Author: Webmaster

Posted By:
waitinforwaves
Guest

River 12-12-2004 10:53
Cloudy, Heavy Fog – 50-60 Degrees
Friday, December 10

Had 2 buddies I turkey hunt with come up from Georgia wanting to shoot some ducks. One of them had never duck hunted before so I skipped filling my doe tags to try to find them some ducks.

A 50 minute boat ride in heavy fog is never fun. Even to hunt. We only saw 8 birds and they sky busted a pair while a quad of mallards was trying to set in the side.

On the way out we saw some birds in a spot I’ve hunted before so were are headed there on Saturday.

Posted By:
featherdustr
Guest

Below Rte. 9 Bridge 10-11-2004 18:38
Sunny & Clear, Morning Fog – 50-60 Degrees
Got set up after sunrise on Saturday — while putting out goose decoys, a pair of woodies dropped right in. Not ready, so got to watch me set dekes….

Ended up with one goose — beautiful tolling shot. Cupped and locked from about 200 yards out.
Man, I know how to do a decoy spread!
Other flocks of geese looked and circled, but by then, the sun was up.
Only 5 days remaining.
Featherdustr

Posted By:
jfowler
Guest

McClintic WMA 10-08-2004 10:57
Mostly Sunny, No Precipitation – 50-60 Degrees
Drew a blind for McClintic WMA yesterday. First time hunting there, so I wasn’t sure what to expect….I was a little leary since I was driving almost 3 hours by myself, but it was well worth it.

Ended up seeing tons of birds. but mainly woodies, teal and geese. Didn’t get a ton of shots because of the weather and all the birds flying high, but I did manage a goose a really nice woodie drake and a hen green wing. SHould have had my limit of woodies and more teal, but still no complaints.

The guys who live near McClintic sure have a gold mine on their hands! Hoping to head back soon!

Jason

Posted By:
barrelburner
Guest

Shenandoah river 10-07-2004 12:03
– – –
Featherduster, I think I know who you are could be wrong though. Check your e-mail asap.
Yes, I do hunt the shenandoah, was out Oct 2 opening day and did pretty well. I would love to join you this weekend Oct 9, have a pretty good spot.PM me or respond back through e-mail

Posted By:
featherdustr
Guest

Shenadoah River 10-07-2004 08:48
– – –
Is there anyone in WV who is hunting the river around Charlestown?
All of the guys with whom I used to hunt the river have moved to farm ponds, farm fields, etc. I know the river is a lot of work and can be “iffy” in terms of birds.
Anyway, if any one wants to join me, send a message.
Art

Posted By:
jfowler
Guest

Pleasant Creek 10-06-2004 10:35
Sunny & Clear, Morning Fog – 60-65 Degrees
Hunted Pleasant Creek WMA on Friday and was actually suprised at the number of birds. Saw a decent amount of blue wings, as well as woodies and an occasional mallard.

A few other hunters and only sparse shooting from what I could hear. Didn’t manage to bag anything, but that is another story.

Headed to McClintic tomorrow morning. Having never hunted it, should be interesting to go in “cold turkey.”

Posted By:
waitinforwaves
Guest

Mon River 10-04-2004 20:44
Cloudy, Heavy Fog – 45-50 Degrees
Didn’t have a chance to scout before the opener so I went to an old spot. Should have slept in.

I saw some geese and a few woodies and mallards but the only thing that gave me a look was a single goose. I missed him.

Did hear some shooting on some ponds near the river, on private land, but not many.

Posted By:
Gruman Widgeon
Guest

Mclintick 09-21-2004 15:46
– – –
Hey i wantd to check out Mclintick WMA. I missed the blind drawings. Anybody have any advice. If you show up in the morning do you still have a descent chance of getting a blind. If you don’t get a blind are the other areas worth hungting? Can you do it with out a boat? All info would be appreciated.

Posted By:
jfowler
Guest

Delta Sporting Clays Shoot 01-28-2004 20:02
– – –
Sporting Clays Shoot to benefit Delta Waterfowl.

Sunday March 28th at 12pm – Hunting Hills Shooting Preserve in Dilliner, PA (about 15min from Morgantown)

Cost is $55 and includes 100 rounds of sporting clays, an awesome steak dinner, as well as door prizes, raffles, silent auctions, etc.

Great chance to get out and meet some fellow duck hunters!

Drop me an e-mail if at all interested.

Jason jfowler@hsc.wvu.edu

Posted By:
dmason
Guest

around New Martinsville 01-27-2004 19:05
– – 10-20 Degrees – Ice
It is good to see some posting on the WV state page. I live in New Martinsville and hunt the river exclusively. You can get some excellent days or terrible days. My experience has been areas south of NM are more consistent. I am talking about down around Newport and Reno Ohio. There is a lot more agriculture there. The boat launches are also better. These would be my recommendations.

Posted By:
jfowler
Guest

Same Same 01-25-2004 23:35
– – –
Waitin….

No problem, I certainly understamd the family situation…my first if due Aug 30th (talk about poor timing 😉
Drop me a line when you get a chance. I have a few places lined up for the fall that will take more than what I have, so I’m hoping you and Gino will be able to join me!!!

Not sure if you guys have an occasional beer or not, but we should meet up some night in town……I’m up for whatever.

As a sidenote, I attened a meeting of the Western PA Delta Chapter tonight and we are planning a Sporting Clays event at Hunting Hills ( about 15 min from Morgantown) the end of March / 1st of April…….if anyone is interested let me know (send me an email to jfowler@hsc.wvu.edu)………..should have tickets and a date by the end of next week./….cost will be about $55 for 100 rounds of clays and an awesome steak dinner! Not to mention some awesome prizes!!

