Posted By:
Paul – Kiker
Guest
Anson County 12-31-2008 18:52
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6 friends, including myself, dove hunted this morning beginning at first light. Started slow, but once the sun topped the tree line on the timber along the edge of the field, birds poured into the field in groups of 5-15, and for an hour it was fun. I finally bagged 9 with 2 boxes of shells. The strong winds made shooting a real challenge.
Paul
Posted By:
Scott-Tolar
Field Editor
Washington County 12-30-2008 12:35
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 40-45 Degrees
I went out for a hunt this morning and managed a single black duck. I saw some ducks up high, but not much down low. I think it is possible the cold weather up north is starting to push some ducks down.
Posted By:
Paul – Kiker
Guest
12-27-2008 16:22
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Yesterday at dusk, my sons Adam, Austin, and I were at my dock on Lake Tillery throwing dummies in the water for Maple and Adam’s choc. lab, Paris, to retreive when Adam ask me if the high flying flocks of birds he was seeing were ducks, and they were. For about 10 min. we watched what we estimated at 400 mallards flying downstream. They were so high they had to have nosebleed. I’m presuming they were new birds migrating into the area and most will probably end up at Pee Dee NWR.
This morning I hunted in my impoundment along the Pee Dee on my farm in Chesterfield Co., SC. Lots of woodies, and although I never saw them come into the pond, I heard mallards on the water. Maple and I set up in the flooded corn in one of my lowground fields, but all of the ducks landed in the flooded timber. I usually have my small jon boat at waters edge by now and use it to hunt in the flooded timber, but have been lazy so far. The boat will definitely be at the pond by tomorrow afternoon so I can use it for hunting in the timber the remainder of the season.The impoundment still lacks about 12″ in elevation of being a full pond, but currently has about 10 acres flooded. The river was full to its banks and I heard some hunters shooting downstream.
Paul
Posted By:
Scott-Tolar
Field Editor
Campbell Creek 12-27-2008 15:45
Cloudy, Heavy Fog – 45-50 Degrees
Went out for a draw hunt in the Spring Creek Impoundment and it was not exactly a hunt to remember. There were fishermen out in the creek in droves and they kept the ducks scattered. I managed a single ruddy duck and saw coots by the hundreds. About 9:30 am someone got bored and opened up on the water chickens and they went in every direction.
The hunting is not good in the state impoundments at Campbell Creek at this time.
Posted By:
Paul – Kiker
Guest
Anson County – beaver swamp 12-26-2008 06:22
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My oldest son asked me to join him Wednesday morning to hunt a beaver swamp on his land about 3 miles south of Wadesboro, but I had a conflict. He hunted alone and and killed 3 woodies and 2 mallards. 50 woodies and 20 mallards dropped into the swamp at first light and he limited out in 10 min. This is good, especially for mallards to be using a swamp that is 10 miles from the Pee Dee. It usually means some new birds have migrated into our area. Hopefully the remainder of the season will be a good one.
Paul
Posted By:
Scott-Tolar
Field Editor
Craven Co. 12-23-2008 11:06
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 10-20 Degrees – Open Water
Went out for a hunt near home today as I had to be home early. I went to hunt a new spot, one I spotted during off season scouting, but had never hunted.
I saw some wood ducks early but I was not in the right spot in the creek. I will try this spot again and move my location. The end result, no ducks today but interesting intel for the next time.
Posted By:
Scott-Tolar
Field Editor
Hyde County 12-22-2008 12:30
Sunny & Clear, High Winds – 25-30 Degrees – Open Water
Went out for a duck hunt this morning and as Winnie the Pooh would say,”It was a very blustery day”! The temp was 30 degrees and with the 20 mph winds, it felt much colder. The dog drug in water with each retrieve and it would instantly freeze as soon as it touched the boat.
I started out in poor fashion, my alarm clock did not go off(it is a new clock and this is the second time it has failed. once more and it goes in the trash)and I overslept. I awakened on my own about 45 minutes late, I jumped up, threw on my clothes and took off.
