Category: Maryland

Posted By:
Craig-Emory OLD
Guest

rock hall 12-27-2008 18:15
Mostly Cloudy, No Precipitation – 40-45 Degrees
saw tons and tons of caanadian geese. some snow geese,and a few ducks. seven man limits on canadian geese

Posted By:
duckaneer
Guest

Upper Patuxent 12-26-2008 18:53
Cloudy, Winds Calm – 35-40 Degrees
Good hunt this morning. Large numbers of Mallards observed and moving around. Also large amounts of geese.

Posted By:
Cliff-Brown
Field Editor

Kent, Anne Arundel, Potomac River 12-24-2008 11:15
Sunny & Clear, High Winds – 25-30 Degrees – Ice
On Dec 21 pm and Dec 22, observed first large groups of divers in Langford, Cliffs City area (Kent / QA). Saw one flight of 1,000+ scaup moving up and down the river, numerous separate flights of cans at low altitude numbering well over 800 birds total and several rafts hanging out in the general area. Many fewer puddle ducks seen than divers but more have moved in. Took a widgeon off the creek late Monday…a real rarity. Definately more blacks down, few mallards.

Geese most numerous I’ve seen in 15 years between Chestertown and Rock Hall. Also had 3 separate groupings of snow geese in fields along Rt 20 and one “vortex” event ocurring…canadas and snows were everywhere!
Saw very few near Centeville Tuesday afternoon in areas where they have been very strong most of the season???

Blow out tide Tuesday morning and ice screwed up a creek hunt but we did well in the field for geese. Lowest tide ever witnessed in 15 years as well! I suspect it messed up a bunch of folks hunting that morning.

Had excellent goose hunt in AA Co Monday but fewer birds in our immediate area than normal.

Heard of limit mallard shoot on South River but Potmoac below Wilson was slow,,,ice issues ..birds felt to be rafting on larger open water???

Weather definately has pushed some fiwl our way and hopefully it will continue !!!

Merry Christmas

Cliff Brown

Posted By:
Fred-Gillotte
Field Editor

Havre de Grace 12-22-2008 08:43
Sunny & Clear, High Winds – 35-40 Degrees
Greetings: Big push of Mallards arrived here on Friday the 19th. Big flocks seen feeding in bean and corn fields near Oakington. Geese are here big time as well. The Flats are holding good numbers of birds. Had good shooting in upper Kent Cty. Saturday on Puddlers. Goose numbers strong there as well.

Posted By:
Craig-Emory OLD
Guest

worchester county 12-21-2008 10:19
Mostly Cloudy, No Precipitation – 35-40 Degrees
hunted marsh not many big ducks, few teal,lots of canadians anf tons of snows, but both were fling high. our group managed to kill six ducks. one bufflehead and five mergansers

Posted By:
Kurt W
Web Member

Sykesville 12-21-2008 10:17
Cloudy, Winds Calm – 35-40 Degrees
Hunted canadas yesterday had a 5 man limit by 8:30. Geese were everywhere birds flew from 8 am til 12:30 nonstop probably seen 2,000 plus geese which is very unusual for this area. We also seen well over 1,000 migrating canadas, and even a couple strings of high flyin snows. This morning coming from Eldersburg saw 300 plus big ducks flyin high headin south. There must be a good amount of snow up north to have a push like this. Heading to the Potomac this week to try my luck on some ducks. There should be some around. Good luck to all.

Posted By:
barrelburner
Guest

upper potomac river 12-20-2008 20:34
Mostly Cloudy, No Precipitation – 35-40 Degrees
despite very high water today, found backwater canal off of main river the ducks poured into. good shooting and some luck plus good scouting and were able to get two man limit of black ducks and mallards. What an awsome day, defenitly not the norm though good luck to all and merry christmas. Be back at it soon, hopefully doing some more damage.

Posted By:
Cliff-Brown
Field Editor

Kent & Maryland misc 12-20-2008 12:58
Cloudy, Light Rain & Drizzle – 35-40 Degrees
Notes from 12/17-19 outings and feedback from others:

Geese numbers up in lower Kent. Very strong in QA especially Centreville area. More snows also seen in lower Kent.