Posted By:
waitinforwaves
Guest

just talkin 01-25-2004 14:22
Arctic Blast – Froze Out
ND Spoiled

For the past decade I’ve duck hunted all over the Morgantown area – 50 miles or so. Use to spend a good deal of time duckin in the eastern panhandle. There use to be a good group of us but they’ve all moved away in the past year.

I’m always on the lookout for new hunting buddies that know what they are doing instead of just trying to find someone else’s honeyholes.

JFowler

Saw your # on my caller ID a little while ago. Been busy with work and family. Even had an invite to finish the duck season in GA with my old college roommate but had to pass.

I’ve never hunted the Ohio River but I’ve always wanted too. Even scouted it a few times from my boat. When the weather is like this there are usually birds everywhere over there. Power plants keep it from freezing.

I have a great rig for that river too. An 18′ semi-V hull with a 24hp Mud Buddy Motor and an Avery pop-up blind. Lots of goose floaters too.

I hurt my shoulder surfing (hence the nickname) a couple of years ago and can’t get the boat out of the hillside garage I store it in. So I haven’t used it much since my duckin buddies moved away. It’s hard to get a non-hunting friend to meet you at 3:30am to load a duck boat.

The drive across Rt 7 takes about 2hours towing a boat. This time of year, the road salt really messes up camo paint and decoys too.

Posted By:
jfowler
Guest

01-23-2004 12:50
– – –
Hey Gino,

Yea, I know it’s a long way to New Martinsville, but I have been hearing that there are tons of geese over that way.

You’re telling me about the boat launch in Star City. There are even more in Westover and rivesville!

Does WV have a law that prevent people from feeding wild animals? I knwo that PA does. Not that it would make much of a difference.

I actually saw three blue bills and a couple of buffleheads down in Star City the other day….not to mention the pair of “cans” I saw on the Yough 3 weeks ago.

Posted By:
WV Gino
Guest

01-22-2004 18:11
– – –
Jason

you understand that the road to NM is three times longer that it looks on paper do to the curves?

You can probably be in Geneva in the same amount of time.

We need to scam a way to hunt all those ducks around Star City.

I saw a pile of ducks in zone 2 this evening. I need to stop and ask for permission for next season.

WV Gino

Posted By:
jfowler
Guest

New Martinsville 01-22-2004 15:00
– – –
Anyone ever hunt down near New Martinsville?

I was just curious as to whethe or not it was any good.

Any thoughts would be appreciated!

Posted By:
NDspoiled
Guest

Morgantown and surrounding 01-21-2004 22:41
– – –
Hey waitinforwaves, i have hunted the areas surrounding morgantown as well. I was just wondering if you hunt with a group of guys or usually by yourself. I only knew of one other group of guys that hunted the area. Maybe you are part of that group?? Seems as though things are freezing up and birds are pushing farther south.. have you been noticing the same??

Posted By:
waitinforwaves
Guest

Zone 2 Goose Scouting 01-20-2004 17:33
Mostly Cloudy, No Precipitation – 0-10 Degrees – Open Water
Found one of the flocks of Canadas I hunt in a pasture at about 10am – asleep. Nearly 300 with heads tucked under a wing. One sentry in the whole flock. Pretty cool to see in the snow.

That flock had only a few dozen more birds in it in the early season. The 300-400 migrants that were with them 2 weeks ago must have headed south. Hopefully I can get on them before the season goes out.

Several dozen mallards were on a nearby creek. Our DNR did a good job of protecting them by ending the season before they get here. Good thing we had duck season in November instead#%! Deer rifle season is such a good time to be out with no blaze orange. Water is nice to look at too. Real calm with no ducks swimming on it.

Who’s with me on having one statewide duck season that runs as late as possible instead of mid-November?

Posted By:
blackduckhunter2
Guest

01-17-2004 20:09
– – –
Hey Waitinforwaves,I do have to commend you. You are a die hard waterfowler. West va. duck hunting has to be tough and you stick in there.Keep up the posts it is good to know what is going on up there.I grew up in Ashland Ky. and would like to come home and hunt that part of the world sometime. Plus we get several birds from Pa.and the northeast migrating to south central Tn. So your posts do help with our hunting. You do have one advantage over us in the south though,You do not have the amount of competition from every shotgun owner who has bought a duck call from wal-mart and calls himself a duck hunter.That is worth alot in my book. Keep up the posts,maybe someday we can trade some hunts.

Posted By:
waitinforwaves
Guest

Marion County 01-14-2004 18:32
Cloudy, Winds Calm – 30-34 Degrees – Open Water
Tried an evening hunt today. Dozens of mallards were in the air around 2:30 when we arrived and we saw 100’s after sunset but only a few worked us in between.

My duckin buddy, Chris V. went with me. Hadn’t hunted with him for a few years. He still can’t shoot. He missed the only shot he took and the 3 1/2″ mags nocked back into the water.

I smacked down a greenhead with my only shot.

Still no blacks in the area. We didn’t see a single one. Usually there are several dozen in the spot we were in today.

Posted By:
waitinforwaves
Guest

Traveled to Delaware 01-12-2004 15:17
Sunny & Clear, High Winds – 0-10 Degrees – Open Water
Took a trip to Delaware to hunt with some DU employees I’ve been fortunate to meet.

