Category: Maryland

Posted By:
Craig-Emory
Field Editor

worcester county 01-05-2013 19:11
Mostly Sunny, No Precipitation – 30-34 Degrees – Open Water
we hunted the open water today. we had a canadian goose land in the decoys twenty minutes before leagal shooting time, and two buflehead also, but all left before leagal shooting time. we did see a lot of ducks. most of them that decoyed we killed.we ended up with one hen common merganzer, three drake bufflehead, and eight hen bufflehead. there was a fair amount of canadian geese, lots o snow geese, but most were flying high. on the way home on rt. 50 just in talbot county we saw 1500 to 2000 snow geese. what a sight. then at the bay bridge on the right was a huge raft of canadians and on the left was a lot of big duck.

Posted By:
Craig-Emory
Field Editor

worcester county 12-16-2012 17:24
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 35-40 Degrees
there was quite a few hunters out yesterday. there was a lot of shooting all morning. a lot of birds were moving before leagal shooting. we saw a lot of birds. fair amount of blacks,some teal, still some wood ducks, lot of bufflehead, and an awful lot of merganzers. saw canadians but not many. saw one masave flock of snows. i think it’s the largest flock of snows i’ve ever sean. towards the end of our hunt for about fifteen minutes the merganzers went crazy. flocks of around thirty would buzz our decoys or just out of range. we killed one black duck, one hen greenwing teal, two hen bufflehead, and five hen common merganzers.

Posted By:
Craig-Emory
Field Editor

eastern shore 12-08-2012 16:36
Mostly Sunny, No Precipitation – 45-50 Degrees
ben waterfowl hunting virginia eastern shore sence maryland deer has been in. on way home this afternoon. seeing more canadian geese. not a lot of ducks. but at the kent narrows bridge saw a huge raft of divers, and crossing the bay bridge saw quite a few huge rafts of divers.should be hunting maryland next week.

Posted By:
LakeCoveFarm
Web Member

Honga River, lower Dorchester 11-13-2012 15:23
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 45-50 Degrees
Out brushing blinds Friday night and had 4 try to pitch in while we were just standing around. Saw 15-20 big ducks land in the surrounding marsh. Saturday morning – nothing. Saturday eve we killed a green head, but it was the only bird we saw all day. Monday morning was the worst – nothing but crows in the air. Only saw a few divers, a couple high flights of swans and a handful of local geese. Read the northern DU field reports and everyone seems to be reporting same – hasn’t gotten going yet.

Posted By:
Craig-Emory
Field Editor

worcester county 11-10-2012 20:21
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 45-50 Degrees
we hunted this morning.just before shooting time hundreds of wood duck were leaving the roost. none gave us a look but we could have pass shot at many of them. we heard a lot of shooting and we think some people knew were the wood were going. we had a group of about eight ducks decoy and we killed three. one hen widgeon and two hen gadwall. we had a drake mallard decoy and we killed him. he landed in the reads and wouldn’t have retieved him if it wasn’t for our dog. we had six common merganser decoy and lilled all six two drakes and four hens. we did see canadian geese but not many. way out on the open water we saw a fair amount of buffle head.

Posted By:
Craig-Emory
Field Editor

worcester county 10-20-2012 17:32
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 60-65 Degrees
hunted yesterday evening. we saw a flock of 6 wood duck and then a pair of wood duck and that was it for the evening. no other ducks and no geese. but we did hear some shooting to the south of us. the next morning we had a wood duck try to land in our decoys and we missed it. we had two different pairs of mallards decoy and we took one from each pair, a drake and a hen. we heard very little shooting. saw a couple small flocks of canadian geese, no teal, couple small flocks of wood ducks, fraction of the birds that we saw last week.

Posted By:
Craig-Emory
Field Editor

worcester county 10-13-2012 19:47
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 35-40 Degrees
we hunted this morning. there was hundreds of wood duck. most knew where they were going and didn’t even give us a look. some looked, but were not interested. we had a hen mallard decoy and we killed her. three ring neck decoyed and we got a drake and a hen. we had a hen green wing buzz the decoys and dropped her. there were some big ducks in the area, some teal, but again lots and lots of wood duck. we saw a fair amount of canaian geese. but we thought it was a little early to see snow geese. there was a fair amount of shooting in the area. i think this was the best opening day for my 11 year old chesapeake. i have a 6 month chesapeake that i’am hoping to get out this year.

Posted By:
Craig-Emory
Field Editor

worcester county 10-13-2012 19:47
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 35-40 Degrees
we hunted this morning. there was hundreds of wood duck. most knew where they were going and didn’t even give us a look. some looked, but were not interested. we had a hen mallard decoy and we killed her. three ring neck decoyed and we got a drake and a hen. we had a hen green wing buzz the decoys and dropped her. there were some big ducks in the area, some teal, but again lots and lots of wood duck. we saw a fair amount of canaian geese. but we thought it was a little early to see snow geese. there was a fair amount of shooting in the area. i think this was the best opening day for my 11 year old chesapeake. i have a 6 month chesapeake that i’am hoping to get out this year.

Posted By:
Tony Senn
Web Member

Leipsic, DE 10-09-2012 10:14
– – –
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6th ANNUAL WATERFOWL HUNTER PARTY
When—Sunday November 11, 2012
Where-Leipsic Fire Hall-Leipsic, DE
Time— 12-Noon to 3:00 pm
Price—$35.00 Adult $15.00 17 and under
Includes- Homemade SNAPPER SOUP, Wings, Meatballs, Beer and Sodas
Other Activities- Lots and Lots of Raffles, Silent Auction and 6 Guns
OVER 100 DOZEN DECOYS!!!!

