Posted By:
Ray-Sands
Field Editor
East of the Parkway 01-23-2005 19:19
Mostly Cloudy, No Precipitation – 30-34 Degrees – Ice
Greetings from down Jersey. Geese, Geese and more geese moving down the coast today over the bay. Not the usual residents, but migrates looking for the open water and forage. Saw five flocks that were mixed Canadas and Snows with both black and white geese the same size as each other. Hope to take advantage of their predicament Wednesday with a Winter Season bag limit of (5) … should be nice.
Posted By:
glitterperegrine
Supporting Member
01-23-2005 00:18
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Help a little girl out everyone
Mackenzie Maier needs a postcard from you! Mac is a 4 year old with very serious cancer. Her goal is to collect a postcard from every state in the US. Please help her reach her goal by mailing her one today!
Her address is:
Mackenzie Maier
23037 Magnolia Glen Drive
Valencia, CA 91354
They have a website with a guestbook and pictures of her with Santa at:
www2.caringbridge.org/ca/mackenziemaier
Posted By:
Kyle-Scott
Guest
Oil Spill Area 01-18-2005 17:49
Mostly Sunny, No Precipitation – 10-20 Degrees – Ice
The area is said to be open … check out http://www.state.nj.us/dep/fgw/news/2004/spill_update04.htm or http://www.state.nj.us/dep/fgw/spill_advisory04-2.htm for all the details.
Posted By:
Kyle-Scott
Guest
Oil Spill Area 01-18-2005 17:49
Mostly Sunny, No Precipitation – 10-20 Degrees – Ice
The area is said to be open … check out http://www.state.nj.us/dep/fgw/news/2004/spill_update04.htm or http://www.state.nj.us/dep/fgw/spill_advisory04-2.htm for all the details.
Posted By:
rberkey
Guest
Del bay side 01-18-2005 14:55
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I haven’t hunted up there since the spill. What’s the situation…. everything back to normal, or do they still want people to stay clear of the river? Thanks
Posted By:
Ray-Sands
Field Editor
Griscom Swamp & Cranbury 01-16-2005 21:56
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 30-34 Degrees – Open Water
Greeting from the flatlands down Jersey! I finished out South Zone gunning the last three days in Griscom. I took 14 ducks and three geese for the days out and about. Had set out a half dozen Canada stools for confidence decoys and just incase. Four birds did come up off the river. At the 60 yard line they changed their mind and started to swing wide. Dropped the first stone dead, broke both of number two’s wings. Got on a come back call and number three did an about face flying straight at me calling his head off … wrong move. Saturday gunned Cranbury. We saw geese most of the day but they know the game all to well. They would come in on a sting, then elevate for a high pass at 100 yds and bank out. Didn’t give a come back call a notice. Only nine birds from two flocks and a pair for the five of us … not so good. Maybe some snow or cold weather will get the best of their caution to make the late season work better. Was counting the broadies I would bag while I pulled the rig and getting set for late season back in November. No ice and all the birds sitting up in the Raritan … well I was told about 55K in there right now. It may have been a lot of work for nothing. We’ll see what the next two weeks brings.
Posted By:
n2o2doc
Guest
North Wildwood 12-30-2004 18:58
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 40-45 Degrees
Hunted the coastal zone for 2 hours in the am. Saw lot of brant and some blacks and mallard, but not much movement with the nice weather. One black duck and one hooded merg in the bag. We got buzzed by a flock of greenwing teal still hanging around, but not close enough for a shot.
Posted By:
Mean Joe Greenhead
Guest
Hunterdon County 12-29-2004 08:27
Cloudy, Snow Flurries – 30-34 Degrees – Ice
Solo hunted an open water area with some ice-up just on the shore edges. Decided to only bring duck decoys out today, big mistake, but, managed one greenhead in a short one hour end of day hunt. Thousands of Canada geese in the fields and plenty resting on the water as well. A field goose shoot is on the agenda soon. The flights of mallards coming in varied in size from flocks of 6-8 to 12-20. Must have seen 200+ birds…as usual with the evening hunt, they come in after shooting time. What a sight it is to have so many birds coming in and be right in the middle of it.
Posted By:
Ray-Sands
Field Editor
Griscom Swamp 12-23-2004 21:16
Cloudy, High Winds – 45-50 Degrees
Tis the season to be jolly … greeting from down Jersey. A thaw after a quick freeze, south wind and a rising tide … I couldn’t have wished a better scenario. Yesterday I figured the thaw had started. I planned and extra hour to walk a hole in the ice to gun but it took over two and a half hours to axe out a hole. I wasn’t ready dressed for splitting a cord of wood and steam rose off me for 10 minutes after I settled in. Ducks moving the first 45 minutes and here I was breaking ice and dropping the stools as fast as I could. It wasn’t the normal drop the stools, relax a bit, maybe adjust the rig over a cup of coffee before the flight. Rising tide and the south wind change to the rescue! Ended up with two Canadas, drake sprig, black and two greenheads. Quite a few birds on the move and traveling in flocks of +25 birds. Today, life was easier. Ice was already broken from yesterday and the temp climbed enough to open a nice hole. Sprigs, Sprigs and more sprigs. Had at least five flocks of 50-70 birds just drop right in before 8am. Was nice for some photos but not for the bag with only one bird. The blacks were traveling in +15 bird flocks but they all circled and landed out +70 yards. Not good. Had two flocks of +20 mallards do the same. Hooded mergs all morning in and out of the rig so I took a nice drake … maybe get a standing mount. A lone drake GWTeal made the mistake of not circling. He ended up in the freezer for the taxidermy man too. He was full color with that yellow almost all the way around his green eye patch. Not usually impressed with teal but this one wasnice. High tide and the +25mph wind moved the birds again around 9am and I finally picked up a black and three Greenheads. Also saw two flocks of +15 common mergs. Must have a bit of ice up north. Had the sprig and greenheads I shot yesterday on the BBQ for lunch … have to find a better marinade for these late season birds. South wind to change to NW tomorrow so we are of to the NW gunning hole … hopefully the birds know to change too.
[Edited By Ray-Sands on 2004-12-23 21:18]
Posted By:
Ray-Sands
Field Editor
Griscom Swamp 12-20-2004 20:20
Arctic Blast – 10-20 Degrees – Open Water
Christmas Greetings from down Jersey! The cold has snows and Canada’s moving towards Delaware tonight. When the wind stopped they started moving high and direct – probably two hours by now. Last weeks high water and Nor’easter moved quite a few ducks into Griscom Swamp from the salt meadows. The cold may move them out. Out and About glassing Middle River into Great Egg towards Mayslanding today, saw plenty of Hoodies (if you need a mount). Spied two flocks of (+25) sprig moving off Swan pond up Great Egg, and three flocks of (+30) mallard blacks in the river above Corbin City. Hard to tell what the chill will bring . . . will be out there Wednesday, Thursday and Friday for the thaw. 2005 is coming up quick . . . don’t forget the new license and to transfer the HIP number. Will be out there . . . Merry Christmas
