Scratch this one off the list...

S

Steve Steffy

Well-known member
This fine fellow decided to drop in on me while I was enjoying some hot coffee this morning. I haven't seen many gadwalls around here, but apparently they're here. Maybe by Sandy's doing maybe not. Pretty cool bird though for not having much in the way of color.

Steve

gw152.jpg

 
Congratulations Steve, nice bird!

Gaddies are strange Ducks, around these parts anyway. (NE Ohio).

I won't see any for a long time, maybe even years. Then all of a sudden, it seems that's all we'll shoot. My Son and I shot a combined limit of twelve the day before Thanksgiving a couple years ago. When they're around, they're fun Ducks to hunt. Decoy nicely, not too shy and tast pretty good to boot.

Jon
 
Nice bird. I haven't seen any of those in years. I got into some a few years ago in Sparty during a big Oct snow storm. Haven't seen any since.
 
Thanks guys...I'm hoping they're are still some more in the area I'm hunting next weekend. They sure do work the decoys well. It's going to be a long 5 days till Saturday. Vacation time is coming though, I'll be duck hunting every day real soon.

Darin, you ever think of getting your NY license? Some of the places I'm hunting aren't far from you at all.

Steve
 
Very nice Steve! Although I half expected to see a pic of an otter, fisher, or marten.

We've only shot one hen gadwall a couple of years ago in January on Lake Ontario. Although I've seen them on the Finger Lakes that time of year too.

Good Luck!
 
Nice! Always fun when you can scatch one off the life list.

Funny you should comment "They sure do work the decoys well."
Down here, gadwalls are our no. 1 puddle duck.
On opening weekend and after a big cold front they brings in new birds, they decoy with reckless abandon.
After they have been here a couple of weeks and get "stale", they will circle 10 times, flair for no reason and land out in open water a hundred yards from even live birds!
 
John...I wish I could say it was an Adirondack marten, fisher or otter...or even bobcat. I just got my camping permit over the weekend, but I've decided to cancel my Adirondack trapline for this year. I'm just not prepped enough trapwise and I really neglected my duck hunting duties last year. I'm going to be spending my time duck hunting this year and neglecting all but the local traplines. We're talking about a trip up around Syracuse in a couple of weeks...you up for a hunt?


Carl...there must be more "stale" birds here than I thought then. The birds that are here seem to circle endlessly then head right out to the center of the swamp we're hunting. We may have to try a change up this weekend - or hope for some fresh birds.

Bob...I actually just finished designing that whistle / woody call...that's the first one after a few prototypes. I have been very pleased with it so far. I've had woodies dump in while using it and teal and mallards circle back to investigate. It seems to catch the birds interest. I'll be making more of them when I have some free time away from the swamp. There's not much better than calling birds in with your own calls and / or decoys.

Steve
 
Steve,
I'm hoping on getting the boat blind built for it's first hunt around the weekend of 11/24. That's also our muskrat opener weekend! Been very busy lately with the kids' sports and scouts, as well as our big annual Halloween party for the kids (had 100+ people over the house). So haven't gotten started on the blind. However my most memorable first split hunts have been around Thanksgiving, so that's my goal.

Beaver opens this coming weekend. And my wife is working the weekend after that (11/17 - 11/18), so other than going to hockey, I'll be working around the house that weekend. November's so busy! Luckily I don't try to hunt deer too!

Which weekend is it that you're planning to be around Syracuse?
 
Steve,
I have thought about a NY license. I used to hunt up there a lot. Might have to try it again. What week are you off? If it is before bear & deer season, maybe we can get together some morning and hunt. After deer season I will be taking some days off to hunt also, if you are available. Also, put me on the list for one of your whistle / woody calls. I've been using a whistle more this year and having good success. The teal have really responded well. Even the mallards respond, maybe just because it isn't the same old call that everyone is using. I have a wood duck call also, but I'm not real happy with it. Maybe we can work out a trade..decoy for call?
 
Around here they seem a little "flat" until later in December. As far as grades and prices paid, it’s definitely more noticeable with the beaver. However it’s a lot easier to catch them before things ice up. Our rat season closes in February, but the beaver go until April 10. So I prefer to catch beaver in March as the ice starts to disappear. But most years I have more beaver spots than time, so I try to trap some of the spots before ice-up.
 
Darin...I'm off from 11/15 through 11/26 and plan to duck hunt somewhere every day of it. There are a lot of areas around here that I've been wanting to check out and I figured I may as well do some exploring this year since the ADK trip is being put off. Maybe we can get together sometime between the 15-17? I think we talked about you hunting NY last time I saw you. If you decide to get that license let me know (they currently run $85 for a small game only license) As far as the call / decoy swap...absolutely. That's one of my favorite things about making calls is swapping calls, decoys or other goodies with guys. I'll have one for you when we get hunt together...do you prefer the matte low gloss finish or a high gloss shiny finish? Also, I agree about the ducks responding better to the whistle 100% it's a nice change up for those birds that have heard about everything on their migration south. I really like playing with it when the birds aren't flying and figuring out what other notes I can pull off with it.

John...we're looking at coming up your way on the 23rd and hunting the 24th & 25th. It will be me and one other guy if he can make it. He's talking about hunting the Skaneateles or Cazenovia areas. I'd like to look into Montezuma a bit myself. You know much about any of these areas? Shoot me a PM if you want. I haven't duck hunted up there at all, so we're flying blind.

Steve
 
Steve

Take it from a guy who has seen a lot of Gadwalls in his tenure that is a good looking one, especially this early.

Eric
 
He was a dandy for sure Eric...He may end up at the taxidermists shop yet. I have a pretty cool mount in mind, but I'd like to get another fine specimen to compliment it.

Steve
 
You've really got to see one up close to appreciate them. We too will go years without seeing them, then they show up in numbers. Same drill, first they bomb the decoys, then they become annoyingly aloof!

My son splashed one last year that the wind carried out of retriever range. We piled into the boat and went tearing after it. I confess that normally we unceremoniously snatch downed birds from the water and steam in as fast as we can to avoid spooking the next flight. However, in this case when I picked up the splendid drake Gadwall, I had to lay him out on the seat, kill the motor, and call my boy back to marvel at the bird. The mature drake's plumage was absolutely amazing!

We were so involved in our study of that bird that we lost track of time. We were only snapped out of our trance by the guys in the blind, calling on the radio, concerned that we were broken down!

Thanks for sharing the photo.
 
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