Category: Indiana

Posted By:
Bert Holtzman
Field Editor

Ohio River 01-06-2013 13:12
– – –
We hunted the big river this morning. We saw quite a few ducks early about ten minutes before shooting time. Five minutes in a drake mallard came and went down. We saw about 3-4 groups after that. Another slow morning. Hopefully it gets better next weekend.

Very few people hunting right now.

Posted By:
Bert Holtzman
Field Editor

Ohio River Bottoms 12-25-2012 10:05
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Monday hunt: saw more ducks. Mix of hoodies, mallards, a few teal, and some wood ducks. Had hoodies swimming all morning in the decoys. No chance at any ducks for the most part. One group of mallards worked okay. Don’t bother calling at ducks at this point until we get new ducks. They want no part in any call. Best to let them do their thing.

Merry Christmas.

We’re headed to Arkansas on Thursday for a weekend adventure.

Posted By:
oldsilverfox
Web Member

none Lately 12-24-2012 13:28
– – –
Merry Christmas Everyone

Stay Safe

Fox

Posted By:
Bert Holtzman
Field Editor

Ohio River Bottoms/ north 12-23-2012 17:20
– – –
I hunted on Friday morning and scouted that afternoon:

Saw six ducks Friday morning. I killed two gadwall. All six ducks flew early. I also scouted that afternoon. Not much around despite the cold front. Saw some ducks on the river but not what I had hoped.

Today:

We hunted around Indianapolis today and killed five mallards. We should have had more but you know how that goes. Ducks flew all morning. They are very, very call shy and skittish up there.

I’ll be at it again tomorrow. Hopefully we’ve picked up some ducks in the bottoms.

Posted By:
Bert Holtzman
Field Editor

Ohio River Bottoms 12-16-2012 11:08
– – –
We hunted again this weekend. Nothing on Saturday. Saw a handful.

We did get our weekend average this morning. I ended up with a greenhead. Saw ten woodies and ten mallards, all in the flooded timber. It’s bad right now, really bad. Pitiful but still early. Back at it on Friday morning.

Posted By:
Bert Holtzman
Field Editor

Ohio River Bottoms 12-08-2012 20:36
Cloudy, Occassional Rain Showers – 50-60 Degrees
We hunted in the back of a creek off of the river this morning. We saw five ducks.

I hunted this afternoon in our slough off the river. Saw one duck, a greenhead, and killed him. I also saw a small flock of sandhill cranes coming to roost. Hopefully tomorrow’s front will bring us some ducks. I’m sleeping in tomorrow but will look around at some point.

Posted By:
Bert Holtzman
Field Editor

Ohio River Bottoms 12-02-2012 11:37
– – –
Slow duck hunting this weekend. We hunted the slough both days. Ducks flew early. Yesterday we had some mallards sit down for a while before shooting time. We shot too soon once time reached us. We ended up with two mallards and a wood duck. Saw about 30 ducks, including one nice group of wood ducks.

We hunted this morning and saw the mallards again but they landed elsewhere. That was it.

Season will be a bust until we get some weather.

Posted By:
Bert Holtzman
Field Editor

South Zone 11-25-2012 15:42
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A whole lot of nothing over the weekend. We saw the coldest air of the season, as it turns out. That hurt us as all wood ducks are now pretty much gone. I saw a few nice groups of mallards but neither wanted anything to do with us. We worked a group of gadwall yesterday. I shot a few this morning.

We need weather to give us some new birds. Mild temps are headed here. Not good.

Posted By:
jsnyder
Web Member

Bloomington-Linton 11-19-2012 12:28
Cloudy, Light Rain & Drizzle – 35-40 Degrees
Had some great hunts Monday-Wednesday last week. Killed 48 ducks while visiting my family last week(5 hunters). The Pond is holding a lot of ducks if you work to get to the right spot. Shot a 3 man limit on Mallards Monday and a 2 man limit on Tuesday. Had a couple pintails, teal and gadwalls mixed in. Also shot 2 Ruddy ducks. Its a lot of walking especially with 70lb decoy bags on your back, buit well worth it.

Posted By:
Bert Holtzman
Field Editor

Ohio River Bottoms 11-18-2012 16:18
– – –
Limited ducks in the area right now. Most of the wood ducks that were here for opening day are still here but some have left. We did appear to pick up a few mallards but not all that much. Stay safe out there. I’ll be sure to have a report in for the opener come Saturday and maybe before then if numbers come up as I scout mid week.

