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North Carolina Duck Hunting Report Archive

By Webmaster January 9, 2013 January 9, 2013 North Carolina

Posted By:
Little Red Retriever
Web Member

Pamlico Sound 12-17-2012 10:05
Mostly Cloudy, No Precipitation – 50-60 Degrees
12/15/2012: Wind out of east at 5 kts….open water layout shooting….slow…..not much of a flight managed 4 birds between two gunners…..

[Edited By Little Red Retriever on 2012-12-17 10:06]

Posted By:
Scott-Tolar
Field Editor

Onslow County 12-15-2012 16:10
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 30-34 Degrees – Open Water

It looked like I was going to miss another hunting day, but at the last second I was able to go. Not as well prepared as I would have liked, but I threw some decoys in the boat,grabbed the dog and the son and headed out for the big water on the coast. I got to the ramp late, but still managed to get all the decoys out and the blind set up 2 minutes before legal shooting time.

I wanted to set up on a point off of a small bay, but I was suprised to find a blind there. Must have built it last summer. I have hunted that point for 25 years, now there is a blind on it. I decided to move down, even though the blind was empty. Won’t do that again, we watched ducks fly by the point all morning, we didn’t get to pull a trigger. No one showed up at the blind.

We saw tens of thousands of bills, but none came by us. We still had a great morning, my son said it was the second most ducks he had ever seen in one day. We sat in awe, watching flocks that consisted of hundreds of birds, ducks so thick that they looked like clouds of smoke cruising in the sky in ever shifting patterns.

I am excited, can’t wait to get back out there.

Posted By:
Scott-Tolar
Field Editor

Albemarle Sound 11-15-2012 12:52
Cloudy, Winds Calm – 40-45 Degrees
Went out to hunt a spot on the Albemarle sound this morning and we saw some ducks, missed some opportunities and only managed to splash a single wood duck with two hunters.

We saw some mallards,gadwall, teal and woodies, we were just unable to capitalize on them. Will set up in a different location next time.

Posted By:
Scott-Tolar
Field Editor

Field Report, Nov 14, 2012 11-15-2012 12:48
Cloudy, High Winds – 40-45 Degrees
Went out to hunt a spot on the Pamlico River and we had a interesting, but not overly productive day. We arrived at the boat ramp in good time and set off for our spot via GPS. It is a long water run of about 30 minutes which seemed longer thanks to the high winds whipping up 2 foot whitecaps. Made for a wet ride in my 14 foot side console boat.

We got set up and we saw some ducks. We saw some high migrators, some ducks flying out of range and we managed to splash two ruddy ducks and a bufflehead. Not exactly trophy ducks, but the dog got wet and is happy.

On our way out we saw some ducks nearby in a seperate location. Will hit it next week.

Posted By:
Scott-Tolar
Field Editor

Eastern NC 10-22-2012 06:38
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – Over 70 Degrees

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North Carolina Duck Hunting Report Archive

By Webmaster January 9, 2013 January 9, 2013 North Carolina

Posted By:
Scott-Tolar
Field Editor

Beaufort County 09-01-2012 16:50
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – Over 70 Degrees
We went out for a dove hunt on the opener and it was a great day. It has been cool for the last two weeks, rainy and overcast with temps in the 80’s. For the opener it cleared up and got hot, go figure.

Logan, my 15 year old, was hunting his BLM Shadow, both did well today, Shadow retrieved 5 doves and performed well for my son. Last season was less than encouraging for Shadow as he did not do well his first season, but hard work in the off-season had him on his game today. He performed flawlessly, better than I could have hoped for. Logan did his part, made sure Shadow stayed hydrated in the 92 degree heat.

I shot a limit of doves by 10:00am, Dixie did well, though at her age, she labored in the heat. I kept her hydrated and as soon as the limit was acquired, I soaked her with cool water and got her in the shade. I then went over and sat with my son for the last hour we hunted, we picked up and left at 11:00am, just as the heat became oppressive.

Both of my hunting buddies did well, one limited out, the other shot 10, pretty good considering his 870 Express was jamming and was in essence a single shot.

Can’t wait ’till Monday.

[Edited By Scott-Tolar on 2012-09-01 16:51]

Posted By:
Scott-Tolar
Field Editor

Craven Co. 01-30-2012 06:26
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 40-45 Degrees
Went out for the season closer and it went as the last break in the season went, pitifully. We saw ducks, much as we had most of the season and in good numbers. But none would decoy, in fact they seemed downright decoy shy. To make a long story short, we got skunked.

This season is now in the books, it has been one of the worst since I came to live in NC nearly 30 years ago. But this is the normal ebb and flow of nature, they can’t all be good seasons like last year. I expect to see a lot of duck stuff for sale on Craigslist in the next few weeks.

I talked to several other duck hunters on the closer, no one got a duck. There were several theories, but they seemed to all have the crappy weather this season as the culprit.

Time to put the gear away, the guns are cleaned and put up. The decoys and other gear will be stowed within the week. Time to get ready for next season.

Posted By:
Scott-Tolar
Field Editor

Field Report, Jan 26th 01-26-2012 17:23
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 40-45 Degrees
Went out to hunt a small creek in the area we hunted for bluebills several times in the last week. We saw puddle ducks coming out of the creek and decided to give it a try. I emptied out the boat, removing 5 dozen bluebill decoys and replaced them with a decoy bag containing 8 mallards, 12 teal and 3 wood duck decoys. I loaded up the robo duck as well.

We got there in good time and set up our spread. We set up on the western side of the creek with our boat and waited. We were buzzed by 2 large ducks right at legal time, but wasn’t able to fire a shot. We were overflown by about 75 to 100 ducks of various species, but very few were low enough to shoot at. I called and called, but none would pay us any attention.

About 8:00am, my buddy took down a drake merganser as both of us emptied our guns into a passing flock that was making Mach II. Dixie made short work of the retrieve and since I missed all 3 shots was able to talk trash to my buddy for killing a fishduck.

We shot at several teal that came by, none were good shots, but they were within range. We decided to take any decent shot that presented itself as we were not getting them to come in over the decoys. At about 9:00am, I took down a ringneck on my third shot.

We sat there until about 9:45 when we called it a day. This has not been a productive season.

Posted By:
Scott-Tolar
Field Editor

Field Report, Jan 24th 01-24-2012 16:28
Cloudy, Light Rain & Drizzle – 50-60 Degrees
I went hunting with a buddy to the same spot as last Saturday. I relocated to the east side of the creek we were hunting in as all the birds we saw on Sat. were on the east side of the creek. Today they flew on the west side! That is okay. We saw puddle ducks flying in and out of a side creek and I managed to drop a fully plumed shoveler drake. Dixie the wonderdog made short work of the retrieve and we watched teal,gads and mallards moving out of the side creek all morning. I had never hunted this location before last Sat., I had scouted it several times but never duck hunted there. That is going to change next year.

As for the remainder of the season, we intend to put up the bluebill decoys and return to the side creek on Thursday to hunt the puddlers. There are 3 guys that are staying in a house on the creek that are going to hunt every morning and afternoon until the closer. I just hope they don’t find the puddlers before we return on Thursday. We will then figure out based on the results as to how to set up to hunt on the closing Saturday.

Posted By:
Sloughslogger
Guest

Upper Cape Fear River 01-23-2012 10:06
Cloudy, Rain & Thunderstorms – 45-50 Degrees
Report for Saturday, January 21, 2012: Five of us hunted a slough off the river. Three woodys bagged. What a misreable morning. A mile walk in and it rained as hard as it could until after first light. Woodys flew sporadically as they do this part of the season. All local birds and wise by now. We need some cold weather for a good ending.

Posted By:
Scott-Tolar
Field Editor

Field Report, Jan 21st 01-21-2012 16:31
Cloudy, Rain & Thunderstorms – 45-50 Degrees
We went out to hunt bluebills this morning on the Pamlico Sound. It was a last minute adjustment to our plans, we had to wait and see what direction the wind was blowing. We have realized we can’t rely on the weather reports, they have consistantly gotten wind speed and/or direction wrong so consitantly that we have almost begun to rely on the method of setting up based on the opposite of the forecast.

We arrived at the small ramp at about 4:45 am. It was pouring down rain and the wind was howling. Suprisingly enough from the predicted direction. We sat out in the darkness and pouring rain to a spot I had located on my GPS several years ago but have yet to hunt. It is a beautiful location, we had only one other boat in the area with us and they set up 500 yds to our south. Very considerate.

We saw tens of thousands of bluebills. They were flying in flocks that ranged from 15 to 20 to huge flocks of hundreds of birds. They came in waves, at times the sky was filled with flying birds. At one point we had at least 5000 birds in the water out in front of us.

We have been trying to hunt the open water for the last several weeks. We have seen huge numbers, but they were very decoy/boat shy. They would come by, 75 yards out, and keep going. Today we set up on the shoreline and we found no remedy to the problem of extremely wary birds. These birds would not come near the shoreline, instead rafting up offshore by the thousands as well as out in the open water of the sound.

I have a theory, I think this warm weather has had the birds rafted up on the Chesapeke and after many weeks of constant pounding, they are highly educated. We normally have to deal with well-educated east coast ducks here, after running the gauntlet that is the Chesapeke Bay, they arrive here well educated. But we normally have some birds that bypass the Bay and come straight down to the sounds. Those are the easy birds to hunt.

I think the weather has been so warm(today was 50 degrees with misquitoes on Jan 21st), that the ducks hit the Bay and set up. I think after a constant pounding for better of a month, they have become so shy that they are very hard to hunt.

We are talking about the merits of layout boat hunting next season.

Posted By:
Scott-Tolar
Field Editor

Field Report, Jan 19th 01-19-2012 10:06
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 25-30 Degrees – Open Water
Went out for a quick hunt this morning near the house.My buddy and I used to refer to this as “The Wood Duck Hole”, but we have not hunted it much in the last few years as roost shooters began to hunt there, blowing out the roost. They would hit it for every day until the ducks disapeared for the year. Hoping things might be different this late in the season, I took a chance. I put my boat in at the unimproved ramp and set out to my spot. I am not supposed to go by myself since I am a cripple, but my buddy had to cancel at the last moment. I got to the spot and put out the decoys(3 woodies and 2 mallard hens). I went to set up the boat and blind when I grounded my boat on a cypress knee. I was unable to free the boat by legal shooting time and after 3 or 4 flocks of woodies got by me I decided to just load the gun and sit in the open. Within moments a flock of 4 came up the creek.

I managed to knock down a woodie hen using all 3 shots. Dixie went to retrieve it and it dove on her. After concentrated hunting on shore and in the water, it suddenly resurfaced in the open about 40 yds from the boat and about 30 yards from Dixie. I hand signaled her in and she chased it down. Excellent work on Dixie’s part.