Contact –
Tickets available online at- www.ducks.org/de
Lou Caputo 302-388-1474 louis.caputo@pnc.com
Tony Senn 302-422-5068 tsenn@ducks.org

Posted By:
Craig-Emory
Field Editor

worcester couty 09-22-2012 18:01
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 60-65 Degrees
hunted for teal friday evening and saturday morning. friday saw quite a bit of wood ducks going to the roost, no big ducks only a few canadian geese and only saw two green wing teal that we got off the water as we were heading to the boat ramp. saturday was more of the same. but we did see more canadian geese and lots more wood ducks leaving the roost. we did here two different vollies of shots. both far away and in different derections. when we got back to the boat ramp, there was another group of hunters that had gone out and there hunt was just like ours.

Posted By:
Craig-Emory
Field Editor

worcester couty 09-22-2012 18:01
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 60-65 Degrees
hunted for teal friday evening and saturday morning. friday saw quite a bit of wood ducks going to the roost, no big ducks only a few canadian geese and only saw two green wing teal that we got off the water as we were heading to the boat ramp. saturday was more of the same. but we did see more canadian geese and lots more wood ducks leaving the roost. we did here two different vollies of shots. both far away and in different derections. when we got back to the boat ramp, there was another group of hunters that had gone out and there hunt was just like ours.

Posted By:
Craig-Emory
Field Editor

worcester & talbot counties 01-29-2012 08:50
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 40-45 Degrees
we hunted worcester county in the morning. we had greenwing teal buzz our decoys many times before legal shooting and no chance to shoot at teal once it was leagal shooting time. we didn’t see any big ducks, a lot of canadians and tons of snows, but they were way up in the sky. we didn’t see as many bufflehead as we had been seeing, but did kill three hens. in the evening we hunted a flooded grain fiels in talbot county. the geese didn’t fly until the last hour , and the only shot landed in the decoys five minutes after leagal shooting. of course we didn’t shoot. it didn’t want to leave as we were picking up the decoys. i will hunt snow geese in march, but the season has pretty much come to an end. the season didn’t live up to what it was supose to be, but we did the best with what birds that were here.

Posted By:
Craig-Emory
Field Editor

anne arundel 01-20-2012 18:48
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 35-40 Degrees
hunted this morning.saw a fair amount of canadians. we killed three. one was banded. not many ducks at all, but we killed two ring necks. a drake and a hen. just one week left.

Posted By:
Fred-Gillotte
Field Editor

Kent County 01-15-2012 16:48
Sunny & Clear, High Winds – 30-34 Degrees – Open Water
Greetings: Even after a huge cold front passage, Canada goose numbers are still way off. Maybe seeing a few more birds but this will go down as one of the worst seasons ever. Even prior to the moratorium in the mid nineties AP canada numbers were way above what is currently on the upper shore. Duck numbers are just as bad.

Posted By:
Craig-Emory
Field Editor

worcester county 01-14-2012 20:35
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 30-34 Degrees – Open Water
hunted this morning. not many hunters out. the geese are starting to move in. lots more canadians and huge flocks of snows. still not many big ducks. started the morning out by calling in a canadian and killing it. most bufflehead were flying solo or in twos. killed ten bufflehead, three drakes and seven hens. should of had a few more, but the sun was in our eyes at times. on way home didn,t see a lot of birds. but easton was loaded with canadians and cox creek was loaded with birds.

Posted By:
Fred-Gillotte
Field Editor

Kent County, Maryland 01-09-2012 08:42
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 50-60 Degrees
Greetings: Definite increase in Canada Geese and Puddle Duck numbers following short cold blast earlier last week. Had good darts of Mallards and Blacks. Saw a few Pintails and Baldies. Canads Geese flew good despite the bright moon.

Posted By:
Craig-Emory
Field Editor

worcester county 01-07-2012 20:49
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 45-50 Degrees
we hunted open water this morning.we saw swan,more canadian geese then we’ve been seeing,big flocks of snows,about six big ducks, and four mergansers. but the bufflehead were every where. we had small flocks checking out our decoys all morning. we killed six drake bufflehead and twelve hen bufflehead. on the way home from wicomico county to the bay bridge we were seeing more and more birds. mostly big ducks and canadian geese.

Posted By:
Craig-Emory
Field Editor

accomack county 01-02-2012 19:04
– – 40-45 Degrees
a lot of birds were moving early this morning. there is a fair amount black ducks, but they either flew high or held tight. the ducks that were moving were bufflehead and merganzers. we shot a drake hooded merganzer, four hen merganzers and two hen buffleheads. we didn’t see many canadians, no snows, and no brant. we didn’t hear many shots this morning. on the way home we saw some mallards and some canadian geese. maybe with the cold weather on the way we will see more birds.

Posted By:
Craig-Emory
Field Editor

calvert county 12-31-2011 17:19
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 45-50 Degrees
hunted a creek this morning. saw a swan, some geese anf four mallards. did hear some shooting, but not much. none in our group fired a shot. when heading home on the river we saw a ton of bufflehead in the middle, and some ole squal.

Posted By:
Fred-Gillotte
Field Editor

12-18-2011 09:09
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Posted By:
Fred-Gillotte
Field Editor

Havre de Grace, Maryland 12-18-2011 09:09
Mostly Cloudy, No Precipitation – 35-40 Degrees
Greetings: AP Canada Geese finally started to arrive here yesterday in big numbers. Geese started arriving mid-day through late night. Geese could be heard arriving on the Flats all night long. Hope this continues as goose numbers here on the upper bay have been dismal to date. Take care, FRED.