Posted By:
TRM
Web Member

north 11-11-2012 19:26
– – –
do dam windy today,not much going on up here. Hopefully tonight will change that. hopefully!

Posted By:
Bert Holtzman
Field Editor

Ohio River 11-04-2012 20:18
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 45-50 Degrees
We hunted twice again today. This morning we set up in a creek close to the river and got three mallards. There wasn’t a whole lot flying. We saw a handful of ducks, woodies and mallards.

This afternoon we hunted a slough along the river. Wood ducks all around from 4 PM until shooting time. I should have had two but my gun misfired on what would have been an easy double.

This was the first weekend of hunting for my lab, Dakota. She did pretty good although we did have some issues yesterday with her not picking up a duck on a retrieve. I worked with her on this before we hunted this afternoon but I guess she’ll have to wait a few weeks until she can get her first real retrieve.

Posted By:
Bert Holtzman
Field Editor

Ohio River Bottoms 11-03-2012 18:59
Cloudy, Occassional Rain Showers – 35-40 Degrees
We opened our season with a morning and pm hunt. Ended our first day with three wood ducks, a hen green wing teal and a hen spoonie. I’ve been scouting for a few weeks now and bird numbers really dropped this week. The river did rise and they could be spread out but we also could have had some birds leave with all the weather this week. Back at it in the morning…

Posted By:
Bert Holtzman
Field Editor

Ohio River 10-27-2012 20:36
– – –
I scouted our sloughs by the river this afternoon and got some good time in with the dog as well. She did very well and is ready for the opener. When we got to our spot a group of twenty five woodies was on the verge of landing. We sat for a while and then I got up and we walked to some other spots that might be good later in the season. I marked them with flagging tape. I jumped about a dozen green wing teal in the midst of doing this. We didn’t stay for the roost but I’m sure it was spectacular. A bunch roosted in the slough a few Tuesdays ago.

I was suprised to find some standing water in a field we hunted last season. I’m checking this spot out in the morning. We might be able to use this spot next weekend if there’s some birds using the timber around this area.

Posted By:
Bert Holtzman
Field Editor

South Zone- Ohio River 09-01-2012 08:36
– – –
Two guns, six geese (one band) this morning. We pass shot and really walloped what we could. Had we used decoys and layout blinds we probably would have had easy limits. Still not a bad start. Those bands really make you feel good. We will set up again Monday provided it isn’t pouring. Happy hunting a good luck.

We also saw four teal. Water is real low in our spots for them.

Posted By:
Forrest-Eads
Field Editor

Goose Pond 08-27-2012 18:39
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – Over 70 Degrees
Despite the drought report, the goose pond is still holding water. If anyone is looking to hunt teal, that will be the place to be !

For those getting out this weekend, get your rain gear ready. Isaac will hopefully visit and bring some much needed water to this area.

Posted By:
Forrest-Eads
Field Editor

Mid SW Indiana 08-21-2012 01:39
Cloudy, Light Rain & Drizzle – Over 70 Degrees
Same story on the crop scene. Not pretty. But I saw more doves than I have seen in some time. Kinda like the old days when fields were actually harvested in September. Every watering hole was way down and I saw very few waterfowl. Hope to get a wabash trip in the next few days. I am sure the birds are just thick in some field that is considered “crop manipulation” and unhuntable. The CO’s should be ordering up extra tickets to give out this year.

Posted By:
Forrest-Eads
Field Editor

Mid-Southern Indiana 08-12-2012 02:59
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – Over 70 Degrees
The crops look pitiful most everywhere I have looked. Miniture ears of corn if any…soybean plants without beans growing and a good portion of things have already been cut for silage. Worst I can remember since ’88’.

I have seen several groups of geese…but they are keyed in on water. The white river looks like a creek, but the geese are staying close.

Lots of windshield time starting this week. I will hopefully see something worth sharing…that isn’t on a retention pond.

Posted By:
Bert Holtzman
Field Editor

Ohio River bottoms 08-04-2012 23:02
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I’m happy to report that Thursday night’s rain storm gave us good amounts of water. There was a lot of standing water in the fields and I even noticed that a wetland had water in it. The sloughs should have at least a little water in them. It’s a start. We are due to get more rain tonight and tomorrow. Hopefully we’ll have a wet end to summer which builds towards the season.

Posted By:
Bert Holtzman
Field Editor

Ohio River 07-16-2012 16:27
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Drought conditions persist but we got a nice little rain on Saturday. I drove through the bottoms Saturday evening and the corn looks okay if it was planted early, not so much for that planted late, as it is struggling to grow. Soybeans aren’t too bad. The sloughs should be bone dry so it’s going to take a deluge to even think about hunting there in the early season.

