Went out on Sat. to target some resident geese. I had been watching them for the past several weeks, trying to pattern them for a successful hunt.
These geese had been coming into a series of ponds owned by a friend of mine on a consistant basis. They arrived almost like clockwork, arriving about 12:30 to 1:30 every day, landing in the center pond on the south side of the pond. I had glassed them on a off for several weeks and decided that I knew thier pattern well enough to set up a successful hunt.
My son and I arrived at the ponds at 10:30 am and paddled out to the location the geese had been using. We set out our goose decoys and then pulled my canoe and his creekboat up into the brush and built a makeshift blind utilizing the underbrush. We were well hidden by 11:30 and we settled back to wait.
Like clockwork, we heard the geese approaching our location at 12:35 (I looked at my watch to check the time when I heard them). They passed by behind us, just out of our site and landed in the first pond! I have no idea why, they had consistantly targeted the second pond without exception for weeks. I know they did not see us, I don’t even think they came by close enough to see our decoys. For some reason they chose a different pond that day. They were extremely wary in the pond they had chosen, staying on alert and in the very middle of the water.. As we drove out down the dirt road, they flared immediatly from a great distance. Previously they had ignored vehicles on the road, but now they seemed skittish of the truck.
I will try to glass them again this next week to try to figure them out. I guess that is why they call it hunting.
Posted By:
Scott-Tolar
Field Editor
Roanoke River Game Land 09-08-2008 13:22
Cloudy, Heavy Fog – Over 70 Degrees
Went out for a draw hunt on the Roanoke River Game Land. It was a beautiful area, the fields were excellently maintained. The fields were planted in a mixture of milo and sunflowers.
The shooting was a little slow, I and my partner managed to drop 5 doves each by 10:30(my buddy had to be at work at 12:00 and I had a afternoon doctors appointment). I was told the hunting was very excellent prior to the hurricane, but for some reason the hunting dropped off afterwards.
I am now finished with dove hunting for the year. I will be getting ready for geese and for the Oct. opener for ducks now.
Posted By:
Scott-Tolar
Field Editor
Wayne County 09-01-2008 18:32
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – Over 70 Degrees
I was getting down to the wire with no cut corn located when I found some cut on Sat. afternoon. Sat and glassed it for about 30 minutes and saw many doves flying around. Of course this is to be expected since no other corn was cut in the area. Went out for the season dove opener and had a great day.We were in our spot before 10:30 and waited eagerly for the opening time of 12 noon. I shot a limit of doves by 4:30 with the action really picking up around 3:00. In fact, I shot 11 of my doves between 3:00 and 4:30. My lab Dixie did some excellent work, finding not only my limit, but another 4 doves for a nearby hunter that had shot some he couldn’t locate. Most of the retrieves went down in a tobacco field rather than the open cut cornfield, so she really had her work cut out for her. A good day and some excellent retrieving work.
On a less than happy note, I found out that some guys went in and hunted the geese I had found and was saving for a hunt with my son next Sat as my dove hunting partner knows these other guys and when I described the spot to him, he recognized it as the spot his buddies were going into this morning. I can’t complain about it, I can’t expect to always find geese(or ducks for that matter)that no one else has managed to find. I wanted to go on the dove opener with my son and hunt geese next Sat., I should have instead hunted geese early and doves after lunch(this being one of those rare years when I know where the geese are on the opener). That being said, you can’t always have your cake and eat it too. I hope the guys that went in had a good day. I heard they are really good guys and very ethical hunters. I am going to try to slip in next Sat. if the geese are still coming in(I will check it out early one day this week). I want to go on a goose hunt with my son.
I hope all had a safe and happy dove opener.
[Edited By Scott-Tolar on 2008-09-01 22:17]
Posted By:
Paul – Kiker
Guest
Opening dove day 08-28-2008 02:11
– – –
Monday, Sept. 1st will mark 53 consecutive years that I have shared opening dove day with family and friends. A tradition that my father started with me when I was 8 yrs. old has continued today with my 3 sons(ages 30,27,22) and each of our circle of friends.
And now, with the early goose season coinciding with the opening day of dove season, we also begin the day at first light with a goose hunt. Today, with my 3 sons growing older and doing more with their friends, the opening dove day is one of those few cherished times that I am able to share the moment with the four of us being together for the whole day.
If you have children be sure to include them and start your own family tradition. If you don’t have children, ask a friend who does and be sure to include the kids. The kids are the only salvation for the future of our hunting heritage in this country.
And most importantly, be safe, which translates to a fun day had by all.
Paul
[Edited By Paul – Kiker on 2008-08-28 02:23]
Posted By:
Scott-Tolar
Field Editor
Nuese River 08-26-2008 05:59
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – Over 70 Degrees
Went out for a scouting trip on the Nuese to check out water conditions. The end result is not good. The water is very low. The creeks are dry enough off the main channel to make it impossible to travel(unless you have a mudboat). We need rain.
Posted By:
Paul – Kiker
Guest
Lake Tillery 08-12-2008 05:19
– – –
My neighbor here at the Lake loves to bass fish. He lives in Monroe, but comes to his lake house about every weekend and fishes. This past Fri. evening I was at my dock when he walked down, drank a beer with me, and ask me to go bass fishing with him early the next morning.I ask him the usual question “they bitin much” and his reply was no, but he had a big smile on his face. I gathered he had found a “sweet spot” but was not going to elaborate any.With that grin he had on his face, I decided I’d go.
