Home Forums Birds & Dogs Waterfowl duck hunting so far

Have had some early season luck so far, mostly pass shooting woodies and mallards. The Girsan MC312 I picked up last fall is doing a nice job. I finally broke down and bought a gun for rough use. It is cycling 3" shells fine but occasionally the 2-3/4" steel loads only eject half way. I recall these guns need to break-in for a while before they reliably eject everything. I think I've put about 3 boxes of 3" through it so far, so hopefully it will be soon. Anyway, really happy with the gun so far. Light, points nicely, kick isn't too bad at all, and it seems to fit me well.

Was out again on the weekend and really had trouble anchoring the birds. Trying to finish them on the water took 3-4 shots. What's going on?

Oh.

I still had in the CYLINDER choke from the previous grouse hunt. Changed it over to MOD and the birds fell out of the sky dead. Whoopsie!

Hunted the first time this season the last week of October. Had a great day, myself and 2 other hunters bagged 7 between us. I'm realitivly new to hunting ducks, so a good day for me. Learned that I need to just load up with BB instead of #2 to save a few extra shots

Ducks on the night schedule. Arrive at about 8 pm, leave around 5-6 am.

Need some weather to mess them up.

I picked up a new Retay in Mossy Oak this year for ducks. May fired two boxes of shells since ducks are hard to come by this year. Hunting this past weekend and thought the blizzard up north would help, but nope it didn't. Next hunt is set for Jan 20-21 at Reelfoot Lake. I hope to get some more shooting in.

we arent even seeing ducks yet. aside from residents

Really slow season for sure.

Still.on the night schedule. Cameras showing thousands at night.


This el Nino weather is horrible. Need a massive warm up and then a massive cool down or vice versa. This stagnant weather is horrendous.

My son, my Airedale Scooch and i did some jumping yesterday and we ended with 4. Hen and drake buffelhead, hen ringneck, hen gadwall. Only one tank had more than 3 ducks on it.

Agreed with the horrible season here. Four excursions. Zero to hand. Two shots fired all season. Last year, my sons and I were burning a box of shells per outing.

This thread has been a statement of the nation’s weather during this duck season! So far it’s been mild to nonexistent. There’s still hope but we’re running out of time.

Ducks Got here in GOOD numbers.... finally. Been a pretty good season with 14 limit hunts so far.....LOTS of Greenwings early (one of my Favorite Ducks to hunt) Gadwalls and Widgeons in good numbers. First Divers of the season, mostly ringnecks , showed up at Christmas.
LOTS of Ducks here now.... rains this week have nixed my hunting, roads are muddy and I can't get to my blinds without tearing up the roads or getting stuck , even with 4WD.
Going to ferry some blocks into a blind on a Gator this evening and use it to get to the blind in the morning. Should dry out over the weekend.

That's good news.

Ive killed more Gaddys this year than ever before. Lots of green wings (which is normal), but Ive yet to get a mallard this season.

Smashed em the last few days. Today was slower.

Destroyed the rear end of my Ranger. It's out for the rest of the season.

I should be a market researcher for duck hunting stuff. I can destroy anything duck hunting.

Great to finally hear a strong report. What state?

RS

Northeast Arkansas.

Terrible season in the Sacramento Valley of California. Hardly any waterfowl here. Mainly Pintail, GWT, Widgeon, and Gadwall but not that many. The local State and Federal wildlife areas are averaging mostly about one bird averages, some days two. We're below average for precipitation but are having colder temperatures. Let's hope it improves before 1/31! Mark and Belle

Killed my first mallard of the season yesterday. Puddle jumping in Az. Jumped 2 drakes and a hen, got them all (with a friend).
Also got a scotch double on spoonies, and my sirdeal retrieved all 4 of the ducks in the water. (The hen mallard sailed into the desert and my buddy got her.)

I haven't done any waterfowl hunting for a couple of years. Now I am visiting my stepdaughter near Rifle Colo. I have been here for a few days and driving around I see the river is loaded with geese. Canadians and tons of them. Goose season is open as I read the regs. Do to the amout of private land along the river, a blind is out of the question. Have any of you ever tried floating for geese and jump shooting. I know they are pretty sharp eye fowl, but I have killed them other years by stalking. Never tried floating. Any thoughts?