Fund-raising season is in full gear right now. Our Tell City DU event is September 8.

Posted By:
Bert Holtzman
Field Editor

03-02-2012 22:06
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Please keep those affected by today’s tragic tornado outbreak in your thoughts and prayers.

Posted By:
Bert Holtzman
Field Editor

Ohio River Zone 01-22-2012 12:26
Cloudy, Light Rain & Drizzle – 30-34 Degrees – Open Water
We set up in a flooded field/flooded timer this morning for strangely enough, wood ducks. There had been some mallards also using this general area. What a pretty spot. I’m sure we will hunt it every so often next season and in future years as well. There were several small groups of wood ducks flying early. We had one group of four drop in front of Marty and I, but only got one. The other groups of ducks just flew by. The mallards we had been seeing never showed up. I was able to get a green wing drake while trying to jump shoot some wood ducks later in the morning. We ended up with the drake wood duck and drake green wing and called it a season, which was pretty poor overall. I’m already looking forward to next year. My yellow lab will be ready to go then. We hunted yesterday and I took her but we only saw two ducks.

Cheers on another season. I hope yours went well.

Posted By:
Bert Holtzman
Field Editor

Ohio River 01-16-2012 12:03
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Not much flying this morning. We saw ten ducks. No shots. The only other party at the ramp killed two gadwall and saw fifteen ducks.

We did see a flock of 30 geese that gave us a sniff or two before sailing down the creek.

Posted By:
Bert Holtzman
Field Editor

Ohio River 01-15-2012 12:59
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Same spot as yesterday. We had two ducks come in and swim out of range prior to shooting time. Three more sailed out from the decoys fifteen minutes later. A few more birds passed by here and there. That was the extent of our morning. I’ll be out tomorrow morning for whatever reason! One more week left for the ducks to get here.

Posted By:
Bert Holtzman
Field Editor

Ohio River 01-14-2012 10:37
Mostly Sunny, No Precipitation – 10-20 Degrees – Open Water
We hunted off the river this morning and got two mallards. We’re seeing some new birds the past few days and they flew early this morning and not much after that. This clipper might give us a few more.

Last weekend we ended up getting a few around Indy. Pretty slow season so far.

Posted By:
Bert Holtzman
Field Editor

Ohio River Zone 01-02-2012 12:41
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Saturday hunt: zero ducks spotted in our cornfield. Birds are still spotty right now.we might get some with this front.

No problem Dave. Happy New Year to you as well.

Posted By:
davehunter03
Web Member

12-31-2011 20:19
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Bert: I live next door in E. Ill. I want to thank you for all your posts, I really appreciate them. HNY!
Sr.

Posted By:
Bert Holtzman
Field Editor

Ohio River 12-31-2011 10:48
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Dad and I hunted the flooded corn field again this morning. We saw around 30 geese and ZERO ducks.

Happy New Year. Hopefully limits are coming! One can only hope.

Posted By:
Bert Holtzman
Field Editor

Ohio River 12-30-2011 10:36
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Set up in the corn field again this morning. A trio of hunters, one of which I met scouting this season, was already set up but they invited me to hunt so I gladly joined them. What a nice group of guys. We didn’t see many ducks but shot two separate times. Too bad we didn’t touch a feather either time! We saw mostly gadwall but had one mallard and a black duck work us too. Hopefully we can shoot better tomorrow.

Posted By:
Bert Holtzman
Field Editor

Ohio River 12-29-2011 15:12
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Been hunting a little the past few days. Nothing eventful down here. It’s all water with nothing on it. We’ve killed less than ten the past few weeks.

Posted By:
Corey-Cordray
Guest

Home 12-28-2011 20:08
Arctic Blast – Froze Out
Have not hunted in a couple weeks. Not really into it this year. Going to be thinning out some of my stuff after the season so contact me if you need decoys or gear. Odds are I’ve probably got whatever you want..

Posted By:
Bert Holtzman
Field Editor

Ohio River: flooded field 12-27-2011 04:45
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We saw about 50 ducks Monday morning. Should have been in the spot we hunted our last time out but we weren’t.

Hopefully this weather does something for us. We need some newbies.