Rains have helped habitat tremendously but most duck reports way down and very disappointing. Taylor’s Island, Deale, Elliot’s in Dorchester …poor. One Nanticoke limit hunt of mixed puddle ducks.

One good report on Kent Island mixed bag and some ducks being shot in northern Kent Co. Our 12/18 duck opener was ugly…worst ever ..saw 8 ducks. Next day, had good goose hunt and saw 2 diver flights of 50+ each along Langford, otherwise, all our puddle ducks that arrived end of first split and just at the last pond freeze up are gone. Similar reports from others despite good wind and gunning weather. The very few ducks we saw were blue winged teal and shovellors !! Go figure, early migrants.

Pretty depressed after nice rest and almost everything fully flooed, fresh food, “good” weather up north, good hunting weather etc. but no ducks.

Snow has moved geese down but need more ice above us apparently to move ducks in if they exist.

Cliff Brown

Posted By:
LakeCoveFarm
Web Member

Dorchester county 12-20-2008 08:58
Cloudy, Heavy Fog – 35-40 Degrees
Geese are everywhere. All through Easton and past blackwater, the fields were full of them. Still not many puddle ducks though – mostly divers.

Posted By:
wwilson
WFC Sponsor

Wicomico & upper Pax 12-20-2008 08:58
Cloudy, Light Rain & Drizzle – 40-45 Degrees
Wicomico on Thursday 12/18 steady with Blue Bills, Pintails, and Mallards active all morning.

Upper Pax on Thursday very slow, most traffic low and in the middle of the River or high and not interested. Some Geese as the weather deteriorated toward mid-morning.

Posted By:
duckaneer
Guest

Anne Arundel 12-19-2008 18:42
Cloudy, Snow Flurries – 35-40 Degrees
Nothing moved this morning. Anyone else have luck?

Posted By:
Cliff-Brown
Field Editor

maryland 12-15-2008 17:10
Cloudy, High Winds – 60-65 Degrees
More reports being heard that puddle ducks are down and around….Kent Co, some parts Dorchester and Caroline Co in particular.

Rain acorss the shore has many ponds now suitable to hunt and are providing excellent habitat at just the right time.

We’ll see soon enough.

Cliff Brown

Posted By:
Cliff-Brown
Field Editor

Virgina 12-12-2008 11:21
Cloudy, Light Rain & Drizzle – 35-40 Degrees
Some misc observations……

On Dec 8-9 in Kent observed several migrating can and puddle duck flights. Goose numbers strong. Buffleheads had moved into Langford but very very few blackheads. Some blacks aroudn but ponds were all frozen, birds hanging in open waters.

Delaware public marshes and Delaware generally are way down population wise except snows which are off the charts based on observations by state and fed officials.

Had superb limit duck hunt in VA off Potomac River yesterday seeing hundreds of puddle ducks, ringnecks and scaup. A few widgeon. Grass beds are key just like in the flats.

Recent rains and ice free situaton the next week at least will help whatever birds we got down hang around.

Good luck next split !

Cliff Brown

Posted By:
dukscout
Guest

Blackwater Refuge 12/07/08 12-08-2008 15:12
Cloudy, Snow Flurries – 30-34 Degrees – Open Water
Visited the Eastern Shore & Blackwater Refuge on Sunday. Tons of geese all over the Shore & especially at the Blackwater. Swans too. Geese coming & going from the refuge all afternoon. Saw only 40-50 ducks though; mallards & pintails about evenly split. Weather started moving in around 3:30 p.m. Migrating geese in big Vee’s dropping into the refuge. Suspect this weather will bring more down–hopefully more ducks.

Posted By:
Michael-Wynne
Field Editor

12-08-2008 14:49
– – –
Should also note I was in Jersey last week on business. They looked so dry. All of the marshy areas I always look into while I am up there were near bone dry and not a bird to be seen. It was weird.

