Fishing with Rod Discussion Forum
British Columbia Sport & Outdoor Lounge => Hunters' Cabin => Topic started by: chris gadsden on October 08, 2011, 06:55:17 PM
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Boy the year slips by as today time to put the rod away and head to the field for some goose and duck hunting.
Selling corn this year gave me the opportunity to hunt in the last field we were getting the corn from. The past week a good number of geese were feeding in the field so before first light I made the 10 minute walk to the field, laden down with 13 goose decoys, shells and camera.
I positioned the decoys in a V formation about 35 yards from my natural blind of corn stalks.
I watched the first glimpse of a new day as the sky brightened over Mt Cheam, Lady Peak, Mt Slesse and the surrounding hills. I snap some pictures including with the first rays of sunlight hitting the decoys.
The sky is void of birds and no sound of geese signaling their arrival. I snap a few more pictures and as feeling hungry as the early double double and bagel were not enough to keep the hunger pains away.
I grab a cob of corn from a stalk and chew on it. I have never done that before and it was not too bad, especially when hungry. ???
The first birds that take a look at the V formation is a flock of mallards, one tumbles out of 3 shots, I was using BB in the gun for geese so that may have been the problem.
I retrieve the drake mallard and settle into the blind, a few geese start to show but are heading to other fields.
Finally I hear more cackling, louder too, my pulse quickens as I see two formations coming from the west, there wings are cupping into the wind now coming from the east. I ready the gun. The first flock is a little too far out as they settle 20 yards or so from the decoys. The next flock is closer, but if only I was down the corn row a few yards more I would have had a great chance. I wait hoping they will swing into the decoys but I see they are going towards the first flock.
I jump up and run towards the birds as their feet have kicked out, they are a little far but in range, the gun barks three time but no geese fall ground ward. I am a bit disappointed but I hope for another chance.
My next chance however is a flock of ducks again. I am talking on the cell phone and tell Gary will be right back, the birds are right in the sun but one shot yields one hen. Nothing happens for a while except a few geese heading elsewhere.
Then a flock of 3 mallards come for a boo but appear to leave, I lose sight in the mountains green backdrop. I had pumped out the BB load and slipped in some #2. All of a sudden the birds appear to my right, in range, shot one drops a bird, I swing to the next duck a fast climbing drake , he too tumbles, one bird remaining. That drake is still in range, I give him the lead don't ask me how much as 55 years of experience kicks in and I complete the hat trick.
I find two birds easily but can not locate the third, I think it is in the corn rows, I search for 15 minutes, back and forth, back and forth. One should have a dog I know as I think back to the only hunting dog I had in my youth, my faithful dog Queenie who was a great grouse and duck dog. She was small in stature but had a nose and heart that was hard to beat.
I then think maybe the first bird to fall was on the edge of the corn, that I had retrieved. I then look in the ploughed part of the field and sure enough there was the bird, I can now call it a hat trick. Just now the Leaf's Phil Kessell just got the hat trick too, go Leafs go.
The next birds to appear are geese that pass over in range but their silence is their savior as I see them too late, they donot decoy, most likely saw me moving around.
That was the end of the action for opening day for 2011, 5 plump corn fed mallards was most satisfying and easier to pick than geese. I had to make 2 trips to the Leaf Mobile as 15 more pounds than coming in was just too much for this old time duck hunter.
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another nice shoot this am, picked up 8 mallards, fired about 14 shots but did get a triple on duck 5, 6 and 7. #8 came on the next shot. Had 3 shots at some geese but drew a blank. ???
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another nice shoot this am, picked up 8 mallards, fired about 14 shots but did get a triple on duck 5, 6 and 7. #8 came on the next shot. Had 3 shots at some geese but drew a blank. ???
With a limit of mallards in the bag I decided to film a bit as they looked at the set, not the best as they kept seeing me move around.
At least you can hear them talking a bit over the wind noise. Sorry for the poor quality of filming.
http://youtu.be/ZDJQlIJu-zI
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Look on the bright side. May be there wasn't any shots in the shell. ;)
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Ducks continue to fall, a mallard brace tonight on 2 shots. Two others came into the robo just as the cell phone rang. Lesson, turn off when hunting and fishing. ::)
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They do have a quacking duck ringtone now...... ;)
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Just getting into waterfowling this year... Season started about 20 days ago, seems I am having some beginners luck.
Even got a penguin. ;)
(http://a3.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/374061_10150467514470141_536300140_10524795_340065609_n.jpg)
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Nice mallards and bufflehead.
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Thanks! Definitely a great way to spend a sunday morning. Me and a buddy ended up with 7 birds (some one else scared one our way on the walk back to the car and I had some shells left).