Posted By:
fatman300
Web Member

Kankakee Fish & Wildlife 12-25-2011 02:51
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they killed at least 105 birds today tomorrows the last day up north . So Merry Christmas and good luck

Posted By:
Bert Holtzman
Field Editor

Ohio River: flooded corn 12-24-2011 10:28
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 25-30 Degrees – Open Water
We saw around 70 ducks this morning. I arrived early and set out a dozen Dakota Extreme mallards, six Higdon magnum mallards and six goose decoys. We had two mallards come in ten minutes until shooting time. Then there was a lull. Two gadwall came in right as we started to complain about not seeing anything. We nailed both and worked a few other groups. That was about it. Better than yesterday but not what I had hoped.

Merry Christmas. All I want is an Alberta Clipper.

Posted By:
Bert Holtzman
Field Editor

Ohio River 12-23-2011 10:46
Cloudy, Light Rain & Drizzle – 35-40 Degrees
We set up in the slough this morning and saw around 50 mallards and a few hoodies. No shots fired and none heard. We worked about four groups of ducks. They continue to be very wary.

Dakota, my four-month old yellow lab, had her first duck hunt. She did very well. She sat by me all morning and even seemed to know what was going on when we were working ducks.

Dad and I found some ducks in a flooded field after we were finished hunting. We’ve been waiting for the right time to hunt it. Tomorrow seems as good a time as ever.

Posted By:
Bert Holtzman
Field Editor

12-21-2011 20:53
–

Posted By:
Bert Holtzman
Field Editor

Ohio River 12-21-2011 20:53
Mostly Cloudy, No Precipitation – 45-50 Degrees
Tuesday: we hunted a creek off the river for geese. We didn’t see a duck or a goose.

I’ve scouted the past two days as well. NOTHING…

The weather until the start of the New Year is pretty mild. We need snow and cold real soon or this is a lost season for sure.

Posted By:
Bert Holtzman
Field Editor

Ohio River Zone 12-18-2011 11:15
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 25-30 Degrees – Open Water
Saturday: Dad and I set up in a flooded field. We saw several groups but none wanted anything to do with us. Later in the morning I walked to the slough behind us. Ducks began to work it and I shot and connected twice but lost both birds (mallards) in the buck brush. We also tried to jump shoot some wood ducks but had no luck.

Sunday: I set up with a few friends in the slough the birds were working the previous day. We saw several ducks early and they landed in other areas. Ice seemed to hurt us as there wasn’t a big landing zone. We had four wood ducks come and land by us but we couldn’t see them because of the buck brush. Several groups of mallards worked us but we couldn’t finish any.

All in all two fun hunts despite the fact that no birds came home with us.

Posted By:
Bert Holtzman
Field Editor

Ohio River- flooded field 12-11-2011 12:26
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 10-20 Degrees – Open Water
Dad and I set up this morning in a flooded field next to the river. We saw about the same number of birds as yesterday, including several big groups of 20-30 ducks. We had three green heads come in perfectly about ten minutes into the hunt and took all three. We worked a several more groups but didn’t find much luck. Most ducks were very skittish. Back at it again next weekend. Everything will be thawed out by then.

Posted By:
Bert Holtzman
Field Editor

Ohio River- flooded corn 12-10-2011 13:08
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I saw around 300 birds this morning but couldn’t keep a hole open. Better luck tomorrow hopefully. We found a spot with current that should stay open.

Worked several bunches of 20 plus birds. Things are starting to turn around a bit here along the river.

Posted By:
TRM
Web Member

north 12-06-2011 20:44
– – 30-34 Degrees – Open Water
it sucked! bird watched all day. Saw sandhills all day. hopefully ducks are not far behind, cause we are running out of time. Thanks indiana dnr for starting our seasone so early at least give us till christmas. day 3 tomorrow.

Posted By:
Bert Holtzman
Field Editor

Ohio River flooded corn 12-03-2011 10:22
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Another stinker this morning. Daa and I set up in a cornfield right by the river. We heard pintails and mallards before shooting time. Saw about 15 ducks and 25 geese. Hopefully we get some cold weather. Everything else is in place.

[Edited By Bert Holtzman on 2011-12-03 10:23]

Posted By:
Corey-Cordray
Guest

South Zone 11-27-2011 10:55
Cloudy, High Winds – 45-50 Degrees
It’s been a fun start to the 2011 duck season. We’ve managed to kill a few birds in spite of some really awful shooting. Yesterday we should have killed 18 teal in about an hour but only killed six because we were so awful.

Birds have been plentiful thus far and should get a little bit better in the coming weeks. I’ll be focused on ducks until we freeze up then it will be time put the hammer down on some honkers.