Posted By:
Craig-Emory
Field Editor

12-17-2011 12:33
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Posted By:
Craig-Emory
Field Editor

anne arundel 12-17-2011 12:32
Cloudy, Winds Calm – 40-45 Degrees
hunted a pond yesterday evening.saw fair amount of canadians a few mallards. managed to kill two canadians. this morning about the same.hunted the same pond. but we did see more mallards, but they were not interested at all. this morning we killed three canadians.

Posted By:
chuckadena3
Web Member

kent co. md 11-21-2011 22:58
– – –
hunted friday in an area of flooded corn ended up with 4 woodies and 2 teal.
hunted sat in a cut corn feild kille one canada goose eith over a 6′ wingspan never seen a goose that big.
monday hunted cut corn no geese

Posted By:
Craig-Emory
Field Editor

accomack county 11-20-2011 13:41
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 40-45 Degrees
hunted virginia’s opener. my father killed a drake hooded merganzer. had shots at two other ducks and had one land outside our decoys. saw a fair amount ducks fling in 6’s and 8’s on the move no looks. saw a couple small flocks of canadians and that was it. but had a good time.

Posted By:
Craig-Emory
Field Editor

lower shore 11-12-2011 15:58
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 40-45 Degrees
we saw a ton wood duck a fair amount of teal, tons of merganzers, and all of them had the after burners on. we did manage to kill two wood duck, one hen and one drake. we did see some black ducks, no canadians,and one big flock of snows fling high. a lot of hunters out this morning and we heard a lot of shooting.

Posted By:
Craig-Emory
Field Editor

lower shore 10-22-2011 17:50
– – 50-60 Degrees
hunted yesterday evening. only saw two big ducks fly by. saw a nice flock of snow geese and that was it for waterfowl.a lot of deer hunters were out, and there was a fair amount shooting going on. this morning was a repeat of yesterday evening. we saw three big ducks, two wood ducks, and a small flock of canadians. we did hear other duck hunters shoot, but we never fired a shot either day. a lot of deer hunters on the shore. be back out in nov.

Posted By:
Craig-Emory
Field Editor

lower shore 10-15-2011 18:29
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 50-60 Degrees
hunted a marsh this morning. we heard a lot of wood duck leave the roost before leagal shooting time. we saw some canadian geese, no big ducks. we heard a lot of shooting in the area. we only saw one hen blue wing teal decoy,and we dropped her and then we had three hen green wing teal decoy and we dropped them.

Posted By:
Tony Senn
Web Member

10-12-2011 10:57
– – –
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WHERE- LEIPSIC FIREHOUSE LEIPSIC, DE

Time -12:00-noon to 3:00 pm

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Online ticket sales end on 11/19/2011. Buy now

Posted By:
Craig-Emory
Field Editor

lower shore 09-17-2011 16:15
Mostly Cloudy, No Precipitation – 50-60 Degrees
hunted a marsh this morning. had a canadian land right in our decoys just after sunrise. about an hour later had a group of eight green wing buzz our decoys, but we were not ready. saw a lone mallard and a couple more canadians and thst was it. weather was great for september. we did here some shooting in the distance, and on the way home i saw more duck boats thsn ever, for yhe teal season.

Posted By:
Craig-Emory
Field Editor

millington 03-06-2011 04:16
Mostly Sunny, No Precipitation – 45-50 Degrees
hunted a corn field. saw an awful lot of snow geese. got a lot of looks, but groups would not decoy. only one group did and we killed four out of the group and then had four singles come in, so we ended up with eight birds. all young birds. we saw a fair amount of canadians and some ducks here and there mostly on ponds

Posted By:
Michael-Wynne
Field Editor

Various 02-08-2011 12:49
– – –
Mixed season some real diver highlights later in the season and then sea ducks…but very slow start. Seems this site is dying so few reports, so few forums…thought maybe everyone went to the refuge or duck hunting chat but pretty slim there too…supports the stats I see every year hunter son the decline waterfowlers sliding the fastest. Depressing. It does take more resources than most other hunts and in this economy at least I can see the issues. Access to is always an issue. I’m bummed but I did make some new waterfowling friends this year so selfishly all is not lost.

Did want to say I saw a lot of illegal waterfowl hunting this year…or heard of a lot. Can’t figure why people can’t read the regs and I know this just fuels anti-hunters. Here’s a few. Met three guys in their 10 foot John (one guy was 350 lbs easy) with a dog at the Hart Miller Crab Supply Ramp. Tells me he’s heading over there behind the islands for open water hunting…watched him do so later in the day. Forget the smarts of the 10 foot boat…it’s not the gunning rig zone back there. Outside the islands in the bay yes, but not back in that inlet area. Ran into another guy coming out of there with a layout who had just done the same, then 2 more time people telling me about great spots where they pulled up by the big houses and hunted. One told me hunt those barges its great…I said blind site 17, he said huh? Well folks the two islands are blind site only islands and the barges are part of that blind site. Watched several boats pull up along the shorelines of the pax and bay out from the pax and hunt…maybe they had blind permits…maybe not. One at the ramp told us how he just goes up or down the river and finds a spot to hunt. The pax too is not in the gunning rig zone so best I can tell that is not legal. It was tough to explain this to my 12 year old out hunting his first year that almost every boat we ran into to talk with at the ramp had hunted illegally! I was puzzled to be honest.

MDW

Posted By:
Michael-Wynne
Field Editor

Western Shore, Southern MD 02-02-2011 13:39
Sunny & Clear, High Winds – 30-34 Degrees – Open Water
Season ended with a great Squaw hunt, and some Scoters to boot. hunted the same location as the prior week…saw far fewer divers, many more geese high up in v’s, some puddle ducks high as well. But everywhere around us were Squaw, playing, feeding, flying, everywhere. Some nice flocks of Black Scoter too. Shot over a box of shells…man are they hard to kill. Great way to end the season.