Posted By:
Michael-Wynne
Field Editor

12-08-2008 08:56
– – –
There were a lot of geese in Hart Miller and around it…I forgot to mention. Most puddle ducks were heading into it from high. The divers were low on the water big flocks and most headed south to north all am toward Poole’s. Then by about 11 we started to see them head back south. There was some good shooting around us, we think at Geese mostly, and buffies. Golden Eyes were nice treat to see.

As for the flats yes, they were feeding and having a good old time. There were thousands of birds…it was very fun to watch.

Posted By:
Fred-Gillotte
Field Editor

Kent County 12-04-2008 10:21
Mostly Cloudy, No Precipitation – 45-50 Degrees
Had good duck shooting on Mallards and Blacks the entire first split. Just like every other season, I guess it depends if you have a good spot or not.

Posted By:
Cliff-Brown
Field Editor

Kent, Dorchester 12-02-2008 08:53
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 45-50 Degrees
Heard of good holiday duck shoots on mid-upper Chester with ducks still building.

Ditto in one area of Dorchester…limit hunt for 3 on mallards, blacks, teal and WD

Cliff Brown

Posted By:
Cliff-Brown
Field Editor

Maryland 11-30-2008 16:04
Mostly Sunny, No Precipitation – 40-45 Degrees
Still chasing reports from the holiday period hunts but nothing very exciting to report.

Tues pm – central QA Co pond hunt for roosting snows and canadas….lots of birds but only 3 singles come back before sundown.
Many many flights filled the adjacent field from Centreville area and Tuckahoe region. Unplowed corn fields were the draw.

Wednesday am – excellent goose hunt in kent, moderate flight. Relatives did well. IN pm, had good duck hunht w/ nephews bagging 9 ducks, a teal, 3 blacks and 5 mallards.
Ha dheard nice reports of ducks around and it seemd pretty true iuntil we hunted Thanksgiving and Friday..managed only 2 and 3 ducks respectively…one was rare for us gadwall. Geese very friendly turkey day but less so Friday.

Nothing definitive but it sure feels like Kent Co ducks are rapidly migrating thru without hanigng around long. No divers seen but a few ruddies. Mike’s report of ducks on the flats where good food exists seems to be the “duh” factor in this regard.

Lower shore report of meager hunt…2 blacks but another report of blacks moving into the region. Did not see any divers on the bay while fishing Saturday betwen bay bridge and bloody point.

More later…..

Cliff Brown

Posted By:
Michael-Wynne
Field Editor

North Bay 11-28-2008 15:27
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 40-45 Degrees
Large diver flocks on the move center channel of the bay flying toward Poole’s Island and Gunpowder. Buffies buzzing around in small groups. Some large puddle ducks higher in decent flocks. Still thousands of Geese.

Lots of shooting around Hart Miller. We were not on the X, but did get into some golden eyes, buffies and mergeansers.

Posted By:
Michael-Wynne
Field Editor

Flats 11-27-2008 16:45
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 35-40 Degrees
Geese by the thousands. Large flocks of divers. Various puddler flocks of between 10 and 40 birds each. Heavy activity.

Most hunters I have ever seen at the ramp, 8 boats in the launch line up.

Still, little shooting, the birds just were not decoying for anyone. Instead they opted to raft up about a mile out off battery light, away from averyone. This raft drew every bird within miles. Flock after flock of everyhting that flew landed in this raft and it grew and grew. It was amazing.

Posted By:
Cliff-Brown
Field Editor

maryland 11-25-2008 09:51
Sunny & Clear, High Winds – 40-45 Degrees
Have heard reports yesterday and today of ducks moving into central shore and lower shore areas…some blacks, mallards, spooonies, pins and widgeon.

Have also heard some teal and WD now departed
in same areas.

Widgeon stil using Potomac grass beds actively w/ coots!!

Talbot, QA and Kent geese apparently making many hunters happpy w/ response this past week. No moon and cold temps works a treat it appears.

Have a great thanksgiving!

Cliff

Posted By:
duckaneer
Guest

Free State 11-23-2008 17:22
– – –
CONGRADS CLIFF!

