It's been a non-stop rush of activity for our opener, and pretty mad-house waterfowl/upland/gathering the fruits Fall,ever since. Duck opener was great, aided by a low that eventually built to a battering by gale force winds during our open water crossings...fewer teal than years past and slightly fewer mallards in the outer marsh, largely due to 4" more water compared to 2015. Our group contained my hunting partner's new son-in-law, out for his first waterfowl opener. New to him SBEII in-hand, SteveK hunted the first two days with his Dad, helping our group take a three man limit that was a representative sampling of all puddle duck species by day two. This was the first time I can remember achieving the cycle, courtesy of a hen gadwall SteveK shot. A little over half our bag were mallards, followed by pintail, redhead, wigeon, GW teal and BW teal and a handful of geese. Sandhill crane numbers continue to build at this staging site, pushing over 1,200 birds this year. Four days of good hunting, excellent food and drink, and stimulating conversation!
When SteveL asked his new son, what he thought of his first waterfowling hunt, I was impressed by his response. I'll paraphrase: He said he was struck most by the sights, smells and sounds of the marsh; how interconnected all the plants and critters were in the marsh, very impressed by the complexity of the ecosystem that supports waterfowl populations. Nice to listen to someone state the value of the experience over the opportunity to simply pull the trigger consistently...
I switched back to chasing grouse and geese,until we eat through some ducks, after returning back to Marquette. Grouse numbers are definitely higher this year, but our rains and warm weather have kept the leaves and ferns "up", limiting shooting lanes for a guy who hunts with "rough shooting dogs" . I am at four out of seventeen with one point by Flynn (5 months), which surprised both of us. Goose bag limit this year is three per day in the regular season. Most of the nine geese I have taken to date are giants, not Mississippi Valley birds(leaving in forty minutes to hunt a hay field by Chatham this morning).
The unexpected "find" this early-Fall, courtesy of nearly six inches of rainfall in Septemer? Mushrooms!!! I have picked and dried two gallons of Porcinis, seven gallons of button-stage Honey mushrooms, two gallons of Oysters, and the "big" find- four gallons of chanterelles(No, I don't dry these, since they rehydrate back to a far more bitter taste.)! I now have two new chanterelle spots to check.
When SteveL asked his new son, what he thought of his first waterfowling hunt, I was impressed by his response. I'll paraphrase: He said he was struck most by the sights, smells and sounds of the marsh; how interconnected all the plants and critters were in the marsh, very impressed by the complexity of the ecosystem that supports waterfowl populations. Nice to listen to someone state the value of the experience over the opportunity to simply pull the trigger consistently...
I switched back to chasing grouse and geese,until we eat through some ducks, after returning back to Marquette. Grouse numbers are definitely higher this year, but our rains and warm weather have kept the leaves and ferns "up", limiting shooting lanes for a guy who hunts with "rough shooting dogs" . I am at four out of seventeen with one point by Flynn (5 months), which surprised both of us. Goose bag limit this year is three per day in the regular season. Most of the nine geese I have taken to date are giants, not Mississippi Valley birds(leaving in forty minutes to hunt a hay field by Chatham this morning).
The unexpected "find" this early-Fall, courtesy of nearly six inches of rainfall in Septemer? Mushrooms!!! I have picked and dried two gallons of Porcinis, seven gallons of button-stage Honey mushrooms, two gallons of Oysters, and the "big" find- four gallons of chanterelles(No, I don't dry these, since they rehydrate back to a far more bitter taste.)! I now have two new chanterelle spots to check.
