Any Waterfowl Hunters?

You should check out there other bids too! Those guys know how to hunt. And do everything the right way.

 

bump. Anyone getting ready for waterfowl season. Going this weekend to scout for the opener and pattern the shotgun

 

We won't be able to kill ducks here until 26 Nov, but the big honkers are fair game starting this Saturday. Blood, there will be blood.

 

Hell yeah, wish we got honkers down here. I've only really seen them up in the mountains and when they come around everyone starts sky busting at 100+ yards. How long does your season go until? And what ducks do you guys usually see in TN?

 

It will last three weeks then open again with duck season 26 Nov through the end of Jan.

Mallards are by far the majority of my harvest. We also kill a lot gadwall and woodies. Then we wind up with a few green wing teal, and black ducks. In even lower frequencies, there will be a couple widgeon, ring necks, maybe a red head or canvas.

What's it like out there?

 

Nov 5 for me. Might do some scouting on a family friends land here in a week or too.

 

I hate you purely from jealousy.

 

Whats nice is I go to school right on a zone border. So I can hunt the middle zone season and the south zone season( starts later but goes longer then the middle zone).

 

You're not making me like you any better...

That is awesome. Location is the key.

 

DU banquet tonight. Picked up the deke of the year. I'm getting quite a collection.

 

Out at the Salton Sea theres a bunch of spoonies and teal. I think last year opener averaged 5.5 ducks per hunter with Green Wing being the majority species. We mostly see Teal, Widgeon, Spoonies, and Pintails with mallards and Gadwall mixed in.

 

Early season started for us but this hurricanes prolly gonna mess it all up. Picked up an 18ft bass track for $200 just finished painting my base on it gonna be adding came here shortly hen the rain disappears.

 

Didn't get drawn for the opener so hopefully we can find a spot on public land. Checked one of our honey holes today and kicked up closed to 200 Mallards with a couple teal mixed in

 

Entertain me if you will. Although it is on my Bucket list, I have never been out west. I have no idea what resources you have available. I see your info says you're in San Diego so I assume that's relatively close to where you hunt.

So... What conditions/resources are you hunting?

All I know is hunting river sloughs, farm ponds, creeks, and small 1-2 acre home made impoundments where I grow food plots And then flood it.

 

Public area to hunt out here is few and far between. In So Cal the closest hunting for us is the Wister Unit which is about 2.5 hours from San Diego. It's based on a draw system and hunt days are Wednesday, Saturday, and Sundays out there they flood ponds with dikes in between. I believe there are 80-100 areas (based on how many they flood) to hunt which always fill up on Saturdays, there is a sweat line that you can get in if you don't get drawn for the refill or anyone who doesn't show up. There are also a lot of duck clubs in the Imperial Valley but none of my friends can afford to do that type of hunting. To hunt the winter unit you need to have a Wildlife Type A pass which is about $130 a season or $20 a hunt.

If we don't get drawn there is also the Salton Sea which holds a lot of birds but its next to impossible to recover the birds or set decoys without a boat. The mud is so nasty that you'll sink up to your chest if you aren't careful. What we usually have the most success with is jump shooting the irrigation ditches around fields.

Hopefully next season me and my buddies can plan a trip with a outfitter for Duck and geese up to Canada or North Dakota to really put a smack down on some waterfowl.

 

Oh my! That sounds like a headache. While I am by no means in the middle of a major fly way, I guess I have it made having all my holes on private property all within 20 minutes of my house.

Spend the evening brushing blinds. It got me in the mood for sure.

 

subd. and tips for a new duck hunter? I am planning to get mallard decoys and a duck call. my dad is getting wood duck decoys, we are in GA.... I hunt with a Mossberg 500 and also plan to get the proper choke... also any recipes for them? which ducks taste the best, etc....

 

Most ducks taste like shit but you gotta eat em, you killed em. Some of the puddlers and most geese are better, in Ga. you'll get a better variety of better tasting ducks than we get out west. Hollywood Mallards are the most common here and also the shittiest puddler there is to eat. Divers are even worse, dark, greasy etc but they are super fast so what they lack in flavor they make up in fun.

I typically make jerky or sausage with all mine. Jerky I fillet thin, soak in O.J overnight to pull some blood out then marinade in whatever flavory you like. Dehydrate and enjoy.
Sausage is a chore but a good excuse to get the fellas over and drink a bunch of beer after the season is over. We have an annual "Sausage Fest" every year after season closes. We grind all the duck meat in a grinder, mix with about 60% pork to get the fat content and then season and cure and add stuff like Jalapenos, cheese, artichoke, onion, whiskey, you name it, it goes in there. We typically end up with a couple hundred pounds of Brats, Polish and similar sausages, lasts all year and tastes pretty good.

 

so you actually suggest eating geese? there are so many Canadian geese here it aint funny...

 

I was planning on only killing ducks and not Canadian geese, but if geese taste good....