MDW

Posted By:
Cliff-Brown
Field Editor

varius MD 01-31-2011 12:19
Mostly Cloudy, No Precipitation – 35-40 Degrees
The last week generated lots of good and bad reports, it seemd to be which day you hunted for some…everyone talked to had a great hunt Wednesday in driving rain and then mixed until the weekend when 50-50 were good, the rest ho-hum reports. Ducks seeme dto be the most eleusive (as ususal), divers seemed very concentrated from prior years. Goose nu,mber swer very high the last week in Talbot, Kent, QA …not sure of other counties..they also decoyed well.

Personally, we have good goose hunts 3 days
last week (T,W,Th) in Kent and good to great to poor duck hunts each of those days – more blacks that could be handled, no divers around excpet one large movement up high (to the flats?) and a second movement back south around noon.

AACO geese were good I hear last day. Some guys hunted our pond for a modest duck tally of 4 mallards but a nice end to the season.
I hunted in VA the last day of the Potomac and it was super for ducks…multiple species. Sure wish we had grasses in Kent like the Potomac (amd Flats!) have on the various back bays and creeks.

All in, a poor duck year for us….modest October, terrible NOv and weak early December…last part of last split was very good except no divers materialized..only one booby hunt. Geese were very strong all season. Had some incredible goose and duck hunts off the farm and a wonderful trip to MO between splits so no serious complaints except that I was born in th wrong flyway!

Have a great off season!

Cliff Brown

Posted By:
Craig-Emory
Field Editor

eastern shore 01-30-2011 19:17
Mostly Sunny, No Precipitation – 35-40 Degrees
forgot to mention. on the way home from the shore, saw quite a few fiels with a lot of swan in them. have ben wondering for many years, why doesn’t maryland have a swan season. they are not native to our region. they are not helping the bay. va. nc. and other states have a season. why not maryland?

Posted By:
Craig-Emory
Field Editor

worcester 01-30-2011 05:30
Mostly Sunny, No Precipitation – 30-34 Degrees – Open Water
on way down friday afternoon saw huge rafts of bluebills crossing the bay bridge and kent naeeows bridge. a lot of fields all the way down rt. 50 were loaded with canadians. hunted a marsh saturday morning, hearded a lot of shooting all around us. we saw very few ducks and they were flying high. saw brant, some canadian, but saw flight after flight of huge flocks of snows flying high. we did have two merganzers docoy and we did drop them. on way home canadians were in the air and in the fields most of the way home. probly the most hunters i saw on the road, on the way home this year.

Posted By:
Cliff-Brown
Field Editor

Kent 01-25-2011 21:00
Cloudy, Winds Calm – 35-40 Degrees
Loads of geese today, some puddle ducks, no divers.
Ice actually not bad on Langford lower section and Chester. Tuesday.

hearing mixed reports -lower shore, QA Co. Good wx and melting should help last few days

Good luck

Posted By:
Craig-Emory
Field Editor

anne arundel 01-24-2011 03:57
Mostly Sunny, No Precipitation – 10-20 Degrees – Ice
hunted friday evening. not much open water. did not see many mallards or canadians, but whot we saw realy wanted in the open water, but most would not commit.we did manage to kill 3 geese, 4 mallard, and 1 ring neck. just after sunset well over 100 mallards flew by. saturday morning everything was iced up. we had to break ice to put the decoys out. the first 45 minutes was very active. we would have 2’s and 3′ trying to decoy. we killed 6 mallards. but after that it was dead. we did see some geese, but they were far away.

Posted By:
Cliff-Brown
Field Editor

Various 01-23-2011 13:35
Cloudy, Winds Calm – 25-30 Degrees – Ice
Ice reports all over but mixed in terms of shutting down the hunting….ducks are around where the water is open…..Lower shore, hearing good reports, several areas along the southern Potomac – MD and VA.

Had second limit hunt this week in VA with nice mixed species bag. Curious to see what things look like Tuesday in Kent after the weekend cold.

Mike, sounds like you got out and had a blast!

Cliff

Posted By:
Michael-Wynne
Field Editor

Western Shore Southern MD 01-22-2011 17:52
Mostly Cloudy, No Precipitation – 0-10 Degrees – Open Water
Tried off shore hunt in location I haven’t been to in 26 years. Kicked birds whole ride out, glassed, picked a spot and set out long lines in 30 feet of water. Had tons of squaw moving, decent amount of buffies, some large puddle ducks, geese, and blue bills. Predominant duck seen squaw hands down. They were everywhere in the thousands. Missed way too many shots today, boat rocking in 4-5 footers early on. Decoys iced up hard and began rolling over, time to call it a day. All of the way in we kicked more birds including one blue bill flock close to shore that number at least 300. This might be my favorite new spot. Water all open, that ice hotline is a goldmine!!!!

MDW

Posted By:
Cliff-Brown
Field Editor

Kent, VA 01-21-2011 08:12
Sunny & Clear, High Winds – 30-34 Degrees – Ice
MONday Jan 17 had good booby hunt for first hunt offshore but did not see many divers on Langford, Hardly any shooting, geese also acted wierd…we got our cans, most blackhead and a black and some geese.

VA bays w/ grasses holding loads of ducks as are the Flats. Had nice limit hunt Thuesday of cans, blackheads, ringnecks, mallard, black and a few geese (band!) ..saw 4 widgeon as well.

