Duck Season 2015-2016: 1st Split (my pictures from the season)...

11-08-15

Sat out yesterday (opening day) due to heavy rain and storms in the area, so today was our opener. It was very wet and sloppy out. Later on while checking things out noticed there was water all over the place as expected. There were various channels/ruts throughout the property where water was running. There was damage to both of the small tank's dams. Water went out/over both sides of the big tank dam and over the fence and road.

Didn't see many birds moving around before legal but did see one flock of widgeons and heard a lone diver but never saw it. Of course there were early shooters in the area. First bird of the season was a redhead hen that came in. The shot sounded like a bomb due to all of the water everywhere. Had a pair of teal appear in the decoys to the right without detection. They jumped and I shot one and then the other. After dropping the second bird I see the first somehow get up barely managing flight but somehow able to fly around the area a couple of times. It looked as if it was going to fall at any moment but it decided a neighboring pond was a better crash site. About a half hour later a lone gaddie dropped in across the way. He was hesitant to check out the deeks but you could tell he was curious. Convinced him to swim just to the edge of the spread but then he swam off. Called him in a little closer the second time and took him out. Got buzzed by a couple flocks of divers that were not seen coming from a weird angle. Little later had two ringers come straight in from the front. Saw a decent amount of birds but most seemed very leery or were just passing through. Few geese in the area throughout the morning. Lots of dove. Had four sandhills fly over while picking up.


First bird down...



The sunrise...



Whipple getting after a bird...







Paxton happy to make a retrieve...

Whipple with another...



The ground was like a wet sponge...



Dove were being teases...



Paxton picking up another...





The birds...

11-10-15

It was a little drier out today with less running water in places. Ponds were still dumping water.

Not a single bird moving before legal shooting time. Somehow managed to whiff on a couple of Mallards that were trying to sit on top of the dove mojo right after legal. Four minutes later four divers crashed into the decoys to the left. Couldn't tell what they were at first until two widgeons glided in. Dropped the drake widgeon and the divers jumped. Missed one as it scurried around a mesquite tree to the left. A second shot connected on the second bird. Now there are a few birds moving around. About fifteen minutes later had three divers come from behind to the left. Two crash in while the other circles a little further out then joins them. They jump and one is dropped. A little bit later while watching some water turkeys on the water had two widgeons sail in from across the water. Both of them were dropped. About a half hour later while watching a high flying flock to the left, three redheads come burning in from the right and one was dropped. Left at 7:35.

Paxton picking up a bird...



She didn't care too much for this cormorant...



Dogs picking up some widgeons...



Whipple with the drake...



Paxton with the hen...



Paxton picking up a redhead...





The birds...

Cool pics

11-12-15

Had a few birds in the decoys early. Several gathered up in the middle of the water. Had an early shooter in the area. When legal came around we took out a couple of widgeons. Had several groups moving around but nothing wanting to play. About an hour later had a random rather large flock of pigeons buzz the decoys. With all the movement and nothing biting we decided to make a decoy adjustment. All the sudden four gaddies try to crash into the decoys then flare off. Eight minutes later a pair of widgeons came in but escaped with ruffled feathers. About fifteen minutes later a long gadwall lights up across the way. Eventually coaxed her into the decoys and shot her. With the bird in her mouth and at my shoulder the dog locked onto a single redhead skimming the water and swinging into the deeks. Two minutes later another one does the same. Roughly twenty minutes later the biggest flock of teal I've ever seen buzzed over our heads from behind and circled back to the decoys. We ended up dropping four over the water and dropped another one in the field behind us as the remaining were bugging out. Five minutes later a pair of gadwalls come in and one flew off. About fifteen minutes later seven gadwalls come in from behind and land just a bit far outside of the decoys. The bird on the left wrapped up the hunt.

First two birds on the water...



Whipple picking up a widgeon...







Paxton with the hen...





Paxton picking up a gadwall...





Whipple with a couple of redheads...

Sequence of the gf trying to take out the last bird...











Got buzzed a few times...







