1st for me - what about you?

KThompson

KThompson

Active member
I've been duck hunting 19 years and have only picked up around 5 redheads, all of which were immature drakes or hens. Crippled a beauty back in 2000 or 2001 which I lost in rough waters and I've been grieving over since then. :) Yesterday I finally put a mature one in the boat! Funny how something can elude you for so long. I've killed my fair share of blacks, cans, and pintails... all of which have usually had lower bag limits than redheads so it seems I would have had more opportunities for redheads.

All of this finally leads to my question (I'm long winded in person and online), do any of you have a species of duck or goose that just keeps evading you?


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Yes, I was tortured by drake Goldeneyes for years, they never seemed to fully commit into the decoys. In the past I had even knocked down a couple only to see them dive and resurface a hundred yards away. This year I had my first opportunity on a drake canvasback and nailed it (they never tortured me, I rarely saw them), next time out I had a drake Goldeneye drop out of the sky straight towards my decoys and I was lucky to harvest him. Curse Broken.
 
Anytihng with a band. Been hunting for decades and never shot a duck with a band nor been with anyone who has shot a duck with a band. Maybe someday before I leave this world......

Mark W
 
Scoters: There are a very small number of them here every year.
I saw three about 4 or 5 years ago, but didn't get a shot.
My buddy has killed two in the last 12 years, the 2nd one last week very close to where I have been hunting.
So far they have alluded me.


Other than that, this year its scaup, we simply don't seem to have any down here, or cans either for that matter.
 
Pintail and widgeon. They are around, but not in numbers to make them a regular part of the bag. About once a year a hunting buddy will take one or the other, and it's always a big deal.
 
I am going to have to travel to shoot something new and it isn't a big priority. Florida for fulvous or black bellied whistling ducks, west coast US for harlequin, the coasts for the eider family and scoters. I have only shot a couple of longtails but then again I'm not sure I want to shoot more. Maybe a Mexican duck or cinnamon teal would be nice.


I consider myself very fortunate to have hunted where I have for the last few years. Our group of three shot 17 different duck species in four days in October and I have been spoiled on cans and redheads. There isn't much I want for at this point.


There are a number of people I would like to hunt with. It seems far more important than what I take.
 
Black Brant, and Emperor Goose. Both very far from where I live. I do believe the Emperor Goose season has been closed for many years. ( A very large outdoor aviary 35 miles away from me has a nice population of them for me to enjoy.) Other than those two, I'm good, as I have spent most of my life chasing my dreams aka - Waterfowl.
 
Kyle, mine is a pintail. I have never even had the opportunity to harvest one. Growing up in coastal NJ, I have had my share of canvas backs and redheads
But that elusive pintail, some day.
 
A redhead is the duck I have always wanted to bag, so congrat's to you. I am a tidal marsh/puddle duck hunter, so I am going to have to be really lucky to get one of those.
 
Good story..I've shot one redhead in my life; I hunt the tidal salt marsh here in SE Texas. I hunt by myself most of the time; on this hunt it was just me and my recently departed lab Cammie. The first daylight flite had just ended and we were in the first lull. Cammie started fidgeting in the boat and that always meant she had to go pee. I looked around and saw nothing and told her to "Get on, go pee". She jumped into the salt grass to do her business. Well, now I had to pee. Now let me tell you, it was cold (by Texas standards). We're men here so you know what happens when it's cold. So's I pull everything down; waders, britches, and long handles down to my knees. I'm peeing, looking around...I'll be d*med a duck was coming in low and fast and I'm standing there bare arsed. I grab my shotgun shoot...miss....shoot...miss...shoot..hit! All the while Cammie was trying to get in the boat and movin' it around I'm staggering, but I got the bird. I snapped and looked at myself standin' there half nekkid and thought what a fine picture that would have made. Where's the paparazzi when you need them. While the duck wasn't plumed out it was still a redhead. I always thought that was funny.
 
