Spoon City

I may or may not have been told to stop shooting spoonies by my hunting partner up in Canada this year. They were decoying so pretty I couldn't help myself.
 
That third bird of Craig's is a beauty. I like grinners, we don't get many but when they're around they tend to handle well. Plus, you can carry several by the built in contoured handle.
 
greg setter said:
Christoph, not much happening in way south Jersey along Delaware Bay either. I would be happy to see some spoonies at this point. We had quite a few ducks just before the season re-opened, but nothing since it did. Last Saturday morning I was out for about 3-1/2 hours, fired one round. Heard almost no shooting although there were about 10 vehicles at the ramp I was using. Waiting for a push of birds, hope they come soon!
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Hearing the same thing from my del bay friends as you Greg. We seemed to have the most birds around by my house (central coast) in between the coastal splits. Then they all left. Puddle duck-wise at least. Big difference from last year with the extended cold we had.
 
Craig-I would be taking at least a day a week off if there were some ducks around, I might go Thursday and see if anything new has moved in. As far as I know it's like that along the entire bay, which is at least 50 miles of marsh. There are probably a few pockets here and there, but even people I know that are over by Salem aren't seeing anything. I am not seeing anything on the tidal creeks off of 295, I'm not seeing anything on local water. Don't have a clue, but some ducks should show up soon. I'm all puddle ducks, so I don't know about the divers, except buffleheads, which do get back in the marsh, not many of those around either.
 
True story-I went yesterday, put the boat in, what is floating next to the dock? A dead spoonie. It must have fallen off of someones boat when they were putting in. Couldn't believe it.
 
It's funny how everyone wants what they don't have. Those things are a dime a dozen out here. It's no big deal to shoot 7 of them like your pretty one. But people here go crazy for a blue wing teal! The grass is always greener somewhere else.
 
Kevin Layne said:
It's funny how everyone wants what they don't have. Those things are a dime a dozen out here. It's no big deal to shoot 7 of them like your pretty one. But people here go crazy for a blue wing teal! The grass is always greener somewhere else.
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Funny how that goes. Same for Black Ducks here in NJ. For us we get frustrated when we keep seeing them with the limit being 2. Guys down south and west go crazy if they bag one.

Craig shoots a lot of birds. I wouldn't mind adding a nice shoveler to my wall.
 
Jay K said:
Kevin Layne said:
It's funny how everyone wants what they don't have. Those things are a dime a dozen out here. It's no big deal to shoot 7 of them like your pretty one. But people here go crazy for a blue wing teal! The grass is always greener somewhere else.
Click to expand...

Funny how that goes. Same for Black Ducks here in NJ. For us we get frustrated when we keep seeing them with the limit being 2. Guys down south and west go crazy if they bag one.

Craig shoots a lot of birds. I wouldn't mind adding a nice shoveler to my wall.
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Well make a trip this this whacko state. Lots of spoons and cinnamons!
 
Kevin Layne said:
Jay K said:
Kevin Layne said:
It's funny how everyone wants what they don't have. Those things are a dime a dozen out here. It's no big deal to shoot 7 of them like your pretty one. But people here go crazy for a blue wing teal! The grass is always greener somewhere else.
Click to expand...

Funny how that goes. Same for Black Ducks here in NJ. For us we get frustrated when we keep seeing them with the limit being 2. Guys down south and west go crazy if they bag one.

Craig shoots a lot of birds. I wouldn't mind adding a nice shoveler to my wall.
Click to expand...

Well make a trip this this whacko state. Lots of spoons and cinnamons!
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Cinnamon would be another trophy here as well! My favorite part of duck hunting is without a doubt the variety.
 
I only shoot a lot of birds because I have an illness that makes me hunt all the damn time!

After running all over the state yesterday for a handful of birds I need to start reigning myself in until we get some weather.
 
Craig F said:
I only shoot a lot of birds because I have an illness that makes me hunt all the damn time!

After running all over the state yesterday for a handful of birds I need to start reigning myself in until we get some weather.
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That's not the news I was looking for. I guess I just need to hang on a little.
 
It is rough here in North Alabama right now, probably the worst I have ever seen it. We have no puddle ducks and the Canvasbacks and Red Heads are a no show as of now. Not looking promising for the next few weeks to come.
 
Thomas Patterson said:
It is rough here in North Alabama right now, probably the worst I have ever seen it. We have no puddle ducks and the Canvasbacks and Red Heads are a no show as of now. Not looking promising for the next few weeks to come.
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I can't understand why it's been so bad here in NJ. We have had a decent stretch of cold. Recently it's been on the warm side. Otherwise, I can't figure it out.
 
We had a big push of birds on the coast between the first and second split, then we had some cold with skim ice and I think a lot of those birds pushed out. Meanwhile we've had record rain this fall and every little nook and crannie has water in it so the birds that are here are spread out and sitting in retention ponds where they can't be hunted. Combine that with a lack of fresh birds and it doesn't take long for birds to be pressured into becoming nocturnal. Word on the street is some new birds moved in this week in a few areas so we'll see what comes of that.

I've been out about 30 times so far this season and the best gunning was around Thanksgiving. Of course this is all for puddle ducks, by this point most sane people are hunting brant and divers...
 
I was out in Barnegat bay this morning and 20 miles south of that Monday and the usual sure isn't the case. I saw a few birds shot a few but they were acting as if they have all been shot up already.
 
Wow, Thomas, that's surprising, things have been pretty good down here. Not great, but not bad either.
 
Craig F said:
We had a big push of birds on the coast between the first and second split, then we had some cold with skim ice and I think a lot of those birds pushed out. Meanwhile we've had record rain this fall and every little nook and crannie has water in it so the birds that are here are spread out and sitting in retention ponds where they can't be hunted. Combine that with a lack of fresh birds and it doesn't take long for birds to be pressured into becoming nocturnal. Word on the street is some new birds moved in this week in a few areas so we'll see what comes of that.

I've been out about 30 times so far this season and the best gunning was around Thanksgiving. Of course this is all for puddle ducks, by this point most sane people are hunting brant and divers...
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Hopefully it changes soon. I just hope we haven't missed the bulk of the migration. I'm still holding out hope for some decent puddle ducking.
 
I saw the same thing Craig mentioned, lots of birds just before it reopened and gone since then. Today I actually shot my gun (1 round) and got a black duck. I've seen a few more ducks in the last week, but they aren't hanging around in the marsh, they head out to Delaware Bay when you push them up on your ride to wherever you're going. Could be we have some rafting on the bay and feeding at night, that can happen here. But who knows?
 
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