A couple of videos of some redheads...

Paxton nabbing the last gadwall...



The dogs cleaning up the teal...









Buzzed again while picking up...



The dogs with the birds...



Had some cranes fly over while heading out...

11-15-15


Some light rain the day/night before rewet what was finally drying out. Had a few birds moving around before legal. Three crashed into the decoys and eventually swam away from the spread before shooting time. Right after legal I heard some geese but never saw them. Sixty seconds later had a pair of Gadwalls come in to the left. I dropped one and missed the other. Seven minutes later another Gadwall came in. Eight minutes after that a lone widgeon hen would circle behind the blind and drop in. A lone ringer came buzzing in not long afterwards and went to the left where he was dropped. Finished up at 7:14 when two redheads came hauling in from the front right. They swung to the left and turned back to the decoys where one would crash in and the other would skirt off to the right. I dropped the bird to the right and then finished up with the second bird when it jumped.

Whipple picking up some birds...









Some birds flying over...



Whipple with the birds...



Couple of diver rafts...

Awesome pics!!

11-16-15

Muggy and misty this morning. Sliced my finger pretty good getting into the blind. Had a flock of ten check things out early and bug out. A single landed and headed out as well. Six minutes into it three redheads crash into the decoys. They promptly got taken out. Another flock zooms by. While out of the blind working the dogs another redhead swings by and gets dropped to the right. While going to take care of the crippled bird I somehow jacked up my knee as I was trying not to bust my butt and keep my barrel out of the mud. Fifteen minutes later a couple of ringers dropped into the left and got shot. Another ten minutes go by before a couple more birds come in. One came right into the decoys as the other skirted to the left. It was hard to make out what they were at first and one escaped before shooting the other as it tried to follow to the left. As I am out of the blind with a dog chasing the crippled ringer a flock of redheads crashed into the decoys and hung out. They didn't seem to mind all the movement and stayed until after we got back in the blind. Then a bigger flock comes in and does the same. After a few minutes four ringers circle behind the blind and came into the deeks. All of them were taken out. It is now 7:17, this is when we should have been done if we had shot that other ringer. The wait is on for the gf's last bird. Discussion was had about whether to go straight diver or shoot whatever comes in. Several groups were moving around but nothing was coming close. It is now about 40 minutes later and six gadwalls are circling the area. They come overhead with five higher and one that broke off lower almost as if it was offering itself up. No shot was taken. Several more birds moving around but not interested. It is now roughly thirty minutes later and two divers come in to the left. Two shots and they fly off. At 8:42 four gadwalls come in cupped from the front. I tell the her to take out the bird on the left. She drops the second bird from the right. That was that and the straight diver straps were forever tainted.

Couple of ringers...



Paxton with the drake...



Then the hen...



Redheads continually came in to check things out...













A video of some redheads...



Some ringers on the water...

Dogs cleaning up...









Small flock flying over...



Dove checking things out...



Paxton chased down the only puddle duck of the morning...





The birds...



Rafting up...

Awesome photographs!

11-19-15

Dead still this morning. More water on the ground from a couple days before. Had a coyote heckling us while setting up. There were some birds moving around early. Six minutes after legal a teal crashed in to the left. One shot and he flew off to the left and looked to crash somewhere near a cross fence. Before going after that bird two scaup come in and land a little far out. They swim in and get shot. The dogs pick up the birds and Paxton finds the teal from earlier. Decent amount of birds moving around but most seemed leery. Even had some specks and a flock of the ever elusive tree duck fly by out of range. Sometime later had a single circle that I somehow whiffed on. Then had the slowest merganser I have ever seen fly by. At 8:00 a single redhead hen flies in and gets shot. It stumbles to the left and crashes somewhere near the same cross fence. Whipple found it about 10 feet from where the other bird was. About twenty minutes later another redhead, this time a drake, flies by and gets shot at. It flies high way off in the distance and turns back and goes down in an adjacent body of water. Had numerous flocks come over only to choose to go somewhere else. Decide to make a decoy change. Almost immediately a flock of divers crashes into the decoys. Notation is made to shoot three redheads. Three birds get taken out but there is another redhead on the water. It jumped and made a couple of small circles and flies off. Questions were asked and the answer was one of the birds that were shot was a scaup. The fourth bird to complete two redhead limits tried to sacrifice itself but gets to live another day. Pretty sure it came back by later but was moving way too fast to get a shot off.