Posted By:
Bert Holtzman
Field Editor

Ohio River: flooded timber 11-26-2011 19:34
– – –
Let me try this again:

Our opener sucked…hard in a nutshell.

I scouted the area last night and had been for the past few weeks as well. I saw quite a few birds on those prior runs but not as many last night. We set up this morning and had wood ducks and mallards all around. They flew out early and most did not return. We ended up with a mallard. We also crippled a few wood ducks.

I set up in another slough this evening and saw thirteen ducks. Pitiful and a hell of a let down.

It’s worth noting that the river is on the rise. The slough jumped up two feet over night.me should have backwater next weekend. Hopefully it brings some ducks. They usually show up when the river creeps up.

Posted By:
oldsilverfox
Web Member

Hamilton County 11-25-2011 09:44
– – 40-45 Degrees
Hunted a new wetland area this morning. Saw 10 to 15 mallards, but they did not want to work. Had two flocks of geese come off the river at the same time. I broke 4 out of the back flock, but at the last minute they returned to their buddies and flew east. That was fun!

I do not believethe ducks have come thorugh her yet. We should have seen more.

Still waiting for the sandhills! LOL

Beautiful sunrise.

Stay Safe Fox

Posted By:
Bert Holtzman
Field Editor

South Zone 11-23-2011 15:37
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We set up in a corn field we had some success in for the first round of the South Zone split. Birds did not want to feed today. We ended up with three geese and two mallards. See you Saturday. It’s finally here!

Posted By:
Bert Holtzman
Field Editor

Ohio River Bottoms 11-19-2011 18:22
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I’ve seen quite a few birds in the flooded timber this past week, a mix of woodies, mallards and a few teal. I’m not sure how much we’ll be able to get into them, as they’re in a lot of buck brush. Nonetheless, it’s all systems go next Saturday.

Two to five inches of rain starting tomorrow.

Posted By:
Lindo
Guest

None 11-16-2011 11:06
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Any reports from North of Indianapolis area? New to lebanon and looking to see if it’s worth a go. Don’t have any gear yet as I just moved here from out of state. Let me know?

Posted By:
fatman300
Web Member

NW Indiana 11-15-2011 23:39
– – 60-65 Degrees
grand kankakee marsh over 1000 birds using property (lot of mallards) kankakee F&W corn opener not as good as I thought it would be (80 birds) but not bad, seems like most were killed in the corn. Heard they did good at the Slough and Lasalle too. But temps up again so harvests go down.

Posted By:
fatman300
Web Member

NW Indiana 11-10-2011 20:47
Cloudy, Snow & Rain Mix – 30-34 Degrees – Ice
Pretty cr ppy out, wish I were going.
The Kank F&W has been killing 30-35 a day out of 20 blinds. Corn opener the 14th should be good!
Grand Kankakee over the past week a total of 152 hunters harvested 69 birds. This brings the season total to 584 hunters harvesting 349 birds.
This week we plan on hunting spots 1-8, 10-19, and little hickory marsh. The shooting schedule for spots 10-19 is variable so please call ahead if you are interested in hunting those spots. Spots 1-8 will continue to be hunted daily. Little Hickory Marsh will be closed on Nov.6-7, 2011
Should be able to get out and give personal observations in the next week or so.(Still not “supposed to drive” for 2 weeks)

Posted By:
TRM
Web Member

north 11-10-2011 17:11
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4 guys killed 12 mallards 1 pintail 3 gw teal and 2 redheads. not a bad day but hunted until 130 to get them. Little to no calling. LET THE BIRDS WORKD.

Posted By:
TRM
Web Member

North zone 11-09-2011 00:09
– – –
killed 8 mallards last saturday. In a private spot holding a lot of ducks with a little bit of everthing in it. Only took a couple hours. I am hearing good reports from some. Not hunting till thursday weather looks good but who knows. bring on the cold.

Posted By:
TRM
Web Member

North Zone( bird watchin) 10-30-2011 21:41
Cloudy, Occassional Rain Showers – 50-60 Degrees
had a big day today saw 2 mallards. we must of had a huge migration last night. lol. I cant type either i guess tonight.

Posted By:
Bert Holtzman
Field Editor

Ohio River 10-30-2011 10:22
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 30-34 Degrees – Open Water
Four wood ducks this morning. There were a lot of ducks in the slough but they flew out early and we didn’t have many chances. We saw mallards, wood ducks and teal again.