Geese numbers are very high now in QA/Kent along Chester maybe elsewhere….

Out of town rest of this week and afraid wind, tides and ice now a real killer but will be trying next week to find open water.

Good luck, Cliff

Posted By:
Michael-Wynne
Field Editor

01-20-2011 11:46
– – –
Coast Guard article on ice in the Bay and hotline number to call to get ice info!

http://www.coastguardd5publicaffairs.com/go/doc/651/454327/

Upper bay a mess, bridge down open, some rivers and coves frozen. Ice North end as thick as 4 inches…and steel hull restrictions out in some areas. Be safe.

MDW

Posted By:
Michael-Wynne
Field Editor

Off baltimore 01-15-2011 09:56
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 25-30 Degrees – Ice
warning the northern bay above the bridge is completely iced up. we’ve launched from millers island crab supply today and it was ice all of the way across to the eastern shore, and north and south. No open water.

MDW

MDW

[Edited By Michael-Wynne on 2011-01-15 19:04]

Posted By:
Cliff-Brown
Field Editor

Kent 01-11-2011 09:15
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 25-30 Degrees – Ice
Weather is pushing some ducks south for sure….reports from southern VA, NC are that duck shooting is better than in prior years.

Divcrs continue to hang around Bay bridge region…few up the Chester/ Langford…actually have some around but little flight Saturday or Monday. Geese getting harder to hunt….wind , ice, issues…they are seeking wheat and every grass field edge available.

Managed good goose hunt Saturday in afternoon,others did well during early flights and snow all over Kent / QA it seems. Many fewer ducks during legal….but good post legal flight but then zip on Monday and many fewer geese.

We’re still hoping divers show up and will be getting more creative for the geese unless weather pattern changes soon.

Cliff Brown

Posted By:
Michael-Wynne
Field Editor

01-10-2011 14:29
– – –
Hey how cool maybe just today but my pup Terp is the main pic her eon waterfowler.com, dark brown chessie out on pier ice on the bay.

MDW

Posted By:
Cliff-Brown
Field Editor

Kent and misc 01-07-2011 08:51
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 25-30 Degrees – Open Water
Had another good goose hunt in AA CO then supr hunt w/ son that afternoon..limit of mallards and blacks. Not huge duck numbers but good tolls. Next mid-moring and afternoon, also had good goose hunt and nice duck hunt in field..7 mallards and blacks. Again , not large duck numbers but reasonably cooperative. Alos saw some afternoon divers for a change.

Heard part of DNR flyover revealed large numbers of gadwall on Flats and ducks generally. No divers around Chester but large numbers of puddle ducks up the Chester just below Chestertown.

QA goose hunting seems storng from general reports as do several areas in Kent. Ice sitll an issue in many areas.

Hope to get onto booby first time soon!

Cliff Brown

Posted By:
Cliff-Brown
Field Editor

Kent and VA 01-04-2011 15:13
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 30-34 Degrees – Ice
Hunted much of last week….geese very solid in lower Kent and AA County..flying about 8:30am and decent afternoon flights. Have seen decent numbers of blacks and shot our share but relatively few mallards. Divers are very very weak up Langford and Chester…some are surely being shot but the numbers are very low overall.

Pomona has mallards and blacks after dark big time and presumably some decent flights early but it seems in our area ducks fly noon or later. When things unlocked temporarily, saw more activity and flights but back to “normal” as of Saturday. Heard shooting picked up elsewhere on Western shore and Caroline but ice has been very reluctant to leave many coves, small creeks and rivers. Potomac has ducks and ice….had superlative hunt today after long ice breaking boat run…gadwalls, blacks, mallards and blackheads for 3 of us.

Morrow back in AA Co for geese on way to Rock Hall and fingers crossed some divers make it or we get a little mallard dispersion from Pomona! Winter storm in New England this weekend should help push some more stuff down.

Cliff Brown

Posted By:
Michael-Wynne
Field Editor

B’More County Off Shore 01-04-2011 13:40
– – 45-50 Degrees
Late post for New Years Eve. Back off shore hunting…1/4 mile or so out. Looked like too warm and calm a day for much to fly and we were right. A few birds came in, some in small groups. None decoying as easily as the prior week, more buzz down the line fast and turn outbound. Groups of ruddies swam close then turned out…shy birds. Geese up, and a fee puddlers, but overall much fewer birds than the week before. Took a ride on the way in and found thousands rafted up in inlets near shore, feeding, none flying. Blue bills, ruddies, golden eyes, buffies and even a couple of cans off by themselves. Very few hunters out to pressure them. Guys in layouts still continue to be doing the best of the folks we meet at the ramps. Generally blue bills and buffies just off shore.

MDW

Posted By:
Craig-Emory
Field Editor

rock hall 12-27-2010 15:46
Sunny & Clear, High Winds – 25-30 Degrees – Open Water
in 37 years of waterfowl hunting finaly had opportunities to kill bluebills. 6 of us shot 12 bluebills,8 drakes and 4 hens and one hen bufflehead. we saw a lot of divers but most were further out in the bay.we hunted a shore blind. did not see any puddle ducks and maybe a dozen geese. we did see tons of geese in many fields,on the way home, but they were not flying. on the way down saw a couple of trucks pulling small john boats with blinds on them. i hope they didn’t make it out on the water, because there was very high winds and white caps. be safe out there

Posted By:
James-McClenahan
Guest

cecil county 12-26-2010 23:43
– – –
Birds have been very weary since they have arrived.Looks like it is going to be a tough year for anyone just beginning.
JIM

Posted By:
Michael-Wynne
Field Editor

Upper Bay/Hart Miller 12-24-2010 18:59
Sunny & Clear, High Winds – 25-30 Degrees – Open Water
AM winds not too bad. Lots of birds moving. We had golden eye, buffies and blue bills in the decoys early on. Saw large puddle ducks moving and got shots on black ducks. Winds really started to kick so we left early.