We hunted a flooded cornfield that had well-water pumping into it’- keeping the ice out. The hard freeze pushed most of the birds out though. 4 of us got 8 mallards and 2 Canadas on the 1st day and no shots on the 2nd.

It was a great trip despite the bitter cold. Hunted from a pit blind and saw mallards, blacks, teal, 1000’s of Canadas and maybe 10,000 snows. No lie on the snows. Made a couple new friends too. Hope to hunt with them again.

Posted By:
jfowler
Guest

01-07-2004 12:44
– – –

Waitinforwaves……I sent you a Private message a while back, did you ever get it?

just curious. Let me know if you are interested in meeting up sometime for some WV hunting.

Jason

Posted By:
waitinforwaves
Guest

Zone 2 01-03-2004 19:46
Cloudy, High Winds – 50-60 Degrees
Hunted a flooded pasture I’ve been seeing ducks on for the third time. 1st time they landed in the pasture while I was set up on a pond. 2nd time the ice kept them from coming at all. This time I set up in the flooded pasture and they set-in on the far side of the pond.

Of the couple dozen mallards I saw, only a pair came in range and I cut the greenhead. The others would have nothing to do with the dekes, calling or mojo mallard.

Did see several hundred geese in the air and several were in range but I can’t bring my self to eat anymore of them. If anyone has a good way to prepare them – let me know.

Posted By:
waitinforwaves
Guest

Zone 2 01-03-2004 19:46
Cloudy, High Winds – 50-60 Degrees
Hunted a flooded pasture I’ve been seeing ducks on for the third time. 1st time they landed in the pasture while I was set up on a pond. 2nd time the ice kept them from coming at all. This time I set up in the flooded pasture and they set-in on the far side of the pond.

Of the couple dozen mallards I saw, only a pair came in range and I cut the greenhead. The others would have nothing to do with the dekes, calling or mojo mallard.

Did see several hundred geese in the air and several were in range but I can’t bring my self to eat anymore of them. If anyone has a good way to prepare them – let me know.

Posted By:
waitinforwaves
Guest

Morgantown area 01-02-2004 20:08
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 25-30 Degrees – Ice
Tried to hunt the cattle pasture I watched all the birds set into last week but it was frozen solid. Only saw 2 mallards and they came in before shooting time.

New geese have arrived though. There were 3 times the normal flock of about 200. Watched to guys screw up a perfect set-up. Hundreds of geese worked them but they quit calling to early and the geese would swing wide. Instead of let them circle in closer, they sky busted. There average shot was over 70 yards. They fired at one group that was beside me and I was over 100 yards away.

I’m going back to the same spot in the morning. Should be real swampy with the rain and melting snow. Hopefully the geese and goose hunters won’t be there.

Posted By:
waitinforwaves
Guest

Scouted Tygart River 12-31-2003 12:00
Mostly Cloudy, No Precipitation – 40-45 Degrees
Ducks and Geese are all over the Tygart River. I had to work south of Elkins so I took a look around while I was there.

Zone 2 ends on Saturday. The big duck #’s always come after the Mountain Zone ends. The DNR must not like duck hunters. They start Zone 2 during the Rifle buck season – when there are no ducks and everyone is deer hunting. Must be another brainless tradition.

Posted By:
waitinforwaves
Guest

Taylor County – near Tygart Lake 12-27-2003 18:59
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 25-30 Degrees – Ice
Clear mornings are tough when there aren’t many ducks around. A dozen mallards came into the decoys 10 minutes before shooting time. Only 3 and a woodduck came in after. I managed to shoot a mallard but didn’t see a bird in the next 3 hours.

My good year-to-year spots usually have alot more birds by now.

Posted By:
waitinforwaves
Guest

North Central WV 12-27-2003 18:53
Cloudy, Accumulating Snow – 30-34 Degrees – Open Water
Tried to hunt a farm pond, on Christmas Eve, that several dozen mallards and a few greenwings were using a few days earlier but the weather changed the birds minds.

Rain and melting snow had the pasture around the pond real swampy and I had to watch them set in all around me – out of range. Couldn’t set up on them – no cover and the 60 steers in the field wouldn’t leave my lab Kota alone.

Seeing all those ducks set in was cool though and I passed several shots @ Canadas. Just can’t stand to eat them anymore.

Posted By:
waitinforwaves
Guest

Lewis County 12-19-2003 12:29
Mostly Cloudy, No Precipitation – 30-34 Degrees – Ice
My brother and I hunted on December 12. About 1/2 the water on the wetland we hunted was iced over. We recently switched to Hevi-shot and haven’t figured the lead out I guess. We fired 12 shots without taking a bird.

It doesn’t seem that the ducks have migrated in yet. We usually see dozens of blacks and mallards by this time but only saw a few blacks and about 3 dozen mallards.

We also jump shot at a pair of greenwings and a 2 pairs of woodies. They accounted for 6 of the misses.

Posted By:
avanatter
Gold Sponsor

Pt. Pleasant WV 12-07-2003 16:08
Mostly Cloudy, No Precipitation – 35-40 Degrees
Excellent early morning, decoyed geese, green-wing teal, and mallards. 3 geese, 4 drake mallards, one drake green-wing, one hen bluebill were taken and retrieved. A hen mallard and greenwing were not retrieved. Pintails were seen but not shot, they are not legal until December 21. Ducks and geese were still in ponds, potholes, and backwater.
We had no snow or even ice Saturday morning. Boat ramp was a silty mess. Good Hunting to All!!