Another flock came up the creek and I missed all three shots. It was a long shot, but within range(about 40 yards) and it was straight up the creek. I don’t know why I missed.

I had to pull out in order to make my doctor appointments at the VA. I will try this spot again next Tues.

Posted By:
Scott-Tolar
Field Editor

NC coast 01-17-2012 14:05
Cloudy, Winds Calm – 40-45 Degrees
Went to hunt divers on the open water today and did not fire a shot. It is not that we didn’t see ducks, it was quite the opposite. We saw thousands. But the wind did not blow as forecast(at 15 to 20 mph with 30 mph bursts) and the water was as slick as glass. We watched them rafted up on open water, not moving. At all, all day.

This is not my first trip since the 6th, it is my third. But the last two trips before this one were identical to this and I did not bother to write a report. My laziness is no excuse, but I was so disgusted that I just didn’t do my due diligence. I apologize.

We have gone out every day based on weather reports calling for wind that either never arrived, or arrived so late as to be after we were already home! I just unhooked my boat and the wind is blowing gale force. Two hours ago you couldn’t get enough wind to make a ripple on the water.

I hope we have the weather turn cold and the wind come in from the north. There is only two weeks left to the season, It came in like a lion with excellent hunts, but is going out like a wimpy lamb.

Posted By:
Sloughslogger
Guest

Upper Cape Fear River 01-17-2012 08:07
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 25-30 Degrees – Open Water
This posting is for Saturday, 1/14/12.

Got my waders patched but they still leaked a little. Looked like I stepped on a beaver stick.

Hunted the same beaver slough next to the river. About 4 other trucks showed up after we arrived to hunt the same swamp; about eight folks in all. We all agreed to space ourselves out and share the hole. There was enough room and everyone was agreeable. We saw about 50 woodys and while many were shot at only several were brought down. No limits this morning. We all walked out the same time and the GW was there to greet us. Everyone was legal.

It was a good morning and I hope to see these guys there again.

Posted By:
Sloughslogger
Guest

Upper Cape Fear River 01-09-2012 12:24
Mostly Sunny, No Precipitation – 35-40 Degrees
Hunted a river beaver pond Saturday morning. First time I’ve been out after my surgery in November. Wasn’t quite up for the mile walk in and out but did it anyway. Only saw 5 wood ducks. Saw a pair of mallards take off out of range and someone else shot at them. No ducks and waders leaked after I stepped on a bottle. Pretty sunrise though.

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North Carolina Duck Hunting Report Archive

By Webmaster January 9, 2013 January 9, 2013 North Carolina

Posted By:
Scott-Tolar
Field Editor

NC coast 01-07-2012 17:09
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 40-45 Degrees
Went out to hunt divers on at the same location we limited out on Thursday. We arrived at the ramp nearly 2 hours before legal time and were suprised to find one truck and trailer already there. We launched and while we pulled away, two more trucks arrived at the ramp we witnessed numerous boats moving out in open water. I guess the word got out.

We set up near the spot we hunted Thurs. We got out the decoys, set up the blind and waited. We saw some ducks moving in open water, but none that came near us. At about 8:30am, a small group swam up at the edge of range(about 45 yards) and we tried them, knocking down one hen after emptying all 3 guns. We then sat there for 2 more hours without firing a shot.

We had another raft set up in open water, swimming around about 75 yds away. A boat came up the river, we thought the ducks would flush towards us, but instead they flushed out over the boat and into open water. We decided to call it a day at that point.

Beautiful day, but not too productive, duck-wise.

Posted By:
Scott-Tolar
Field Editor

NC coast 01-05-2012 14:14
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 25-30 Degrees – Open Water
Went down to the coast and finally broke the dry spell, my hunting buddy and I limited out on blue bills. Granted, that is only two ducks each, but it was a great day. We arrived and launched from the boat ramp and headed back to a spot that I used to hunt but have not been back to in at least 4 years. We used to shoot a lot of bills there, but in the last few years they just hadn’t showed up.

At legal time we saw a few flocks flying around and rafting up in open water. The longer we sat there, the more ducks rafted up until they were in the hundreds. By 8:30, we had in excess of a thousand birds in the open water out in front of us. Ducks would swim up, just out of range and then swim away.

My buddy urged patience, and he was right. around 9:00 am one flock made the fatal mistake of swimming too close and we stood up, smacking down a limit in one volley.

We sat there a little longer, but since we were seeing nothing but bills, we decided to head home and save this spot for Sat.

Posted By:
Scott-Tolar
Field Editor

Nuese River 12-28-2011 12:53
Sunny & Clear, High Winds – 45-50 Degrees
I have not posted up for close to two weeks, but it is not because I have not been hunting. It is because I have not pulled a trigger since the season opener. I have been hunting 3 times and have not fired at a duck. I can’t find them. In fact, no one I know is finding them.

The word from a friend of mine is that there are no ducks in his favorite beaverswamp. Everyone I am talking to out on the sounds are telling me there are not many divers. This morning is the first time I have even heard a shot in the distance in the last 3 hunts. And then there were less than 10 shots total. This was between a group of 4 duck boats and all but three of the shots were at one flock.

This morning I was on the Nuese near the Pamlico sound. I saw a few ducks, all buffles while riding a scouting trip before loading the boat. And even covering nearly 5 miles, I jumped up only 3 of them.

We need some cold weather. It is nearly the first of the year and it is still t-shirt weather. Not one good freeze all year. In fact the misquitos are still out. Get us some cold weather up north, a little freeze-up and we might be us some new ducks in the area.

Posted By:
Scott-Tolar
Field Editor

12-17-2011 15:15
–

Posted By:
Scott-Tolar
Field Editor

Roanoke River 12-17-2011 15:15
Cloudy, Light Rain & Drizzle – 40-45 Degrees
Went out with my son for a duck hunt this morning and it was an adventure. We went to hunt on the Roanoke, it is one of our favorite spots. It can be a bit of a crap shoot, sometimes you shoot ducks, sometimes not, but it can have quite a variety of different species. Rained on us all the way down there and drizzled on and off all morning. The cold wet air cut through to the bone. On the ride down, we saw a large number of duck boats headed in various directions and we were a little suprised to find no one at the ramp when we arrived at about 5:30am.

We launched and set up at our usual location, putting out a dozen mallard,a dozen teal and a half dozen woodies. I accidently put a single ringneck in the woodie spread in the dark.We set up the Mojo and loaded up to wait for the last 20 minutes til legal shooting time.

At first light, a group of woodies came in, and I smacked down drake, took all 3 shots to put him down. We had a single ringneck blow out of the creek, right over the decoys, but did not see it in time to shoot. Then two mallards buzzed us from behind, again catching us off guard. I called frantically, but to no avail.

About 8:30 am, a single widgeon came in over the decoys and I smacked him at about 40 yards. Didn’t even twitch. Sat there for about another hour when a flock of five ringnecks came in and buzzed the woodies with the single ringneck decoy in the spread. I smacked a hen. Should have put out my ringneck decoys. Had them in the boat, just hadn’t seen a singe ringer all season and decided to take the easy way out.

Called it a day at 9:30 and hit the two steak biscuits for 2.99 at Bojangles and my son opted for a picnic sized dirty rice. Three ducks. Not too bad.

Posted By:
Scott-Tolar
Field Editor

Roanoke River 12-03-2011 18:53
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 30-34 Degrees – Open Water
Went out to hunt the Roanoke at the same location as last Thursday, the plan was to slightly relocate my position in order to capitalize on the wood ducks seen in the early morning and be in a better spot to attract the migrating puddle ducks seen later in the morning.

The woodies showed up on time, but they went to the spot I was set up in last time. Ironic. The puddle ducks did not show up later and the one flock that came by coencided with the appearance of the Game Warden. Wasn’t his fault, he checked us quickly and courteously and was on his way after only a few moments.

Skunked again. As we go into the last break of the season, I find myself thinking about the season up to this point. The season started out very productively, but really slowed down later. I hope that when the season reopens the divers might have arrived.

Time to get a positive attitude.

Posted By:
Scott-Tolar
Field Editor

Roanoke River 12-02-2011 10:18
Sunny & Clear, High Winds – 30-34 Degrees – Open Water
Went out for a hunt and had mixed results. Saw a lot of ducks, only got a single teal.

Went out on the Roanoke River to a spot I never hunted before. I need to adjust my location for my next hunt. I got there and set up with about 20 minutes to spare. At legal time I was buzzed by three seperate groups of wood ducks. All were within range and would have been easy shots if I had seen them in time, but they came out of the shadows and were gone before I could recover.

At about 7:30 am, a single teal came into to the decoys, feet down and wings cupped. I stood up for the shot and the drake did a complete turn-around and applied the afterburners. Black Cloud put him down at about 35 to 40 yards, didn’t even twitch.

I sat there until 9:30 am. I saw large flocks of migrating big ducks as well as good sized flocks of woodies. All were low enough to call, but I couldn’t get any to commit to my spread.

Going back on Sat. to adjust my spot.

Posted By:
Scott-Tolar
Field Editor

Roanoke River 11-25-2011 15:11
Sunny & Clear, Morning Fog – 35-40 Degrees
We went out for a hunt at one of my favorite spots, but we had mixed hopes. The spot I wanted to hunt has been blown out by roost shooters, another good spot is covered up by trout fishermen as the trout are evidently running right now. This spot can do well for us, but the results in the late Nov. season are spotty at best.

We got out and set up with about 20 minutes to spare. Just as we threw out our last decoy, a boat passed us up the creek and passed on out of sight. We got the Mojo duck out and set up the Avery Blind. Right at legal time a woodie blew through, I blazed away three shots at it, my buddy got off one shot. It went down in a fluttering descent and we sent the dog off in pursuit. Just as she arrived at the duck, it took off and flew about 10 feet. It repeated this action until it made it to the shore and took off into the underbrush. The buckbrush was so thick the dog could not penetrate it and I had to recall the dog.

We set back up and a woodie blew into the dekes, feet down and wings cupped. I smacked it and it went down clean, one shot.

We had two ringnecks blow by us,one right after the other, and we did not get off a shot at either one. Then a single mallard hen flew over and we opened up on it. It went down in the buckbrush across the creek and again the dog was unable to penetrate the heavy undergrowth of tangled briars,thorns,sawgrass and scrub brush. We spent about 40 minutes trying to recover the duck, but all attempts were futile.

We called it a day at about 10 am.