I got a list of "almost's":

1. Tufted duck (I chased several individals over the course of five years)
2. Falcated duck (I chased him for three years straight but couldn't figure out where he roosted at night)
3. King Eider (I chased him for two years on the same bay)
4. Emperor geese (a friend got'em before I got there, four of them)

On my to-do list of sighted bird's but not by me:

1. Baikal teal
2. Common Pochard
3. Eurasian teal
4. Smew

All this was while I was stationed on the Oregon Coast. All these birds are spotted every few years. My almost's were smart, really, really smart I couldn't get within 100 yards, or when I did get on'em I missed. The to-do list birds alway's wintered in area's you couldn't hunt. That darn falcated duck used to taunt me by just sitting across the imaginary line between off-limits and go time. If you don't believe google each bird and throw Oregon in the search. I've found many of these individal ducks winter or stop in the same spot year after year. So, my eluded species are the extreme. I almost blubbered this season on my first eastern oregon canvasback. I've taken lots and lots of can's on the coast, but over here on the dry side...not so much.-Seth
 
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A pretty drake pintail or any widgeon. I did get my first pretty pintail last year and my first north american widgeon last year....but there's not a lot of them around.
 
Kyle, that is one dandy looking drake redhead. Congratulations. I do not have any ducks or geese that are on a list of "yes, I need to or want to hunt and get one of these." What ever comes along while I'm out hunting is fine with me. If nothing, that is fine to because I still enjoy being out there sitting close by to a spread of decoys.

Right now in my life, I got a much bigger kick out of watching Preston get his first drake gadwall and his first banded hen mallard than if I would have. I have to admit that it was fun to be there and witness all of that.
Al

PS
Robert Clifton---I thoroughly enjoyed that story about you and Cammie. Thanks for that.
 
Great responses from those who shared. I agree that the majority of the time it's about the company I keep. On the other hand, I do a fair amount of "solo" hunts and those cold mornings are many times motivated by the fact that I'm trying to target a specific species of duck using the cork decoys I have carved. I'd be lying if I said I always enjoyed the mornings when I get "blanked" while hunting by myself... maybe if I'm blessed to live another 25yrs then I can find that kind of appreciation for lack of sleep with nothing to show for it. :)
 
Great responses from those who shared. I agree that the majority of the time it's about the company ... maybe if I'm blessed to live another 25yrs then I can find that kind of appreciation for lack of sleep with nothing to show for it. :)
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I don't head out in the dark much anymore. A few years back I switched my hunting up and mostly hunt mid-morning and afternoons. Curiously a few positives came out of it, some of which were completely unexpected. Obviously I get more sleep, my wife is happy that I am keeping better hours, I often arrive at the ramp as others are leaving and get to benefit from their experience and I am getting just as many ducks if not more.
 
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Black bellied whistling ducks. I have photographed them extensively. I have carved a few dozen BB decoys for others ( I have one in my rig). Except for a lone bird that passed high over me on lake okeechobee in 2001, I have not seen one while hunting. That chanced this year. In November I was walking up snipe in a cow pasture. I came around a line if brush and there before me was a flock of BB's on the edge of a watering hole. I was shooting #7 steel game loads so it was legal to take them. I walked towards them over open ground to get closer. When they took off I picked a bird and shot. Four hit the ground. A few more finishing shots and I had my first, second, third and fourth black bellies.

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I've enjoyed reading everyone's list of "bucket birds" too, it's interesting how ducks that are common in some parts of the country are valuable and rare in others. We're lucky where I live that we have an abundance of almost every north American duck, and you have a legitimate chance at a huge variety of species on almost every hunt. We even get sea ducks on the Great Salt Lake. However the few birds that are rare here are the ones that I would love to get someday-namely black ducks, bluewing teal, and specklebelly geese. A buddy's dad managed to get a lonesome black duck a few years ago but that's the only one that I've ever heard of being taken in Utah. Last year another buddy managed to harvest 2 specklebellies that came in with a flock of canadas, once again the only ones that I've ever seen here. We have bluewings here but they are mostly gone by the time the season opens, I found a small group of them hanging around early this season but was never able to get a nice drake. Pursuing new species gives me an excuse to travel, hopefully I'll get a chance to head East and chase some black ducks someday!
 
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