Posted By:
Peter-Lester
Field Editor
Strafford County 12-18-2006 08:34
Mostly Sunny, No Precipitation – 45-50 Degrees
Ducks remain spotty in my observation. I did get a report from a friend who said that a good number of mallards, 50-60, were within sight of a local boat ramp yesterday morning. He also walked the edge of a fresh water river yesterday afternoon and never put up a duck. Yesterday afternoon I motored 2 1/2 miles on one river before putting up a puddle duck. When I did it was a group of about 40 blacks. Not a one returned. I did see a harbor seal and small groups or buffleheads. Yesterday it just felt strange, Dec 17th and temps in the 50’s. Eel grass is still standing when normally it has been flattened by ice by now. When I got home I was washing the mud off my boots with the hose and noticed a dandilion in bloom on my lawn. Cooler temps are supposed to be coming later this week, as always hoping things improve but we have only 3 weeks to go on the coastal season.
Posted By:
Msg&son
Guest
dalton to maidstone 12-18-2006 06:06
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well on sat started in dalton then checked the fields and river all the way up to maidstone vt. saw 6 blacks in lancaster on the river that was it. didnt get any shots at those tried to but no luck. saw a bunch of turkeys in both NH and VT. saw only one other group of hunters. so after that didnt bother with goin out on sun at all. i must say it was below a poor season for sure, real sad and glad its over now, no big flights of birds at all and ones we did see just kept flying so oh well see whats happens next yr. i hope it doesnt keep getting worse. well merry christmas to all and happy new year also. take care and be well. Mark St. Germaine
Posted By:
Peter-Lester
Field Editor
Strafford County 12-10-2006 17:56
Mostly Sunny, No Precipitation – 35-40 Degrees
Duck numbers and hunting pressure remains light in the brackish waters. Only saw one other party on Sunday. No other trucks at the ramp. Seeing more geese than ducks but duck numbers are a little better than last weekend. It’s still not where is should be for this time of year and I would call it poor. This morning there was virtually no morning flight by our position, three birds moving early was it. Birds are not being pushed around or bumped into the air by boats moving about. A good tactic, if you see a number of birds at rest, make them move without firing a shot. Quickly set up a few decoys where they had been and wait for some to return. Shot a banded mallard in the PM by doing that.
[Edited By Peter-Lester on 2006-12-11 04:51]
Posted By:
Msg&son
Guest
maine 12-09-2006 19:44
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well all got back today from my hunt with Penobscot bay outfitters and i must say first class and top notch. was my first time sea duck hunting and i must say wont be the last, i have never seen that many ducks before in my life we are talking thousands of eiders no lie, i got my 2 day limits of 5 each of birds got a banded hen and having her and a male eider mounted. then today did a oldsquaw hunt ended up getting 1 male and hen plus a hen and male white winged surf scoter am having the drake oldsquaw mounted also. was very interesting to hunt ducks that way and no calling at all, the guides where great, the accomidations where great, the food was excellant. and the shooting was fabulous. 3 days i shot about 75 rounds, so when they say 2 boxes a day they are close and to suggest improved choke also was a wow. but i used mod with my 10 guage and did just great. while the rest of the group all shot 12 guages. well taking tomorow off so will hunt next weekand i hope but in gorham area everyhting is almost froze over so we will see. take care all and be well. Mark St. Germaine
Posted By:
shawnpieterse
Web Member
Hamton Beach 12-09-2006 16:31
Cloudy, High Winds – 25-30 Degrees – Open Water
Hunted sea ducks today and there were tons of ducks. Few Eiders, but lots of Scoters and Oldsquaw. They were more willing to decoy today than they have been all year. I also saw lots of ducks and geese heading south. There was plenty of shooting coming from the Hampton estuary area too. Quite a bit of it was before legal shooting light. If you hunt sea ducks get out there. If you don’t have the means to go, send me a PM, we’re always looking for another hunter to go along.
[Edited By shawnpieterse on 2006-12-09 16:32]
Posted By:
Msg&son
Guest
up north 12-05-2006 17:14
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late again as for sat went to groveton in a field in a puddle that just kept going up lots of water fromt he storm say lots of mergs again heard a few geese and jumped 2 flocks one there and one in whitefield, son got some shots of in whitefiled but that was it for sat. what a change on sun snow on the ground breezy and cold out with ice forming and lots of water still set out in the same field but in a differant puddle because of all the water couldnt get to the other one, shot on merg saved some fish, didnt see any geese got some shots on some blacks that came into the decs no luck though went for a ride and didnt see anything but high river water and ice forming , and as of today with the temps im sure by this weekand everything will be frozen but the river again. leave for tomoorow to sears port maine for my sea duck hunt hope to do good there will be back sat sometime so maybe will hunt sun not sure yet. but will let u know how i did and good luck to all this weekand. and i agree the ducks have either changed there pattern or there where not that many this yr not sure but not a good season at all.
Posted By:
Peter-Lester
Field Editor
Strafford County 12-04-2006 08:20
Sunny & Clear, High Winds – 40-45 Degrees
Hopefully there are some waterfowlers in NH enjoying success but this weekend I was not one of them. I had hoped the hight winds predicted for Saturday would force birds to smaller sheltered waters. Maybe it did but not to the smaller sheltered waters we were hunting. The morning flight that came off the bay in our direction was fewer than 10 ducks. Last weeks balmy weather did nothing to push ducks into the bay. I have heard reports of a good number of mallards being spotted in the fresh water lakes of the towns north and west of the bay. Hopefuly as the weather turns colder this week, the lakes will skim and ducks will move into the brackish waters.
Posted By:
shawnpieterse
Web Member
Southern NH 12-02-2006 12:17
Sunny & Clear, High Winds – 35-40 Degrees
Holy Wind day! I was hoping that this weather system would have pushed some birds south in large numbers. I saw one flock of geese and one flight of ducks that are in the same resident pattern that they have been in for a few months. What is it going to take to make it happen around here?
Posted By:
Msg&son
Guest
up north 11-28-2006 16:35
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sorry it late guys, well on turkey day went to the field in vermont heard a few geese saw a few ducks no shots at all then went for a drive and only saw mergs lots of male americans. on fri went to groveton to set up in that field but when we got there 2 guys where there so went up the river on vermont side up near maidstone on a rock bar saw some blacks and son got a few shots off at some mallards again heard geese but saw none at all then went for a ride again and didnt see anything at all. on sat coldest morning so far up here single numbers went up on the rocl bar again in the river and didnt see anything at all nothing flying didnt hear any geese either. not sure why they either havent come down yet or changed because of the hunting pressure did see lots of hunters all days. all the puddles are frozen now so its just the river, with the warm weather this week and big rain storm coming in for fri maybe this weekand will be better hope so to save this season because it has been a sad one up north here. take care all see ya soon.
Posted By:
shawnpieterse
Web Member
Milford NH 11-24-2006 18:05
Cloudy, Winds Calm – 35-40 Degrees
I hunted a cut corn field hoping for some new birds. Due to a comedy of errors, the first two flocks of geese passed us by, the third flock didn’t pay any attention and the one flight of ducks were not to be diverted from their intended destination. The first flock of geese were coming in in stealth mode and we didn’t notice them until I shot a crow that wouldn’t leave. Then the geese started to sound off and flew away. The second flock of geese caught me “trolling” for geese ie:taking a leak (works every time). The most disturbing thing of the day was that we didn’t see any high flying flocks of migrating birds. Where are they? We’re running out of time.
Shawn