Posted By:
Scott-Tolar
Field Editor

Nuese River 11-19-2011 17:30
Sunny & Clear, Morning Fog – 30-34 Degrees – Open Water
My buddy, my son and I went out for a hunt in one of our favorite spots. We got to the unimproved ramp at about 5:15am and set out to our spot. As we set out, another truck with a boat in tow pulled up. We got our decoys out and the other boat passed us about 10 minutes to shooting time. I guess they had trouble navigating the creek in the heavy fog. They went on out of the creek and around the corner, riding off into the distance.

We set up our blind and loaded up. A single teal blew over the boat at legal time, but came out of the shadows and we did not see it in time.Then a woodie passed over high. Then a flock of teal came into the decoys, feet down and cupped. We splashed three. Dixie was able to recover two of them, but one was a cripple and it escaped. Then a woodie came in low over the decoys and we double-slammed it. Stopped in mid-air as if it flew into a wall.

We sat there for close to two hours. We saw some ducks up high, but none that posed a opportunity. Then a flock of mallards came over and I called them in. They came in over the decoys, but we had a miscommunication in the boat and opened the blind prematurely, flaring the ducks. I managed to knock down a drake in spite of this.

We then sat there for a hour without seeing a duck and called it a day.

Ducks in the boat, wet dog, happy hunters. Good day.

Posted By:
Scott-Tolar
Field Editor

Nuese River 11-18-2011 05:35
Cloudy, Occassional Rain Showers – 60-65 Degrees
I went out for a hunt with a good friend of mine to the same spot we went Sat. I really wanted to put him on some mallards and I knew that there would be some in the area. If the guys that shot the roost Sat. did not return to do it again on Monday.

It was a wierd day. It was 70 degrees when we launched. It began to rain and the misquitos were out in force. We got to our spot and set up. We had a woodie get past us at legal time and then a mallard buzzed the boat. There were hundreds of misquitos buzzing around the boat blind. The wind then did a 180 degree turn and the wind began to cool. The misquitos disappeared and it rained on and off. We saw a few ducks, but all were high and none would decoy.By 9:00am the temps had dropped to 55 degrees and we called it a day.

First time to get skunked this year. I knew it was coming.

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North Carolina Duck Hunting Report Archive

By Webmaster January 9, 2013 January 9, 2013 North Carolina

Posted By:
Scott-Tolar
Field Editor

Roanoke River 11-16-2011 05:12
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 45-50 Degrees
Went out with a friend of mine to hunt one of my favorite spots today. It is a pretty good drive, so we left town at 3:30am in order to be set up by legal shooting time of 6:15. We were not as early as I would have liked, so we did not put out our entire spread, instead making do with 1 dozen mallard,5 woodies and a half-dozen ringneck blocks. We did not have time to put out the spinner, instead opting to set up the blind and load up with a mere 3 minutes to spare before legal time.

About 15 minutes after legal time we had a group of 3 woodies blow through and my buddy took a nice drake. After a very excellent blind retrieve, Dixie was back at the boat, wet and happy. A teal set wings and cupped over the decoys and I took it at 20 yards. That duck will require no tenderizing. We sat there for about a hour when a flock of mallards passed over the creek, 100 yds to our east.

I hit the call and after some enthusiastic conversation with the flock, I called them in and they cupped into the decoys. We stood up and opened up. I hit a nice drake mallard, but the extractor on my gun broke and I was unable to finish up the easy shot as my gun jammed. My buddy, who is a beginning duck hunter, got so excited that he admitted he was guilty of “flock shooting” and didn’t take one.

I was forced to use my gun as a single shot as a result. A single canvasback came in at Mach II and I took it in a shot that only can be described as impressive(if I must say so myself).

We called it a day at 9:00am so I could go to the gunsmith before having to be at my grandson’s school to pick him up. Can’t wait until Thursday.

Posted By:
Scott-Tolar
Field Editor

Nuese River 11-12-2011 13:25
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 35-40 Degrees
We went out for the Nov. opener and it was a little less than we had hoped for. In the pre-dawn darkness we heard the calls of mallards and woodies and we waited with real anticipation. Then precisely at legal shooting time, we heard hunters open up in the roost and for about 10 minutes it was constant gunfire. We saw mallards heading up the creek, high and fast, but nothing we did would turn them. Then there was silence from the roost, didn’t hear another shot all morning.

We sat there, suprised and dissapointed. Then a single woodie came up the creek and my buddy and I opened up on it, I knocked it down with the third shot from my gun. It went down in front of the boat and we sent my son’s new pup Shadow to get it, which he did. About 20 minutes later a single woodie came through and my buddy knocked it down. Shadow had a major brain fart and we lost it in the grass.

We waited about 30 minutes or so and then a single mallard flew over. I hit the call and it turned and came back. It circled and circled and I finally called it in. My son stood up for the shot but missed.

About 10:00am a pair of mallards came over, I hit the drake and my buddy hit the hen. Again Shadow would not behave and we lost the drake but we were able to recover the hen duck. Dog needs more work.

We called it a day and headed back to the ramp were I high-centered the boat on a submerged piling. Took about 30 minutes to free ourselves and then I hung up the blind on the trailer driving on it. Pretty rough day, all in all.

It was still a day spent hunting, so it goes in the good day category.

[Edited By Scott-Tolar on 2011-11-12 13:26]

Posted By:
Sloughslogger
Guest

Upper Cape Fear River 10-10-2011 09:29
Cloudy, Heavy Fog – 45-50 Degrees
Report of October 8, 2011. Hunted a beaver slough and should have been on the river where all the shooting was. Maybe they were just shooting. Anyway saw two mallards out of range. I took one woody decoy and threw it out in the beaver pond. A woody buzzed me, took me by suprise and tried to set down on the decoy! Hit him on the second shot. Good way to start the season.

Posted By:
Scott-Tolar
Field Editor

Nuese River 10-08-2011 15:44
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 50-60 Degrees
I went out for the October closer and it was a successful day. Not so much in numbers taken, but in the fact I located a awesome spot that will pay off in the future.I was hunting a small creek off the Nuese River in a location I found this last summer.

I got to the spot where I had jumped up ducks last week scouting and set up with about a hour to spare. It was a small patch of water, so I put out only 4 decoys, two woodie and two mallard hens. At legal time a group of woodies buzzed me, about 5 feet over the boat blind, but I was caught off guard and did not get off a shot. I tried to call them, but they continued on, didn’t even give my decoy spread a look. I then had a pair of mallards come in low over the grass from the side, again I was suprised and didn’t even get off a shot.

Realizing that all the ducks were going to be coming in like that, I reset and waited. I had a flock of about 7 or 8 mallards come in, when I stood up to shoot, Dixie the wonderdog bumped me, knocking me off balance as I fired. I missed a big, fat greenhead at 30 yards. Cursing my poor luck and bad shooting, I reset and waited. Then a flock of about 10 mallards passed by to the side about 50 yards away, low over the grass. I called them and they turned, coming right at me. I then had two others come in from the other direction and I stood up and took a double at about 30 yards, right over the decoys, wings cupped and feet down. Two retrieves later, Dixie was wet and happy and my day had turned around.

I had to pick up to go early as my grandson had a soccer game. I set out for the ramp and jumped up close to a hundred ducks, in different groups, on the way to the ramp. I am going back to this spot on the November opener.

Posted By:
Scott-Tolar
Field Editor

Pamlico River 10-07-2011 15:38
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 50-60 Degrees
Went out to hunt a small creek that I found years ago, but have never had any success hunting. Some of you may remember this spot as the one the bass fisherman pulled his Ranger Bass Boat into my decoy spread at the same moment I had Canada Geese cupped and committed. He succeeded in flaring them without me getting to fire a single shot as I would have had to fire over his head to hit the geese.

Being a small area, I put out a small spread. Three mallards, three woodies and a half-dozen teal. I set up the Mojo and awaited sunrise. I had to hunt alone today, something I don’t like to do.

I took a woodie drake about 7:30am using all three shots to put him down. Dixie made short work of the retrieve. We settled back in to await our next duck.

This was the only duck I took. I had opportunities, but I flubbed every one. It was just one of those days. I missed two I shouldn’t have and had 3 sets get by me before I saw them.

Oh well, there is still tomorrow to redeem myself.

Posted By:
Scott-Tolar
Field Editor

Hyde Co. 10-07-2011 15:31
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 50-60 Degrees
Went out to hunt a creek off the Pamlico River in Hyde County. It is a spot that we like to hunt, however, for the last several years trout fishermen have been fishing the creek heavily and they will fish right in your decoys. I scouted the area last week however and no fishermen were to be seen.

We got to the ramp and set out to our spot. We were surprised to find a couple of duckhunters in the general area we were going to hunt. We normally hear hunters in the distance, see hunters at the ramp, but none of them head to the area we hunt. Turns out they were lost in the dark.We tried to help them with directions, but they were evasive in where they were trying to get to. I guess they were afraid we were going to poach thier spot. We weren’t, but I understand thier thinking. You have to be a little territorial nowadays because the common courtesy of leaving another man’s hunting spot alone is gone. My partner and I still honor it, but we are a dying breed. Without being able to find out where they were trying to get to, we weren’t able to help them much. I think they wound up hunting in the area we found them in as we heard shots in the area and saw them headed up the creek past the mouth of our tributary about 10:00 am.

After our fail attempt to be a Good Samaritan, we went to our spot and set up. We put out ringnecks(for visibility), teal,mallard and wood duck decoys as well as our Mojo gadwall. We set up the Avery and waited legal time.

We had ducks come in at a slow, but steady pace, shooting about every 30 to 45 minutes until we managed to take 4 woodies and a blue wing teal. The ducks were wary, but not overly so, with all the ducks shot directly over the decoys.

Another good day.

Posted By:
Scott-Tolar
Field Editor

Roanoke River 10-05-2011 15:51
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 50-60 Degrees
My hunting buddy and I went out to hunt one of our favorite spots on the Roanoke River. We have somewhat unreliable results here, but some of the hunts been some of the best of my lifetime. This spot is, however, a bit of a two-edged sword. We have also traveled up here only to not see a duck all morning. This was one of the good days.

At legal time we had several groups of woodies come through, but in the heavy shadows of the timber, it was too dark to shoot. About 20 minutes after legal time we had a pair of woodies come through and my buddy and I smacked one, the same one. Then we had two groups of woodies come in, I knocked down one from each group. My buddy forgot to reload his gun on the first group, then hit the mag cutoff by accident on the second group and missed. We then had a group of three teal come in and knocked down one each. We sat there until about 9:30am and I smacked a single woodie and the day was done. We continued to sit there until after 10:00am, but there was no action so we picked up and came home.

Five woodies, two teal. A wet dog. A good day.