The bufflehead, although very pretty, is not as nice tasting as the mallards... I don't think I will point a gun at one again. :P
Oh, and there is a gadwall (or Grey duck as they call em here) in there as well, the one with a black beak. There is a 2 hen limit on mallards here in Oklahoma.
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Hi Chris .I read your story about missing all those "for sure" ducks in six shots.I was more of a creek hunter and pond jumper than you.When the east wind blew down the valley around Chiilliwack and most of the sloughs and ponds are frozen,it was the time to hunt the "grader mallard" as I called them.There is a creek near South Sumas Road in the Greendale area that always had open water.Early one afternoon I spotted a few mallard sunning themselves on the edge of this creek. With the sun to my back and the wind in my face, I crawl into to where they are and rise up on my knees. Your mine I thought to myself.Up comes there neck's and they flare into the wind. My Whinchester auto barks twice. Down comes two drakes one dead and one into the creek wounded. The wounded drake takes off down the creek. I am in hot pursuit, fumbling with my frozen hands to get two more rounds into my shotgun. I get a bead on this duck and just as I fire he dives under the water and disappears around a bend in the creek. I spot him again as he surfaces and fire again. Missed him. To make a story short. After a lot of running and two or three more shots I finally dispatch him. Chris don't feel to bad about missing with all those shots.
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Lots of birds working the corn fields the last few days. Went out at 2 this afternoon, scared a ton of birds out of the field and set up just a robo duck and by the end of the shooting time i had bagged 7, did not shoot well firing about 20 shells to get the 7 ducks. :-[
At the end of the shootingt time the ducks were still coming in and almost landing on me. ;D ;D
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I had a nice day out yesterday... After the ponds had thawed out and ducks had settled into their routine, I found this
(http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/390172_10150495551525141_536300140_10608317_1950930677_n.jpg)
Which led to some very nice shooting, and a bit of missing ;D ended the day with 3 teal, 1 pintail, 1 mallard, and a gadwall. So much fun!
(http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/374869_10150495551885141_536300140_10608320_67056481_n.jpg)
Oh, and I should mention, I did not pond bust. I set up decoys and called em in.
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I had a nice day out yesterday... After the ponds had thawed out and ducks had settled into their routine, I found this
(http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/390172_10150495551525141_536300140_10608317_1950930677_n.jpg)
Which led to some very nice shooting, and a bit of missing ;D ended the day with 3 teal, 1 pintail, 1 mallard, and a gadwall. So much fun!
(http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/374869_10150495551885141_536300140_10608320_67056481_n.jpg)
Oh, and I should mention, I did not pond bust. I set up decoys and called em in.
Very good, nice photos too. Thats the best way to go, flush the birds and then set up and most of the time you will find the birds will trickle back in making for a good shoot. That way you do not scare a whole bunch of ducks by shooting them as they lift off.
I did that on my last hunt, scared a few hundred off the field and the ditches and over the next couple of hours the ducks came back every little while.
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Nice shooting Jonny!
Hey Chris, are you just setting up with the robo or are you using a decoy spread too. I ask this because I am new too this whole decoy thing and needed some info.
Thanks
Kid fisherman
(nano from HBC)
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Nice shooting Jonny!
Hey Chris, are you just setting up with the robo or are you using a decoy spread too. I ask this because I am new too this whole decoy thing and needed some info.
Thanks
Kid fisherman
(nano from HBC)
Have just used a single robo the last few trips and has been working well.
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Thanks
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Chris. Have you seen any canvasback ducks in your hunts in the valley? When I hunted in the Chiilliwack area back in the late 60's and early 70's there were a few of them around.Has any one else seen these ducks. Thanks Wes
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Chris. Have you seen any canvasback ducks in your hunts in the valley? When I hunted in the Chiilliwack area back in the late 60's and early 70's there were a few of them around.Has any one else seen these ducks. Thanks Wes
The only place I have heard of them is on the Harrison River, where I have read stories of them being taken, most likely in the 60 and 70 like you mention.
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A guy on Huntingbc harvested a canvasback in the valley a couple of days back, didnt say which watershed mind
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A guy on Huntingbc harvested a canvasback in the valley a couple of days back, didnt say which watershed mind
Most likely on the Harrison River as at one time there was a fair number there.
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Well, the season's done done done now... Ducks closed at the end of last month, geese will close this weekend, and I will be skiing from thursday on, so my season is done.
My last days of duck season were exciting, I managed to really test out my new 20 gauge that i got in a raffle! Hurray for free toys! I found a new little beaver pond while scouting public land, that is approximately 2 miles from the car, and so you can imagine it never see's any people. I got in there on the scouting trip the day before the closer and managed to scratch out a limit of ringneck ducks!
