John, that's a good point on the mallard/gadwall topic. You're right about it being longer than two years as well. I went thru a 4 year period of not hunting much. I was relating my experience over the last two in which I hunted quite a bit. Now ten years ago, different story. A lot of agriculture was present north of Dallas and the mallards were there!

I hunt more now than when I started in 1980. (will be 43 days this season).
I still ONLY hunt Public Hunting.
I shot more birds than I ever have since 1980 (could be 186 by the end)
The hunter that have not changed with the ducks are hurting.
The hunter that have changed are still killing lots of ducks.
Im glad Oklahoma still has another week of the season.

Redheads are dumb

It sucks not having a dog

Nobody wants to eat divers

Spoonies are dumb

thats all I got

I need to get and train a new dog.

I should have mounted the banded mottled duck that I shot six years ago.

Geese are smart.

stuff about ducks:

> they hate me.
> kayak hunts are fun.
> neoprene waders kick breathable waders in the arse after it gets cold.
> apparently gadwalls are pretty common but last year I saw 90% gadwalls and 10% anything else, this year I saw 90% mallards and only actually saw like 5 gadwalls all season.
> you can't mount a woodie if you blow its head off

LHD,

I know you are a big flyfisherman. I heard wood duck feather are a big deal for tying. If you want some, I will save them for you nezt year.

We close it out this Sunday. Lessons learned this year include: ............when there is a lot of water ducks get awful thin around here, less is definately better. Having a boat would definately make a huge diffrence in the amount of birds I could get to. Spending the time to make sure my shotgun is set up properly made a huge improvement. Using two different species of decoys in small number will definately improve your odds. Mallards will come to a teal call if there are teal decoys present and mallards too. Having motion in the spread definately helps.

Yeah that would be great. It's the flank feathers, the yellow and black striped ones that are all the rage for the real "authentic" old streamer patterns and such. Although when I shot that woodie earlier this year, I pulled a little bit of everything off it for tying because there are so many different feathers on that bird that are just beautiful.

Gadwalls must be racist towards me. The last Gadwall I killed in North Texas was over 3 years ago. I have killed more Widgeon than anything else, including teal. I have noticed a big increase in Canvasbacks in the last 6 years. I was talking with a biologist a few weeks ago and he even agrees the Mallard migration has shifted in the past few years. We both agreed it was because the lack of desireable agricultural forages for the Mallards, just like Sniper John stated above. I wish someone would help me break the bonds of racism that the Gadwall are holding towards me; I would be glad to introduce you to my beautiful friend the Widgeon in return.



It's not just duck hunting anymore. It's competition. We live in Texas. A lot of people in Texas like to hunt. North Texas (metromess) is highly populated and has 3-4 large lakes that allow hunting. The crowds are truely a joke. I'd much rather walk 1-2 miles packing all my gear than settle for the "good" spot that's going to have 10 groups competing for the birds.



Discovered quiver butts this year and I'm sold on them. They are cheaply made...aka..it's a bad mistake to just go tossin' them around..BUT..they do work wonders.. I learned that a quiver butt will jump up to 3 feet out of the water and make an aweful noise if you abuse them...they don't behave too well when they start throwing batteries!



I used mine on one hunt this season. Then it died cause I tripped and knocked it into the water. Probably for the best...didn't plan on using it much anyways. Jerk string is in the works for next year.

1) hunting with a well trained dog makes duck hunting way better. Avery has 97 retrieves in her first year, and if i dont get her to 100 im gonna be pissed.

2) I dont know why I can wake up at 3:30 to go hunting, but i have trouble waking up at 7 for work/school.

3) duck hunting is expensive

4) remington makes a crappy auto, but a great pump

5) on the contrary to what everyone has said, the abundance of water has helped me, because last year the lake i hunted was 6ft low and i shot maybe 1/4 of the ducks i shot this year ( i was only double digits in the tourny as oppossed to over 200 this year)

6) keeping a log of your trips, ducks shot, weather, etc. is a fun thing to do.

7) it sucks running a 40 year old outboard, wondering if and when you are gonna break down.

8) black clouds are... nevermind

9) i do shoot spoonies

10) ringnecks taste just fine if you marinate and season the crap outta them.

I know that feelin' dude. Used to have an ol' '69 evinrude. You never knew what you were gonna get outta that thing. Always had to be preapared with A-Z locations according to that thing. Actually still have it in a storage shed.

I have a very good friend who's an avid hunter. He hunts deer, elk, doves, quail, turkeys, hogs,etc. I took him duck hunting the other day and he had a good point.

He goes, "if I have to do ten different things to the meat to make it taste good, I'd rather not."

touche, but of those things listed, the only things that taste good without any prep are deer backstrap, elk backstrap, and little itty bitty dove breasts. quail is ok, hog needs work, and wild turkey tastes like crap.

someone must feed yall's quail and wild turkey crap! Haha.

Ducks eat great, gotta learn how to cook them. You can cook duck to be as palatable as a steak.