Posted By:
Scott-Tolar
Field Editor

Oct. preseason scouting report 10-01-2011 16:30
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 50-60 Degrees
I have gone out and done some scouting, with mixed results. I am either finding plenty of ducks, or a area completely deviod of ducks. I find it a little odd that it is so extreme as far as results.

Two of the areas I checked were completely without ducks. Not a single woodie flier. Three other spots I checked were very good in duck numbers. I have seen woodies and teal at all three locations, gadwall and mallards at two locations along with the teal and woodies.

I am seeing large flocks of woodies. Five to ten ducks in a group(which is pretty large for woodies). I find this to be indicative of migrators in my experience.

I don’t think I have seen this many big ducks so early in the season in many years.

It all boils down now to pressure. If people hunt them light and smart, we should have a good season. If people start hunting areas too hard, sky-busting and hunting too many days too close together in the same spot, we will have a good day or two and then wonder where the ducks went.

We will have to see how it goes.

Posted By:
Scott-Tolar
Field Editor

Dove hunt, Sept 13th, 2011 09-13-2011 09:28
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – Over 70 Degrees
I went out for a quick dove hunt this morning, I went to the same spot as last Sat., hoping for another limit. It was not to be, it was much slower, I saw less than 2 dozen birds all morning. This hunt I took my son’s lab Shadow as he needs more experience with doves.

I was set up about 10 minutes before legal time and sat there until 7:45am before my first bird came in. I took it with one shot and I sent Shadow to pick it up. He as a bit hesitant, but picked it up and brought it to hand. After I enthusiastically, rewarded him with attention after bringing it back, he was on fire for the next one. I took number 2 about 20 minutes later as it came in to light on the powerline. He didn’t make it to the wire. Shadow went hard and brought it back. I sat there for close to an hour before taking number 3, low and slow across the field. Retrieve number 3 was in the books and Shadow is a little more confident on doves.

Posted By:
Scott-Tolar
Field Editor

Jones Co. 09-10-2011 10:44
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – Over 70 Degrees
Went out for a dove hunt this morning near the house. Neither of my hunting buddies could make it and my son has to be in school for the next 5 Saturdays(one hurricane make-up day and five days of Drivers Ed). I took Dixie out today, I will take Logan’s dog out next Tues.

We all know the old addage about the best fishing being next to the boat dock, the same might apply to dove hunting as well. The last two trips I made were 1 1/2 hours to dove hunt for two less than stellar days. Today I went just down the road and I limited out between 7am and 9am. I was hunting a freshly cut corn field that had telephone lines bisecting the field, running north to south. There were large numbers of birds moving both as singles and doubles as well as big flocks. The singles and doubles came on it to the power line and were easy hunting, the big flocks were more wary and tended to flair off before coming in range.

Dixie did excellent work this morning. She did blinds, followed hand signals and marked birds very well. I was very pleased with her performance. She is in the backyard and the doves are breasted and filleted.

It was a good day.

[Edited By Scott-Tolar on 2011-09-10 10:45]

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North Carolina Duck Hunting Report Archive

By Webmaster January 9, 2013 January 9, 2013 North Carolina

Posted By:
Scott-Tolar
Field Editor

Lower Roanoke River Dove Area 09-05-2011 17:41
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – Over 70 Degrees
Went for our draw hunt to the Lower Roanoke River Dove Area.We got there in the pre-dawn darkness and got out to the field. There were very few birds flying and very few opportunities. We got set up in a corner of the field, where the corn and sunflower were next to the trees. At about 30 minutes after shooting time, we had a group come up and set up about 15 yards away. Every bird that even started for our corner was flared away before it ever got in shooting range. In spite of this, 3 of our party managed 2 to 3 birds each before we called it a day at 10:00am. We sat there in the field and watched people shoot at everything from Killdeer to bats.

On a up note, the problem with my son’s new BLM Shadow not wanting to pick up doves has been cured. I called the trainer and he told me to take the doves I saved and freeze them. On Sunday my son and I took the frozen birds to a local pond and we got the dog fired up on the shore and threw the birds in the water. Shadow went nuts to get them. Turns out that on Saturday he just didn’t know what to do with the doves as he had never seen one. Several water retrieves later and he wanted doves just as bad as he wanted ducks. Shadow retrieved a dove(his only opportunity)in a very professional manner. My son and I are very pleased.

As we got ready to leave, we were checked by the Game Wardens(two of them). Very nice and professional. They checked us quickly and told us they had been watching the field all morning from cover. They came out to check us before we left and then were on thier way to nab the Kildeer killers. The had witnessed it from cover and were just waiting to go in for them.

Gonna be a bad day for those dudes.

Posted By:
Scott-Tolar
Field Editor

Hyde Co. 09-04-2011 16:14
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – Over 70 Degrees
Went out for the dove opener, it was a day frought with disappointments. We got to our field, and there were lots of birds, but few hunters. The doves just sat in the field and ate corn.The second dissapointment was that my son’s new BLM Shadow would not pick up the doves. He just didn’t seem to know that he was supposed to retrieve them. I did not want to force the issue, I have never had this arise before and I didn’t want to over-react and cause a long-term dog problem. I was sure it had a solution and I was going to find out what it was before I proceeded. I froze three doves upon arriving at home last night in case I needed them to correct this.

We shot only a few doves until we moved locations at about 3:30 pm and from 4 to 5:30 pm I shot 11 and my partner shot 8. My son Logan shot one. It was a good long shot, he only fired a few times and didn’t get as many opportunities dealing with his new pup.

On a high note with the pup, I called the trainer and he told me what to do. We took the aforementioned frozen doves to a local pond and threw them in the water for Shadow. He launched for the birds and after several retrieves was bringing them back with abandon. In fact, we was on fire for the dove. I then threw them on dry land retrieves and again, he was flawless in his technique. I think the problem is solved. He has retrieved ducks during training, he just was unsure what to do with a dove.That is my fault, not his.

We have a draw hunt at the Lower Roanoke River Game Area tomorrow on Labor Day, the report will follow.

Posted By:
Scott-Tolar
Field Editor

Dove Opener, pre-season report 09-01-2011 16:09
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – Over 70 Degrees
It is now time for another hunting season. The annual ritual that is the dove opener is upon us. I am getting things ready, but I am not well prepared. With the hurricane and subsequent damage and clean-up, the oppressively hot weather and some health issues have kept me from my usual preparedness.

That being said, my son,buddies and I have a draw hunt from the Roanoke Dove Area for Monday. It has always been a excellent hunt there. Our only question mark is for Saturday. My hunting buddy is going to scout our hunting area in Hyde Co. tomorrow, I will scout out a few locations closer to home.

I have pulled the guns out of storage and cased them up. I have prepared gear bags for myself and my son. I have frozen six two-liter soda bottles of water for the dogs and have two unfrozen bottles ready for instant use. Two cases of ammo, one 12 and one 20 ga are ready to be loaded in the truck.

We have been unable to work the dogs for the last 6 or more weeks due to the extreme heat. I took them out today(temps in the 80’s)and they both did well. Dixie is a veteran, at 13 she has a few seasons under her belt. My son’s new pup Shadow, age 1 1/2 is a bit more of a wild card, but he did well today. He remembered his hand signals and ran straight blinds. Both dogs responded well to the whistle. I think we are ready as we can be, dog-wise.

The dove opener is a prelude to the season we all live for. Duck season. The opener is little more than a month away and it is that season that I find my mind wandering to.

Posted By:
Scott-Tolar
Field Editor

Lake Mattemaskeet 01-29-2011 16:41
Sunny & Clear, Morning Fog – 30-34 Degrees – Open Water
We went hunting for our draw hunt at Lake Mattemaskeet and it was good. On our first day(Friday), the results were less than stellar. 3 guns, one shoveler, one merganser and one coot(shot out of boredom and frozen for dog training this summer. We sat out there until 11:45am before giving up.

On day two (Saturday), it was excellent! Two guns, 11 ducks. We took 5 teal, 2 wigeon, 2 mergansers, 1 ringneck, and a pintail drake. Our season ended on a definite high note.

One Saturday, we were covered up with wigeon prior to legal time, they practically buzzed the blind. Upon legal time arriving, the air went dead. We sat there and took 4 teal singles, all were called in with the whistle and all came into the dekes, feet down and wings cupped. Then a flock of pintails came in, Mach II and buzzing the decoys. They went up and over the blind and I took a drake with one shot as it was flying away. I have been hunting a fully plumed out drake pintail for 25 years, this one is destined for the taxidermist. We had another teal come in and immediately upon getting set up after the dog retrieved it, a flock of wigeon came in and we knocked down a double, one each.

Then the wind died down and the ducks quit flying. We sat there and didn’t see another duck for an hour. We called it a day at 10:30am and headed out to have some lunch.

We ended the season on a winning note and we were very pleased.

Posted By:
Sloughslogger
Guest

Sampson County 01-24-2011 11:09
Mostly Cloudy, No Precipitation – 25-30 Degrees – Ice
Went out for a quick hunt before work this morning. The marsh was mostly frozen and only put two mallard decoys in the main creek channel where it was thawed. The woodys were flying and I managed to splash one. Should have had my limit but let my partner take most of the shots. Saw about 30 birds in all. We saw mostly local predictable woodys at first light and a few mallards flying high with a purpose and not paying attention to our decoys or attempts to call them back. Still a good way to start the day.

Posted By:
Scott-Tolar
Field Editor

Pamlico County 01-22-2011 12:58
Cloudy, High Winds – 10-20 Degrees – Open Water
We went out for a hunt this morning and it was cold. The temps were in the low 20’s and the wind chill put it in the mid-teens with hard wind. We arrived at our boat ramp to find one boat unloading, one boat leaving and two other trucks parked. Not to worry, no one ever hunts in our spot. We launched and set out to our spot with time to spare.

Upon arrival we set out a dozen ringnecks, a dozen teal and a couple of mallard decoys. We set up the Avery Quickset on the boat and awaited legal time. At about 10 minutes before legal time, a pair of mallards appeared in the creek swimming towards our decoys, They turned around about 70 yards out and swam away, never to return. We sat there until about 7:20am when a flock of mallards came up the creek, low and looking. When they buzzed the dekes, we opened the blind and splashed two, a drake and a hen. Dixie made short work of the hen, it splashed feet up in the decoys. The drake, however, went down behind the boat, in the heavy scrub. I sent Dixie on the blind retrieve and hand-signaled her in to the spot I thought it went down. Dixie worked the area about 5 minutes, found the missing drake and returned to the boat. About 8:30, a flock of teal buzzed through and a single hen broke out of the flock and set into the decoys. My partner and I stood up and smacked it simultaneously. No need to tenderize that duck. Dixie picked it up and we sat down to wait.