[Edited By avanatter on 2003-12-07 17:29]

Posted By:
WOODIE13
Guest

SEASONSARE OUT 09-14-2003 20:57
– – –
Just found them on the DNR site. I posted them up on the discussion forum for you all.

Posted By:
WOODIE13
Guest

Southern WV 09-07-2003 22:56
Mostly Cloudy, No Precipitation – 60-65 Degrees
Friday, went out blind, got one, scouted the rest of the evening.

Saturday, had 4 by 8:45 and finished up with the limit on a short float.

Posted By:
WV Gino
Guest

Mon/Preston Counties 08-01-2003 21:36
Mostly Sunny, No Precipitation – Over 70 Degrees
Went out scouting for resident geese Wed.

Found a couple of flocks at farms I have permission to hunt. Found one good sized flock on a farm I have never stopped at. Gives me something to do this weekend.

Stopped by the river front park in Morgantown this evening and saw alot of mallards. Wonder if they ever leave.

Working on getting someone from work to fly some areas of interest with a GPS reciever looking for geese for me.

WV Gino

Posted By:
Forum Moderator
root

02-24-2003 15:40
– – –
Dear Waterfowler.com Members,

Waterfowler.com is currently looking for more Volunteer Field Editors to participate in Waterfowler.com’s Volunteer State Field Editor Program in your state for the 2003/04 season.

Each Waterfowler.com State Field Editor will have his or her photograph and biography posted on their respective state page. Based on your level of participation we will renew your membership to Waterfowler.com website and Waterfowler.com Journal for free.

If you have time to volunteer by posting daily or weekly reports and are interested in participating in our program, please email me a short paragraph/biography which includes the number of years you have been hunting, the reasons why you have enjoyed this sport over the years, if you are involved in any organizations related to hunting and the reasons why you wish to participate in our program.

Please send your email to: vfe@waterfowler.com

Chrystel Eisenlohr
Director, Waterfowler.com VFE Program
vfe@waterfowler.com

Posted By:
Blackpowder
Web Member

Tucker County??? 02-01-2003 18:42
– – –
Not a report: Wondering how the duck hunting is down in the Parsons, Thomas or Davis WV area. Probably can’t hunt in the Canaan Valley anymore. I’ve got kin down there and thought I’d make a trip do double duty next year. Any thoughts?

Posted By:
Eric-Gerencir
WFC Sponsor

Eastern Central 12-28-2002 09:57
Mostly Cloudy, No Precipitation – 35-40 Degrees
12/27 Hunted on small lakes. Two of us were in the canoe(the “woodduck stalker”)and the “jinx” hunted set up in a cove with decoys to coax anything close that we may have flushed with the boat. Had a group of geese take to wing and we all shot for show but nothing really close enough to knock down. Only saw one duck and it was too far away to get a good ID. Decided to move closer to the Ohio river and there were birds. In the evening the birds were coming off the creeks and private stock ponds and we witnessed about 500 ducks cruising out of gun range straight over our heads…mostly mallards,blacks and a random little duck mixed in. The water is too open! Too many choice areas to hang out if you have webbed feet. A group of 5 mallards worked our small spread and a hen and I had a 5 minute conversation about why there was something “just not right” about coming closer to gun range. A few minutes before sunset two groups of 100 geese decided to give us a look and a group of 10 broke off and decided to take a very close look…at about 10 yards 1 goose with jewelery decided to come over for dinner. Total count 500 ducks flying, 199 geese flying, 1 goose in the canoe for the ride home and 1 spouse wondering why the King says he’ll be home at 5:00 and then creeps in at 8:00.

Go the extra mile and own the field. Seperate yourself from the soulless.

Posted By:
duckdog1187
WFC Sponsor

Around Bourbor County 12-26-2002 15:32
Mostly Sunny, No Precipitation – 30-34 Degrees – Open Water
We went hunting 12/23. We saw alot of ducks for this area. They were mostly in pairs.They also didn’t decoy well. We were set up in a marsh area. We got a goose though.

Posted By:
TonySenn
Web Member

Greenbrier County 12-20-2002 11:45
Cloudy, Occassional Rain Showers – 40-45 Degrees
Before the water went up we were doing very well. Alot of Black Ducks again this year. Saw my first WV Bull Pintail two week ago. And had a group of 6-7 Swans work me one morning. Crazy stuff. Well I hope the water goes back down soon. Everything seems to be scattered especially now that the farm ponds are thawing out.

Be safe and use a trained dog!!

Posted By:
Tealdog
Guest

Burnsville 12-17-2002 08:22
– – –
Anybody hunt Burnsville Dam ….or know if there is open water to hunt?

Posted By:
Benjamin-Dupree
Guest

Hunting Dabblers 12-12-2002 19:30
– – –
A while back, Wade Bourne, a DU writer asked me to take a look at his new book Hunting Dabblers. Well, I’m a slow reader, and this book isn’t so new anymore, but let me tell you this book has it all. Bourne not only employs his years of experience but he also draws tips off other duck-hunting veterans from around the country. This book covers everything from proven calling techniques to what to look for in a shotgun. In just over 200 pages Bourne has captured every conceivable facet of waterfowling. The book is educational, entertaining, and full of very useful pointers. While I was reading this, there were several times I would think, “I never thought of that.” Even if this book had not been the authority of duck hunting, Bourne gained my respect with the closing paragraph in his acknowledgements section where he stated “And ultimately, I acknowledge God as my creator and Christ as my savior. Someday I plan on seeing all my old buddies on that Great Marsh where the drought never comes and the ducks always fly.” For an autographed copy of Bourne’s book, send a check for $30.45 to Wade Bourne, 450 Old Trenton Road, Clarksville, TN 37040 or you can obtain a copy of this book and support this fine webpage by purchasing one from the Proshop here at waterfowler.com. Dabblers would make an excellent stocking stuffer. Good Luck, Good reading, and God Bless.
Ben Dupree

