2011 / 2012 "DUCK SEASON" ????????

D Dominski

D Dominski

Active member
WELL GUYS:
What do you think of this years "Hunting Season". Like to here how you would sum of the past "DUCK SEASON".
 
Due to school responsibilities (I've come to dislike that word :) ) I didn't get to hunt nearly as much this year, and I was jealous hearing the reports from guys where I used to live and how the ducks were thick there the entire season. However, the hunts I had were typically very good. I think I got skunked twice but there were some very slow days, especially early in the season, but the weather was excellent and it was fun to get away from the grind for a day here and there.
 
With relocating back to Illinois and a new job I didn't get out as much as usual but the times I did get out were very disappointing. Times have changed, weather has changed and I don't sit on a portion of the flyway with good numbers of ducks today. I'm a firm believer that the numbers of ducks on the continent today may well be as many as when I was a kid but the flyways have changed and ducks aren't as concentrated to the major rivers of the Central and Mississippi flyway where I live as they once were. I believe as well as many others that the 1993/1994 hunting season saw the big change in flyway patterns with the ducks and geese following water they never had in the past and continue to follow these patterns today. Literally I saw more ducks during the point system days in the late 60's and early 70's than I do today. But like every year I'm looking forward to bigger and better things for next season!
 
The Duck season on the N.J. coast was very poor,lacked the normal number of birds we usually have,especially Puddle ducks. To much mild weather conditions through out the season, also contributed.Birds never arrived here on the Atlantic Flyway. The Feds Arial end of season count will prove that.
Brant were fair. Best Hunting we had was on Geese Hunting in N.Y. State.& Eider Hunting on the Cape.
Have good rig & willing to travel was the answer.
 
As far as the hunting experience, it was a good season. Not great but good. Got the boy shooting and got Coco out for the final hunt. Never got skunked. New boat worked out great.
In regards to bird numbers, we were better than the last 5 years, but no where near the numbers we had between 1997 and 2003, my "good old days" of limits being the norm. I think this is tied to weather and a loss of grassbeds. Grassbeds are slowly recovering, as they do, our overwinteringduck numbers go up.
We had tons of redheads, but fewer scaup. Lots of puddlers in the beginning, few in the middle and lots in the end. But I concentrated on divers most of the season. I like to hunt birds that decoy and love the open water.
Overall, I had a good season. Looking forward to the next one...
 
Best Season I ever had!
Only took one duck to make it that. First duck, a Black to boot, for my son who passed his hunter ed last summer. Got even Better when two of his friends got their first birds over my setups.
All birds were killed inside 20 yards this year by kids shooting over decoys in layout boxes.
Dog worked out very well and was a huge addition to hunting ducks and geese in his second full season after nearly dying a year and a half ago from a tick bite.
A new coffin box added to the fleet was a plus and helped ducks commit hard to our spots.
What more do I need. Killed one mallard all year on a sky shot at 25 yds myself this year. Only duck I hit the four times I carried a gun for the season. My HIP is going to look a bit lean, but the boys hunting journal is full of good stuff from every open Saturday. I think he will remember them when he is 44.

If you found you lost the love this year because the tailgate wasn't covered up in birds take a kid hunting and show him or her what you see in the marsh with the dog. They don't know what a limit looks like and define the hunt by the experience of the whole thing. Makes hunting fun, not work, even if you have to drag three times as much stuff with you. Being a guide has its merits esp if you are not getting paid for it.
 
Worst year for puddlers, divers were ok but the best year for geese! Over all very strange year indeed. Here's hopeing that next year will be better and a little more colder. Just seems so wrong to be hunting in the 50's and 60's.
 
Some good hunts, some not so good hunts. Weather just wasn't right for a stellar season. Too warm and not enough water. Reports I heard was that the duck masses stayed more to the north of me with no reason to fully commit to an all out migration. Oh well, better luck next year.
 
we actually had a great season.. found a few concentrations of birds that hung in there all season and made for some great shooting. Mid season i saw some groups of divers bigger then i have ever seen in my life... of course its hard to get groups of 10k plus birds to work 100 decoys and we never did much with the big groups but all in all i wouldnt complain a bit about our season.
 
Although the hunting in Wisconsin was slower than last year I had a really fun year. The ducks in Wisconsin simply were not here for the most part but goose hunting was good. I met a few new guys this year that have flexible schedules and between us we were able to cover a lot more ground than I ever could by myself. Hosting the DU TV guys was also another bonus on the year.

I had the opportuinty to again travel after our season was out and hit Maine, Connecticut and Texas. The gunning in Maine was fabulous again. Connecticut was not lights out but nothing better than shooting my first brant! That East Coast trip will be one that I remember for a lifetime.
Texas was also not stellar but steady gunning for the week were there and had a great time exploring and freelancing.

The dog got on more birds than he ever has. I shot enough to stock the freezer. And made some great new friends for the future. Can't wait until next year. 208 days of waiting now...
 
I had a bad duck season. I think mostly because the weather was so warm. The small ponds didn't freeze. So the ducks didn't leave the un-huntable small water. They are not dumb. There were divers around. So this was a year I wish I had a boat. Thats what I am now working on for next season.
Goose hunting on the other hand was not so bad. But the warm weather did cause me to not be able to hunt one spot I did last year. And we did well on that spot. We had no snow, so thats why.. I do have till March 10th in that area. So I am praying for just one snow storm. Just 2 inches would be fine.
But the bad duck season hopefully means a great one next year....
 
One of the driest sunniest Decembers ever in the PNW and flooding from last spring wiped out alot of the veg in the Columbia in this area. No weather, no food, no ducks. Found some new spots and made some memories. Best of the season was my dog's last retrieve of the year, brought back a banded widgeon, at 11yrs probably her last. Stopped short of my limit to end our season on that note.
 
I had a great season... Made plenty of newb mistakes and learned lots... Next year I will have a better approach when the ducks get scarce :)
 
had a great season got to hunt with some good friends and got to make some friends work with a young dog that did very well
got alot of use out of my new boat would have been nice to get more birds but to me birds are the bonus
just my 2 cents
 
One to remember for along time. I've killed more but can't say that I've had any more fun and got to spend a bunch of it with some great people!
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Bob B,

you said it best! My season may not have been great by a numbers standpoint, but I have not lost any of my fire for waterfowling! I keep reading all these posts and looking at pics of guys taking there kid's out and it makes me excited for the future!!! One boy is 7 and the other 2. I cannot wait!
 
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