is what i look forward to 9 months of the year, and its done. it came and went so fast. i can remember getting up saturday morning and 4 to get to our spot. We lit a camp fire and talked about our favorite hunts of the past and what we hope is in store for us in the future. the 8 hours we waited untill noon that day went by just as fast as this years duck season. We had a great day the opener shooting and seeing alot of ducks. We also had a great second opener. after about the third week in october, the divers started to show up here and there. The first week in november, me and flick set up just for divers on a point down on big lake. The only duck that came in that morning was a big bull can. 6 shots later and 2 very unhappy dogs, we all watched him fly away. he came in about 35 yards, a very killable shot. Ducks were hard to find this year but when we found them, they were where they wanted to be and didnt take much coaxing in. I had one hunt in particualr. A friend of mine went to this one pond, busted a hole open in the ice and shot his limit right away in the morning. he gave me a call and told me to head there in the evening. we got there and there was prolly 150 ducks in his hole. we jumped them and got set up. in less that 5 minutes we had ducks everywhere. we got there and you could tell these were new ducks beacause they were pretty dumb. we shot our 8 mallards in no time at all. that was probably my best hunt this year. i hunted alot by my self particually during deer season. i had a farm pond that held alot of ducks this year and it was my go to pond when i couldnt find any other ducks. ide say me and my friends shot over 50 ducks in that pond this year. it was very close to my house so i would go out there about once a week and hunt before school and then jump it later that week. it held some woodies early on but then it was just mallards for the last month or so… i had a good year i guess. killed alot of ducks and geese despite the slow and way behind migration. shot that banded mallard, got a few bonus ducks like MY “Purdy” teal, and have alot of ducks in the freezer to get mounted (im a taxidermist in training) it just leaves this sinking feeling that i cant shoot a duck untill next october. i love the early goose hunt, that makes the month of sept go alot faster tho. all in all i would rate my season about a 7. we stayed on top of the ducks but it was very hard. i have about a 30 mile scouting trip i take each day after school that i am going to miss going on. it just comes and goes so fast. i had one occasion, where i got in some pretty deep mud. i was up to my waist, and i actually got stuck. i had to call one of my friends to come down and help me out, i had to crawl out of my waders, and by doing that my waders filled with mud. me and my friend the had to dig out my waders with out hands. the mud was like clay and just wrapped around my ankle so bad and i didnt have any leverage to move it around. i dont know what i wouldnt of done without a cell phone where as i was by my self. i have a picture of when i got home, i was covered in mud. ill have to post that one of these days. my computer crashed and i am at school now. anyways, i hope everyone had a fun and safe season despite the conditions. like jake said only 298 more days till the next season. 298 days too many i also apoligize to jake for being so cocky this year too.

The Greenwinger is still in the freezer for now. Not sure if he’s gonna get done or not…….maybe after christmas . I’m tryin to save up enough $$$ to get my own boat by the end of next summer, but when you don’t have a job, it’s kinda hard to grow that bank account .

But we’ll see…..

The Greenwinger is still in the freezer for now. Not sure if he’s gonna get done or not…….maybe after christmas . I’m tryin to save up enough $$$ to get my own boat by the end of next summer, but when you don’t have a job, it’s kinda hard to grow that bank account .

But we’ll see…..

Good reading, As of the sound of it,it was a great year, I don’t know why all you guy’s are suprised at not seeing as many ducks as a few years ago as the Mississipppi is’nt a major flyway anymore! Look around, How many back channels and lakes have rice anymore? I kknow they go out to feilds alot to eat but the habitat has changed alot in the last 10 years or so. Go west and you’ll see what I mean.

Good reading, As of the sound of it,it was a great year, I don’t know why all you guy’s are suprised at not seeing as many ducks as a few years ago as the Mississipppi is’nt a major flyway anymore! Look around, How many back channels and lakes have rice anymore? I kknow they go out to feilds alot to eat but the habitat has changed alot in the last 10 years or so. Go west and you’ll see what I mean.

I saw more rice around here the last two years than any time in the last 12 or so.

However, I think you are right on Chappy that alot of ducks are now using more of Minnesota, Wisconsin, and the Dakotas than they were in the past.

Plus, we never had a big front to push alot of birds through together. They just trickled down a few at a time. And, it seemed we didn’t have enough weather to push them off the refuges.

There are still mallards in Canada, at least as of last Friday. Arkansas game and fish have some GPS trackers on some. It is a cool site.

I saw more rice around here the last two years than any time in the last 12 or so.

However, I think you are right on Chappy that alot of ducks are now using more of Minnesota, Wisconsin, and the Dakotas than they were in the past.

Plus, we never had a big front to push alot of birds through together. They just trickled down a few at a time. And, it seemed we didn’t have enough weather to push them off the refuges.

There are still mallards in Canada, at least as of last Friday. Arkansas game and fish have some GPS trackers on some. It is a cool site.

Moss,
Are you in an area that the corps drew down a couple years ago on the river?? Up here there is just too much silt for that rice to grow.

Moss,
Are you in an area that the corps drew down a couple years ago on the river?? Up here there is just too much silt for that rice to grow.

I am talking mostly on Pool 7, which was not drawn down. I see alot of it in the Black River bottoms, on Lake Onalaska, and some on Pool 8, which was drawn down. I didn’t hunt 8 this year, but some friends of mine said the rice was good down there.

I think alot of it depends on water levels through the summer, though I can’t say what flood patterns are better.

This year was the most I remember seeing in the closed areas on Lake Onalaska for a few years.

I am talking mostly on Pool 7, which was not drawn down. I see alot of it in the Black River bottoms, on Lake Onalaska, and some on Pool 8, which was drawn down. I didn’t hunt 8 this year, but some friends of mine said the rice was good down there.

I think alot of it depends on water levels through the summer, though I can’t say what flood patterns are better.

This year was the most I remember seeing in the closed areas on Lake Onalaska for a few years.

I agree with Moss…..Definatly more rice this year than the previous few

I agree with Moss…..Definatly more rice this year than the previous few

Great posts. This was the first fall I really got to hunt around here – Gator was kind enough to take me out. I was impressed, but he claims it was a poor year. In ND, I hunted 3 days – 1 we were blanked; 1 day was mediocre; 1 was a 3 man limit.

Great posts. This was the first fall I really got to hunt around here – Gator was kind enough to take me out. I was impressed, but he claims it was a poor year. In ND, I hunted 3 days – 1 we were blanked; 1 day was mediocre; 1 was a 3 man limit.

I agree with Moss Boss as to the ducks are still in Canada. It just has not been cold enough to push them out. You guys had a really great weekend just after Thanksgiving and I made it down here for the close of the southern Wisconsin zone. We had a great start Saturday and by 9:30 they dried up. Only saw four more ducks the rest of the day. This was on pool 9. The next a.m. we were up on pool 8 at Brownsville and we saw lots of ducks, but no good weather to get them down to us. It was great to be on the river again though.

Mark

I agree with Moss Boss as to the ducks are still in Canada. It just has not been cold enough to push them out. You guys had a really great weekend just after Thanksgiving and I made it down here for the close of the southern Wisconsin zone. We had a great start Saturday and by 9:30 they dried up. Only saw four more ducks the rest of the day. This was on pool 9. The next a.m. we were up on pool 8 at Brownsville and we saw lots of ducks, but no good weather to get them down to us. It was great to be on the river again though.

Mark