Black Duck Bonanza - Video

Craig F

Craig F

Well-known member
Decided to do a solo hunt for the last day of the first split in the NJ south zone. I did an afternoon hunt and figured the birds would move on the tide change, I was correct in my assumptions!

Had opportunities at large groups of teal, to which I somehow only scratched one drake greenwing, and then black duck after black duck started dropping into the spread. After some abysmal shooting to start I quickly bagged my one black duck and then just had fun watching them the rest of the afternoon. The bird I bagged was definitely a hen mallard/black duck hybrid but I wasn't about to start shooting more and getting myself in trouble.

I got some decent footage with the cameras so I put a little video together. Please excuse my awful shooting, I'll blame it on adjusting to my new M2.

http://youtu.be/IJZT6neqeTA

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Craig,

Great video, love seeing the area that is so different from mine. Question, how do you like shooting with the GoPro? I picked up a few 3Blacks and was hoping to use them this season too. What mounts do you like and not like for them? Do you have the one that fits on your gun?

Thanks
Neil
 
Neil - I have a Hero 2 and a Hero 3 black. They are easy to use and I make a lot of fishing videos with them. I usually use the head mount for fishing and then have another setup as a cockpit cam.

For hunting it's harder to get really good footage in my opinion. The wide angle lens makes everything look a mile away. What I do is shoot in 1080 or 2.7k and then zoom when I edit so the ducks don't look like dots on the screen. You could also change the FOV to medium or narrow. I have the hero 3 clamped to my sneakbox canvas and use the wifi remote to turn it on and off without moving. I also have battery backpacks for each which helps double the battery life.

I just picked up a mount for my gun which I'll try to see how much it messes me up!

I use a clamp like this: LINK
 
Sweet video. Gotta love the king of the marsh.

Now I'm really jonesing to get out hunting. I spent the whole day scouting(we are closed in ct and no sunday hunting anyway).
 
Adding to everybody else's comments: thanks for posting that--put us right there with you. (Notice you edited out all the cuss words about missing--or don't you do that over there?)
 
Craig, I wonder how the Hybred question would be addressed by a warden? Black or mallard? Either way its one black and one hen. Toss a coin. Nice video!!!

Phil
 
Thanks guys. Nothing better than having them come in feet down. I could sit and watch that all afternoon. And yes, I definitely edited out some choice words I had for myself on the first black duck miss!

From what I've read Connecticut put out a page in their regs this year that differentiates between a black and a black/mallard by examining white in the speculum. I don't know how NJ determines it. The bird I shot definitely was lighter in coloration than a black duck and had white bars in the speculum.
 
Craig~

Wonderful video - sure reminds me of many afternoons on Long Island.

re Hybrid: NYS policy back in the 1980s - cleared with USFWS at the time - was: traits should be obvious enough (like 2 wing bars, green mask on face, etc) to gunner when it was shot at (as opposed to in hand) - discretion on the part of the Officer. Noteworthy is that a hybrid is considered a Duck in the bag, so counts against neither Mallard nor Black limits. I will try to track down current interpretation with my coleagues still at DEC.

I'm look forward to your next cinematic products!

All the best,

SS
 
Thanks Jode, if you ever have a surplus of pintails around let me know! In 20 years I've never had the opportunity to get a drake.
 
Great video. We've all had days when we've missed shotsl ike that.

BTW, that is more black ducks than I have seen in almost 20 years of duck hunting!
I've only seen one killed down here on the Gulf Coast and that was the one I missed and my buddy killed before I could get off a second shot!
 
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