Posted By:
Bert Holtzman
Field Editor

Ohio River Zone 10-29-2011 15:51
– – 30-34 Degrees – Open Water
Not a great opener for us today. Three groups of us set up in various spots along a slough next to the river. We got five wood ducks and lost one. Not bad for us having around ten woodies in range the entire morning. Another group of our boys got three and one hit the skunk, which ruined our opener. We saw a few hundred ducks. Most were wood ducks but we also saw teal and worked two mallards. The eight woodies we harvested were our lunch today. What a treat that was.

Better luck tomorrow is hopefully in the cards.

Posted By:
TRM
Web Member

North 10-27-2011 22:57
– – –
not much going on. Very little number of mallards. Maybe got a push of some soft ducks Pinners, spoonies and green wingers. Lots of water and contines to rain. ducks are spread out and The next couple weeks could maybe start getting better. Hope for bad weather up north all i got to say cause right now it is bad.

Posted By:
fatman300
Web Member

NW 10-27-2011 14:07
– – –
Kankakee F&W averaging 55 ducks a day, over the last 11 days in 22 blinds. Grand Kankakee County Pk. has harvested 113 birds over the last week and are hunting 13 blinds. No personal knowledge just what I’ve found.

Posted By:
Bert Holtzman
Field Editor

South Zone Corn Field 10-22-2011 15:29
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 35-40 Degrees
We set up in a corn field this morning in the Indianapolis area. Limits of geese were taken as well as a trio of mallards. We hosted a few new Tell City Ducks Unlimited Chapter members and they had a great time. Geese were a bit weird this morning but we finally started getting them within range. Very few ducks were flying. It was a lazy day for them.

Back at it next weekend for the two-day Ohio River Zone opener. I’m sleeping in tomorrow. Basketball season has worn me down already.

Posted By:
jsnyder
Web Member

10-18-2011 05:49
– – –
No body posted. I guess the northern guys didnt kill any duck last weekend.

Posted By:
Bert Holtzman
Field Editor

Ohio River Zone 09-30-2011 21:51
– – –
Checked some water levels yesterday. The slough I checked had a good amount of water and should be all systems go come late October.

Got a yellow lab pup today. Named her Dakota. She’s already spoiled rotten.

Posted By:
Bert Holtzman
Field Editor

Ohio River Zone 09-24-2011 17:58
– – –
RAIN!!! We’ve had around two inches so far with at least another inch tomorrow night. Farmers are just getting started with the harvest. I will check water levels once they get the corn and beans picked. This rain will help but it won’t be enough. With the biggest fall flight ever recorded, here’s hoping there will be an influx of water by the time the two-day season kicks in.

Posted By:
Bert Holtzman
Field Editor

Ohio River 09-08-2011 05:56
Mostly Sunny, No Precipitation – 50-60 Degrees
We had a Labor Day teal hunt for our first outing of the season. The slough we hunted had some water, but was really down for the most part. We saw about 80 wood ducks, no teal.

There were some people who did see strong numbers on the river this week. No such luck on Monday for us.

Posted By:
Bert Holtzman
Field Editor

Ohio River 07-15-2011 13:14
– – –
Rain continues to be in abundance along the river. I’ve finally started to see some geese around again too.

Posted By:
Bert Holtzman
Field Editor

Ohio River 07-03-2011 22:44
– – –
I’m not sure how good our wood duck hatch was this year but Canada Geese appear to have taken a hit. I’ve seen very few families around.

The good news is that we are no where near close to last summer’s drought status. The sloughs are full right now.

Looking forward to the season. It’s getting closer. Seasons are set in August. Stay tuned.

Posted By:
Bert Holtzman
Field Editor

Ohio River 01-30-2011 14:53
– – –
Ended our season this weekend with five geese. We got one banded bird.

Not a bad season for us. We eclipsed last year’s numbers with 158 ducks and 90 geese. The boys will be headed north next weekend for the late goose season. I’m staying behind. We’ll all be in Columbus at the free Ducks Unlimited Volunteer Celebration at the Holiday Inn on Saturday. Should be a good time.

Now… a word about next season. With all the snow in Canada next year should be a banner migration if the nesting conditions are as good as they should be and the weather goes right. I’m already excited about it.

Posted By:
Bert Holtzman
Field Editor

Ohio River 01-25-2011 19:13
Cloudy, Winds Calm – 10-20 Degrees – Open Water
We set up on the river this past Sunday and got three ducks, two mallards and a gadwall. We didn’t see many ducks at all the there weren’t many shots. Hopefully we can end our season on a good note this weekend (you can hunt the river during KY’s season with an IN license as long as you’re in your boat).