You don't like turkey? Wrap that sucker in foil with some butter, onion, and seasoning. Money. I eat a lot of duck, that's him.
I just started making duck jerky, its awesome.

Man I hear a lot of you guys from DFW complaining about the crowdedness of lakes and stuff. I used to live up there.... There's a ton(by a ton I can think of at LEAST 5 lakes in that area that don't get touched like they could/should).

Just imho if it's that bad there's plenty of other areas ya'll should look into, and honestly I don't think they're THAT much further. If they are too far for you to care then that's fine, I'm jus sayin'.

I even hunted a few of them this year with little luck. Not because there wasn't birds, but because there was not enough hunters to keep them moving.

Now of course I'm not trying to flat out give away spots. I just think there's a lot of birds up in that area that aren't getting pressured like they should. Granted I do know there's not many, and have never really "got into" greenheads, but I have had my fair share of ducks up there

again jus' sayin'...

This is only my 2nd year of duck hunting. I'm 39 and I'm learning.

1. Duck people's different from deer people.
2. Duck calls make me giggle.
3. I don't know what the heck to do with a decoy spread. Need to read a book, I guess. I go with people that do all that.
4. I used to think a duck was a duck. I still don't quite get this duck hierarchy (Spoonies bad Mallards good).
5. If you don't have a dog and hunt over deep water, what the hell do you do?
6. Teal is fast.


7. I LOVE duck hunting and I have NO idea what I'm doing!!!!!

Had an awesome season hunting with you cuz!! lets finish this out with a bang or a few preferably at some green ;-)

1) I slaughter greenheads on private- not so much on public.

2) Not as many woodies this year.

3) Saw more Cans that I ever have- managed to kill two and one is going on the wall.

4) Spoonies like a good beatdown on North Texas Lakes.

5) I need to invest in a kayak.

6) Althought I originally set out to hunt solo ten times this year- I realized that Mav and I prefer the comraderie of other people hunting with us.

6A) I could kill more ducks if I stopped trying to be a guide to my brother and some of my less experienced pals- but then is the payoff worth it? Nah, I'd rather shoot less birds and share the experience with my buds.

7) I have now hunted with more THF members in my life than I have non-THF'ers. I love this place.

8)It sucks when you have a set of full bodies that you got at the end of last season (and got to use 2 times) and the water levels rise so high that you can't use them again until after the split.

X2

I've met a great bunch of guys from here, and I hope to meet some more this offseason and in the seasons to come.

1. I'm hooked like a crack whore
2. MK and ducknbass have cost me a ton of money.
3. Hunting with a dog is a must and I had to have one. She is going to be awesome and I am excited about finding her...LUCKY.
4. Next year I won't be dependent on hunting with other people. I will either have a boat or a lease, still undecided on which.
5. MK is worse than a dope dealer
6. Hunting in LA around Catahoula lake is simply something everyone should see once.

1. After a year of slaughtering mostly Gadwalls, I have actually placed GW teal above them on my duck preference list. Strange, seeing as how on my earlier duck hunts I would groan and moan when I would see a stringer full of those little suckers. Now, I only groan at Gadwalls. And spoonies.
2. Having a father as a taxidermist (Hobby, not pro) occupies a large amount of freezer space.
3. My whole body can be completely toasty warm and comfortable, yet my feet feel as if they are residing in a commercial deep-freeze.
4. When geese circle you on a foggy day (only time this has happended), make sure your buddy 30 yards away from you sitting in the brushes doesn't attempt to reenact a World War II war scene. Fletcher, you are no Flak gunner, even if you are shotting BB those geese 100 yards up are simply going to snicker at you if you attempt a shot.
5. Public sucks.
6. Duck hunting alone, even if you limit, is somewhat incomplete without company. Dog doesn't count. Although, it helps.
7. And finally, bufflehead drakes were taken aside by God on creation week for a special treatment. Listen God, Kevlar lined ducks are NOT fair!

That's all I got.

Someone told me you could buy a tag for one blue winged teal to shoot after season closes, so you can shoot one if full plumage. Well I already have one in full plumage mounted but the thought of buying a tag, hunting all over who knows where on multiple hunts to try an shoot one bird has crossed my mind a couple times. I think that means I have "The Disease..." just for it crossing my mind. I don't think you can really buy an extra blue winged teal tag anyways, at least that's what I told the guy. Prove me wrong and let's plan a hunt!

Gene use one of your rollover ducks for the tag

1. Not all duck hunters are Richards.
2. Some guys will bend over backwards to show you a spot to shoot ducks with maps and all.
3. Wood ducks, gadwalls and redheads are stupid.
4. 60 pintails in a flock in front of you is a problem with the current limits.
5. I like duck hunting more than deer hunting.....just dont tell anyone.
6. I NEED A DOG!
7. Its cool to shoot a banded duck, would be cooler if I was hunting and not scouting.
8. Although mallards are what I want to shoot, gadwalls taste better.
9. I need another job to pay off the taxi bill.
10. Hope my wife never sees the taxi bill.