I got to the ramp pretty close to the time I had intended to arrive(I get up early to allow for the unknown)and to my surprise the water was low. Very low. The north wind and low tide combined to blow the water out of the small creek I intended to hunt. Then, due to the low water, I dropped the boat off the end of the ramp and had to spend about 20 minutes freeing the trailer. Running very close to legal time, I found out I could not get where I wanted to go becuase of the low water so I set up in the channel with the wind to my back. I threw out 6 mallard decoys and set up the blind. I had a dozen mallards, one dozen woodies and a dozen ringnecks I had intended to put out, but I was running so late that I didn’t have time(plus I had to pick up all the decoys I threw out by myself since I was alone and the high winds promised to make that a chore). I set up the boatblind, loaded the gun, looked at my watch. Two minutes after legal shooting time.
I looked up to see about 10 ringnecks headed up the creek. I hit the mallard call, just a few quacks and a feed chuckle. They bailed into my decoys and I stood up, taking my first triple of the year. Three ringnecks in the water, feet up. I sent out the dog and she did a good job. Then we set back up and I looked out to see a flock of blackducks headed up the creek as well. Hitting the mallard call, they turned and parchuted into the decoys. I stood up and smacked one at about 25 yards.
I saw a lot of geese, but I don’t have a Northeast Hunt Zone Permit this year. I saw some swans for which I do have a permit, but none came close enough.
Three ringnecks and a blackduck. A good day.
Posted By:
Paul – Kiker
Guest
Impoundment – Pee Dee 12-21-2008 08:24
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A friend joined me in my impoundment along the Pee Dee in SC this past Thurs. morning and lots of woodies, but no big ducks. We got 4 and lost one cripple that Maple could not find.
On Saturday morning, I hunted with some friends in their impoundment along the Pee Dee about 4 miles south of mine, I never shot, but they got 6 woodies and missed on 2 mallards.
Hunting in 60 deg. morning temps,long sleeve shirt and waders only, swatting
mosquitos, and having to watch for cottonmouths in mid December is not my idea of good ducking conditions. Hopefully we will see some colder weather patterns before seasons end.
Paul
Posted By:
Scott-Tolar
Field Editor
Nuese River 12-20-2008 12:38
Mostly Cloudy, No Precipitation – 45-50 Degrees
Went out for a duck hunt in the same location that I shot the 3 duck limit earlier this week. It was quite a difference today.
The ducks had shifted thier flight pattern from earlier in the week and we had ducks in the area, but not many flew over us. We shot 2 woodies and 2 mergansers.
Dog made a epic long distance retrieve and is out in the back yard asleep as I type.
Posted By:
Scott-Tolar
Field Editor
Nuese River 12-17-2008 13:46
Cloudy, Light Rain & Drizzle – 45-50 Degrees
Went out to hunt the Nuese near my home and I got my first woodie limit of the year. It was a hard,slow three wood ducks, but a limit of the little ducks is a limit after all.
Dixie the wonderdog is still doing her best to try my nerves. She flared the first flock again today. I left the e-collar in the truck today, a mistake I won’t do again. She is so starved for retrieves that she is hard to control.
I then had a pair of woodies come in, cupped over the decoys and I managed to put one drake in the water, feet up. While Dixie was out on that retrieve, two more came in and I managed a second drake at about 35 yards. Dixie brought in duck number one and made short work of duck number two.
We then sat there for three hours without firing a shot. I saw a few ducks within range, but as is often the case with woodies in flooded timber, you don’t see them until they are upon you. I had one woodie come in low, but I had a mouth full of crackers and couldn’t blow the duck call for fear of clogging it up.
Then, as hope for a limit was all but abandoned, a single wood duck drake came cruising in, five feet off the water. I smacked him and he went down in heavy brush about 50 yards away in a cruising descent. I sent the dog, in the heavy current she kept scenting the duck far away from it’s actual location. After some concentrated whistle blowning and frantic hand signals(one of which I can’t use with women or children in the boat), she finally listened to me and plowed into the heavy brush that was situated in about 8 feet of water and in strong current. She brought back the duck, evidently it had been killed instantly, in spite of the locked wing descent that put it down so far from the boat. It may not have been pretty, but all in all it was a pretty good retrieve. I have her a dog bisquit for that one.
Textbook overcast rainy day with a limit of wood ducks and a happy dog. Good day.