Posted By:
Cliff-Brown
Field Editor

Kent & Misc 11-23-2008 14:47
Sunny & Clear, High Winds – 30-34 Degrees – Ice
Got out Friday in perfect weather and Sat broke pond ice….ducks were very disappointing in lower Kent…..did get 7 on Friday but all decoyed and saw very very few. Got 2 on one toll Saturday and saw even less. Geese were very friendly each day.

3 other reports in Kent had same story…geese very good, ducks very poor. Some divers moving up and down Bayshore, saw one group up Langford. Chesapeake farms refuge pond had hundreds of pintails Friday mid-day but gone saturday and no one locally saw them moving around…..migrated thru after stop over??? Maybe lots of ducks doing that in our drought riddled area.

We lost net ducks from last week despite “good” migrating weather…too harsh locally to hang I suppose. When you can’t shoot or even see a black duck in two different snow storms the same day, something ain’t right.

Good duck numbers now seen in one part of Dorchester from last week, a definate pickup.
More mirgrating geese seen moving in as well.

Hope still springs eternal for turkey outings and finegrs crossed, geese still hang around and decoy w/ no moon and good feeding temperatures.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Cliff Brown

ps. thanks Ned, got your robo working but ours went bad so used it Saturday!!

Posted By:
Craig-Emory OLD
Guest

worchester county 11-23-2008 09:09
Sunny & Clear, High Winds – 30-34 Degrees – Open Water
saw some canadian geese,few snows, and most of the ducks we saw gave us a look. our group killed ten birds. 1 canadian, 1 black, 1 drake mallard, 1 drake hooded merganzer, 2 wood duck (drake and hen), and 4 gw teal (2 drakes and 2 hens). heard a fair amount of shooting very early in the morning, but it died off real quick.

Posted By:
Michael-Wynne
Field Editor

Upper Bay 11-22-2008 18:51
Cloudy, High Winds – 30-34 Degrees – Open Water
No birds. Saw some divers low way off in the distance, small group, near Gunpowder mouth. Saw several small flocks of big puddlers high headed inland. 4 geese got up near the main channel. That’s it. Seas rough…looks like for day. Heard no shooting at all.

Posted By:
smwhite
Guest

11-19-2008 22:13
– – –
Cliff congradulation on your conservationist of the year award.

Posted By:
Cliff-Brown
Field Editor

Maryland 11-19-2008 14:22
Cloudy, Occassional Rain Showers – 50-60 Degrees
Been out of town a bunch lately but also in the field and have obtained various reports from Nov 8-18.

Ducks started moving into various parts of MD Nov 11-13th as best I can pin down and moderate to favorable numbers were observed in several areas in great hunt weather Nov 15th. Some specific reports:

Mallards moved into Susquenhanna Flats, Kent Co and parts of Caroline last week. More recent reports have mallards around East Neck Refuge.

Teal and woodies are showing up, sometimes nocturnally, from reports in Kent, Dorchester, Caroline. Not that many black ducks being seen in traditional black duck territories.

Good widgeon numbers being seen (and some shot) on Potomac River grass beds. Some ringnecks as well. VA side has sdome decent scaup numbers building.

Lower shore reports are pretty slim to real weak especially along Nanticoke River area.

Hunting after Saturday and Sunday high winds was slow on Monday for ducks and geese as flights were limited. Moon was still a factor with warm weather I’m sure. Not seeing very many divers around Langford yet but we could still get a bunch by Thanksgiving.

Canada goose hunting in Kent was strong on the opener. Some (2) reports from Monday suggest geese either got moved around by the winds to disperse from their previous gathering spots and flight trends or simply moved on.

Rains were very helpful but we’re still way short and need a couple more just like it soon. Weather north of us seems excellent for a strong migration week and with the moon moving out and lower than average temps for this weekend…things ought to improve.