MDW

Posted By:
Cliff-Brown
Field Editor

maryland 12-22-2010 16:11
Mostly Sunny, No Precipitation – 30-34 Degrees – Ice
Reports still coming in favorably generally but becoming more selective…..geese strong in lower Kent, less so in many areas of QA. Dovers along bayshore in kent and some up the Chester/ Langford but not as many as last week. Kent Island has good diver numbers w/ osme redhead sbeing reported w/ blackheads and cans. Some pintails being shot in various parts of Kent we/ some teal, gadwall and even an odd WD or 2.

Ice is key and locking up most coves, small creeks. Bubblers effective on ponds. Mallard numbers are not reported as high as other species w/ influx of black ducks in Kent noticeable.

Like to get rid of the moon but even geese feeding actively day time.

Merry Christmas. Had mine early w/ 1 shot, 2 geese and each one banded !! 3 digits apart.

Cliff Brown

Posted By:
Michael-Wynne
Field Editor

Potomac 12-21-2010 08:21
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 25-30 Degrees – Ice
Reports still strong that the Upper Potomac holds tons of birds in any open spot. Reports of flocks large enough to black out the sky form multiple sources. Divers, puddle ducks, high variety. The problem is getting there. Ice is everywhere. Be safe, be smart.

Posted By:
Michael-Wynne
Field Editor

Upper Bah 12-18-2010 19:19
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 25-30 Degrees – Open Water
Yesterday (Friday), very little to see and hear only a few shots. Today (Saturday) birds, birds every where. We saw a ton of ruddy ducks!! teal, blue bills, buffies, and big puddle ducks. Rafts on water in the hundreds. Used binos and in every direction there were these huge rafts. Flocks in the air 50-100 birds per. We had birds every 15 mins in the blocks. Shot lesser and greater bills, and ruddies. Missed some golden eyes and buffies. DNR checked us and told us they saw a high number of ruddies and spoonies this year. My son got his first shots! The birds are here, and even the little guys are still around. Reports on the Upper Potomac are ice but in any open spot a high variety of ducks including ruddies there too. We had an awesome outing and in spite of there supposedly being lottery booked blinds sites near by we saw few boats and heard little other shooting. DNR said we were the only hunters out in this area. As is typical ducks surrounded the ramp on our return. Mallards, buffies, bluebills, ruddies an teal.

[Edited By Michael-Wynne on 2010-12-19 14:14]

Posted By:
Cliff-Brown
Field Editor

Maryland 12-17-2010 09:20
Mostly Cloudy, No Precipitation – 25-30 Degrees – Ice
The big push seems to have started and arrived w/ more to some.

Reports of high duck niumbers on upper Potomac to lower Potomace but ice becoming a real issue for hunting access. Kent reports good numbers of ducks moving in from Sasafrass to lower county- divers and puddle ducks. Geese numbers decent. Dorcheter has good reports…gadwalls at Deal e.g.

Oddly, I even shot a pair of woodies Wednesday !

Good luck, this is the weather folks seem to prtefer and we’re getting asn early bout of it this season for a change!

Posted By:
Fred-Gillotte
Field Editor

Havre de Grace, Maryland 12-10-2010 14:01
Mostly Cloudy, No Precipitation – 30-34 Degrees – Ice
Big flights of AP Canada’s have arrived the last few days on the Flats. Guess that severe weather up North is pushing birds our way. Just hope that all creeks are not froze up solid by next week.

Posted By:
Michael-Wynne
Field Editor

12-03-2010 09:06
– – –
Lake effects snow hammering Buffalo and others. Expected to last all weekend. Should push birds.

Posted By:
Michael-Wynne
Field Editor

Off Hart Miller 11-29-2010 13:43
Sunny & Clear, High Winds – 35-40 Degrees
Hunted the day before Thanksgiving and weather sure makes that difference. High winds (small craft) and coming off a storm…far fewer birds moving. Scoters and there. Two very large flocks of ring necks. On medium flock of puddle ducks. No geese, no shooting, far fewer birds than two days prior. Met at ramp by a drake ringneck, figures!

MDW

Posted By:
Cliff-Brown
Field Editor

maryland 11-27-2010 19:37
Cloudy, High Winds – 45-50 Degrees
November season for us has been pretty weak….opening duck was poor and gfot .worse thru end of season. Some ducks feeding at night in ponds but numbers 25% of historic norms. Have had large numbers of geese in our part of Kent but full moon and balmy weather initially hurt our take after 2 limit hunts. great weather at end was thwarted by gees eall going to neihbors bean field.

Have heard poor report from any hunters ..best success on Potomac where grasses are abundant.

When you see more deer than ducks, you know its bad.

Cliff Brown

Posted By:
Michael-Wynne
Field Editor

Bay Near Sparrows Point/Hart Miller Island 11-23-2010 10:51
Sunny & Clear, High Winds – 50-60 Degrees
Hunted off shore with a small rig. Had buffies an then three drake old squaw in the decoys as we set them. Had two flocks of ringnecks come in, and saw some large flocks of puddle ducks (large) at distance. Scoter moving in small numbers, and single suicidal blue bill came right down our strings. Surprised how much movement there was considering November and the weather. Good winds helped. Heard a fair amount of distant shooting. Never saw any geese.

