Nice Finish

Craig F

Craig F

Well-known member
Well this season was a letdown for most after last year. Mild weather, lack of birds, lots of pressure in condensed areas, a lot of folks were very frustrated after most had banner seasons last year. I was blessed to be able to gun almost 50 days again this year and while my numbers were down a bit from last year, I still had many, many memorable hunts. Learned some new areas, introduced some friends to the sport, helped some newer guys along the way and got some good gunning in with my dad.

On the second to last day I snuck out early from work and was rewarded with one of the nicest drake wigeon I have shot in a long time. 10 yards feet down and whistling away at my Alan Eastman gadwall silhouettes. Worth the price of admission.

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On the last day I had a plan in mind to avoid the crowds and hopefully scratch out a last bird or two. My plan worked to perfection as most folks had complaints a mile long on social media about the crowds and I somehow avoided all of it. My plans worked out even better with the birds cooperating as well as I finished up the last day a bit earlier than I expected with a nice mixed bag limit. A great way to finish up a season described by many as 'terrible' and 'the worst in 40 years' but I found if you put your time in and did some exploring you could be rewarded. Don't be afraid to think outside the box!

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IF there ever was a mountable bird, that baldpate is it! I'm envious that your season is late enough to have so many birds in breeding plumage in the bag! Congratulations!
 
Nice write up craig and nice end to the season. This season was definitely pretty rough in jersey especially when compared side by side to last year. There were definitely a few bright spots though, once again managed to kill multiple canvasbacks, got my future brother in law completely hooked to the sport, had some tremendous November gunning (can't remember the last time I said that) and due to lack of birds spent a lot of time exploring new areas which paid out big a couple times. I too was fortunate to finish the season strong with a puddle duck hunt in the morning with my brother (also well away from the crowds) and had black ducks finishing at 12 yards. At about 9 with a no show from the teal seen the day prior we picked up and headed north to meet up with my old man and his buddy for a late morning broadbill hunt. We got to a popular ramp as the crowds were all trailering their boats complaining about lack of birds and no wind. Had they done their scouting and had some patience they would know the broadbill weren't using the area until the second half of the rising tide. We set out and an hour and a half later our season was over with a 4 man limit of broadbill
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Nice work as always Craig. Once again, thanks for all the help this season. Your help made more of a difference than you can imagine.
 
That wigeon is in my freezer along with a stud spoonie from this season. Would like to do a ultimate puddle duck limit dead mount at some point...
 
That is indeed a gorgeous specimen of ye old Bald Plate.

We used to have them by what seemed the millions here in the old rice fields now its a rare treat to work a brace to finish but it does still happen.

God was having a fun day when he put the colors to them for sure.
 
Good morning, Craig~


Congratulations on a fine season - and thanks for that great Wigeon photo. Among other things, it shows you taking to the time to honor the birds that mean so much to us.


All the best,


SJS

 
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