Marsh – I have a friend that lives in Jonesboro, so I just fly into Memphis and make the hour+ drive to his house for the week. He knows the public areas and can generally get us on some private rice fields. We try to go that last week of season, as the locals are a lot more receptive to letting us on their private land.
Moqua, to finally answer your question regarding temperatures – sunny everyday, with lows starting around 50F and warming to 75F by lunch. An absolute pleasure to hunt, including no mosquitoes! 
I am totally with you Moss Boss. Woodies galore and nothing else. I think our crew has only killed 3 other species (Blue Wing Teal, Green Wing Teal, and Mallard) with a total of 8 ducks. This from a marsh that we always shoot gadwalls, wigeons, spoonies, and a couple of divers. Been a disappointing season so far.
We definitely had a slower opener than in the last 10 years. However, we were pleasantly surprised with how many total birds (especially hens) that we saw, as we were expecting the absolute worst.
10 guys ended with 20 birds on Saturday and 15 on Sunday.
The locals were telling us that there is some major speculation that a new soybean insecticide (Warrior?) is killing birds (robins, starlings, pheasants?). Will be interesting to see how this plays out.
Left the camera at home, so don’t have any pictures to post. Hopefully Whatsa can add a few! Jeff
No doubt – we tell him that every day! 
Got the info back on the band – banded on 7/12/11 in Eureka, KS (about 30 miles south of where we shot it).
Shot the Greenwing and Cinnamon on the trip. Had the Bluewing from a trip to Arkansas several years ago.
I just received all of my mounts back from the Mexican hunting trip – very happy with them all, although he painted the bill incorrectly on 2 of them (I didn’t catch it at the time as I was so excited to get them home), so I need to take those 2 back for a little touch-up! Enjoy! Jeff
For Ducks: I shot 11 boxes and Frank shot 12 boxes
For Doves: I shot 6 boxes and Frank shot 8 boxes
For Quail: We shot 2 boxes combined
As you probably know, lead for everything in Mexico
Sorry about not calling the shot – I should know better than to wait for the perfect set-up. Andrew easily could have busted a mallard (or 2). I was gun shy! 
Yep, I think you are wasting your time, but it beats going to work, right?!? 
Heard back on the band details: The dove was banded in Emporia Kansas on 8/21/09. We killed the dove in Olpe Kansas (about 10 miles from Emporia) on 9/5/09. That poor dove didn’t migrate very far before falling to Nolan’s shot!
I have only shot 1 banded bird ever – here is the story I sent to my buddies in December 2006 when it happened!
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Well, after 17+ years of waterfowl hunting, I finally shot my first banded duck! Wahoo!
Lucas and I went to the Flint Hills National Wildlife Refuge on Tuesday, 26 December 2006 in the afternoon. Justin had driven through the marshes on Christmas day and seen a lot of mallards and no hunters. When we got there, there were no birds to be seen. We talked to 1 guy sitting in his truck in the parking lot. He had been watching the Coon Hammond marsh since 11 am (it was now 3 pm) and had only seen eagles and hawks. Leave it to a Johnson County loser to sit there for 4 hours!
We went back to the Horseshoe marsh and set up. Within 15 minutes of sitting down, 3 drake mallards floated into our set-up. Lucas took out the lead bird (unfortunately, it took him 3 shots to do it – sorry Lucas!). Fortunately, for me, it left the other 2 drakes. I dumped them both, and wouldn’t you know that 1 of them was banded! Wahoo!
We picked up another 5 mallards over the next hour. I had set my phone alarm to go off at 5:10, the close of legal shooting time. At about 5:05, we hadn’t seen anything for awhile, so we decided to pick up. We emptied our guns and grabbed the decoy sacks. Just then, Lucas said, “Here they come, load up!” I loaded the gun, he called, and in came a flock of mallards. I dropped 2 to finish our limit and the alarm rang! It was sweet!
Here are the details on the band. Happy New Year! Jeff
INFORMATION YOU ENTERED:
Band number: 1737-11155
Kind of Bird: Mallard
How Obtained: Shot
Status of Band: Removed from Bird
Status of Bird: Dead
Date of Recovery: 12/26/2006 Hunting Season: current
Flint Hills NWR, 3 mile(s) SE of Hartford in Coffey County, KS
INFORMATION FROM OUR FILES:
Band Number: 1737-11155
Where bird was banded: South Dakota
Date banded: 09/02/2005
Species: Mallard
My name is Nolan and I like to hunt. I am 7 years old and I live in Kansas. This is my story of hunting for whitetails with my dad.
It was the last day of the youth hunting season in Kansas (Sunday – 9/20/09). We went to the field in the afternoon and sat down on the ground. After about 30 minutes, I saw a buck. I started shaking! I tried to get my aim on the deer but it kept moving. Then, the deer smelled us and left. I was very disappointed.
Then there was another buck. It came out into the field. I took aim and shot it. It walked wobbly legged over to the other side of the field into really tall grass. We stayed sitting for awhile to make sure that it was dead. Before we left, an even bigger buck came into the field. The bigger buck kept looking at us and stomping its feet and walked right at us. That buck got closer than the one I shot!
We found my buck right by where I shot it. We took pictures and brought the deer home after showing it to some of my friends.
I like to hunt because it is fun! Nolan
(Interviewed by Dad and posted by Uncle Jeff)
Congratulations and enjoy your hunt! We went on a trip to North Carolina a few years ago to shoot tundras. Wow!
I just had to post that picture with the purple Favre jersey! Our buddy wearing it drove up from Iowa after picking up the shirt at the Iowa state fair just for our favorite poster Whatsa!
Thought you waterfowlers might enjoy the smile on my nephew from our Kansas dove hunt this Labor Day weekend. It’s hard to see, but the dove he is holding is banded.
I think dove banding is fairly new. Here is a link to the KDWP site describing their program: http://www.kdwp.state.ks.us/news/Hunting/DOVE-BANDING-PROGRAM-RELIES-ON-HELP-FROM-HUNTERS
That was the one – thanks Brad!
Thanks for the welcome and the instructions regarding the picture – here is Nolan with his dove/band.
