Year of .....

Phil Nowack

Phil Nowack

Well-known member
This year seemed to be the Year of the Canvasback. Or, at least, for me it was. I hope next year is the Year of the Goldeneye!

How about you?
 
This year seemed to be the Year of the Canvasback. Or, at least, for me it was. I hope next year is the Year of the Goldeneye!

How about you?
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Not for me. Maybe the year of the Bufflehead.

If I ever get to kill a can, I will name it the decade of the canvasback.
 
well my season isn't over so maybe it'll change but I'd go with either the year of the woodduck or the woodcock
 
I need to do some traveling next year. Maybe towards pool 9. Hunting was tough this year with high water and warm temps and nothing as far as food or habitat to keep them around but in 52 years of hunting this is the first year I got "0", goose egg, naada. Mind you I did shoot 14 times throught out the season and I hunted a lot. 6 of those shots the quarry was in range and I just flat out missed but 7 times I was the sky buster. Total desperation shots I knew I shouldn't have taken. There were many days of looking at empty skies yet I was told that at least one blind in our area shot over 300 ducks on the season. With so many posting about a lack of ducks and a poor season in the flyway there must be one hell of a population that will head to the breeding grounds this spring. I'm already looking forward to next season!
 
A strange year for me Phil. Shot divers where I'd never seen 'em before, teal late in the season, and not a mallard to shoot at until half the season was gone. Some buffies even followed us down to Arkansas where the locals were shocked to see them. A fun but "different" season.
 
So far the year of anything but bluebills!
So far this year for me: 5 each of mottled ducks, redheads & gadwalls, 4 cans, 3 buffies (all juvies or hens) and a pintail. A couple of mergies and coots too.
Shoulda had another pinnie and redhead in the bag but lost them. :(
Not one single bluebill. Unheard of for me.
"Only" 25 days left in the season, I should be able to get in at least 9 more hunts if the weather cooperates.
 
This was my first year getting mallards and black ducks. I think it was really due to the one week cold snap that we got. Now its warm and its back to the year of the buffies. Another year of learning so Im still happy about it.
 
Year of mallards and black ducks for me have several private swamps that hold good numbers of birds mostly mallards. We still have a small chunk of the season to go. Finally looks like another cold snap for a few days after today should get things hot again hopefully get in a few good days of hunting!!
 
Year of the Canada goose. Only a couple woodies in the early season; otherwise, I've dropped as many honkers as in past seasons, but have over a month of goose hunting still in front of me. I'm going to have goose jerky coming out of my ears. Never a bad thing in my book.

My son Joel (12) also shot his first goose (and with a new gun the day after Christmas), so that was a special highlight for both of us.
 
Year of the teal. They were everywhere and all season until ice up. BW, GW and Cinnamon. Fields, ponds/sloughs and lakes. I got into a good mix of birds but everyday seemed to include teal. Also saw and harvested a surprising number of cacklers.
 
Year of the drought, flat-ass-calm and bad tide for me. I had a couple of decent days, and one banner day with a mix of blacks and whistlers, but overall very slow.

Closed the season on Monday watching hundreds of black ducks pour over our heads into a salt marsh spot we couldn't get into due to ice. Not one of them looked at our spread, no matter what we changed, and no divers flew--a first for me in January.

It's a bad day when you can't count on buffleheads to fly!
 
It's been the year of not hunting enough. Nikki and I have been working our butts off to save up for the house.

But seeing as I drive a serious amount of miles a day all over lower New England I'm always scouting.

There are have been insane #s of geese the whole season.

Until last week broadbill were everywhere on the lower CT river as were blacks and mallards. (A certain dickhead in a kayak and purple/blue Subaru cross trek has been paddling up to every raft of birds, even the ruddies!!!, and jumping them to ny or nj, he even tried to shoot my decoys one day!)

There are scoter everywhere and I have been doing very well with them over decoys and with the sea coast. This has further decreased any will to shoot puddlers.

There is just something special about sculling in 2footers, almost getting run over by a ferry and getting a few nice drake skunk heads. A few old squaw are around too.

Not as many brant out east as I was hoping for and when I scouted stonington there was nothing but redbreasted and seals. I was hoping for an eider to scull after.
 
Squirrels "the other white meat". No gettin' up in the middle of the night, to fight for "the spot", nor $$$$$$ in equipment to hunt em, and Delicious to boot. Oh, and no tides to worry about... or Jeep blinds.
 
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