The dogs picking up some birds...



Some ducks flying over...



Whipple with a cripple she chased down...



More ducks flying over...



Paxton heading out...



Paxton with a redhead...



Paxton with the other redhead and Whipple getting after the scaup...



Whipple with the bird...





The birds...

I like seeing the pics. You have been getting on the ducks pretty good this year.

x2

Awesome pictures and very good write up. You've got an awesome pair of dogs there

You still using the Olympus camera?

Thanks guy.

Aggie, mostly shooting a 70D nowadays.

11-20-15

Had a flock of widgeons fly over while setting up. Then some other ducks. One bird decided to land in the decoys and check things out for a bit before heading off before legal. Hear some geese. Shooting time comes and there is nothing moving around. About 15 minutes later a single scaup comes in low from the right and gets shot. Another ten minutes go by and finally start seeing some movement. Flocks of various sized are moving around as well as some geese. At 7:15 a decent sized flock of teal circle over decoys and four are taken down. Seven minutes later a flock of gadwalls come in and circle a few times. The would come and pull up only to be called back. Could tell they wanted to set down. They fly to left and are about to circle back around and come in when all of the sudden the gf couldn't take it any longer and unloads on them. All birds leave the immediate area with one maybe having some ruffled feathers. Had a few more flocks in the area and some more geese flying through. Later as I was taking in some refreshing Dr. Pepper, three spoonies crash into the decoys from out of nowhere. All three were picked up. After that all movement ceased besides some more geese and a flock of cranes.

Whipple picking up a scaup...



Some ducks flying over...



Paxton with a couple of teal...





More ducks...



Some geese...

Whipple getting after a spoonie...

Paxton chasing another...















Whipple with another...



Some cranes flying by...





The birds...

Gorgeous strap! Look at all those colors. You can tell I'm a mixed bag man for sure.

I used to always put a vest on my dog. One day, he swam up next to a fallen tree to grab a bird and a limb wedged its way into the vest and he almost drowned. I had to get the boat and go out to get him. Have you ever had trouble with the vest catching on anything like that? I've never put another on any of my dogs since then.

I haven't had them get stuck on anything yet but I am very watchful for things that could cause any trouble. They have snagged them on some things as you can probably tell in the pics...mostly fences and brush, but nothing that has caused any serious issues.

I have heard of a couple of horror stories like that. But also a couple of stories like my own where a stick impaled my dog on the chest but only tore the vest. Had she not been wearing one. I think it could have been a bad ordeal.

Naver thought of it protecting a puncture. I'm just leary of those things, but duck dogs are our kids... One bad experience will ruin ya I guess.

Yeah. I rarely use it anymore. Hasn't really gotten too cold the last couple seasons. Except for when I got to NM. And it's like this

Only a waterfowler...

How's Cali doing?

She's doing real good Gary. Getting grey hairs but hasn't slowed down a bit.

My wife still sometimes tells people about how she will knock over your beer to drink it

Great pics. It is sure fun to work a brace of retrievers.

What camera setup do you take to the field?

Thanks.

Been mostly shooting a 70D with 18-135 lens.