We sat there until 9:30, and in spite of seeing a few ducks flying around, we decided to call it a day. It was a miserable, bone-chilling cold that cut clean through you. I am not normally too adversely affected by the cold, but today it was really severe in the high winds. My son was getting too cold and it was time to go home.

We arrived at the ramp and were the first to be leaving, a unusual situation for us. We are usually among the last to leave. We got the boat on the trailer as the second boat pulled up. By the time we had the blind stowed for highway travel, all the other hunters had arrived, loaded and left(we like to get our boat squared away before we leave the ramp for the next trip). Turns out that we just barely beat the rush. Made me feel less wimpy. I didn’t like being the only lightweight bailing out because of the cold.

Two mallards and a teal. Not bad

Posted By:
Sloughslogger
Guest

Sampson County 01-20-2011 10:24
Mostly Sunny, No Precipitation – 35-40 Degrees
Went out for a quick hunt this morning and was pleasantly suprised to find the marsh completely thawed. Saw about twenty woodys and shot eight times. They were done by 7:10. Mallards were flying up the creek but I left my calls in the truck and just watched them go on their way. I was packing up to leave and had my backpack on and about twenty geese came flying down the creek at 8:00. They got within 20yards and I shot one two times with a load of 2,3/4″ BB’s. Feathers went all over but it flew on also. Bad hit? Wrong shot? I’m still scratching my head over that one.

Posted By:
Scott-Tolar
Field Editor

Hyde Co. 01-18-2011 10:36
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 30-34 Degrees – Open Water
We went out for our annual swan hunt and it was awesome. My son(age 13) had his first swan permit and hopes were high that he would take a swan. He is hunting with a 20ga, but I tried to give him every advantage and procured Black Cloud #2’s for the hunt(the largest shot I could find in 20ga).

My friends John,Raul,my son and I arrived at the spot and set out John’s decoys(as John is our resident swan expert and we were hunting as his guests). We could not have timed it more perfectly, getting out the decoys exactly at legal time with no down time to wait. We loaded up and began to scan the sky.

We saw thousands of snows, but as usual they had plans elsewhere and did not come close to us. We sat in the small irrigation ditch in the 30 degree temps until about 7:30, when a pair of swans came in low across the field of winter wheat. When they got close, we sat up and all waited to let Logan(my son) take the first shot. At about 40 yards he fired one shot, bringing down the swan like it flew into a wall. A perfect textbook head shot. I was so excited that I didn’t even fire and my buddy Raul took down the other swan in the pair with a clean shot as well. They ran out to retrieve their birds and tag them(which must be done immediately)and we settled back into the ditch to wait.

We sat there about another 45 minutes while several flocks buzzed us, just a little too high for the shot. Then a single came in low and set wings into the decoys. It was my shot now, so two shots later he was on the ground. We sat and watched swans flying all around and then when another single came in, John took it and our tags were filled.

Posted By:
Sloughslogger
Guest

Sampson County 01-17-2011 10:53
Cloudy, Winds Calm – 30-34 Degrees – Ice
Hunted saturday (1-15) and the marsh was froze solid for the fourth day and the ducks were gone. Didn’t even flip the safety off.

Warmer temps Saturday & Sunday brought them back today and we saw about twenty wood ducks and several mallards that wouldn’t decoy. Took a new young hunter with me and we burned some shells on some fast wooodys.

Posted By:
Sloughslogger
Guest

Sampson County 01-14-2011 10:35
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 25-30 Degrees – Ice
The marsh was iced up all the way across the creek this morning. I could walk on the ice so I didn’t attempt to break my way out to put out decoys. Just shot at wood ducks as they passed overhead. Not as many this morning but I did get one wood duck and it crashed on the ice. That’s still good eating. I saw maybe 15 woodys. I passed on two groups that I should have shot at but they were on me and in the trees behind me before I could get the safety off. Everything was iced up and they’re probably on open water somewhere if they can find any. All the local ponds and swamps were froze solid that I passed on the way home.

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North Carolina Duck Hunting Report Archive

By Webmaster January 9, 2013 January 9, 2013 North Carolina

Posted By:
Scott-Tolar
Field Editor

Craven Co. 01-13-2011 11:49
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 10-20 Degrees – Ice
Went out for a hunt near New Bern and it was eventful. Got to the ramp(a WRC ramp for a change)only to find the creek I wanted to hunt locked up with ice. It was too late to regroup and go somewhere else, so I decided to take a chance looking for open water upstream from the ramp(my usual hunting location).

First,I had to break ice at the ramp and I had trouble getting the boat off the trailer and positioned next to the dock due to the heavy ice.Second, I had a boat malfunction, not what I needed to happen when I am already starting out late. It seems my shifter cable had gotten water in it and had frozen stuck. I managed to free my cable in reverse only by thawing it with a cigarette lighter. I disconnected the shifter on the motor from the cable and by shifting the motor manually and using the reverse setting on my shifter lever to increase the throttle, I managed to get away from the ramp. The farther I went upstream, the heavier the ice got. I found a small patch of open water and I threw out 3 mallard and 1 woodie decoy and set up the blind. Two minutes to legal time.

I loaded up and settled in to wait. I sat there until about 7:45 am and a single ringneck flew up the creek, going upstream. I sat up and fired, bam(feathers flew),bam(more feathers), took a deep breath, led the duck and BAM! I hit it hard and it went down in a frantically flapping descent into the creek, just around the corner from my position. I could not let the dog go for it due to ice, so I cranked up and headed to the spot.

No duck in sight. I looked around and saw the impact hole on the ice. Thinking the duck might be under the ice, I looked all around. After a thorough search, I decided the duck must have hit the ice, busted through, and then ran on top of the ice to the shore. I beached the boat and sent in Dixie the wonderdog. After a 5 or 6 minute search, she returned with the ringneck drake. I posted a pic in the 2010 hunting picture album.

Not a red letter day, but for overcoming the difficulties and Dixie’s awesome blind retrieve, I consider today a moral victory.

Posted By:
Sloughslogger
Guest

Sampson County 01-10-2011 10:48
Cloudy, Accumulating Snow – 25-30 Degrees – Ice
The snow front definately moved the birds this morning. Saw about seventy wood ducks and brought one home. Most were flying down the main creek channel where I could not get to with waders. The marsh was frozen and covered with fresh snow except for the open creek channel. Several mallards passed over pretty high and were on their way to somewhere else.

Posted By:
Scott-Tolar
Field Editor

Pamlico River 01-08-2011 20:21
Cloudy, High Winds – 35-40 Degrees
My partner and I went out to hunt on the Pamlico River this morning. We wanted to hunt sea ducks, but NOAA was calling for 20 mph winds with higher gusts, rain and snow. So we opted to go puddle duck hunting instead.

We got to the ramp and were surprised to see 7 trucks already at the ramp and another pulled up right behind us in line. We got the boat ready as quickly as possible and launched to go to our spot. We headed the opposite direction as everyone else, we have a little honey hole we like to hunt. Hasn’t been that good for the last few years due to fishermen that would set up and fish right next to your decoy spread, but with gale force warnings and small craft advisories out, we were hoping they would stay home.

About 10 minutes to legal time a flock of about 10 or so ringnecks went by our boat. At 4 minutes to legal time, 3 mallards went right over us. Then it was legal time,didn’t see another duck for almost 3 hours. At 10:00am, a flock of 30 to 40 teal blew right over us and landed down the creek. We watched them for about 10 minutes, they took off and came through the decoys and we splashed 3,two hens and a drake. Then about 20 minutes later, another, smaller flock came through, just a little high and real fast, we managed one drake out of that group.

Two hunters, four teal. Not too bad.

Posted By:
Scott-Tolar
Field Editor

Roanoke River 01-06-2011 16:00
Cloudy, Light Rain & Drizzle – 35-40 Degrees
I went up for a hunt on the Roanoke River this morning and it was not productive. I sat there until 10:00am without even pulling a trigger. I did see some migrators up high, some wood ducks and some big ducks(gadwall and mallards), but nothing that even pretended to consider decoying.

I arrived at the unimproved ramp at about 5:30am. I launched quickly and set out to my usual spot. I was somewhat surprised not to see any other hunters in the area, it was a sign they knew something I didn’t. It started raining about legal time and rained steady until I called it a day.

I think the dog is disappointed in me.

Posted By:
Sloughslogger
Guest

Sampson County 01-06-2011 10:50
Cloudy, Light Rain & Drizzle – 35-40 Degrees
Hunted the same location I did on Tuesday. No mallards here this morning. Go figure. Snowing 50 miles north and drizzle where I was and only saw 25-30 local woodys. Splashed 1 woody and got a merganzer. Still better than being in the office.

Two days ago it was clear and cold. Marsh was froze to the main creek channel and mallards were everywhere.

Posted By:
Sloughslogger
Guest

Sampson County 01-05-2011 09:22
Mostly Sunny, No Precipitation – 25-30 Degrees – Ice
Hunted a new location with new hunters (friends)yesterday. A little farther east than I’m used to hunting and there were noticibly more ducks and more species than I’m used to seeing. This is getting better and better.

Posted By:
Scott-Tolar
Field Editor

Nuese River 01-03-2011 16:35
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 35-40 Degrees
I went out to hunt a creek off the Nuese this morning, it is a area that I have not hunted in at least 10 years, but I was at a loss of where to go and I decided to give it a shot. It is a beautiful location, where salt marsh meets scrub pine. I have shot a few woodies there,as well as a few mergansers. Nothing to get excited about, but it was a excellent location to try out to see if things had changed.

Sometimes taking a risk pays off. I got to the ramp about a hour before shooting time, I quickly launched the boat and faced the choice, up the creek to where I usually hunt, or down to try something new. Since I was already pushing the envelope, I decided to go up to my old location since it had been so long since I had been there. For all I knew, there was a housing development down the creek(it was too marshy for that upstream). I set out a dozen ringnecks and a few wood duck and mallard decoys and set up the blind. Not a minute too spare. I quickly loaded up and sat down to wait. Not for long.

A pair of big ducks passed overhead and continued down the creek. I went to hit the mallard call, but in my excitement, I blew a high-ball into my wood duck call. Recovering quickly, I hit the high ball on my Haydel’s Redleg several times and the ducks turned and passed by out of range on the other side of the creek. I continued to quack and chuckle as they passed over several times and finally they set wings and parachuted in. I could not let them decoy since I would not be able to take the shot in the low light, so I had to take them a little high as they came in, outlined in the early morning sky. They had feet down and were dipping from side to side when I flipped open the blind and picked out my duck. Two shots later, it hit the water, just outside the ringneck decoys. I sent Dixie out for the retrieve and she made short work of it. While she was swimming to the duck, I used the time to reload. When she arrived back at the boat, I realized that I had a blackduck/gadwall hybrid. It had the dark brownish/black feathers of a black with the wing coloration of a gadwall. It’s bill was not the usual olive/green color, but was black and orange speckled. At first I thought it was a black duck, it’s main coloration was that of a black duck.