Posted By:
Craig-Emory
Field Editor

worcester 11-14-2010 04:14
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 45-50 Degrees
three of us hunted a creek yesterday morning. there was a lot of shooting going on all around us all morning. we didn’t see many birds at all. no black, mo mallard, and no teal. we did see four woodduck, half a dozen canadian and three huge v’s, up high, coming from the north of snows. we did see a lot of hooded mergansers. we did kill four mergansers and two ruddy ducks, all hens. on the way down on friday we saw a huge raft of ducks at kent narrows and we stop by assateague island. tons of snow geese, lots of black, mallard, and ruddy duck, and saw pintail, widgen, and other ducks to far out to identify.

[Edited By Craig-Emory on 2010-11-14 04:33]

Posted By:
Craig-Emory
Field Editor

worcester county 10-23-2010 17:31
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 50-60 Degrees
my son and i hunted on a creek friday evening and didn’t see many birds at all. but we did bag one hen green wing teal and one drake wood duck. this morning three of us hunted the same creek, and bagged two drake wood ducks.some missed oportunities. we heard a lot more shooting this weekend. we saw a fair amount of birds, but mostly wood ducks and it seams that 85% of the wood ducks we saw were drakes. we saw a nice flock of teal fly by just before leagal shooting, saw a black duck glid by, a few small flocks of canadians, no snows and no divers. this morning the wood ducks were very vocal and the plumage of the wood ducks this weekend and last weekend is very stunning. be back in november.

Posted By:
Cliff-Brown
Field Editor

maryland 10-22-2010 13:46
Sunny & Clear, High Winds – 50-60 Degrees
Back after a few days afield..had modest shoots for woodies except one evening when we shot a lmit and saw many more. Only one mallard seen and taken since last Saturday but saw and shot 2 teal today…..ugh generlaly….Our woodies left then a brief build and then they all left over a 10 day period. Did get 2 bands on one pair that tolled nicely!!

Have heard some very good reports in the mid to lower shore areas – widgeon, gadwalls and GW/BW teal. We rarely see any in ouyr portion of Kent!!

Cliff Brown

Posted By:
Cliff-Brown
Field Editor

Kent 10-18-2010 08:17
Sunny & Clear, High Winds – 50-60 Degrees
Pretty weak opener as we lost woodies all week due to high winds presumably..managed 5 for 3 of us….saw only a few big ducks after sundown. Heard hardly any shots and no volleys.Geese moving in very well but no ducks around us yet.

Cliff Brown

Posted By:
Craig-Emory
Field Editor

worcester county 10-16-2010 19:11
Sunny & Clear, High Winds – 50-60 Degrees
four of us hunted this morning. heared a fair amount of shooting this morning. saw some canadian geese in the distance, but not many at all.didn’t see many big ducks, but the few we saw gave us looks and managed to kill one drake mallard. saw more green wing teal and wood duck. whot we saw wanted in the decoys. killed seven teal, two drakes, five hens, anf five wood ducks, four drakes, one hen. did not see any snow geese, any divers, or any brant.

Posted By:
Fred-Gillotte
Field Editor

Harford County 10-15-2010 21:23
Sunny & Clear, High Winds – 60-65 Degrees
Greetings: Some big ducks have arrived the last few days. Baldpates, Gadwall and some Mallards and Blacks observed feeding in Mill Creek and Furnace Bay. Good numbers of Woodies and a few Teal should provide some shooting here tomorrow for the early opener. Goose numbers continue to build daily. Good luck tomorrow to all.

Posted By:
yostt
Web Member

St Michaels, MD 10-15-2010 15:52
– – 60-65 Degrees
Geese are everywhere already. 3-400 in a bean field on the farm today.

Posted By:
Cliff-Brown
Field Editor

Kent 10-13-2010 09:44
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 60-65 Degrees
Geese continue to build w/ some snows moving into QA Co. Canadian Geese reported as far south as Smith Island! Rare this time of year. Saw flock of black ducks and osme woodies with woody reports similar to prior years. Hear little about teal, other ducks…did see 2 shovellors!.

Hope windn does not push woodies out Friday! and hope we get some more ducksdown.

Cliff

Posted By:
Cliff-Brown
Field Editor

maryland 10-05-2010 09:06
Cloudy, Light Rain & Drizzle – 45-50 Degrees
Geese started to moved in “en masse” Saturday, all day flight after flight. A late migration start but impressive.

Not sure about ducks…upper Choptank areas report GW, BW teal blacks,woodies in large numbers.

Around us in Kent , before drought ended, we lost all our woodies and local mallards it seemed. Waiting for them now !!

Cliff Brown

Posted By:
canard-can-it-be
Web Member

09-23-2010 09:43
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 45-50 Degrees

I drive down Mt. Vernon Parkway on the way to work each morning. Over the last few days, I’ve seen multiple small rafts of ducks and geese on the Potomac, many more than 50 in each group. It looks like this may be a banner season. Lots and lots of greenheads. I’ll try to get some pictures in the next week and post them.

——————————————————————————–

Posted By:
Craig-Emory
Field Editor

worcester county 09-18-2010 18:52
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 60-65 Degrees
hunted this morning in the marsh. we had three teal in the decoys before leagal shooting time and of course they were gone when it was leagal shooting time. we had mallards and wood ducks in the decoys also. saw one flock of canadians in the distance, mallards in the distance, but quite a few mallards worked our decoys . but the duck we saw the most of was the wood duck they were everwhere. we didn’t fire a shot and heared very little shooting in the area,but had a good time.