Posted By:
Eric-Gerencir
WFC Sponsor

Zone 2 – Northeast 12-01-2002 13:40
Cloudy, Accumulating Snow – 30-34 Degrees – Open Water
Wednesday Nov. 27 – “Hello Kayandar, I’d like to order the perfect day to waterfowl hunt!” So, the god of the virtuous hunter obliges and grants the king and rooster gray skies and working ducks. Lots of migrants in the air. Woodducks, mallards, and even a few ring necks worked along the river. We were not using decoys but the mallard and woodduck call coaxed birds within shooting range from time to time. We managed to bag three mallards and a ring neck. One of the mallards was banded. Returned to the same area two days later and the birds were still hanging around but didn’t see any ring necks but managed to see some teal still in the area. The skys were too sunny and high and the birds didn’t work our spread until the last ten minutes of shooting hours…did get one mallard drake to hand but sun set and shooting hours were over. The water in the swampy areas had not iced up yet and the birds were feeding in the corn fields.

Posted By:
wtrfwlr44
Guest

Muskingham River across the Ohio by Williamstown 11-17-2002 11:17
– – –
Sorry, not a hunting report. I live in Virginia, am from Marietta Ohio. My mom called me this a.m., from Marietta. Said the Muskingham River, in the city, was black with Canada Geese. Figured they are migrators as the city doesn’t hold this many resident geese. This is close to where the Muskingham meets the Ohio. Thought someone down in that neck of the woods might want to know. Good luck too all, with your season. Be safe.

Posted By:
Eric-Gerencir
WFC Sponsor

Southern WV 11-05-2002 14:47
Mostly Cloudy, No Precipitation – 50-60 Degrees
Hunted from a canoe(the woodduck stalker) on a lake. Many hardwoods surrounding the lake, so you guessed it…Woodducks! I hate to say it but I shot better left handed than right handed. My buddy would hate to admit it too because he watched me smoke two drakes left handed after he wiffed on the 3 birds that passed on the left side of the boat. But, we bagged 5 canadas that happened to wander in on us around noon. We saw approx. 30 woodducks and 6 geese. We bagged the geese by flushing them out of a cove…Riles bagged two geese with one shot (not bad for someone who had shot a whole box of shells and had nothing to show before that. … LOL!) Total count: 3 Woodducks, 5 Geese, and 1 spouse complaining about cleaning birds in the basement. Have another beer and start planning on the cold weather hunting coming up late November.

Posted By:
vicsands
Guest

Jackson County, WV 10-14-2002 20:01
Cloudy, Winds Calm – 60-65 Degrees
10/12/02. We hunted a freshly cut corn field. We probably saw 300 Canada geese. Our initial set was bad so we rearranged and enough decoyed so that had our limit by 10:30. We also decoyed several ducks at daybreak. We got a drake wood duck along with the geese. Later we saw lots of geese in hay fields as well, but they wanted in cornfield primarily.

Posted By:
Don-Molter
Guest

North Central WV 10-08-2002 21:11
Cloudy, Winds Calm – 50-60 Degrees
It was great to get out into the field again. Missed the entire first part of the three part split season in WV. Last Saturday was back to basics guiding two friends. Resident Geese had a superb breeding season this past summer. Numbers of birds in the air the past two weeks has climbed considerably. We limited out before 9am. Hope this season get back to normal temps. so that the birds will “show-up”. Be safe. DM

Posted By:

08-31-2002 11:43
– – –
OOOOPPPP!!

That should have been www.callwva.com for WV Info.

Posted By:

Greenbrier County 08-31-2002 11:42
Cloudy, Winds Calm – Over 70 Degrees
Just wanted to touch base now that the seasons are out. If you do not have the 2002-2003 seasons yet check them out at www.call.com and navigate to the DNR site. Hip and online lisences are also available.

The season looks Great and keep after them.

If anyone needs DU Dinner dates from around the state please e-mail me at tsenn@ducks.org and I will be happy to get you the right info.

Good Luck and Keep’em Flying!!!!

Posted By:
Dale-Hainer
Guest

Great Lakes Region 08-06-2002 04:30
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – Over 70 Degrees
Hey guys, I am adding my Ontario Canada report here for you from the Canada section.

Here’s my rundown for the 2002 Southern Ontario Fall Waterfowl Flight. based on CWS, USFWS, Personal observation.

Reports from every monitoring agency depict a sour situation in the west. Some say pond numbers were the second worst ever recorded. Water tables were low across Canada but late winter/spring rains helped to recharge the northeast. The west remained dry and in particular, Alberta is very hard hit.

Some surveys suggest that Prairie birds flew past the typical ponds of the prairies and nested in the northern Boreal forests where water conditions tend to be more stable. But further to the north cold spring temps can affect and did so in 2002, the production of nests and clutches. Spring break ups and ice conditions were reported to be several weeks late in some areas. The only region that improved its production capabilities over 2001 was Alaska.

Duck counts remain unchanged in Alberta but still down nearly 50%, Birds were down in southern Saskatchewan, Manitoba and the Dakotas but ranged high in the north. Estimates of up to 70% increases in northern Sask, Man, and Ontario give theory to the overflight of the mid prairies to the Boreal forests. Mallard numbers in Wisconsin were cited as being up nearly 130%, but no reason given.

