[scattergunner]

... I know where you should go.

I went hunting Monday with my son and FetchExpress. We ended up with only a few birds in the bag, but it wasn't for a lack of birds infront of us. We weren't seeing much at our first spot, so we moved the operation to another locale. Once there, within a few moments of setting up, we had a decent drake pinner in the dekes. He was promptly shot and soon after retrieved masterfully by KC's dog. Shortly thereafter, another drake pintail goes down, thus ending our ability to shot anything remotely resembling a sprig. We had flight after flight of birds over our spread in the hours that followed. Almost every single bird during that time was a pintail! :x We had maybe two hen mallards and the occassional one or two quick moving teal cross our spread (one of which I managed to bag), but that was it! I had never seen anything like it, with such one-sided species respresentation. But it was neat just seeing the birds splash down into the decoys. It gave my son a good chance to see the birds up close and how they behaved. All in all it was a great day.

BTW, in case it was unclear above, one of the pinners was taken by FetchExpress and one by myself. Someone had to take the picture... :wink:

 

[TagmBagm]

Was it at BRBR? I hunted there two years ago about this time and had the same problem. I shot my one sprig and then just sat and waited. We saw one flock of teal and the rest were all pintails. I ended up sleeping in the reeds after a few hours while my dad tried to get his sprig.

 

[huntducksordietrying]

Idaho on the opener is like that some times. Maybe it takes them a month to get here.

 

[dkhntrdstn]

thats cool your son got to see that. those like like some nice piners there. we have had happen to us every year. with the piner in now i guess it time to be picky for a nice drake. nice job geting your sone out.

 

[ntrl_brn_rebel]

Thanks for the report, thats great news for me, I have been looking for a great pinner for awhile now. I cant wait to get my girlfriend down that way and bag a swan.

 

[duck jerky]

thats one duck i haven't had much success with this year. congrats on your hunt.

 

[scattergunner]

Nope, not the BRBR. Think further south.

Thanks for the replies, guys.

duck jerky, you are certainly one guy who seldoms lack ducks in his bag. It's interesting how some species seem to be so heavy in certain spots and not so much at others. If you want one, they are there for the taking. You'd just have to drive a bit.

ntrl_brn_rebel - I haven't seen one swan this year, yet. But I know they're around. I just haven't been out enough, I imagine. Last year, They were sure in thick not far from where we took the ducks in the pic. And not a spot you comonly think of when it comes to swan hunting. I had multiple opportunities to fill my tag, but my lousy shooting cost me some nice birds.

 

[TEX-O-BOB]

That's a nice picture of you and "mini-me"

 

[avidhntr3]

Looks like a fun hunt there. I never have killed me a drake pinner...blew the chance yesterday, but I can tell where you hunted...there are a lot of pinners there!

 

[TagmBagm]

I can tell where you are now. I just looked at the picture a little closer. I hunted there today and yes there are tons of pins. I hit one but I think it is a way eclipse drake. It had the green on the wings instead of red. So I think it was a drake but it had a hen tail and a brown head. Lots of widgeon out there also. There is a few divers but not many.

 

[scattergunner]

That's a nice picture of you and "mini-me"

I know... Poor kid's doomed, isn't he. :lol:

Ya, the gunk hanging in the air, with the urban sprawl well represented on the hills and mountains behind us, plus the hundreds of birds paddling comfortably on the rest pond behind us, I thought the locale of this hunt wouldn't be too much of a surprise to most here. We weren't exactly skybustin' on shooter's alley, though. 8)

Bagging and seeing the pinners was a real treat for me. The pheasant tail duck is probably my favorite. Although, there are a lot of very close seconds in my book. :wink:

 

[TagmBagm]

Ya I have hunted there for over five years and never hunted on shooter's alley till last night. Man it was nuts. There were hunters everywhere. I was walking down the dike and a low bird was coming in and two guys shot a couple of times and missed. Well I showed them how to shoot. The skybusters are horrible out there, but they are also in other places too. I set up decoys on shooter's alley and did quite well actually. Even with a jack ____ sitting in my back pocket. Well just to let any skybusters on here know: Don't sit on the edge of my decoys, Don't shoot at birds working my decoys, Don't shoot at birds with oxygen masks on cause you scare all the other birds, Your shotgun needs a plug, Know when hunting ends, Your shotgun has a range of less than fifty or sixty yards, your shotgun is not a rifle and does not have a two hundred yard range so don't use it that way. These are just stupid and tend to piss me off. Well I am done venting.

 

[Jesse Higgins]

I hunted in that general vicinity on Friday. Pintails everywhere, and they were selling the farm at every turn. It's not often I have them buying off on my setup with such complete and reckless abandon. I was hoping for some green, or even better Cottontops, but nope. Sprig, Spoons, and Teal. I took a nice Sprig early, and waited for over an hour as they swarmed us like flies on a cowpie. Finally, I decided to go for the Teal fest and took six of those in short order. It was a fun hunt, but certainly not what I expected. Two weeks before on the same pond, it was Gadwalls everywhere. I sure like eating Teal better than Gadwalls. :lol:

Duck hunting is like a box of chocolates...

 

[scattergunner]

Forrest was right...

It's funny they were piling into your dekes, too. Same thing with us. For usually being such a wary bird and landing after multiple long distance circles, if at all, at about 50 to 60 yards away from the shooters. I swear they can tell when one of their buddies is lying dead in your blind, or something.