Morning walk about.

[Ed L.]

I went deer hunting this morning and decided to take a walk around and check out a couple of duck blinds. The water is so low many of the interior island blinds aren't accessible. This is why we don't use wooden boats on the Mississippi River in my area. Prior to the DNR putting a stop to using metal in building supplies for building blinds people used anything they had laying around. Lots of T posts and chicken wire were the norm when I was a kid and young adult. The river here is about 3 feet low right now but when it's up it's common to run into many things that will puncture a boat. But there are lots of deer around. Not much movement right now.

 

[Eric Patterson]

Ed

That's a problem in my area too. TVA has banned all duck blind construction due to the water hazards created by unsafe practices. I think a bass fisherman ran up on a blind post at high speed and was injured, maybe killed, and TVA was sued in court. That led to new blind restricting policies.

 

[Ed L.]

Ed

That's a problem in my area too. TVA has banned all duck blind construction due to the water hazards created by unsafe practices. I think a bass fisherman ran up on a blind post at high speed and was injured, maybe killed, and TVA was sued in court. That led to new blind restricting policiesI

I imagine you talking about Guntersville Lake? It can happen so easy and so fast. We are still relegated to these same blind locations since the 50"s. I wish they would just open it up to boat blinds but then that opens a whole other can of worms.

 

[Eric Patterson]

I believe the incident was on Wheeler, one lake over. Guntersville used to have a lot of blinds on it but the "He who builds it hunts it opening day." gentlemen's agreement eroded so folks quit maintaining and building them. A lot has changed in the past dozen years on Guntersville. Not the place to duck hunt it once was. Crowds are gone, but so are the gadwall.

 

[Ed L.]

I believe the incident was on Wheeler, one lake over. Guntersville used to have a lot of blinds on it but the "He who builds it hunts it opening day." gentlemen's agreement eroded so folks quit maintaining and building them. A lot has changed in the past dozen years on Guntersville. Not the place to duck hunt it once was. Crowds are gone, but so are the gadwall.

Things certainly do change. It was Mallards here when I was young. Then Widgeon seem to take over in the 80s. Once I returned home in the 90s the Gadwall became the table fair. Through the 2000s puddle ducks moved west and East and divers took over. The season opens October 26th and I'll be somewhere. 59th season!

 

[Steve Sanford]

Things certainly do change. It was Mallards here when I was young. Then Widgeon seem to take over in the 80s. Once I returned home in the 90s the Gadwall became the table fair. Through the 2000s puddle ducks moved west and East and divers took over. The season opens October 26th and I'll be somewhere. 59th season!

Ed~

I just inaugurated my 59th season.... Little water, few ducks - photos but no shots. This section of the 15-acre beaver marsh had been my "spot" for the past 3 seasons. The marsh this year has maybe 5 % of its usual surface area. What has always been the prime duck habitat will not float a duck right now. It's a combination of late-summer drought and uncommitted beavers.



There was enough water to set a very small rig - in this case just 3 E. Allen Woodlies.



Green-wings started tumbling in at legal shooting time - but could not be seen well enough to allow an honest shot 'til around sunrise. I shared the pond with 16 or 18 Teal until I left around 8:00.



The season is young!

SJS

 

[Ed L.]

Ed~

I just inaugurated my 59th season.... Little water, few ducks - photos but no shots. This section of the 15-acre beaver marsh had been my "spot" for the past 3 seasons. The marsh this year has maybe 5 % of its usual surface area. What has always been the prime duck habitat will not float a duck right now. It's a combination of late-summer drought and uncommitted beavers.

View attachment 59690

There was enough water to set a very small rig - in this case just 3 E. Allen Woodlies.

View attachment 59691

Green-wings started tumbling in at legal shooting time - but could not be seen well enough to allow an honest shot 'til around sunrise. I shared the pond with 16 or 18 Teal until I left around 8:00.

View attachment 59692

The season is young!

SJS

That's a neat looking spot Steve. I hope you get some water. There's a duck blind about 100yards and to the right of my deer stand. It's always been a good woodie hole. This year the summer flood took out the blind and today there was a out 2" of water but there is no bottom in the mud. I had to push pole the last 100 yards into my deer stand location. It's going to be a tough year for sure.

 

[Eric Patterson]

Uncommitted beavers? I didn't know there was such a thing. Around here they committed like alcoholics to booze.

 

[William Reinicke]

I believe the incident was on Wheeler, one lake over. Guntersville used to have a lot of blinds on it but the "He who builds it hunts it opening day." gentlemen's agreement eroded so folks quit maintaining and building them. A lot has changed in the past dozen years on Guntersville. Not the place to duck hunt it once was. Crowds are gone, but so are the gadwall.

G-man has a few things to say about duck hunters on guntersville lol.

This is an interesting read. Now our river is TINY compared to the mississippi but back in the 40's the core of engineers put in a ton of large steel beams wired together in the shape of big x's. I dont have any pics on this phone but when they built a new lake, they worried about if the dam ever failed, the amount of trees that would come up with flood waters. So these "jetty Jacks" (what we call them around here and a simple google search will show exactly what they look like along our rio grande) are along the river. We have found ways to put an airboat on this stretch of river and every once in awhile a mud rig and they can absolutely make for a bad day if you hit one. Also, I was down river as a youngin when I heard tons and tons of screaming and crying. Something bad had just happened, and I went to investigate. A dog had dove down to get a wounded bird diving, collar got stuck on one of the wires coming off the jetty jack and dog couldnt get free. Man jumped in and pulled his dog off, he was soaked head to toe and just holding his drown dog. It was quite a morning and I just didnt know what to do except hug this stranger i didnt even know. It was really sad. A huge reason why I dont hunt a collar or a vest on my dogs when hunting certain sections of the river.

 

[Eric Patterson]

William

Your jetty jacks make me think of WWII tank barriers. There are all sorts of hazards in the waters we hunt. I hate to hear stories like that but they are a reminder of how we need to be mindful every minute of the hunt, and to and from.

 

[William Reinicke]

William

Your jetty jacks make me think of WWII tank barriers. There are all sorts of hazards in the waters we hunt. I hate to hear stories like that but they are a reminder of how we need to be mindful every minute of the hunt, and to and from.

In 20 years of playing this game, I have been in some sketchy situations. no matter how prepared you think you are, mother nature will throw a curve ball of some sort. Just have to respect every situation and not get in a hurry or take anything for granted. Mother nature can be scary for sure, but its all so beautiful and breath taking at the same time. The beauty of the sport certainly outweighs the risk taken, so I will enjoy the game until my dying days i am sure. I say it all the time though, chasing fowl could certainly be the cause of my disappearance one of these days. I am TERRIBLE about pushing the limits. I still to this day know I have been in places that the state doesnt know about. I know for certainty if they did, it would shut a whole area down for archaeologists to come in and do a full survey. I have found undiscovered petroglyphs and I even went for a small hike one slow morning and found intact native american grinding stones (native american stones that they would grind corn or whatever with) every couple hundred feet. I found the first, and then found the rounded stone near by. About 100 feet away another one and then another. I found 7 total within a 60-80 yard stretch. I left all in place and didnt mess with any of it, but it takes everything (including about a half mile trek into some nasty nasty terrain) I have to get to that hole and most years I still cant get to it. The conditions have to be perfect to hunt that spot.