Around the great lakes and into Ontario. Topography consists of rolling farmland, small woodlots, beaver ponds and small streams where water levels can fluctuate with winter snows and spring rains. In my area, around Lake St Clair, marshlands and drainage ditches are prominent and plenty of marsh has been lost in the last few decades due to diking and farming. The loss continues with some smaller projects aimed at reinvesting into wetlands. More on that in another article.

Across the Great Lakes survey area, waterfowl populations were greater than in 2001 but still below long term averages. Mallard estimates increased 20% and may be partly attributable to the “overflight of the Prairies” theory . Ontario is not heralding the higher numbers of mallards as they are likely at the expense of the west. Black ducks continue to slide and did so another 15%. Divers are up almost 60% and are 30% above long term averages. Personal observation that the great lakes never froze over and many divers held tight here all winter. Ring Necked ducks are booming in at 140% increase over last year and buffleheads came up another 20%. Canada Geese (likely giant resident geese) are down 72%. The drop is likely due to the added seasons aimed at reducing the flocks. The geese still remain at 20% above goals.

My prognosis for Southern Ontario this fall…….

Good numbers of waterfowl when the season opens in late September. Mallards and RingNecks to be largest part of the daily bag. After a couple weeks of good hunting, weather will decide if Southern Ontarians continue with quality shooting . Cold weather will move the lake birds around and accessible to near shore hunters. Buffleheads and lesser Bluebills will make the daily bag. As the weather will continue to dominate the fall flight, colder temps and northwest winds in November will be needed to bring down those abundant Mallards et al, that are in northern Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario that overflew the typical nesting grounds.

Giant Canada Geese are still abundant and resident populations appear to be stable around Lake St Clair. They certainly bred more offspring than I culled last fall! Special seasons will be great shooting if hunters do their homework and get access.

Ref: Canadian Wildlife Service, US Fish and Wildlife Service,
http://basshavencanada.com/cgi-bin/basshaven.pl

DH

Posted By:
Don-Molter
Guest

Field 01-23-2002 15:34
Cloudy, Winds Calm – 35-40 Degrees
This past weekend brought a nice number of migrating Geese into the area. Most flocks were high and fairly large in number. We did get some shooting on local and migrating birds, however. My group bagged 8 on Sat., 6 on Sunday, 4 on Monday. While it has been nice seeing birds, the count is WAY down from previous history. The earlier warm weather has changed feeding patterns in our area. This week, the weather is going back up into the mid-50’s. Crazy for this time of year. DM

Posted By:
Tetondog
Guest

Poca 01-18-2002 11:11
Mostly Cloudy, No Precipitation – 35-40 Degrees
Saw about 2 dozen green heads at the mouth of the Poca Yesterday. I was on my way to do a little Grouse hunting but if would of had a boat I would of been after the ducks.

Posted By:
Eric-Gerencir
WFC Sponsor

New River 01-13-2002 19:54
Sunny & Clear, Morning Fog – 30-34 Degrees – Open Water
YUCK! What a difference a year makes! This year has been s…l..o…w. Had some woodducks work over the decoys around 7:30and then nothing else. The birds were flying high and far…far away from the guns. At around 8:45 we decided to go scount around for loafing birds. Jumped a group of buffleheads but, nothing close enough to shoot. There were many groups of Canadas and we managed to bag one. There haven’t been as many mallards circling our blind this year in comparison to years past. Too spread out because of thawing creeks and backwater. Probably saw about 100 ducks althogether and NONE worked the decs. Maybe alittle call shy and decoy shy.?

Posted By:
Don-Molter
Guest

Field 01-12-2002 16:11
Cloudy, Winds Calm – 35-40 Degrees
The snow melted over the past three days due to warmer weather and rain. The Geese are moving fairly well and some migrating birds were seen this morning. My group of four hunters entered the field, set up our decoys and were ready at 7:35. We were limited out (12 geese) at 8:05. It was a great day. Birds working our spread from all directions. I was using my new 360 degree goose chair from Semmler. Wow what a great hunting tool. Being able to rotate fully, keeping your eyes on the birds is just super. Comfortable, too!
WV season in our zone continues to the end of January. DM

Posted By:
cootshoot
Guest

Kanawha 01-11-2002 08:23
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 25-30 Degrees – Open Water
Tuesday Poca area saw 100 or so coming out of J E Amos hot water pond going up river only 2 came in to the deks..
after noon we hit area around Leon and saw 1000s of ducks and geese.. lost 1 mal & 1 blk and 1 goose came home with 4 mal 1 blk 2 geese..

Posted By:
Tetondog
Guest

Backwater of Kanawha 01-04-2002 10:22
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 30-34 Degrees – Ice
Saw about a dozen green heads and managed to bring home 1. I have seen a lot of birds along the Kanawha and Poca rivers, but this is the firs chance I’ve had to hunt. I was only out for about an hour yesterday evening.

Has anyone seen any birds in Greenbottom or McClintic WMA’s?

Posted By:

Greenbrier River 01-03-2002 11:08
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 25-30 Degrees – Open Water
Took a couple of new comers to the sport and they both had a blast. Even though it was cold and we did not see a single bird. But just being out with new people is satisfaction enough. I am sorry to say it was not as rewarding for them. I hope to get them to give it another chance.
All else is well. Farm ponds are frozen and the birds are starting to concentrate in the open water of the rivers.

Good luck to all and above all BE SAFE!!