I put it on the strap and settled back down. Two more large ducks passed by to the south of my position, I hit the call and they turned as if on a string. Before they got to me however, two other ducks passed by and they turned and followed them. I frantically hit the high ball and was discouraged as they continued to fly away. Just when all seemed lost, the small group of four turned and headed back. They flew over and circled around for another pass. I could see they were gadwall, I continued to do single quacks and feed chuckles. They set their wings, dropped their feet and came in, dipping from side to side. At about 10 feet off the water, I stood up and took a double at about 25 yards. It was awesome. Dixie made short work of the double retrieve and we sat back to wait for our next duck.

These were all the ducks I saw all morning. It was lucky I was able to capitalize on every opportunity that I had this morning. I sat there until 10:00am before picking up to come home. By NC standards hunting on public water, the black/gadwall hybid and the two gads constitute a red letter day. North Carolina has you shooting woodies and divers, from ringnecks to scoters and bluebills. An occasional teal or mallard. But to take three big puddle ducks while hunting public rivers and creeks is quite a accomplishment.

Posted By:
Scott-Tolar
Field Editor

Craven County 01-02-2011 15:31
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 40-45 Degrees
My son and I went out hunting to the “Wood Duck Hole”, one of my favorite locations for the last 20 years. It has not been good there for the last 5 or so years, but I am keeping the dream alive that it will become good again. The problem is that a couple of locals are shooting out the roost, it has totally ruined a area that was a almost guaranteed wood duck limit every time, not to mention that sometimes you took a few mallards or Canada geese as well. It is a beautiful location, were the creek opens up from a narrow to a wide area where a ox-bow re-enters the creek. It is surrounded by huge cypress and there is a small island off to one side. The area is pristine, no sign of development anywhere around.

But starting about 5 years ago, two locals(I am guessing by the sound of their gunfire)began to shoot out the roost. They go in and really blast it out. It makes me sad. I would hunt this location once or twice a week, hunting it lightly and slipping out with one or two woodies every time. I decided to go back to check it out, maybe the roost shooters moved away.

My son and I set up in our traditional location, we set up 3 woodie and 2 mallards out in the open area in front of the place we put the boat. We set up the blind on the boat and waited.

For nothing. We sat there until 10:00am and did not see a single duck within range. We only saw 3 ducks all morning, one teal and two mallards up high and out of range. We had a flock of Canada geese come over, but they were too high. We also had a flock of swans pass over us, up high about 100 yards south of our location. Obviously the roost shooters are still there.

I will not return to the “Wood Duck Hole” this year.

Posted By:
Scott-Tolar
Field Editor

Pamlico Sound 12-30-2010 17:46
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 10-20 Degrees – Ice
My partner and I went hunting for sea ducks today, the first time this year. We went to one of our favorite spots on the Pamlico Sound. We put in at the unimproved ramp at the headwaters of a small creek. We had to put the truck in 4-wheel drive due to the still-present snow and the heavy mud due to moisture saturation in the ground at the ramp. It was pretty nasty.

We had to pole the boat to turn around from the ramp due to heavy ice in the creek. We broke ice almost the entire way to the sound, in some places it was so thick that we had to slow down and let the boat go up on top of the ice and let it fall through to break it, somewhat like a icebreaker does.

After finally arriving out in the open water of the sound, we were immediately amazed at how slick the water was. There was not low wind, there was no wind. The water was slick as glass. We ran out to the spot we like to hunt, about 300 yards offshore. We put out a dozen scoter, one dozen bluebills and about a half dozen bufflehead decoys. After setting up the Avery Blind, we awaited legal shooting time, about a 30 minute wait.

We could hear buffleheads flying around the area, but could not see them. At legal time we had a group of bluebills skim just outside range, circle us three times and fly away. Then a single scoter came in low with wings set and I took him at about 35 yards. Scoters are hard to kill, but Black Cloud puts them down. He hit the water and didn’t even twitch.

We then had four buffles approach from the east and set up in the bufflehead decoys just as a single buzzed out in front. My partner took a buffle as it left the decoys and I lost my footing and missed the single flyer. About 30 minutes later a single buffle drake came into the bufflehead decoys and my partner took it clean over the blocks. It was a beautiful drake, so perfect and plumed out so well that he is going to have it mounted.

We saw hundreds of ducks out in the open water, but in the slick conditions they did not fly around. We picked up at 10:30 am and went home after sitting there for 2 hours without firing a single shot.

Posted By:
Scott-Tolar
Field Editor

Lenior County 12-29-2010 07:45
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 25-30 Degrees – Ice
I went out for a quick hunt in the small beaverswamp across the road from my house. I had to be back early(by 8:00am)and I couldn’t really put in a real hunt like yesterday, two days in a row. I need a day or so to recover from each trip due to some health issues I have. But tomorrow I do intend to go hunting for real, my hunting buddy and my son will be going and they can bear the brunt of the labor.

I found the beaverpond frozen solid, I didn’t expect it to be completely frozen. I expected the sides to be frozen and the middle to be open water. My plan had been to catch ducks coming into the open water from the river. But with the water completely frozen, I only saw one flock of ducks(mallards) and a single teal. Both were slightly out of range and I didn’t fire a shot.

Tomorrow promises a new day. My partner and I hope to do some sea duck hunting tomorrow, the first time this year. It seems that the winds have been in excess of 20 mph on the sounds since the end of November. Every time we plan a sea duck hunt, it is high winds with small craft advisories on the sound. Tomorrow’s forecast is for 5 mph NE winds, perfect sea duck hunting conditions for the spot we like to hunt.

I am told that people have been doing extremely well hunting impoundments and in beaverponds all season. The ducks are evidently here and have been all season. We have been unable to capitalize on them since the river is so shallow as to make navigation all but impossible and I only have access to one beaverpond. This beaverpond is owned by a man I know and he will only let me go in to hunt there so I can’t ditch my hunting buddy to go there.

But tomorrow will be a sea duck hunt(if all goes as planned).

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North Carolina Duck Hunting Report Archive

By Webmaster January 9, 2013 January 9, 2013 North Carolina

Posted By:
Scott-Tolar
Field Editor

Nuese River 12-28-2010 10:20
Sunny & Clear, High Winds – 10-20 Degrees – Open Water
I went out hunting yesterday in the snow and wind, the extreme conditions would move the ducks around, or so I thought. I went to a small creek I hunt only in the most unpleasant weather. In the past, in these conditions, this locations has really payed off. This day was extreme, 21 degree with 24 mph winds, and a wind chill factor of 9 degrees.

The usual time to this spot is about 45 minutes, with the ice and snow it took 3 hours to arrive at the ramp. I put in the boat and set out for my favorite spot on the creek. The wind was whipping, any water that blew into the boat instantly froze. I only put out about a half dozen ringnecks decoys since I was alone and am still have some issues with my outboard. About 30 minutes before legal time another boat came up the creek and went back in a small cove behind me.

At legal time the other boat fired one shot, I saw a single ringneck fly out of the cove and over the trees. About 30 minutes later a bufflehead flew into my spread and it took 3 shots to put it down. A hen buffle at about 35 yards. Dixie made short work of the retrieve and I settled in to wait.

It was so bitterly cold with the wind factored in that it was a struggle to try to stay warm. Because of this, I did not capitalize on the opportunities I had to take more ducks(all buffles). I would be pouring a cup from my thermos, or putting on heavier gloves,etc when single buffles would blow by my boat, approaching from behind me in a small cove that had a outlet to the big water of the Nuese River. They could not stand the 5 foot seas on the big water(as was my plan)but were approaching me from behind(which was not my plan). I expected the ducks to come up the creek, not pass over the trees to my rear and come in from behind.

About 9 am a flock of hoodies came in and I took the drake. I saw the other boat come out of the cove(having not fired a single shot since that first one at shooting time) and head to the ramp. I decided to wimp out about 45 minutes later having not seen another duck

Posted By:
Scott-Tolar
Field Editor

Roanoke River 12-21-2010 06:42
Cloudy, High Winds – 25-30 Degrees – Ice
Went out for a hunt this morning and it was a epic adventure. The temps were in the upper 20’s, the winds were gale force. We went out into a small creek from a small unimproved ramp and rode to the Roanoke River, the same location as Sat. I had to put the truck in 4-wheel drive due to ice on the shore and in the turnaround. Even in the small creek the water was rough, out in the sound(where we dared not venture) we saw 3 to 4 foot seas with whitecaps. We were having boat trouble at the ramp,the motor was hard to start and my outboard acted like it was running on only one cylinder. It seemed to clear up so we continued on. It was so cold that the boat was building up ice and hard to maintain on plane. But we finally made it to our spot and we decided to put out a small spread to lessen the hassle should we have catastrophic failure later(in light of the numerous mechanical difficulties experienced up to that point).

At legal time a black duck crossed over the creek and moved off to the north of our position. I hit the call and it turned around, coming in over the trees, cupping into the decoys in the low light conditions. I took the duck on the second shot at about 40 yards. Dixie made short work of the easy retrieve, getting back in the boat and shaking salt water all over my gun. No matter where I place my gun, Dixie always goes there to shake off. Approx. 20 minutes later, another black duck came up the creek and landed just out of the spread, my hunting partner for today(my daughter’s brother-in-law)took the duck on the first shot as it took off the water upon his standing up to shoot.

The wind continued to build up force until finally it got so severe, even in our small creek, that it was buffeting our Avery Quickset blind around, even blowing the top open once. The water from the wet dog froze in the boat and my hunting partner lost his footing and fell down in the boat when he stood up to shoot at a passing ringneck. I managed to drop the duck and Dixie once again made short work of the reasonably short retrieve(just outside the decoys). About 30 minutes later another ringneck came into the decoys and I knocked it down. It took off swimming and we both emptied our guns into it in a attempt to stop it’s escape, only to have it continue to swim away. Dixie made a valiant effort to retrieve it, but since she is now 11 years old, she gets tired and disoriented sometimes on long complicated retrieves. She lost the duck and I could tell she needed to come back to the boat. I recalled her with the whistle, and we went to go out in the boat to try to find it.

That’s when we realized we were in real trouble. The dog had shaken off in the boat, freezing water had frozen my shifter stuck. I tried to thaw it with my thermos, I got it freed up for about 5 minutes, but it immediately refroze. I had to disconnect the shifter cable from the motor to manually shift it. I had to use the idle up lever to increase the fuel, once I got the boat moving, I couldn’t lower the idle back down due to the frozen cable. The motor then cut back to one cylinder again and we barely got back to the ramp after a real struggle to recover our decoys in the high wind with the limited control I had over the boat’s speed. The normally 10 minute run took close to 30 minutes and we had to load the boat manually rather than driving it on as usual(actually my buddy had to do the lion’s share of the work as I have some pretty severe physical disabilities).