WyoCoyote Hunter,

Check with the Fish And Game in Rifle, I'm pretty sure you have to have a permit to float the Colorado River. Rio7

Ah, that could be.. Thanks Rio.

This was probably one of the worst years I can remember for amount of ducks seen. Delta Marsh seemed to have had very few birds this season. Several times when out and nothing came my way. Nothing. Did well at a different place, but Delta has been my go-to for decades. And it was terribly weak. Others noticed it too. No idea why.

Season for me is long done. Always a bit of depressed mood when it’s time to quit for the year. A few early season Woodies and Mallards; just enough to work a young dog. A trip west found dry conditions where we hunted. We got some very good duck shoots but they took lots of scouting in between. The dog made progress and will be good in the end. Reunited with friends and made a few new ones. Not the best of seasons but good overall.

Dog and I got 6 more today. Two mallards (hen and drake) two budfelheads, 2 green wing real.

Spent a couple of days at DSC this week. Got back to the ranch a 1 pm yesterday.....Noticed lots of Ducks on waters observed from the truck heading to home.
Just ahead of the big front I unloaded and grabbed a gun to "scout" prospects for this morning. Lots of birds , jump shooting took a quick limit in 3 stops, two Greenwings, two Gads, and two widgeons. Scouted my last stop after taking the limit. 80-90 ducks including some Mallards and Pintails left undisturbed. Great expectations , but nature got me.... the shallow hole was frozen over in the 6*F dawn. Back to headquarters for a Breakfast and now off to scout some moving water . More birds than the past 5 seasons here now. Call from a friend with land in the panhandle 3-4 hours north of me had glowing reports of huge numbers of ducks present yesterday on playa lakes on his ranch.

Crushed them on the edge of this front. Now everything is a skating rink other than the timber, where all that water is running.

Got 13 this weekend. Mostly buffelheads, they finally made it here but also got some mallards, gadwalls and a ringneck.

I heard Reelfoot Lake is finally getting a bunch of birds, but now with all the ice it will be a tough hunt.

Big thunderstorm followed by severe cold temperatures destroyed the duck hunting in Arkansas this past weekend. We’ve killed a few birds here locally.

That rain storm on Friday was one of the worst storms I've ever hunted in. But the birds committed suicide and picked up 6 limits. Saturday was all day, fighting ice. The last two hours were memorable, big fat migrators giving it up. Sunday AM was 9 deg at 5 am, hit the road home. The thaw on monday/Tuesday should be spectacular, hope you're able to make it.

The buffleheads are down thick in southern Az. Saw some widgeon and teal today, but they jumped before I could shoot at them. The gadwalls jumped just on the edge of rain, couldn't get them. Got a pair of buffleheads and pair of ringnecks today.

The thaw has begun in NE Arkansas. I'm sure the locals have been beating them up in the woods all week. Nonresident can get back on public timber in the next day or two.

My phone started blowing up around 3 pm today. It'll be nuts on this thaw for the next day or two.

Heading back to Reelfoot lake today for a Hunt Sat and Sun. Numbers are getting pretty good there per our guide. They are shooting 30-40 per day now. Looks like Rain all day on Sat, but mid 40's. Typically we have great hunts in the rain there.

Really good season. I hunted fewer days than I have in a long time, I think 11 days, but got in on some absolute stompings when I did go.

Final week of the season did not have a lot of birds in Arizona. Son and I killed a buffelhead, hen mallard (knocked down the drake but couldn't find him) and a couple of green wings.

However, yesterday I knocked down a GORGEOUS cinnamon teal drake. My first one. He will be on the wall.

Great late season score! Congratulations!

Sons first duck.

Some my Airedale and i got. Don't let her fool you, she retrieved most of the birds, but not all.

I’ve never seen an Airedale used as a retriever. Looks like she did great. Our Chocolate Lab did well this year. Congratulations to your son on his first duck!

She does pretty good most of the time. Sometimes though, she doesn't want anything to do with the ducks. Which is weird. Dove, she's 100% absolutely a killer on though.

That Cinnamon Teal is gorgeous!

Yes it is, I can't wait for it to be on the wall.

congrats

Use “hotlink for forum”. It makes the pic bigger.

Ahhh, thanks for the info. First time using that.