11-23-15

Had a front blow through a couple days ago. Water is down some. Dead calm out with a light wind later. Had some birds moving around early with several scattered on the water. Couple of groups of early shooters can be heard in the distance. A minute after legal shooting time a single gadwall comes in. Three shots later and a dog half way to it, it somehow manages to compose itself enough to evade capture. The front seems to have pushed a lot of birds out of the area. Most of the birds moving around did not seem interested. About an hour later had a single gadwall circle and land in the middle of the water only to swim to the opposite bank and fly away. Roughly thirty minutes later had three gadwalls circle several times only to fly away. No shots were taken at any of those birds. I need to quit hesitating and take action. Another half hour goes by and I nearly get my head taken off by a dove. A few more minutes go by and a lone bufflehead drake crashes into the decoys. Gave it a bit to get away from the decoys before swatting it. Some time goes by and a gadwall mysteriously appears on the water. After hitting it with a couple of shots it also manages to fly away to an adjacent property. While watching that bird got surprised by a flock of ringers overhead. Big whiff on those. Had some cranes fly by after that. A bit later while doing some maintenance outside of the blind I look to the right and notice a single redhead feet down in the decoys. Shot it and called it a day.

Paxton retrieving the bufflehead...







Whipple waiting...



Cranes flying over...



Whipple retrieving the redhead...









The birds...

Foosh, I've been seeing a ton of Buffle heads around here. More than I can ever remember. I guess excessive water will do it.

Dixie will be 11 in December. She hasn't slowed down much but her body just can't cope with a hard morning hunt. Glad to hear she is doing well, maybe I'll make it up this year.

Bring them on! I wouldn't mind a stringer of buffies.

We usually shoot a handful each year.

There's a 80 acre lake near me. It has at least 400 buffleheads on that lake now. It's funny cause the hens and drakes stay by themselves. Could it be the Austin influence?


They are cool little birds!!!!

Well, the drakes do have somewhat of a rainbow on their heads.

11-24-15

Dead calm out again with a light wind later in the morning. Had a few flocks fly over early. Two land on the water to the left then jump up and leave before legal. Two minutes into it had a pair of widgeons cup in to the left. I call and direct them to the middle of the decoys and take them out. As the dogs are in the water several small groups of birds give us a look and fly off. Several more birds are moving around in the area. Hear some geese. About 30 minutes later a single redhead buzzed over the decoys from the right. Could not react fast enough to get a shot off. More birds moving around and a single goose. Seventeen minutes later got surprised by a ringer buzzing overhead. Roughly 40 minutes later three widgeons come in from the front and swing to the left. I drop two of the three with one crashing into the little pond. While out of the blind picking up the birds and taking some pictures I see a random duck jump out of the decoys and land a bit further out. I get back to the blind and get one shot off as it flees to the right. Small flock of geese fly through at 8:25. Few minutes later a flock of ducks move through. At 8:36 I hear some ducks but can't tell where they are and look up only to get busted by two gadwalls right above the blind. They fly to the left and not five seconds later three pintails come from the left. I drop two and pack up.

Paxton picking up a widgeon...





Whipple picking up widgeon...





Whipple with a pintail...



Paxton picking up a pintail...





The birds...

11-25-15

Apparently got a little bit of rain the night before. Winds started out light and steadily got stouter. Mostly overcast with the sun breaking out at times. Warm. Got sprinkled on a few times throughout the morning. While tossing out decoys I about lost a not-so-cheap flashlight that got caught on the line. Luckily it was still entangled on the line of the decoy. Heard some early birds. Legal comes around and see a couple of flocks moving through. Five minutes into it a flock of canvasbacks come in from behind and circle to the left and crash into the decoys. Can limit fulfilled. Not a whole lot of activity in the area. All the dove must have ate them. Forty minutes later had five widgeons come in from behind, cup and land. I take out two and miss two other shots. Hear some geese. Very few birds moving around and what is moving had other plans. About two and a half hours later as I was doing something with the camera four pintails circle overhead. Three shots and nothing but air. About fifty minutes later as I am filming how strong the wind is I happen to see a lone pintail floating over the decoys. It was almost as if she could not land. Shot was almost too easy. Sat around a while longer but nothing was moving.

Got a new toy...





Whipple with a widgeon...



Whipple with another widgeon...







Whipple with a pintail...



The birds...



Whipple acting a fool...

Nice pics. Man if it weren't for you and Troy I think I wouldn't see a duck this year.