Posted By:
Peter-Lester
Field Editor
Strafford County 11-29-2008 17:35
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 25-30 Degrees – Ice
The second half is underway. We had the coldest opener I can remember and we had to deal with skim ice in the brackish water right from the start. Early in the week Blacks seemed to outnumber Mallards by a wide margin however that seemed to change as the week went on. Hunting activity on the opener was moderate and after that sporadic. Friday was a great day weatherwise and we shot 6 ducks and 4 geese between us with many “lost” opportunities. The day after Thanksgiving and we never saw another boat all day. One method that is tried and true failed us yesterday and that was putting up 75 or so ducks throw a few decoys where they were sitting and wait for them to return. Three came back in four hours. Geese are very plentiful and have offered lots of shooting.
This year I have seemingly been wrestling with a curse, broken pull cord on an outboard, broken zipper on favorite hunting jacket, lost overboard push pole, two squib loads with geese under 30 yards and a broken taillight on a boat trailer after someone hit it in the parking lot. Tomorrow is another day, good luck.
[Edited By Peter-Lester on 2008-11-29 17:37]
Posted By:
Peter-Lester
Field Editor
Strafford County 10-20-2008 07:47
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 35-40 Degrees
Hunting remains steady. Wood ducks were still to be found this past weekend however with the recent cold snap I am expecting their numbers to decline shortly. Geese are very plentiful but have been hunted hard especially in the fields and many flocks are loathe to decoy. Too many hunters and too few fields. I also encountered a situation where a neighboring land owner illegally posted a field (with a single small sign) they did not own and then called police to complain of hunters hunting posted property. The local PD gave us a little bit of a hard time but did not stop our hunt. I am expecting they will do nothing about the issue of posting property they did not own.
Posted By:
Peter-Lester
Field Editor
Strafford County 10-07-2008 07:40
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 50-60 Degrees
Spent a quite afternoon laying in my grass boat. Fewer ducks moving then the day before but still a lot for this time of year. Saw 4 flocks of high flying geese heading north. It looks to me like the push is on for migrating geese. What a nice time of year!!!!!!!!!!
Posted By:
Peter-Lester
Field Editor
Strafford County 10-05-2008 19:14
Mostly Cloudy, No Precipitation – 60-65 Degrees
Ducks are everywhere on the coast! There is water everywhere and there are ducks to go with it. It has been many years since I have seen this many this early. Surprisingly the brackish water is where I saw the most today, teal, mallards and blacks, dozens and dozens of them. A friend with a sneak boat got into them on Saturday and shot his lmit quickly. Geese are on the move but the cornfields have either just been cut or are still standing. The ones that have been cut are a mess, muddy and deep ruts from the equipment. Things are so wet I recommend extreme caution before venturing off the road. Wood ducks are in the small fresh waters and they often let you walk right by hiding in the grass and then flush out behind you. Too many time this weekend I was looking right when they came from the left and vice versa. It got annoying to have at least 50% missed chances from that, but oh well. Fortunately the Coastal Zone is open later this year until 10/12.
[Edited By Peter-Lester on 2008-10-06 10:01]
Posted By:
Peter-Lester
Field Editor
Strafford County 09-14-2008 14:34
Cloudy, Light Rain & Drizzle – 60-65 Degrees
Some success with Resident Geese. This morning we had a flock of 40 birds or so land in adjacent field from where we were hunting. I took the job of taking the long walk to get behind them and put them in the air towards my partners. The birds flushed on my approach and three went back over my friends who managed to put one down.
Another friend has been using his sneak boat with great success on the rivers. He took a limit of five geese one morning last week.
Last week we were out goose hunting and we observed a large number of mallards moving back and forth from our location. Nice to see a lot of birds this early.
Posted By:
Peter-Lester
Field Editor
Pre-season info 08-29-2008 04:49
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – Over 70 Degrees
The season dates and limits for the upcoming fall season have been set. There is one big change this year, a 3 bird per day limit on wood ducks.
The resident goose season starts on 9/2. Local geese have been bunching up and on the move locally. As always with crops still standing, the trick is to put yourself in a place where the geese will be in range.
Season dates and limits can be found here:
http://www.wildlife.state.nh.us/Hunting/Hunt_species/hunt_waterfowl.htm#skip
Posted By:
Peter-Lester
Field Editor
Bay and Rivers 01-07-2008 07:35
Cloudy, Winds Calm – 30-34 Degrees – Ice
Our extended coastal season still provides the opportunity to get out hunting. Our last three outings produced little opportunity to shoot ducks but we did get a pair of geese that came in to our duck decoy spread. Yesterday 1/6/08, we saw 4 other parties and heard very little shooting. Goldeneyes were plentiful but puddle ducks were in very short supply. It seems many mallards are stacked up where they are being fed and not moving much. There was some ice in the rivers limiting hunting access. With daytime temps supposed to be hitting 40’s and maybe 50 this week much of that ice will clear for the final weekend of the season that is closing in on us.
Posted By:
Peter-Lester
Field Editor
Rivers and Bay 12-29-2007 17:33
Cloudy, Light Rain & Drizzle – 35-40 Degrees
The time to get out duck hunting on the coast is now. Scott and I have experienced some of our best hunting this year in the last week. We went out on three different days and shot 21 ducks and 3 geese between us. The majority of ducks taken have been mallards including a double banded drake($100 reward band). The rain and warm temps have cleared most of the ice out of the rivers and we have hardly been bothered with ice chunks taking decoys away.
Posted By:
Peter-Lester
Field Editor
Rivers and Bay 12-25-2007 11:19
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 30-34 Degrees – Open Water
Merry Christmas! There is still some good duck hunting to be had for those who can or make the effort to get out. Multiple snow storms made access at many ramps difficult but the warmer temps and recent rain have made several of them usable again. Mallards and Blacks are still in the area along with Goldeneyes and numerous Buffleheads. I was surprised to find birds decoying well this past weekend as I thought they would be decoy and call shy this late in the season. I have seen a few geese at rest near Hilton Park but I have not seen a single goose in the air where I have been hunting. I observed several boats out on 12/22 and 12/23, hunter activity remains steady. No large morning flight in the locations I have hunted but singles and pairs of mallards worked the decoy spread throughout the morning.
Posted By:
Msg&son
Guest
12-12-2007 14:31
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well almost all frozen up here now looks like it over here for this yr be carefull all who goes out and good luck to those of u that do and have a merry christmas also