(http://a3.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/421703_10150607223330141_536300140_11034657_859053776_n.jpg)
I felt very comfortable with my new 20gauge, and I guess I hit more than I missed, because I came home with a lot of shells. Enough to go hunting again the following morning at least. Those little divers are very acrobatic and easy to decoy so I was convinced to leave the puddle ducks alone for the season closer and try to get another bunch of divers. I even saw a couple redheads and a few bigger divers that I couldn't identify, so I was hopeful for the next morning. I got there VERY early to find that I poked a hole in my waders making for a very cold morning. After I put decoys around the pond to plug up any hiding spots the ducks may have had, I waited for an hour and a half in the cold. I don't know why I got there so early, I suppose public land feels like a bit of a race to get the good spots, but really, who would walk so far for little diver ducks other than me? I actually shivered while waiting, which is unusual as I am like a human furnace, I guess that's what happens when you skip breakfast :P
Anyways, legal time rolled around and sure enough a big flock of divers circled once and committed. They must have found the only safe spot in the pond and just dove in and started having fun. So I sat as still as I could (and it was still cold, in fact my damp glove froze to the metal on the gun a couple of times) hoping that they would lure another flock in to my shooting zone. These little birds seemed to be having a good time, and I enjoyed watching their antics... Well, I sat there cold for 20 minutes and finally I could hear some whistling wings! These were not divers! Well, they were not big ducks either, but definitely bigger than divers and not coming in as easy or fast. They circled and circled, and finally started to come in nice and slow just in front and to the right. Boom boom boom! Splash splash splash! My first triple! And 3 of the 4 gadwals went into the bag after a bit of chasing for the third bird! The chase got me warmed up and I was very happy with my 1$ 20 gauge then. I hit a double the day before, and figured it would be a while before I could repeat it! :o I sat in the grass for another 20 minutes hoping to get a few more birds but none came and couldn't stand the cold anymore, so I packed up and hiked out. On the way out I noticed a canoe paddle leaning against a tree, in perfect condition, so now I have a paddle, and need to get a boat to match it. I think a little paddle boat could get me into all kinds of cool spots and I could slip past sleeping birds without bothering them.
So duck season ended and I thought I had it out of my system, but I just had to go back to the lake for a little goose scouting trip. Ever since ducks closed there has been no-one at the lake hunting, and the birds have gotten used to that, so I found BIG flocks of pintails, mallards and gadwalls openly feeding just where you would expect. I also found that geese were hitting these same spots, and since the season had some time to go I thought I would give it a try, so armed with my 12 gauge (which I haven't been able to hit anything with since I started using my 20) I went out before daylight and set up in the mud where I had seen them feeding. Sure enough geese were flying around me that first outing but for some reason always steered clear of my tiny grass blind in the middle of a barren mud flat ;) As one of my colleges said "you proly looked like a turd in a punchbowl", I suppose I would avoid a turd in a punchbowl too. So my first outing I went home empty handed. I watched where they went and decided to try this spot for a quick hunt before work this morning. I got there early again, and setup in the dark in some taller grass at the edge of the trees where they had been coming down to feed. While setting up, I heard a few honks in the distance, so I know there must have been geese roosting somewhere nearby, possibly one of the beaver ponds up the creek from my location. Once the sun was up a few geese started passing by on occasion, out of range, but completely unaware that I was sitting there. Finally, my time was running out and I was getting anxious that I would never get my first goose. I had to be at work in 1 hour, and that left only a bit of time to get packed up and on the road... then a few honks started coming through the trees! The first 2 birds were off the line, and I had to really show restraint to not fire... I definitely could have hit those first birds, they were within range, but not what I would consider an easy shot, and I don't want to just send them away with a few pellets in the butt. Good thing I waited because another pair came up behind them right overhead. That 12 really kicks! In the past I have found that I become aware of my bones and teeth every time I shoot that thing, even with target loads, and end up with a headache if I shoot that thing too much. I really didn't notice it when I was shooting at the geese, maybe because it was more over head and the kick went to my feet into the mud or maybe I was a bit excited to notice. In either case, the leading bird came down hard into the middle of the tiny creek. As I was carrying my first bird back to cover, I heard a couple more honks. I guess some birds were tailing them from a distance. I was really out in the open; I crouched down, hoping to blend in with the mud and dead grass, but I am tall and there was zero cover. Two birds came over the trees and another single bird fell hard with a thud.
Anyways, got these beauties. Very big and very heavy to carry back. I did feel some remorse to shoot such beautiful birds, but they will be appreciated and delicious I am sure. It sure was a great season, and I learned lots... Need to clean the mud off of all my gear, patch some decoys that caught a few pellets ::) and think about getting a boat for my new paddle.
(http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/403112_10150623574625141_536300140_11080699_57389354_n.jpg)