Posted By:
Don-Molter
Guest

Field 12-30-2001 13:42
Arctic Blast – 10-20 Degrees – Ice
Wow, winter came with a blast from Canada. Can’t say the same about the Geese, however. Local birds are keeping to sheltered areas and until many of the green pastures are frozen, they have no reason to move around very much. No migration to speak of, yet. My son in MD is having a better time of it on the Eastern Shore. DM

Posted By:
huntsem
Guest

ohio river 12-30-2001 08:48
– – –
Anyone here hunt the northern portions of the Ohio river and how’s the duck numbers been there lately?

Posted By:
Eric-Gerencir
WFC Sponsor

? 12-29-2001 10:26
Mostly Cloudy, No Precipitation – 25-30 Degrees – Open Water
Where is the cold weather? If you are going to hunt ducks better get to scouting. Woodducks are still around but you have to be set-up early. The shallow marsh areas are frozen, but some of the feeder creeks are still holding water and the birds just are too spread out. We had a couple of groups of woodies work near the decs. but non were brought to hand. Let’s hope for some freezing coditions to restrict some of the water way choices for the birds.

Posted By:
aspenangler
Guest

? 12-13-2001 21:47
– – –
I am looking for a good public place to hunt waterfowl. Just moved here from Colorado and have no idea where to start. If anybody has any good suggestions please email me at aspenangler@hotmail.com. Thanks in advance!! Good shooting!

Posted By:
Don-Molter
Guest

Field 12-08-2001 10:29
Cloudy, Light Rain & Drizzle – 45-50 Degrees
The third season started off with a wimper on December 7th. With nearly 70 degree weather and a Blue Bird day forecast, most passed up the chance. Today, started with heavy rain and normal than warmer temps. Once the rain slowed, birds (Geese) flew fairly well, although most headed to a area near the neighbor’s barn. Hard to compete with 100-150 live Geese on the ground about 300 yards away. Fortune would smile, however, as a group of three birds came over head. My dozen shells caught their interest and they pitched in with one string of calling. My first ever triple! These were local birds, as the summer like temps haven’t driven Geese south – yet. We were seeing Robins in the horse pastures up to two days ago! Hopefully, we’ll have colder temps in the near future. DM

Posted By:
Sindog
WFC Sponsor

Goose Island 11-29-2001 13:37
– – –
I’ve been following reports on this site for a couple of years and want to commend waterfowler.com for the nice job they do. I was lucky enough to be able to hunt most of the last week of the season and days like Monday and Tuesday truly make for a memorable season. I hunt the river as far south as Lansing and north to Foutain City, specifically looking for places with less pressure always avoiding Brice Prairie. There are lots of hunters out there but there are some places that have fewer hunters than others. Regarding a special zone or late season on the Mississippi one has to remember that during most years the ice fishermen are out in force by Thanksgiving and most of the quiet water is froze up. With all the reports about hunter crowding I don’t know if there is a solution other than to take a young hunter with you and try to teach and explain to them about respect for other hunters and ethics. I think the sport is very cyclical, the hunter crowding you today will be selling his go devil in three years and be replaced by someone else with no common sense because nobody bothered to teach or show them anything. What bothers me more than the crowds is the slob hunters leaving garbage at their blinds especially spent shells, pop,BEER cans, and miscelaneous paper and plastic wrappers. Start picking up the crap left by the slobs and quit giving the “Anti Hunters” more ammunition than they already have. Good luck goose hunters, see you next year and conserve waterfowl – hunt with a trained retriever.

Posted By:
Don-Molter
Guest

Field 08-29-2001 22:01
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – Over 70 Degrees
Saturday 9/1 marks the opening of the 2001 Goose Resident Bird season in WV. Several new and important items of interest should be reviewed. First, the new daily bag limit for the early season is 5 Geese per day, per hunter, with a possession limit of 10. This is up from former year limits of only 3 per day. The follow up seasons will return to the 3 per day limit. The second item of interest is the repeal of the Sunday Hunting “Blue Law” in WV. While the new law is quite confusing (if you only knew the whole story) and many Sunday’s are still off limit, the Sunday’s in the early Goose season are open to hunting. This will mark the first legal Sunday hunting in WV since Colonial Days (when we were actually part of VA). Those planning on being afield on Sunday MUST have written permission from the land owner – NO EXCEPTIONS. The fine for not having WRITTEN permission is $1,000 for the first conviction. This is quite unique as many land owners in the state normally don’t bother with written permission and just rely on their word as their bond. Not so from now on. Get it in writing and enjoy your new hunting experience. DM

Posted By:
Eric-Gerencir
WFC Sponsor

zone 2 11-22-2001 17:00
Sunny & Clear, Morning Fog – 60-65 Degrees
Tomorrow the 23rd of November is the first day of the second season for waterfowling in the mountain state in zone 2!

Posted By:
TOYE
Guest

Mississippi 11-04-2001 19:13
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – Over 70 Degrees
NPDAWG,
Tough is an understatement! We’ve been killing a few birds each day but the birds we have here are extremely versed on the “open water” law! There was a lot of competetion this weekend which makes the birds even more wary and then add sunny skies with no wind and you are in for a long day! On the other hand I hear the Walleys are biting.
The Nov. 27th duck season closure is coming on fast. It sure would be nice to have a split in early Oct. for some late season mallard hunting in Dec. Especially this year!