Cliff Brown

Posted By:
James-McClenahan
Guest

CECILTON 11-15-2008 22:48
Cloudy, Rain & Thunderstorms – 60-65 Degrees
Good goose opener despite the fact that we had to walk in the decoys due to the heavy rain all night long. Rianed off and on all morning. Many idiots out today shooting roost ponds and skybusting. Most of our early birds had already been shot at on the roost by others making it hard on us. Still managed to get a 7 man limit by 8:15, pick up the dekes and watch as 500 canadians and 150 snows piled in to our field after we picked up. Ducks appear to be almost non existent.
JIM

Posted By:
duckaneer
Guest

AA Co. 11-15-2008 22:36
– – –
Took the kid deer hunting today, any reports on the ducks and geese?

Posted By:
LakeCoveFarm
Web Member

Honga River, Dorchester County 11-12-2008 08:09
Sunny & Clear, High Winds – 45-50 Degrees
Strange weather day – clouds, light rain, gusty winds, then sunny with steady breeze. On thing that was a constant though – no birds anywhere. Didn’t see any on the horizon either. Worst day I’ve ever seen for that area this time of year.

Posted By:
duckaneer
Guest

Patuxent Refuge 11-09-2008 21:15
Cloudy, Winds Calm – 45-50 Degrees
3 guys, Went in for wood ducks, came out with 10 mallards and one woody.

[Edited By duckaneer on 2008-11-11 20:46]

Posted By:
Craig-Emory OLD
Guest

worchester county 11-09-2008 06:05
Mostly Cloudy, No Precipitation – 50-60 Degrees
saw a hugh raft of divers north of bay bridge on the way down. didn’t see a lot of birds. saw some big ducks, fair amount of teal, very few bufflehead, starting to see more canadian geese, and saw a fair amount of snow geese, fling high and in big flocks. our group killed five gw teal, three bufflehead, and one black duck.

Posted By:
mmccamon
Guest

MD 11-05-2008 17:11
– – –
anyone seeing any divers? what about on the bay?

Posted By:
Cliff-Brown
Field Editor

Hart Miller Island 11-05-2008 16:32
Mostly Cloudy, No Precipitation – 50-60 Degrees
During installation of 12 wood duck boxes on Hart Miller Island saw 1000+ ducks using the wetland. Mostly mallards, decent #’s teal, somwe shovellors and blacks. One knot of blackheads offshore.

Cliff Brown

Posted By:
duckaneer
Guest

Blackwater Refuge 11-01-2008 19:09
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 35-40 Degrees
Took the kid out on the Blackwater youth deer hunt this morning. Good number of ducks, more geese than ducks.

Posted By:
Cliff-Brown
Field Editor

Maryland 10-27-2008 10:47
Cloudy, Light Rain & Drizzle – 50-60 Degrees
Puzzling end to early season..had large number of ducks at night in ponds but zero flying even Saturday with high winds….had excellent shoot on public marsh Friday, however, so weekend was not a complete bust.

Still hearing mixed reports elsewhere.

Cliff Brown

Posted By:
duckaneer
Guest

Prince George’s County 10-26-2008 19:50
Cloudy, Occassional Rain Showers – 40-45 Degrees
Good two days, managed 8 woodies between three guys. If we had some more water it would have been better. Lots of geese around.

Posted By:
Cliff-Brown
Field Editor

Eastern Shore 10-23-2008 12:58
Sunny & Clear, High Winds – 60-65 Degrees
Reports I hear are very mixed but some folks have had decent hunting for sure….woodies in spots with water but not as many good reports as heard about last year. Teal – hit or miss. Most reports have a few ducks being shot at least. Last 2 days of high winds are uncertain benefit in one area where large numbers of teal were reported seem to have moved on. Some pins and widgeon being seen/ shot but not large numbers. Saturday weather will help us all at least see more of what we might have around. In our place in Kent, we’ve had the night time feeding going on w/ the moon and very little day time activity last Saturday/Monday.

Loads of geese have now come in and this looks real promising.

Fingers crossed for a good weekend!!

Cliff Brown

Posted By:
pintailt
Web Member

Nanticoke river (Vienna) 10-22-2008 19:33
Mostly Cloudy, No Precipitation – 50-60 Degrees
Went opening morning three of us limited out on teal and wood ducks. Saw plenty of teal not as many big ducks as this last year but still looks promising.Great hunting to everybody.