I dropped my boat off at the shop on my way home with instructions to fix any problems without pricing them first as I need my boat back for duck hunting and the shop usually takes off 2 weeks after Christmas for their annual winter vacation. I hope that doesn’t hurt me too bad, but I trust the guys at the boat shop completely, they would not take advantage of me and I know they will not only do a good job, but they will make it as cheap as they can.

Quite the adventure. Man, am I tired.

Posted By:
Scott-Tolar
Field Editor

Roanoke River 12-19-2010 07:47
Mostly Cloudy, No Precipitation – 25-30 Degrees – Ice
We went out for the opener with very high hopes. The severe weather up north, coupled with overcast conditions in the 20’s here seemed optimal. We opted for one of my favorite spots on the Roanoke since the conditions seemed right to push down migrators. For the first time this year, we saw other duck rigs on the road in the early morning hours. I try not to have boat envy, but it seems everyone has a War Eagle but me.

We arrived at the unimproved ramp about 1 1/2 hours before sunrise. We were surprised to find no one there. We quickly launched the boat and as we were leaving the ramp another party arrived. With a War Eagle. We set out up the creek and got to our spot. We broke ice in a few spots, but the small creek seemed mostly clear until you got near the mouth of the creek. We set up in our usual spot and at about 30 minutes before sunrise the other boat passed us and went on out of the creek. We could hear them breaking ice for quite a distance before they broke out into clear water.

At legal time 3 woodies blew over our boat, but we didn’t react in time to get off a shot, but we did manage to flair them as we reacted to their sudden appearance. About 30 minutes later two teal blew into the decoys, we managed to take them both. As the dog was retrieving the first teal, she flared a flock of woodies as they came in over the decoys. As Dixie the wonderdog was retrieving the second teal, she flared a flock of gadwall. Oh well, that’s the breaks.

Then a group of otters came through the decoys. We watched them swim by and were amused by their curiosity about us. One of the otters was huge, not just big, but freakishly tremendous. My buddy looked at me and said, ” I think that is the Loch Ness Otter!”. For some reason we found that very funny and spent the next 30 minutes laughing so hard that we missed a group of woodies that came through from up the creek. It was still funny though. Loch Ness Otter. Still makes me laugh.

Then a flock of ringnecks came in and my buddy knocked one down. Dixie went out and retrieved it and we sat down to await some more ducks. We saw a few swans up high, some Canada geese came through, but we couldn’t shoot at them as we were in the Northeast Hunt Zone. Then we started laughing about the Loch Ness Otter again.

Then two wood ducks came through over the decoys and we emptied our guns in a impressive display of firepower. Impressive other than the fact that both ducks flew away unscathed. I am still baffled. I reloaded the gun and just as I sat back in the seat, a teal came in low, wings cupped into the decoys. I hit it hard at about 20 yards and as I was shooting 3 1/2 inch Black Cloud, it was all but already cooked when it hit the water. Smoked teal.

We sat there until about 11:00 am, then we called it a day. Not the most ducks we have ever taken in a day, but one of the most enjoyable days I can remember in a long time.

Posted By:
hwy345s
Web Member

dare county 12-05-2010 09:56
– – –
lots of fish ducks decoying saw very few swan but only managed 1 buffle head all in all pretty slow last day did get to see the snow at 5 pm [IMG]http://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x336/hwy345s/008.jpg[/IMG]

Posted By:
Scott-Tolar
Field Editor

Roanoke River 12-05-2010 07:48
Sunny & Clear, High Winds – 25-30 Degrees – Open Water
I went out with my son and my daughter’s brother-in-law for a hunt this morning and it did not go as expected. I was expecting flocks of migrating big ducks because of the weather. It has been dumping huge accumulations of snow to our north and the weather here has taken a sudden turn to the cold with a strong north wind. This combination is usually a good indication that conditions are right for a migration push. Didn’t happen.

We were out and set up on the Roanoke well before sunrise and were roaring to go. At about 10 minutes before time another boat came up the small creek we were in and went out into the big water, setting up at a blind several hundreds yards away.

We sat there in our creek and did not see a single duck fly down our creek for the first 2 and 1/2 hours after sunrise. We would see ducks above the trees flying, but the guys in the blind opened up on every flock, reguardless of the altitude, so we have no idea whether it might have been better or not. Doesn’t mean that because we saw ducks flying they would have come in on our decoys if left unmolested, but these guys shot at every duck that flew over their blind(which they had to do to get to the creek)and most of the ducks were 150 yards in the air.

We sat there until 10:00am and decided to call it a day. As we were taking down the boat blind, two gadwall buzzed the decoys and set around for another pass. I managed to get my gun uncased, get one shell in the chamber and knock one down as it buzzed through the decoys at Mach II, 3 feet off the water. A excellent shot if I must say so myself.

Now comes the wait for the 3rd season break opener.

Posted By:
Scott-Tolar
Field Editor

Lenoir County 12-02-2010 13:55
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 25-30 Degrees – Open Water
Planned on taking out my boat and going to a location that I have hunted for years that we call “The Wood Duck Hole”. I used to hunt it to great success, almost always taking a limit of woodies, sometimes taking mallards and the occasional goose as well. About 5 or 6 years ago some locals began to hunt the roost which ruined the area. But you can still hunt in the later part of the season, they quit blowing out the roost after it gets cold.

However, the night before my daughter called, she was sick so my grandson stayed at my house overnight. I was needed to take him to preschool the next day so my plans changed.

I did a quick hunt in the small beaverpond across the road from my house. I had to be home at 7:30, so all I had time to do was to walk in and do a pass-shoot type hunt. I know that it is not ‘real’ duck hunting, but I really wanted to see my dog do some retrieves so I did it anyway.

Just at legal time, a woodie came through, but I was unable to take the shot in the low light conditions. It was legal time, but in the thick cypress swamp there was not enough light for target acquisition. A moment later, a drake came in, perfectly backlit in the early morning light and I took him at about 20 yards. Dixie the wonderdog made quick work of the retrieve and we settled in for the next duck. I saw a lot of ducks flying for about 20 minutes after shooting time, then it went completely dead(as it always does when wood duck hunting). A pair of woodies came through at about 7:00am, but I did not see them in time for shot.

One wood duck in the hand is worth two in the swamp.

Posted By:
Scott-Tolar
Field Editor

Roanoke River 11-27-2010 08:18
Sunny & Clear, High Winds – 50-60 Degrees
Went out for a hunt on the Roanoke River this morning, we managed two wood ducks. We did have several flocks of woodies blow through just out of range and had a pair of teal come through the decoys, only to have us empty our gun in a intimidating barrage and then they just flew away.

Then, at about 8:15am a pair of striper fishermen came up the creek and proceeded to fish the area. They stayed near the entrance of our creek and they finally pulled up to leave about the same time we gave up trying to hunt, about 10:00am. We never saw a duck again after they arrived. Not even in the distance. Their arrival was end of our hunt.

I yearn for the days when fishermen winterized their boats in Oct. and stayed out of our way until spring.

Posted By:
Scott-Tolar
Field Editor

Roanoke River 11-20-2010 17:02
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 30-34 Degrees – Open Water
Went out hunting on the Roanoke River and it was interesting.We managed to take 1 wood duck drake,1 shoveler drake and a canvasback. That’s right, a canvasback. We actually took two more wood ducks, but were unable to recover them, even with a dog. One went down in the heavy brush, so far back that the dog could not penetrate deep enough to get to it. The other dove on the dog, and never came up. And we watched hard for it, the duck did not resurface. I have seen ducks dive and grab onto submerged debris before, I am assuming this is what the duck did. They hang on until they drown, and they stay attached to whatever they are hanging onto.

We also saw some mallards, and some teal. We were unable to get a shot at the teal in spite of the fact they actually flew into the decoys! We decided about 9:30 am to pick up since my hunting buddy had to be home by noon. We had no sooner unloaded the guns when a huge flock of teal blew into the decoys. They flared up, circled back and went through again! But we were not able to reload in time to get a shot off.

Posted By:
Scott-Tolar
Field Editor

Lenoir County 11-18-2010 13:23
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 35-40 Degrees
I went out to hunt a small beaverpond near my house. The water is too low to access by canoe, but I decided to walk in and hunt the edge of the small wetland.

I set up two wood duck decoys and awaited sunrise. At legal time, a group of 3 woodies came through and I missed the shot. About 3 or 4 minutes later a group of 2 came through and I knocked down a nice drake woodie. I sat there for about 20 more minutes before a duck came through, but my gun got hung up on my jacket and I missed the shot. I saw ducks in the area, but not where I was.

I saw large numbers of woodies, off to the north of my position about 50 yards. I just wasn’t in the right spot. I will adjust my position when I hunt this spot again next week.

Posted By:
Scott-Tolar
Field Editor

Roanoke River 11-15-2010 14:07
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 30-34 Degrees – Open Water
I went out for a hunt this morning and it was quite a difference between today and Sat. I took a friend of mine that has not really duck hunted before except once or twice.

We went to the Roanoke River to hunt this morning in a spot I found earlier but had never hunted. We got to the river at about 5:00am and set out for our spot. We set out a collection of ringneck, teal and woodie decoys and set up the boat blind. We were in a excellent location for concealment with the sun to our back so we would be in a shadow when the sun came up.

Right at legal time a teal blew through, but it was too dark to fire in the shadows of the small creek we set up in. We sat there until 10:00am and did not fire a shot. Not one. We had some mallards fly over high, and hook to the call,but none would commit. They would circle and then fly off. We had two groups of woodies pass by, but again out of range(a little beyond 50 yards). Some high flying teal and the occasional ringneck, but nothing presented a shot all day.

We will try this spot again in the late season, it looks like it might pay off in divers during rough weather.

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North Carolina Duck Hunting Report Archive

By Webmaster January 9, 2013 January 9, 2013 North Carolina

Posted By:
Scott-Tolar
Field Editor

Spring Creek Waterfowl Imoundment 11-14-2010 14:07
Sunny & Clear, High Winds – 30-34 Degrees – Open Water
My son,my hunting partner and myself went for a draw hunt at the Spring Creek impoundments of the Goose Creek Game Lands. My hunting partner really likes to put in for these draw hunts, I have never really done it much, opting instead to hunt as far off the beaten path as possible. This time my partner was right.As he usually is.