Posted By:
Eric-Gerencir
WFC Sponsor

n/a 11-01-2001 20:50
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – Over 70 Degrees
I talked to a gunsmith today and discussed the problems with Steel and shooting performance and knockdown power. He pointed out the problem with steel going through the choke. If you notice on your box of steel shells that it may say 1-1/4 oz. of load. Well if you check a chart that gives the number of steel in that weight vs. the number of lead pellets in the same weight you’ll see the numbers vary greatly. Steel has more pellets. So, you think GREAT more pellets more chance to hit the target. Well, now think about getting all these pellets through the choke when you pull the trigger! Ah, there’s the rub. He suggested to open up the choke more to get all those pellets through without crowding them through. I’ll let everyone know what happens for me on my 11-87.

Posted By:
Eric-Gerencir
WFC Sponsor

River/Marsh 11-01-2001 20:38
Mostly Cloudy, No Precipitation – 60-65 Degrees
Well, well, well. Like the dude from Staind sings, “it’s been awhile…”.
There were woodducks. There were teal. There were even a few mallards. But, it was nothing like last year for me. We happened to bag a couple of teal and we happened to bag a single mallard. As always the woodducks seamed to provide the “best shooting” of the first split. The only time you could count on shooting was right before sunset. Up north the majority of the ducks we got were just starting to get their full plumage. So, it was very difficult to pick the males out on 25 yard passing shots and even harder on a bank flush. The birds in the southern area on the lakes seemed to be in full elegant color and it was quite a treat to hold such majestic woodducks! Really not to much to report on in the early season since these birds were all pretty much residents.

Something I would like to address is, STEEL vs. ALTERNATIVE Shot. After shooting the lights out of the clays with lead, switching to steel for ducks left me scratching my head. I haven’t tried anything else other than steel since anything else makes my wallet scream from hunger. But, if the results are cleaner kills and a fuller game bag I’m all willing to give anyone my ear. I’m going to break down this season and begin experimenting. I intend to keep updating this area with my opinions and results.

Posted By:
DUCK EYE
Guest

Pond 10-16-2001 22:46
Cloudy, High Winds – 45-50 Degrees
Nice morning! One woody, 2 Green heads.
We may be seeing the first wave of northern boys. saw lots of GWT if only I could shoot! my dog was happy he went swimming to day.

Posted By:
MOD
Guest

River 10-04-2001 22:08
Cloudy, Heavy Fog – 40-45 Degrees
Finally got to go hunting Wednesday morning for an hour. Saw several Woodies before I had to leave. Need to practice more. The gang said geese arrived after I left. Hope everyone has a good year. Come on cold weather.

Posted By:
jocan
Guest

meadow valley area 09-22-2001 10:22
Mostly Sunny, No Precipitation – 60-65 Degrees
I was out this afternoon scouting, in central WI, and after a week of precip the rain gauge showing over three inches, I had dreams of full flowages brimming with fowl, only to find water flowing over the tops of the boards on control structures of low flowages and a few cranes, makes me wonder why I pay the money for stamps.
Good Luck Gentlemen!!!!!

Posted By:
rharris
Guest

Shenandoah 09-18-2001 09:38
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – Over 70 Degrees
Just wanted to send out a reminder that this Saturday and Sunday (9-22 and 9-23) are the designated days for the West Virginia Youth Waterfowl Hunting Days. Take a kid hunting and enjoy the weekend!

Posted By:
Don-Molter
Guest

Field 09-04-2001 21:45
Cloudy, Heavy Fog – 60-65 Degrees
Opening day was foggy and overcast. As luck would have it, the geese decided to use a nearby field were we do not have permission to hunt. We scored 3 birds before we called it quits. The second day of the early season was truly different for us in the Mountain State. For the first time, we could legally hunt on Sunday in WV. Another 3 geese were harvested before they could get to the forbidden field. One band, my first goose of the season taken on Saturday was collected. We saw a tremendous amount of local birds. Obviously, they had a very productive breeding season this spring. This will make for some nice gunning later on. DM

Posted By:
rharris
Guest

Shenandoah River 09-04-2001 13:08
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 65-70 Degrees
Jefferson County Goose Busters were back at it again. With Roger (myself), Mike, David, Art, Peter, Mike II and now the newest and youngest addition Justin (my son)on the River early Saturday morning you would expect lots of downed birds and bird down on the water – unfortunately this was not the case this day. We saw a couple of flights leave in the early morning hours but had nothing come back by noon. We were greeted by the local Game Warden and checked for license, stamps, HIP cards and most importantly flotation life vests. You must have an approved life vest in your boat, canoe or skiff while on any West Virginia waterway – even if you are just walking along. Peter found out the hard way with a piece of paying paper. I had flotation devices and was given a warning that they do not constitute as adequate flotation support. With seven hunters, four dogs, two canoes, two boats and a layout boat we had the river covered from shoreline to shoreline but the geese just did not cooperate. We did get into some doves in the afternoon and 11 year old Justin got five on his first day of real wing shooting. I got seven and Mike Moore got his limit in less than a box of shells – he is now one up on me for the years friendly competition. I had a great day just watching my son grow and learn a sport I enjoy doing. I didn’t even take a gun with me when we where goose hunting so I could just watch and coach him. I didn’t even dove hunt until 3:00 p.m. just so I could enjoy helping and teaching him. He did one beautiful shot in front of Mike and I and it took about 20 minutes to knock the grin off my face. After a round of high fives with everyone the young lad and lab wre back to watching the sky for more birds. There is nothing as much fun as sharing the times in the field with a good friend and your family. Take a kid or spouse hunting with you and share your outdoor pleasures with them. Remember this may be new to them so keep it short and easy going until they also get as excited about the time in the field as you do.