Where's the ducks?

Ed L.

Ed L.

Well-known member
Supporter
Hey all,

I’ve managed to have the last several afternoons off and have been out every day. I haven’t fired a shot in weeks. Is anyone shooting anything or at least seeing anything in the Midwest north of St. Louis? I’ve heard and read reports of Snows and Canada’s heading out of South Dakota though Western Iowa and Eastern Nebraska but nothing much about ducks and geese east of the Missouri River. Even got an email this morning from a website stating a major migration event is underway with the weather. Not sure what they’re expecting with the snow coming UP from Missouri but I’ll be out again this afternoon.

Hope your season’s going well.

Ed L.
 
Ed,

Not seeing a lot here in NE Ohio. Still some locals around that are real call shy but you can manage a mallard or two an outing. Just about all the woodies have split from the locations I hunt. Looks like a good front moving in and hopefully some migrators are comin along with it!! Best of luck to you.

Hunt Safe.
Ryan
 
Hey Ed,
I wouldn't hold my breath if I was you. Our season in MN ended on 11/28 with barely a fizzle, and my opinion is that any push happened before Nov 15th. The last 2 weekends we saw far fewer birds than previously, and what remained were extremely well educated Mallards. I hunted pools 5 and 5a throughout November, and saw a definate reduction. The divers were textbook in SE MN this year, peaking the first two weeks of November, then dropping fast.
I may be wrong, but I'd guess that what you see is about all you get. I hope I'm wrong for your sake.
 
A lot of ducks were heading south today. They were very high and in big flocks. Ended up with one Gadwall. The guys across from me were in a real calm spot, I saw them kill 6 birds before I had to leave. I am going to try to hunt the next 3 days, I got a new job that starts Monday and I don't think I will make it out the rest of the season.
 
Ed L:
I was told not much thru pool ll this past weekend. Maybe this temperature change will move something down to you. Good luck!
wis boz
 
Hi Scott,

How'd the boat work for you this year? Get lots of blood on it?

I was out again this afternoon. I saw roughly 12 ducks. Nothing close to me. I'm not giving up yet. We hunt until the 19th. I'm hoping with everything frozen up your way maybe just maybe they'll stay to the river. OR...maybe I'll go pheasant hunting....hehe there's always next year.

Take care.

Ed L.
 
Ryan,

You guys still have some Woodies? I saw my last Woodie the second week of November while I was deer hunting. Maybe this storm will send some your way.

Good luck.

Ed L.
 
Tom,

They must have flown though the star gate. I didn't see anything down here. Where do you suppose they go from pool 13. A few weeks back when I was hunting with Shady we watched hundreds maybe a thousand or more in several large flocks get up in the Potters area. He told me there was a couple of thousand Gadwalls there in your area the week before. Man... I live on an island. You'd think I'd see some of these come though. I ain't given in yet. We have until the 19th.

Good luck on the new job.

Ed
 
Thanks for the update Wis. I trust your season ended on a high note or are you in the Southern zone. Southern goes until the 5th doesn't?

Take care.

Ed L.
 
ED,
I came home from LaCrosse this afternoon and decided I should post a heads up for you and Dave Shady. LOTS of high flocks headin South tonight. The shallow bays and sloughs are hard and it appears to be moving some birds. Sunday and Monday mornings we had a lot of Mallards and Buffies moving on lower pool 7. Had the best shooting of the year. (now I need to work on the best hitting of the year) Tues was just plain dead. My partner and I slipped into the closed area to peek at what ever birds were left and there were still a bunch (tens of thousands) but not as many as a month ago (hundreds of thousands) :^0 So get yer heads up and let us know how ya finish up. Just hope the DNR doesn't arrest me for using electronics to help take ducks. Later
George
 
Hey Ed,

The BB3 worked out great. It saw a lot of time on the water this year, and saw it's share of blood. My only problem with it was from breaking 1/2" plus ice at the Weaver Bottoms(first guy out for once) and messing up the wood on my center keelson, It didn't even scuff the FME off of the aluminum strip or anything glassed, but gouged the paint and epoxy right down to bare wood outside of the strip. It'll be a good project to repair it come spring.
I would have to say this was the best season I ever had. I hunted new places up until Thanksgiving, and did quite well. Wait til next year now that I've figured out the right spots at each location. I managad a few firsts this year--canvasbacks(3) and a greater scaup.
This season a bit bittersweet though. Two weeks prior to opener, my dog came down with Thrombocytopenia(bleeding/clotting disorder) and was unable to hunt until the final week of our season since her steroid dose was too high. She's doing good so far, but she's so out of shape that our pheasant hunts have been shortened drastically. Oh well, she's alive.
I hope the rest of your season goes well, and good luck with the boat build come spring.
P.S. I built a lightweight modified version of a Broadbill this summer too. Hmmmmm - what shall I build next year????
 
