Posted By: Duck_Hunter
Any ideas? Long read. - 12/19/15 11:31 PM
A buddy of mine and I got our first lease this season. It's a slough with a tree line on one side, where our blind is, and is surrounded by cotton and bean fields. There are a few other leases within ear shot. We spoke with some of the guys on a neighboring lease today and they said they've shot about 25 ducks this season, but have had some mallards, gadwall, a woodie and some other species. We have shot five ring necks and one gadwall. That's it...for the season. And we've maybe had 25 total birds come in while we've been there during legal shooting hours.
I'm not complaining, just looking for some advice. It's been a weird year in North Texas this year and there just aren't as many birds coming down right now as anyone would like. Couple that with there being more water than I can remember, and warm temperatures, and I understand that it's not going to be a honey hole. Honestly, I'm confident our slough just hasn't had water consistently over the years. It went from four inches when I first checked it out in September; now it's four feet deep in front of the blind and it's spread out in either direction quite a bit.
Should we go with a comically big spread? Should we pair it down to a minimal amount? We've tried a mojo and up to 48 decoys. Should we go bigger? Go way smaller?
I'm going to do this tomorrow, but we tossed around the idea that it might be a mid- or late-day resting spot. We've only hunted until about 11 am and have always been there and setup before legal. Anyone ever hunted a place that's used as a resting spot after feeding? What was it like and did you scout it all day to figure that out or is there a "typical" type of tank they are drawn to for this type of activity?
We didn't think it would be a honey hole or anything and wanted to use it as a learning experience and if we had a good year, great. If it was decent but it accelerated the learning process, also great. But five ring necks and one gadwall is not what we imagined. I'm just wondering if anyone has any ideas. We hear neighbor's shooting and occasionally see a few groups in the distance. It's not like we are flaring birds or something. That, I think we could change. I think it's a combination of not having a good migration for the area and there being a lot of water, I'm just not sure if there is anything we can do to convince the birds we do see to check out of spread.
Thanks.
I'm not complaining, just looking for some advice. It's been a weird year in North Texas this year and there just aren't as many birds coming down right now as anyone would like. Couple that with there being more water than I can remember, and warm temperatures, and I understand that it's not going to be a honey hole. Honestly, I'm confident our slough just hasn't had water consistently over the years. It went from four inches when I first checked it out in September; now it's four feet deep in front of the blind and it's spread out in either direction quite a bit.
Should we go with a comically big spread? Should we pair it down to a minimal amount? We've tried a mojo and up to 48 decoys. Should we go bigger? Go way smaller?
I'm going to do this tomorrow, but we tossed around the idea that it might be a mid- or late-day resting spot. We've only hunted until about 11 am and have always been there and setup before legal. Anyone ever hunted a place that's used as a resting spot after feeding? What was it like and did you scout it all day to figure that out or is there a "typical" type of tank they are drawn to for this type of activity?
We didn't think it would be a honey hole or anything and wanted to use it as a learning experience and if we had a good year, great. If it was decent but it accelerated the learning process, also great. But five ring necks and one gadwall is not what we imagined. I'm just wondering if anyone has any ideas. We hear neighbor's shooting and occasionally see a few groups in the distance. It's not like we are flaring birds or something. That, I think we could change. I think it's a combination of not having a good migration for the area and there being a lot of water, I'm just not sure if there is anything we can do to convince the birds we do see to check out of spread.
Thanks.