Season closed

K

Kevin B

Well-known member
Today was our last day on Lake Champlain, the interior closed Sunday. Time to travel to the Hudson and out to the finger lakes after Christmas.

It's the same question I ask every year. Did we get the season dates right in the NE Zone? Champlain?

I for one thought The big Lake was great,even could have been later.

Comments always welcome
 
Kevin, I don't know how your weather has been compared to ours, but despite quite a bit of snow, we've had a really mild fall. I can still launch a boat at the big lake near my house--though I couldn't have on Monday--and we still have basically no ice on the saltwater, even up in the marshes.

Maine recently moved to a late "coastal" season that ends around January 10. Last year we all complained because it was silly to even think about duck hunting from Christmas to early January. This year we're all thinking an extra week or two in January would have been a good thing.
 
Jeff,we had a slightly different format this fall 10/4 -10/19,Nov1st-Dec 14th. In years past we open the 1st Saturday in Oct closed around Columbus day ,reopened the 25th and ran into December. We always seem to get a hard freeze in early November which closes the smaller spots and pushes the birds to the river or Lake Champlain. Their were plenty of birds around both ducks and geese So I think the season for the NE zone worked.
Lake Champlain never heats up till everything is frozen up north, It could probably had been open longer but I think Vt did a good job setting the season. Maybe John B Or Cheech's input would help on the Vt side.
I don't think it was much different from other years. My early season was mild and off the charts ,seeing more birds on my marsh than ever before. I am glad I didn't sell it. I will be guiding on it next year for 3 or 4 hunts to pay the taxes.
 
Kevin, as you know cold dictates late season mallards and we are still wide open on the St.lawrence. within a week or so we will be covered up in birds. There are thousands of birds near Cape Vincent but thats due to Bayfield Bay on Wolfe Island freezing out. The problem with that is The Canadian Gov feeds bayfield , there is a barge with a dump truck on it, thats right a dump truck. They hold and control the birds until the freeze. There are many elite hunting clubs there and have banned floating blinds so you cant even hunt them unless you are a club member or own property on wolfe island. A later season would be nice , the early season on the river isnt what it use to be.
 
When i talk to Bill at SWP he says the same thing , the birds come down late. I don't see anything changing season wise ,unless the zone can be adjusted. Changing the zone boundaries just shifts the problem to the new expanded zone. Since we already have 4 zones I doubt a 5th is possible. Traveling is in the cards now. At least we have that.

All in all I had a great season ,minus the trespasser shooting AA 's on my roost pond
 
why would shifting the boudary to the St.lawrence and lake ontario area shift the problem, sounds like it would fix it to me.
 
Hi Kevin. Our season was interesting. And I use that word, 'cause its a polite word :) we're down on rain, so my inland spots were very dry. I killed a few wood ducks on it, but nothing like I could have done, had we a "normal" amount of rain. Speaking of rain, Champlain is, as you know very low and never came up towards the end of the season like a "normal" year.

Late season hunting was spotty. Cheech and I like to concentrate on whistlers late season, and we had a couple of days where we didn't see diddly squat for whistlers. I never once saw the big flocks of scaup some said they saw. We did have 2 or 3 great whistler days, but for Champlain, it was spotty.

John Bourbon
 
Hi John,

Yes we had very low water this year as well but I rebuilt my beaver dam and was rewarded in spades .
Champlain was low and slow for us early, it did get better after Thanksgiving , we benefited from some favorable winds in December but the hunters whom I spoke to agreed it was spotty.

Merry Christmas
 
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