We left his dock at 6am and travelled about 4 miles up to the lake(I’m sworn to secrecy) and from about 6:30 until 8am on Sat. morning, we were in schools of largemouth in a feeding frenzy on shad minnows just like the perch you see on the lake these days, and caught and released a huge mess of bass in the 2-3lb. class. Now that was fun.
Paul
[Edited By Paul – Kiker on 2008-08-12 05:21]
Posted By:
Paul – Kiker
Guest
Anson County 08-03-2008 11:01
– – Over 70 Degrees
Yesterday, I stopped by my farm and checked my 3 1/2 acre sunflower field. The pods have almost matured and should be ready for me to mow by the end of the 3rd week of August. This year, I decided I would save myself the extra $30 per 50lb. bag and did not buy and plant roundup ready seed. I sprayed a combination of roundup and 2-4-D about 10 days prior to drilling my seed and fertilizing, and, of course, by not being able to spray a second time after the plants were about 2 wks. old, I now have 10 times the number of weeds as I do sunflower plants. However, I plan to spray again about one week before mowing, kill everything,sunflower plants and weeds, and it should spread sunflower seeds good enough for doves to find.I usually hunt the area once a week and get 3-4 good hunts for a small group by not overhunting.
Once again, I look forward to the opener for resident geese as well as doves, and for you guys that hunt on Lake Tillery, I’ve been seeing 50-200 resident geese on the lake for the last 2 weeks. The weekend boating traffic breaks them into smaller groups, but during the week I’ve seen the group rafting in the middle of the lake at dusk.
Our plans are made for our fall midwest Oct.-Nov. hunting trip. Three friends and myself are driving out for the 2-3 week trip of hunting waterfowl and upland birds.
Wacammaw Perch have really been schooling top water out from my dock for the last week. Each morning and evening 2-3 boats are fishing for them. I have yet to try them, even though I could catch them while fishing off my dock.
Summer humidity is finally here. Be careful with outdoor activities, cause the “monkey” is out there and he will jump on your back if you don’t plan accordingly.
Paul
Posted By:
Scott-Tolar
Field Editor
Eastern NC 07-19-2008 13:18
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – Over 70 Degrees
Went out to scout a beaverpond in eastern NC this morning. As expected, the water was very low. I found a lot of trees down in the channel that caused me more than a little work to try to get to the very back of the swamp.
I jumped up no wood ducks. Not one. However,once I had managed to get into the very backcountry of this swamp, I was suprised to hear the sound of mallards coming from the nearby woods. Forcing my canoe back in very furthest reaches of the swamp, I realized that there a series of ponds on the adjoining property. I did a little scouting around and found the ducks as well as the pond they were in.
Using the internet, I ascertained the name of the owner of the property from tax records. While he declined to allow me to hunt on this series of ponds(he liked the mallards and would come down to see them several times a week), he did give me permission to access his property from the swamp for fishing and canoeing purposes. He was a very nice guy.
It turns out he owned the swamp as well. I had always thought it was state property. He did give me permission to hunt the swamp. I will return with a chainsaw to clear out the fallen debris in order to make the passage easier. This is a spot that has produced for me in the past and now that I know how to get into the very back regions of this area, I intend to check it out better.
Posted By:
Scott-Tolar
Field Editor
Craven County 07-12-2008 10:37
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – Over 70 Degrees
My son and myself went out to scout for woodies at a location that is pretty near home near New Bern. We were on the road by 3 am., I was suprised at the large number of bass boats I was seeing. We hit Hwy 70 headed east and I was passed by at least a dozen bass boats. I remarked to my son that they must be have a bass tourney somewhere. When we arrived at New Bern we were passed by 3 in a row that turned in at the Lawson Creek boat ramp. I was not concerned as we were headed quite a distance from this site and I thought they would not affect us. We got out well before first light and set up off the main river to monitor activity.
By about 20 minutes after sunrise we had not seen a single duck, not even at a distance. This is not a good sign when targeting resident woodies, so I decided to change my position before the optimum scouting time was over. I traveled about 15 minutes farther up the creek to check the backwaters, but again, I jumped up no woodies. We eased back out into the river and headed to another creek that has been a good spot on occasion in years gone by. Then it happened.
A bass boat blew up the river past me going like 70. I kid you not, that boat was flying. Crap, I thought, they have run up all the ducks on the river, I won’t get to see them staging. I was soon passed by 2 more. I got to the creek to check it out, a bass boat was in the mouth of the creek and two men were fishing furiously. I pulled up and cut my motor. I asked the men if anyone else gone up the creek(I still had hopes of scouting the back of the creek). Two or three boats they replied. Oh, well, I told my son, time to go home. Still we had a beautiful sunrise and we know at least one spot that we are not likely to hit this Oct. opener.
I am going to check another swamp next week to see how much water it is holding and to see if any resident woodies are hanging around.
Posted By:
Scott-Tolar
Field Editor
Lenior County 07-09-2008 15:00
Cloudy, Winds Calm – Over 70 Degrees
Went scouting at a swamp that was holding ducks earlier in the season, the water is almost completely gone. I jumped up about 6 woodies at the mouth of the feeding stream, but there were no other ducks in the swamp.
We need water.