We arrived at the parking lot to the ramp around 3:30 am and got ready to wait until 4 am(you are not allowed to enter the impoundment until then) and we were off like a shot. We were the first to leave the area and set out paddling for our spot. We arrived quickly and were disturbed to find someone already in the impoundment. This was not as it should be, all 4 of the parties that drew hunts were in the parking lot and we were the first here. These hunters had come in from the creek side(over the levee) and they were in before the legal time. Since all four of the groups that had permits were at the parking lot, this meant this was a unpermitted hunter in the area before the prescribed time. We still got to our spot before them and began to set up. Much to our dismay, the other group set up about a hundred yards away. Welcome to the world of impoundment hunting. This is why I don’t do it much.

We got set up in good time and set out decoys and waited on legal time. As sunrise approached, ducks began to parachute into the area we had chosen by the dozens. Huge flocks of pintails came in, one after the other. At precisely legal time, someone in the imoundment fired and it was on. We limited out on pintails in 20 minutes. 3 hunters, 6 pintails. We sat there for hours, as flock after flock of pintails came in. Nothing but pintails. By the hundreds,they came in steady all morning. At about 10am, a few flocks of teal came through and my partner managed 2 teal.

It was a good day. This was my son’s first duck taken on the wing. And it was a pintail drake. Too bad it was not in full plumage this early in the season. But it was still a pintail, and the biggest pintail we took. It was huge. I cannot tell you how proud I am. Even though he took a second pintail later, it was the first that really counts as memorable. I can still remember him shouting out,”I got one!I got one!” after he hit it, a solid hit at about 30 yards. The duck went down clean, didn’t even twitch after it hit the water. This is perhaps the most awesome shot I have ever witnessed(even though I admit bias in this case).

Posted By:
golferrjl
Web Member

Camp Lejeune, NC 11-11-2010 12:10
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 40-45 Degrees
Observed several flights of both puddle and diver duck on 6 Nov 2010 while deer hunting near the inland waterway.

Posted By:
Scott-Tolar
Field Editor

Nuese River 11-06-2010 15:09
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 35-40 Degrees
I went out for a quick scouting trip with my son Logan, his BLM puppy Shadow(who will be off to the trainer in about 3 weeks)and my CLF Dixie. We put in at a unimproved boat ramp on the Neuse River. In spite of it’s somewhat isolated location, this ramp is utilized by a lot of fishermen in the summer and a few deer hunters(who like to drift the river)in the winter. This morning was no exception, we actually had a deer hunter pull up to launch just as we were leaving the ramp.

The river is down, but navigable. Barely. We hit the water heading upstream from the ramp and then turned off the river into the creek we wanted to scout. With the water down, the creek has become a virtual minefield of stumps,fallen trees and submerged debris. In fact, I hit a submerged stump I had never encountered before and sheared a fin off my prop, as well as putting a inch long crack in my transom. I will take the necessary steps to repair both problems this week.

In spite of this, it was a productive morning. We saw a lot of wood ducks, several flocks of teal. and interestingly, a huge number of turkeys(we are storing that little bit of info for the turkey season). The cold weather we are having(with nights in the high 30’s, low 40’s)are moving in ducks. Migrating ducks that are easier to hunt than locals that know every nook and cranny of the local water.

My hunting partner, my son and myself have a draw hunt for the Spring Creek Waterfowl Impoundment for the Nov opener on the 13th. It is planned for us to head to the impoundment on Thursday to check it out to determine if we are going there or if we are going to one of several excellent locations that I have located in the last few weeks.

Posted By:
Scott-Tolar
Field Editor

Roanoke River 11-03-2010 16:41
Cloudy, Light Rain & Drizzle – 35-40 Degrees
Went out to do a little scouting on the Roanoke River and it was a nice day. My boat is finally starting to run right, for some reason, it has performed flawlessly for the entire summer of fishing, only to start to screw up as the season approached. But it seems to be right now, all lights are 100% and the motor cranked up easily and ran perfectly. I am happy.

I went to scout out a small creek off the Roanoke that I found some years ago but have not hunted. That will change this year as I found ducks in the creek. I saw two flocks of teal flying(four in one flock, five in the other) and jumped up several flocks of ducks in the creek. One was a group of woodies, approx. 10 birds, another was a group of at least twenty teal. That does not include singles and doubles of woodies jumped up as I ran up the creek.

A good day on the water. I pulled out about 8:00am and went to the ramp. I loaded up and hit the road, just as it began to rain. Perfect timing as I rode home in the pouring rain. Could not have been a better day scouting

Posted By:
Scott-Tolar
Field Editor

Pamlico River 10-30-2010 11:23
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 35-40 Degrees
My son and I went out for a little scouting trip on the Pamlico River. Of course, Dixie the wonderdog and Shadow the spastic pup came along for the trip. We got out to the unimproved ramp in good time and set out to see if there were any ducks around. After a short run up the creek from the ramp, we set up where the creek widened up into a marsh grass flat. A flock of 8 or so came over about 20 yards to the north of our position. After about 10 minutes, 2 woodies came in straight on us, setting wings and coming right on in. Man, that hardly ever happens after the season opens.

We spotted some more ducks off a hundred or so yards to the east, flying south to north. This was all I needed to know, we picked up and eased out in order to limit our impact.

Things are looking up for the Nov. opener.

Posted By:
Scott-Tolar
Field Editor

Cape Fear River 10-27-2010 11:31
Cloudy, High Winds – Over 70 Degrees
Went out to do some scouting outside my normal stomping grounds and went to scout a location on the Cape Fear River. I was looking in that area on Google Earth for some interesting terrian when I found a previously undiscovered boat ramp as well as what looked like a awesome cypress swamp off the river itself.I do this a lot, when I find the property, I then locate the landowner and try get permisson to hunt there. I have some spots that I am the only person allowed to hunt there that I found this way.

I got out there early and set out upstream from the ramp. I jumped up a few woodies and located a nice little backwater-type location (that was dry now due to low water). Will be interesting to check out when the water is higher. Went downstream from the ramp and found the water more navigable and jumped up several large groups of woodies in a small area about a mile from the ramp.

I picked up the boat and went to find the cypress swamp, armed with a satellite photo from Google Earth and a road map. I found the location, but the locked gate on the road and the 15 or so posted signs stuck to the gate and the posts convinced me that it was not worth the phone call to try to get permission. This landowner was serious about tresspassers. He had signs warning what would happen if he caught you on his property. He had signs warning what law enforcement would do. He had signs warning that his land was registered with the state as a turkey sanctuary. Not only was his gate locked, but the hinges were locked to the gate and the gate was locked to the fenceposts on the hinge side. And he had closed circuit security(I think being beamed to a nearby outbuilding). Anyone putting that much effort into keeping people out isn’t going to grant permission to anyone to go in there.

Oh well, it was worth a try.

But all in all, I now have a new location in the mix for this upcoming season on the river itself.

Posted By:
Scott-Tolar
Field Editor

Hyde Co. 10-24-2010 07:09
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 35-40 Degrees
I went out with my son Logan,his new BLM puppy Shadow and my 10 year old CLF Dixie to scout the northern shore of the Pamlico Sound for some sign of ducks. We got to a small, almost completely unused boat ramp I found some years ago but I have only hunted it once.

You will remember this as the place where I had a flock of 100 or more Canada geese coming into my decoys, feet set, only to have a bass fisherman blow into my decoy spread at Mach II in his high speed bass boat to ask directions. The geese were so close, and so noisey, I wasn’t able to hear his 150hp motor approaching. I was angry and told him so. Since that day(several years ago)I have not been back.

We got up at 4 am and set out. We discovered that Shadow the spastic pup had destroyed the floor liner of his kennel in the back of the truck. Fine. Let the little monster have a cold butt. See if I care. Actually I do care, but I am not buying another $32 dollar floor pad until he is through destroying everything he can get his little teeth on.Razor sharp little teeth. We made good time and arrived at the small ramp in the pre-dawn darkness.

After getting the blind ready, we set out. We arrived at the spot in good time and set up the blind.It is a spot were the small tree-choked creek opens up into a large shallow marsh grass flat. At sunrise we had a flock of 3 woodies come through. They went right by us, never saw us. This is good info and a good spot for the season when it reopens. We waited about 20 minutes and a flock of 5 went through, same flight path up the creek we had just exited. In about another 20 minutes, a flock of 8 went right over us. We saw a huge flock of some kind of duck(but was unable to discern the species)about 300 yards away, flying towards the sound.

We pulled up and out in order to put as little disruption on the spot as possible. We are coming back here in Nov.

Posted By:
Scott-Tolar
Field Editor

Neuse River 10-09-2010 10:45
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 40-45 Degrees
Went out for a good Sat. hunt and we decided to hunt local. Most of our coastal spots get covered up by fishermen in the early season, it is not worth the trip to go two hours to shoot one wood duck.

We set up in a small section of flooded timber upstream from Kinston. We saw a few ducks, but not enough to get excited about and we did not fire a shot.

We are seeing only local wood ducks, and they have learned how to avoid being shot at.

We have a permit hunt for Spring Creek Impoundment for Nov 13th, maybe that will be the trick as the migrators might be here by then..

Posted By:
Scott-Tolar
Field Editor

Neuse River 10-09-2010 10:41
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 45-50 Degrees
Went out on the Neuse near Kinston. Got out and set up in good time, at least 40 minutes before legal shooting time.

At legal time, a pair of woodies blew through and I did not see them in time to fire. I then had a group of 3 come through and I knocked down a nice drake. I saw ducks up high, but nothing to shoot at.

Called it a day at about 9:30 am.

Posted By:
Scott-Tolar
Field Editor

Washington County 10-09-2010 10:37
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 45-50 Degrees
This is my report for the season opener on Oct 6th. My hunting buddy and myself went to hunt a small creek and we set out a pretty good spread for such a small area. After getting the decoys out, we set up and waited for sunrise(about 1 hr).

Much to our surprise, a hunter showed up 5 minutes before shooting time and motored by us in a sneakbox-type boat. He turned off the main creek into a side creek and went about 100 yards from us. He motored around for the next 30 minutes or so and finally, his boat went silent. We started seeing some ducks and then the other hunter opened up and evidently got one, becuase he recranked his motor and ran around for about another 30 minutes. Then he shut off for about 10 minutes and recranked and rode around for about 30 more minutes and motored past us and left.

After the creek finally went silent,(about 9:30 am)we began to see some ducks. Several flocks went by just out of range and then one buzzed the decoys and my partner splashed a wood duck hen. We sat there about another 40 minutes and I managed to knock down a woodie drake on my 3rd shot. About 11 am we called it a day.

[Edited By Scott-Tolar on 2010-10-09 10:38]

Category: North Carolina

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