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

Out here on the west coast we had a great season.
The weather was so nice and the winds calm that we hunted from scull boats all season .
 
I have shot more ducks in past years than I did in this one but I can't recall when I had as much fun doing it. The ducks were here in decent numbers but we were just not in the right place, our spread wasn't right, or our calling wasn't up to snuff. Either way, we had a great time sitting in a blind and enjoying the morning. This was my first season truly hunting the Mississippi and it really is a diverse place to enjoy this passion. I got the chance to introduce a father and son to waterfowling and look forward to sharing many more mornings in the blind with them.

This season was one to really look back on. Sure, the birds weren't here in the numbers that were predicted but they were here. Yes, we all want to kill a few ducks when we head out into the marsh and we all started the season with high expectations due to the reports of record numbers coming off the breeding grounds. The weather may have prevented us from seeing the results of a very successful breeding season while we were out in the marsh but the past month has been completely spectacular here in the Mississippi for watching the migration unfold. There are probably 1500 geese along the island where I work and untold numbers around the area where the Rock River meets the Mississippi. That is not to mention thousands of divers all along the river, more than I have seen in this area since arriving in Jan 2008. There are rafts of goldeneyes, canvasbacks, bluebills, redheads, even a pair of hooded merganser with a lone common merganser. That is not counting the numbers of mallards hanging out.

With the statements about record numbers heading down the flyways most waterfowlers expected to have full straps on every outing but mother nature has a way of leveling the playing field. Since most have not returned to the marsh since the last sunset of the season they might not know that the predictions were probably pretty close. This means that maybe next year the skies will be filled with birds again and our straps will be heavy.

...or maybe we will be afforded the opportunity to share a sunrise over the marsh with our close friends and family while listening for the whistling of wings......
 
I had a great season! I didn't get out as often as I would have liked but had some great shoots with good friends and a couple of memorable solo hunts. I only got skunked once, had a few limit hunts, got some great mixed bags, enjoyed some great weather, enjoyed some nasty weather, enjoyed visiting some old spots, enjoyed visiting some new spots, met some really nice folks... gosh I could go on all day. I will say that there was a lot of laughter involved in most of the hunts.

I shot at least one of each of the following birds this season and lots of some of them: black, mallard, wood duck, lesser scaup, greater scaup, ring-necked duck, canvasback, redhead, ruddy, pintail, wigeon, gadwall, and GW teal. We passed on lots of mergansers of all three types. LOL Didn't shoot a goldeneye this year although I saw a few.

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Got out quite a bit this season but had very little luck. Weather was way too mild and the birds just never showed up in numbers. Son shot his first goose which was great, but aside from that, the season was a bust. The optimist in me says that this means there will be more ducks next year. See, I have already talked myself into next year. It truly is a sickness.



dc
 
I killed 2 ducks this year, for a total of 3 brought to my boat. I have two friends, who went out more often than I did, their combined total was a goose....egg...zip. Our results were typical. As the season wore on, there were fewer and fewer guys out because they just gave up. I didn't even bother with the last weeks of the season and haven't renewed my license as of yet.
 
Very slow here in Western Mass. The birds never seemed to migrate in to the area this year due to all the warm weather and open water north of us.
 
WELL GUYS:
What do you think of this years "Hunting Season". Like to here how you would sum of the past "DUCK SEASON".
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Depends on how you judge a season...I had a good time hunting with my dad and friends, BUT...if it were all about "shooting stuff" or "whackin' and stackin'", I'd go to Mexico, where I could easily bribe a the local officials, be praised like a God for handing out cheap trinkets and shoot till my gun barrel glowed red hot and let the locals insure that no meat was wasted...but that's not really my thing...
 
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Just by the numbers

2010 season - 79 ducks shot, 3 ducks not recovered, 13 species, 21 days in the field, 4 States, 3 days skunked
2011 season - 63 ducks shot, 4 ducks not recovered, 6 species, 17 days in the field, 2 States, 2 days skunked

By the weather - this year was terrible. I hunted one day in the snow and 1 day with minimum ice - both of which are my favorite times to hunt. No snow and ice, to me, the hunting is not as much of a challenge and fun.

This year I hunted mostly familiar spots and did very little scouting of new places. The late ducks just never showed up in the numbers we typically see which is a bummer.

