I thought as part of my South Jersey hunting series that started with our hunting shack, I would include some dog pictures too that would give you an idea of the terrain and a sense of how the tide works. The picture from below is from opening morning of 2012, and the tide was pretty far out as you can probably tell. Makes for a lot of mud. When the tide is up the whole area you are looking at is flooded and I can easily either motor or pole my boat 300 yards straight ahead.
View attachment opening day 2012 mud.jpg
It was a great morning for two of the three parties we had, and I think we had 36 total. There are two others missing from the picture.
View attachment opening day 2012 crew.JPG
This is fairly typical of a flooded mud flat, which we call meadows out here
View attachment decoy spread december 2012.jpg
The spot above is a better afternoon spot, because the camera is facing east, and the grass across the way where you could hide is too far from the main channel to get in before the tide comes up. I like to arrive when there is just enough water in the little channels to let me float in so that I can maximize my time in an area(you have to know when to get out when the tide is going out). When the tide is just starting in, most of what you are looking at above is mud. Some of it is hard and you can walk it and some of it is not.
Below is a little different spot. I picked up right after this shot was taken, and I barely got out. Some days the water drops out really fast off of the meadows, and 15 minutes can mean the difference between getting out and being stuck for several hours, or of course, pushing your boat through deep mud for a few hundred yards.
View attachment rose on pintial hen.JPG
The next picture is from a spot that is really sneaky and I have never seen anyone else in. You have to snake through about a 3-4' wide channel to get into it and then it opens up some, but finding your way back requires watching the current, because you can't see the opening in the grass where you came in. I always hunt this spot a couple of times a year, and it has been pretty stable as far as the channels and the water flow
View attachment rose with teal.jpg
View attachment opening day 2012 mud.jpg
It was a great morning for two of the three parties we had, and I think we had 36 total. There are two others missing from the picture.
View attachment opening day 2012 crew.JPG
This is fairly typical of a flooded mud flat, which we call meadows out here
View attachment decoy spread december 2012.jpg
The spot above is a better afternoon spot, because the camera is facing east, and the grass across the way where you could hide is too far from the main channel to get in before the tide comes up. I like to arrive when there is just enough water in the little channels to let me float in so that I can maximize my time in an area(you have to know when to get out when the tide is going out). When the tide is just starting in, most of what you are looking at above is mud. Some of it is hard and you can walk it and some of it is not.
Below is a little different spot. I picked up right after this shot was taken, and I barely got out. Some days the water drops out really fast off of the meadows, and 15 minutes can mean the difference between getting out and being stuck for several hours, or of course, pushing your boat through deep mud for a few hundred yards.
View attachment rose on pintial hen.JPG
The next picture is from a spot that is really sneaky and I have never seen anyone else in. You have to snake through about a 3-4' wide channel to get into it and then it opens up some, but finding your way back requires watching the current, because you can't see the opening in the grass where you came in. I always hunt this spot a couple of times a year, and it has been pretty stable as far as the channels and the water flow
View attachment rose with teal.jpg