Posted By:
James-McClenahan
Guest

harford co 06-15-2010 23:09
– – –
Not seeing as many young ducks or geese as I would like.
JIM

Posted By:
Craig-Emory
Field Editor

little creek, delaware 03-07-2010 06:30
Sunny & Clear, High Winds – 45-50 Degrees
hunted snow geese on saturday. saw a lot of canadians, and divers on the way down on friday. saturday saw a fsir amount of canadians and some mallards. we saw a ton of snow geese all day long. got a lot of looks, but mostly ones and twos would commit. a group of six came in and none left. can tell it’s the end of the season and that thease birds have had a lot of presure put on them. there was ten of us and we killed 36 snows, three of which were banded.

Posted By:
cutback
Guest

Still Pond 02-01-2010 09:53
Cloudy, Accumulating Snow – 25-30 Degrees – Ice
I was very hopeful for a great last day to the season because of the weather but the birds were wary and when the snow started they all hunkered down in a field close by. I really thought they were going to be very vulnerable but it was not to be. We shot 4 geese. I felt like the season was a success. Not one shutout!

Posted By:
Cliff-Brown
Field Editor

Various MD 01-31-2010 17:35
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 25-30 Degrees – Ice
Season ended with a great weather look yesterday but only moderate gunning…can, 4 blackheads and 2 geese. Day before was solid w/ 11 blackheads and cans and 6 geese. Divers have come and gone for us around langford…never really got a nice load in.

Until the last 3 days, geese have been solid w/ large numkebrs and decent flights., The moon really seemed to shut things down. It was our second best year for geese overall and close to our record of last year so we feel pretty fortunate. We lost our puddle ducks not long after the water opened up and hardly saw any the last week. Iur year was favorably above last yr but it was still well below our “average” of some years runnign a few years ago..the last three years have not been good. If it was not for a very good October season, the overall count this yr would have been just as bad as the prior two years.

It was a fun year and I got to hunt with several new folks in new places for which I am grateful …..Louisiana was a 10 and it sure reminds me how poor our flyway really is. The list of “to-dos” is already building and time to start looking for the post season “deals”.

Have a great off season.

Cliff Brown

Posted By:
Craig-Emory
Field Editor

worcester 01-31-2010 16:35
Cloudy, Accumulating Snow – 25-30 Degrees – Ice
hunted a pond. shot one merganzer.saw one canadian, one mallard, three teal and a lot of snow geese fling high. left at 9:30 to beat the snow, but snow was on the roads the whole way home. a 2 1/2 hour trip took 5 hours. we saw a lot of birds on the way home, but they were in big groups hunkered down along the shore. hardly any birds flying at all.the day before saw a lot of black ducks and brant in accomack.

Posted By:
Craig-Emory
Field Editor

anne arundel 01-23-2010 05:13
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 40-45 Degrees
hunted a large pond yesterday evening. didn’t see any ducks. saw three average size flocks of canadians in the distance. but had three singles decoy and we killed them. five of us hunting and the first goose was the first for one hunter. one shot, one bird. nice to see.

Posted By:
Craig-Emory
Field Editor

anne arundel 01-19-2010 19:43
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 45-50 Degrees
hunted a marsh this evening. saw two groups of two mallards each give us a look but stayed high and kept get up. two merganzers landed outside our decoys. two wood ducks gave us wide passes and were squealing. we saw a lot of geese. mostly big groups, gave looks, but would not commit. two canadians decoyed and we shot one. with minutes remaining two more canadians decoyed and got both. my son hunted the lower shore on monday and had good luck with both ducks and geese. both were very plentiful

Posted By:
Craig-Emory
Field Editor

anne arundel 01-16-2010 20:51
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 40-45 Degrees
hunted a bean field. saw a fair amount of ducks flying high and in big groups. saw a lot of canadians and got a lot of looks. but it was obvious that these birds have been hit hard. because most would give us a very long look, but they stayed high and most times would move on. but four of us did get our limit of canadians, but it took all day.

Posted By:
Cliff-Brown
Field Editor

AA Co,, Kent 01-11-2010 10:32
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 30-34 Degrees – Ice
Like Cutback, also had good hunt Friday in pretty conditions over open water point in Kent, not many ducks seen but cans reasdily worked and several post limit tolls were fun to watch. Only one blackhead seen and shot. Blacks and geese were cooperative but whiffed on only mallards seen. Saturday in AA Co, excellent goose hunt.

Scouted Wye Sunday…decent # cans, geese over open water , no blackheads. Today, much more ice everywhere – Wye, Bay itself….also saw large raft of blackheads right off Sandy point beach and reports are loads of blackheads off Bay Ridge, Sandy Point, south east side Bay Bridge, Love Pt, Bay shore Rock Hall, outside Baltimore Harbor and today , into Wye. NOt seeing many below Langford, upper Langford is widely iced up. Not seeing many at all trversing Corsica / Cliffs City / Chester to East Neck
but its really odd to see more cans than blackheads..never has happened. Personal fingers crossed for msome dispersion oif blackheads to our open water !!

Potomac in Montgomery has large numbers ducks…ringnecks, redheads. And VA side below Wilson above Mt Vernon has loads of all kinds of ducks except blacks. Ice is a killer chasing them.

Not hearing many good reports from lower Dorchester or other south counties.

Geese in Kent in good numbers but hard to hunt. Very concentrated and flight routes qwell established. Creek hunting where open water exsits for solos or small groups has been very good as have some fields but it is not widespread success being experienced.

Apparently, Quaker Neck (aka Tyler) has huge puddle duck numbers. We had large numbers as well week befor elast but they have dwindled
substantially as of Friday thru Sunday.

The good news for some is that large duck numbers are down…need more dispersion and open water acess to chase them!!

Cliff Brown