UPDATE: Apparently IN has changed their regulations about hunting the river. If you don’t have a KY license the season is closed.

[Edited By Bert Holtzman on 2011-01-27 09:41]

Posted By:
Bert Holtzman
Field Editor

Ohio River Zone 01-22-2011 17:00
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 0-10 Degrees – Ice
Headed to our hole that was open y-day evening this morning. There were a lot of ducks in it then and we figured we’d bust ice and shoot some of them. Saw one workable duck, and we didn’t fire a shot. Our mallard machine didn’t keep the hole open big enough to grab their attention. There were several volleys early on the river and some ducks at the mouth of the creek. Not much though. We’ll hunt the river in the morning and see how things go.

Posted By:
Bert Holtzman
Field Editor

Ohio River Zone 01-17-2011 10:20
Mostly Cloudy, No Precipitation – 25-30 Degrees – Open Water
We set up in the same place we hunted Saturday and hoped the ducks we saw yesterday would show up again. A few did. They worked our decoyless hole of water about as good as they could. We ended up with three mallards, the only three we saw in range. The rest were lounged in another hole of water a hundred yards away. We didn’t see many flying at all and were disappointed with our hunt. Back at it next weekend or Friday if we get a snow day.

Posted By:
Bert Holtzman
Field Editor

Ohio River Zone 01-16-2011 15:13
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Saturday- We set up in a small open hole of water and thought for sure we would have a pile of birds. We would have had we been able to shoot! Ended up with four birds, 3 mallards and a gadwall. We had five different groups of 2-8 birds come on down into our faces. We haven’t shot so bad in a long time. There was also a good amount of shooting on the river.

Sunday- We set up in a creek off the river and got two mallards. Had three come in a few minutes after shooting time. We also saw two groups of 100 or so birds early. No shooting on the river but we quit early.

Back out for one more day in the morning then I’ll be off until the finale. Be safe out there.

Posted By:
Bert Holtzman
Field Editor

South Zone 01-13-2011 18:03
Mostly Sunny, No Precipitation – 10-20 Degrees – Open Water
We set up at a lake this morning. Threw out six Magnum Mallard Higdon decoys and waited for the birds. For the most part, they never came. Several hundred had been using this spot the last three days. Only a few came in for a visit. We ended up with a golden eye, five mallards and a goose. Not what we hoped for but we still had a good time. Back to work in the morning. Back in the hunt Saturday.

I hope everyone had a good season in the South Zone. Next season will be here before you know it.

Posted By:
Bert Holtzman
Field Editor

Ohio River Zone 01-11-2011 17:35
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Sunday hunt:

We set up in a creek off of the river but got froze out. We did see a good group of ducks on the river on the way home.

They didn’t stay long. Talked to some boys at the ramp today and they said the past two days haven’t been very good. The past two days I haven’t seen all that much scouting but I’m giving it a go in the morning for a quick hunt on some birds I have been seeing.

Posted By:
Bert Holtzman
Field Editor

Ohio River Zone 01-08-2011 13:27
Arctic Blast – 10-20 Degrees – Open Water
We didn’t see much this morning. Saw around 12 and got two gadwall. It’s been a rough couple of weeks since our best hunt of the season down here on and around the river. After we were done we found some birds that we might get a crack at in the morning. It’s going to be cold!

We seem to have picked up some birds the past few days. Saw one nice group of gadwall and some mallards and also saw some divers scouting mid morning. Things will hopefully be picking up.

Posted By:
Bert Holtzman
Field Editor

Ohio River Zone 01-02-2011 15:14
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 25-30 Degrees – Open Water
Precious few birds around here since last Sunday. We tried to get to a spot I’d scouted out and while it wasn’t holding very many, it was probably our best option today. We arrived to see hunters setting up so we went to plan B. We didn’t see much. I should have killed a couple of gadwall but didn’t have very good shots because of a tree I should have set up on the other side of. We saw about ten ducks after seeing hundreds a week ago. That’s hunting in Indiana. Back at it again next weekend. Things aren’t looking very good right now.

Posted By:
Bert Holtzman
Field Editor

Ohio River Zone 12-27-2010 13:41
Sunny & Clear, High Winds – 25-30 Degrees – Open Water
We set up in the same hold as yesterday and threw out fifty decoys in hopes of getting some ducks in when the sun got up: a wasted effort on our part. Talk about going from high to low: we saw a grand total of FOUR ducks. There was a lot more open water in the marsh today but after the sun popped up and the wind died down the ice began to build. The day wasn’t a total loss. We got five geese jump shooting. Two had bands.