Memorable moments are getting stuck on the boat ramp in the new Vehicle, meeting and hunting with a couple new guys, taking a couple of new kids out for youth day, and hunting with my Dad at the spot where my Grandpa spent his last moments in this world.

Can't wait for next year.....

Mark W
 
Not very exciting by my standards. Sea Duck were great but the Geese were a little slow till the last two weeks
 
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It was not the best season as far as number of birds go but it was a great season all around in other ways.

Our pre-season scouting started out looking good. We were seeing some early birds arriving and thought the season would be off to a good start. Wrong...
The birds never arrived in large numbers and we had to work hard for each bird taken. It just makes you appreciate those years when everything comes so easily.

I had a few new waterfowlers out with us this year and they were happy just to be able to get out and do some shooting. Some of the guys went home knowing they had to practice on their shooting skills and some got their first birds. I always love it when a guy shoots his first bird with us. You know it is a memory that will last a life time.

I had a father and young son come out and they took their first goose together. I don't know which one actually hit it but that doesn't really matter. They got it together.
Another guy that came out a second time after his first attempts ended in one empty box of ammo and no birds. So after some shooting practice he came out again and took 4 different species, all of which were a first for him.
We had a few guys come out to get some species that they don't get a chance to get on there home waters and I'm happy to report that they did get their birds. Maybe not the numbers they were looking for but they got what they came for. So, thats a good.
I was able to hunt with my daughter when she came home from college and she took her first Brant.
I had another guy take his forst Broadbills in our first and only snow storm of the year.

No humans sustained any injuries or discomfort while out with us. We didn't even have a guy slip and fall in the mud / water and get bone chilling wet. I always have at least one of those that we have to rush back to the dock to keep from getting hypothermia.
My retriever was only out for about a week or so to recover from a bad cut on a paw pad.
Everyone was warm and dry all season.
No blown motors or damaged boats.
We didn't even have to break ice all season, thats a first.

We got to meet some nice folks and have a great time on the water.

I guess it depending on what your parameters are for a good season.
So, in my book that's a good season.
 
Yes John. We didn't shoot a lot of birds, but it was a good season. Had a good time with my son, my dog, and some friends (why else do we go out?). Got a few birds, didn't bust butts with ice, didn't tow the boat through a bunch of snow, didn't break anything. Plus, I'm really looking forward to next year!

Honestly, we've had slow hunting like this before. And I'm still thinking of getting more decoys for next year!
 
When I think of this past season all I can do is smile. As for ducks seen, we have had a lot of them here. We had some horrible weather (for you guys in the midwest or out east, it would be called "ducky") where I couldn't get to my favorite spot for 34 days----snow, rain, soaked ground where even 4 wheelers can't negotiate. The worst part of it all was that thousands of them flew south to Mexico where it was warmer. Other than that, I had fun---shot some ducks, plus 3 snows and my first Canada since 1975. This year I had more fun taking pics of the ducks (set shotgun down and picked up camera) along with taking action shots of Pepper and Chili. I can hardly wait to take Chaco out this coming year. I am wondering that wild eyed chocolate male is going to be like.
I'm counting the days until our early teal season if all goes well. 228
Al


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Al, I too cannot wait until next season....that means more pictures like these from you! Thank you for sharing them with us all season, I for one truly enjoyed them.
 
After hearing quite a few reports from fellow Long Islanders, it appears that I picked a good year to have a son born and limit my hunts. :)

And another way to look at it in a positive way......I'm sure I'll be even more excited come next season.
 
Well the weather was generally balmy and the ducks were very few and far between on the days I was able to get out but I have to say this was one of my best seasons (still getting out for geese). It's my son's first season and thanks to him I've gotten out more this season than I have in years. Lots of fun, thank god for brant...

Tom
 
Bob B has the best reflection on a season. Really, none of us get involved in this sport because we need to put food on the table. Gosh, if you really fiqured out what the price of an ounce of duck meat cost, we'd all cry! You really have to look at it from enjoying the time out on the water with good friends and good dogs. If a few birds make in into the bag, all that much better. Maybe I'm getting older, but just having an excuse to launch the boat or aquapod in hopes of having some birds decoy make it a "good season". My HIP numbers will look equally pathetic, however I brought out a couple of new hunters this year that absolutely fell in love with waterfowling and will be buying stamps and licenses for many years to come. So, really, I guess my season was pretty ok.
 
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