Alabama Opener

M

Matt Masters

Active member
Let's just say if you have never been to a circus, come duck hunting in Alabama on the first split opener! Our first split opened up on Friday the 23rd and there have been people camping out to save a spot since Monday 11/19. Pretty much you are going to have to at least get out there the night before to find a spot to hunt the lake in my home town. We got out there about 7:30 the night before and were suprised to get the spot we got. Well come the morning of the opener people all around us started shooting a good 30 minutes before legal shooting time. I told my group we are not going to join them and wait till it's legal time to shoot, by then there had already been hundreds of shots fired. We sat out there till mid morning and scratched out a few but nothing to write home about. I was very reluctant to even go the next day, but a friend of mine said he didn't have anyone going with him so I went with him. We hit the boat ramp at 3:15 to hopefully get where he had hunted the day before were they killed a 4 man limit in 20 minutes. We had a boat with a mud motor thinking they were going to beat us to the area but they didn't. We get there get decoys put out and start brushing up the boat and the guys in the mud boat come setup 200 yds behind us. Which was no big deal because any bird headed to them had to come by us first. About 15 minutes before legal shooting time we have a group of Gadwalls sit down in the decoys just yards from the boat. We wait until legal shooting time and we start the process of taking our limits. We dropped several Gadwalls and it was starting to get good enough light to see all the colors of the other birds flying around us. We got skunked by a group of Buffleheads and a couple of Goldeneyes before a group of Ringnecks decide to go on a Kamikaze mission right into the spread. They make a line for the bow of the boat and I stand up and fire one shot and drop 3 and my buddy dropped 3 more. We look at each other and say, we better pick it up and get out of here. At 6:15 we had shot our limit and started picking up decoys to head back to the ramp. Here's a pic from 2nd day of our opener. If this is a sign of things to come it's going to be a good year for us in the Heart of Dixie!

2012opener.jpg

 
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Matt,

Glad you had a good opener.

From all the reports i have seen, Mobile was just as big a circus!
I didnt make it out, family stuff came up. But my buddy had a good morning, mostly redheads and bluebills with a few gaddies and wigeon.
 
It was just the opposite here on LI. I was pleasantly surprised to find fewer than the normal number of boats out. We got our limits and I was back home by 10:30 for a late breakfast.

Of course there was the tin boat overloaded with guys and gear hunting just ouside the park up against peoples homes. Blasting 40 minutes before legal, 4 guys, 10 to 12 shots each time, non stop. I don't know what they were shooting at because you could only see faint shadows. They stayed there most of the morning blasting away.
I just don't get it. We have miles upon miles of marsh lands to hunt but there are the same few guys that choose to piss off the local home owners shooting 100 yards from there homes well before legal shooting time. You could hear the echo bouncing off each house as the shots rang out in the cove.
Now I'm all for hunter rights, but I just don't get it...I must be getting old.
 
Matt

Were it not for a few websites that overload the airways with talk of Guntersville hunting 365 days a year I don't think you'd see such a circus. Too bad the cat is out of the bag. I've shared my feeling about this before so no need to re-hash it (http://duckboats.net/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=97250) here.

Glad your Saturday hunt was fun and satisfying. A great opening weekend certainly makes one optimistic for the season.

Eric
 
Congratulations, Matt. I had no idea that you would have to "save" your spot to hunt like that. That second day hunt sure had to be enjoyable.
Al
 
It truly is a sight to see at all the idiots we have the first few weeks of season. There is one boat ramp that is always packed, at 7:00 on Thanksgiving night before the opener there were over 70+ trucks parked along this one ramp. I consider myself very lucky to have the lake we have and the diversity of species around here, some are not as appreciative and ruin it for those who truly love waterfowling and the preservation of the sport. Luckily the most idiotic thing I saw opening day was the early shooting, which is to be expected because some just do not obide by the law. The only time I go out there with intentions of getting a limit is the first couple of weekends while the Gadwalls still act right and will come within shooting range. If some of the hunters around here would actually go hunt in a flyway or a WMA that is managed correctly they would have a true appreciation for what we have here in Alabama and not abuse it. Hopefully the rest of the season will produce enough for me to have enough meat in my freezer to satisfy my appetite of waterfowl until next year. Good luck to everyone and stay safe!
 
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