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?