Ed L. - Yea we saw one hen woodie last weekend. I guy I know shot two teal last weekend as well. We've just had some warm weather and they're some straglers hanging around. Most have split for the South.

Scott S. - Lightweight version of the Broadbill? Is that the Devlin design? What did you do to make it lightweight? I'm nearing completion on my Broadbill (1/4" Okoume) and I'm trying to keep her as light as possible. Any pics?

Hunt Safe.

Ryan
 
Scott,

I'd like to see some pictures of your modified Broadbill and an explaintion of "light weight". I'm waiting for the report on the MDO boat the Dave Morton built. (I think it's Dave Morton). I'm ready to order my material and get the garage staged for building. Can't heat the garage enough for epoxy now but I can build a cradle and cut, drill and stitch so when the ice thaws I can "git-r-done....

Can't wait to feel that sense of pride huntin from your handy work. That is as long as I don't end up submarining for divers...hehe

Glad you had a good season. I hunted a couple of "new to me" marshes but not much to talk about. I found the areas to hunt but couldn't compete with the Aquapod. Those big flat boats with the hunting cabins attached to a long tail really are the cat's meow around here. My neighbor is spoting me a 15hp I can use on the Broadbill so hopefully next year I won't have to leave the ramp at midnight...hehe

Take care.

Ed
 
Ed and Ryan,

The Broadbill I built was from study plans instead of blueprints, so it ended up with different lines from the true Devlin Broadbill. I went into it wanting a light boat that the most motor I would use would be an electric. I used 1/4" Meranti for the hull and decks, 3/8" Okoume leftover from the BB3 for all the bulkheads, knees, etc. The whole thing was glassed with 4 oz. cloth, and painted with FME then grassed. I would guess it's around 90#. For what I wanted to do with it, it worked great. I used it as a layout primarily, and three grass mats worked good, but I'll be making a spray dodger/blind set-up over the summer so it can be more functional, and it really needs oarlocks. It pushpoles and paddles nicely, but I think rowing would be better.
I'll post some pics over the weekend if I can find the right camera card(s).
Also, instead of grass rails, on both boats I used Army surplus parachute cord and aluminum cable clips from Menards to accomplish the same idea. The cord was tied off on each of the transom handles, and run through the clips and bow eye. I used strips of grass mat the width of the decking with the cord weaved through it. It worked fantastic, and held up pretty well. The Broadbill was trailered about 500 miles, and the BB3 close to a thousand miles, and both are in good shape still, especially considering the grass mats came off of my old boat blind, and were kinda crispy to begin with.
I have about $650 into the Broadbill.
Good luck with the rest of your seasons guys!
 
George,

Thanks for the heads up. I noticed leaving the island for work this morning, the leeward side of the island had what appeared to be several hundred ducks and geese hungin the shore line. Must have been some ride for them last night. 3 to 4 inches of snow on the ground over night and temps in the teens tomorrow morning.....I'll be somewhere for sure.

Ed L.
 
Ed, we have wondered the same thing as to where they go. One of my uncles hunts right above Albany and he has not seen much. We think that when they hit the lower end of the pool, they head a little east and then staight south. Our family has hunted that spot on Beaver Island for past 60 years. We used to get thousands of ducks come down than way, but not anymore. It all started to go down hill after the 93 flood. There were some years that we averaged about 250-300 ducks a year at that spot. Now, he is lucky if he gets 30 ducks a year.

Anyway, good luck this weekend.
 
Northern Wis report, We just froze up the last two days, this is late for us. Open water before this. Been deer hunting too warm ,no snow, deer not moveing. Hopeing for snow but it went where people don't want it. I think any ducks that are up here will head South. So good luck this weekend.
 
Looks like they are pretty well froze up. Still a bunch of geese hanging around but I don't know if there are many ducks left. Always a few but might not be worth the effort.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top