I’m not sure what the deal was this morning. After seeing hundreds of birds yesterday I was excited about this morning’s hunt and thought we’d have some ducks come in early again. I heard no shots on the river and there was only one boat at the ramp this morning. Maybe the ducks weren’t flying, left, or went somewhere else.

The boys are headed north this afternoon. I’m taking a few days off to spend time with my daughter and take her to speech therapy. Hopefully the birds come back or perhaps we’ll find another spot they might be in. With the approaching thaw, it will be tough to tell.

Something else I’ve taken notice of, decoys! I bought my first dozen Dakota duck decoys today and am excited about adding these to our spread. As wary as these birds are I think they can only help us.

[Edited By Bert Holtzman on 2010-12-27 14:16]

Posted By:
callmaster64
Web Member

n. Indiana 12-26-2010 20:10
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Sounds like you had a good hunt Bert good partners are hard to come by sounds like you got a good one and scouting pays off. 2 of us today shot our geese in the northwest part of the state. Good luck and keep wackin em.

Posted By:
Corey-Cordray
Guest

Home 12-26-2010 14:09
Arctic Blast – Froze Out
Haven’t even taken the gun off of safety the last few days. Not sure what’s going on but we’ve hunted the river and didn’t see more than 10 birds. Scouted my goose fields and they’re empty too. What a fun season this is!

Posted By:
Bert Holtzman
Field Editor

Ohio River Zone 12-26-2010 12:52
Cloudy, Accumulating Snow – 25-30 Degrees – Open Water
We set up in an open hole off the river this morning, hoping for a great hunt. We got one. We had originally planned to go north this morning but Randy checked out a spot where it appeared yesterday’s ducks were going. He put us on the X yet again by doing excellent scouting. We made a short boat ride in and set up with three decoys a piece in two different areas just a bit apart. When the sun began to provide light group after group of ducks POURED into our spot. Tony, Marty and I sat back and watched for 10 minutes or so. We had a group of 12 right in front of us. Just as we were getting ready to shoot they took off and we decided to wait a bit longer. Another group was sitting 40 yards out and we decided it was time. By the time all three of us had shot, we had about 8 birds down. We had a lull and our other group moved closer to us. For the rest of the morning we had ducks work us and scratched a few here and there. Our morning ended with 12 mallards. We lost about four in the ice. What a hunt! We hope to do it again in the morning. Kudos again to Randy. He has worked his tail end off for our clan for years. You can’t ask for a better hunting partner.

Posted By:
Bert Holtzman
Field Editor

Ohio River 12-25-2010 10:30
Cloudy, Snow Flurries – 25-30 Degrees – Open Water
We set up in the same locale as yesterday. Had a bad Christmas hunt! We saw a lot of ducks but they were in big groups and all high. Better luck next Christmas! Have a good one. We’re headed north tomorrow.

Posted By:
Bert Holtzman
Field Editor

Ohio River 12-24-2010 11:17
Mostly Cloudy, No Precipitation – 30-34 Degrees – Open Water
We had a fun little hunt this morning. It started off with breakfast at Marty’s. He made a fine breakfast, as did Randy earlier for our opener. Soon after eating we hit the road for a brief car ride to our spot, which is an open hole of water off the river. Ducks flew high early. We had a nice group of mallards fly out to feed, with a nice flock of gadwall shortly after. A trio of ducks also flew lower early but weren’t interested. Finally our first group of ducks gave us a look. By the time we raised up to shoot it was almost too far a shot. To our surprise we flushed about 30 geese up after missing the ducks. We had a long shot at the first group and hit one. Another group was a little closer but not much. One got too close and we shot him and he nearly fell on Randy! After we got our birds we sat for a while. Before long a large flock of mallards began working us. We had about 100 birds all over us! Unfortunately, they landed out behind us in some open water after working our small spread for about 10 minutes. It was quite an experience. We also worked several other large groups all morning. These ducks are decoy-shy, call-shy, ect. We could have used some movement and will have a mallard machine going in the morning to see if that works a little better. Merry Christmas. We still have a month left. Stay safe.

Posted By:
Bert Holtzman
Field Editor

Ohio River Zone 12-22-2010 10:37
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Hunted the same spot we did yesterday. It was pretty much a bust hunt. We saw about half the ducks as yesterday and only one group of five gave us a look. We also had a group of geese work us a little. I’ll be at it again Friday.

Be safe out there. We had a fatality on the river in Louisville about a week ago. Always wear a life jacket.