Posted By:
Muddy Bud
Guest
Zapata, Texas 12-10-2008 20:43
Sunny & Clear, High Winds – 45-50 Degrees
Just got back to work this morning and every tank in the ranch was covered in ducks. Looks like the front last knight brought in more than sleet. I have never seen so many gadwalls in one place. Gads make up the majority of the birds but I also saw Canvas Back ”they have been down here since early November” blue and green wing teal, widgeon, blue bills and pintails. I could actually see ducks dropping in all day to the tanks from the rig floor. I think these birds are roosting in the big water at night on nearby Falcon and coming to the tanks in the late morning and through out the day.
Posted By:
dwilliams3
Web Member
12-07-2008 14:52
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Muddy Bud, that’s the problem this year, little or no pressure translates into the birds forming massive feeding colonies.
I had breakfast with a biologist for the state yesterday morning. He doesn’t work directly with the ducks and geese, but many in his department do. He told me the hunting pressure on waterfowl in Texas is off over 60% so far this season. Said they bought the licenses back in September, hunted the doves early, but have not shown interest in the ducks and geese.
Posted By:
Muddy Bud
Guest
Ricardo Texas 12-07-2008 11:07
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 50-60 Degrees
We went out and hunted a partially cut winter peas field in northern Kleberg county on Sat. morning. The morning sounded promising with a large number of geese roosted up on a huge lake on the nearby King Ranch. We had a spread made up of about 150 dekes most of which were rags. About 07:00 the geese decided to come off the roost at the same time as so commonly done down here. Well any way they came right over our spread on the fringe of our shooting range, so we waited to see if we had some younger ones circle lower. We did and dropped 4 snows and 2 blues. The next flight was a few specks that came over about thirty minutes later and we got two. The wind had completly stopped by this time and flare after flare continued till 10:00 when we decided to call it quits. But over all this is a typical hunt for South Texas. There lots of geese down here but they are staying together in huge numbers.
Posted By:
dwilliams3
Web Member
12-06-2008 15:04
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Here’s a possible idea for you and I think you would find the landowners agreeable.
Think West. Stephens & Throckmorton Counties have tons of tanks on the varoius farms & ranches. They are usually loaded with ducks, as most of these farmers/ranchers plant winter wheat.
They do hunt quite a bit, but ducks are not on the adgenda. They hunt deer, turkey, hogs, but mostly quail. Getting permission to hunt these tanks usually only takes a visit with the landowner. As long as you leave the quail alone, they say “have at it.” We took over 200 last year, and the local game warden said that probably made up 90% of the total kill. People just don’t hunt them up there.
With little or no pressure on them the ducks almost become barn yard animals.
It’s a 3 hour drive from the Metroplex, but well worth it.
Posted By:
tylersmcdaniel
Guest
12-06-2008 09:40
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I appreciate the candid feedback and it all makes sense to me.
Thinking back on it (circa 2002) there used to be many reports that would come out of Devers and SE Texas, so I certainly concur with you there. Not only that, but I used to see reports from all over the state.
Somebody must be asleep at the wheel if they aren’t responding to your applications to be a Field Editor. That’s disappointing.
I can understand how money issues can create problems but duck huntes like us who take the time to post for our fellow hunters doesn’t cost anything. I enjoyed some of the other perks of the site but this section is the main driver for why I became a member. If this aspect of the site was “healthy” then I would still frequently visit and post.
This has been a down year. I hunt around the DFW area and there are very few places holding “ducky” water. Every lake in the state is low. I have been able to find some flooded back areas that have managed to retain water and those spots have proven to be the most productive. Big lake hunting (at least up here) is the worst I’ve ever seen. Ray Bob used to be decently productive and it’s a ghostland this year.
Scouting goes a long way in a year like this. Find back-water areas with food and you’ll find ducks. There’s not many spots like that but the upside there is that there’s a higher concentration of birds in those areas because of the limited availability of such places. It can be a good problem to have because we all know how too much water spreads birds out.
Ducks are so much smarter than people like to give them credit for. There’s a reason why you see them stacked up on tanks and farm ponds but then you go to a big reservoir 5 minutes down the road and you don’t see squat. Someday I will transition to private hunting because that’s where it’s at. Again, that’s my perspective for the areas I hunt. I have seen there decline over the years. There are still some prime public opportunities but I’m realizing you’ve got to pay to play.
Yeah, I agree with folks that say you don’t have to kill a duck every time you go out, but I know this much. If I went out every time and didn’t kill a duck I’d quit going out. We’re called duck hunters for a reason. If it was just/all about the experience they should call “experience hunters”.
Well, hopefully people will start chiming in more. There’s an old adage that says “you’ve got to give…to get.”
Posted By:
dwilliams3
Web Member
12-05-2008 16:39
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Two possible reasons come to mind. I don’t have all the facts, but these two rank pretty high.
1. Hurricane Ike did a number on Duck & Goose hunting in the SE Corner of the state. For years, it’s overall been the hot side for hunting and posting on this site.
Salt water and ducks don’t get along too well when it comes to their food chain. On top of that, SE Texas (usually the wet corner of Texas) has been in a dry spell for months. They need the rain to flush out the salt deposits in the marshes. Without it, the recovery will be delayed. Hunting year 2008-09 is a bust for waterfowlers.
No way around it.
2. With SE Texas hunting slowed, I’ve visited other states on this board. There is much talk that this site is not delivering on all the perks and updates.
Many are saying it’s financial.
Either way, you are correct. The site is way less than it used to be. That’s sad. I really enjoyed coming here for years. It was a real asset and fun to visit. The only way it makes it is for the owners to get with the program. I don’t think Brian has posted in over a year now. I know that many other states are experiencing the same problem. I offered to help out as a field editor, and applied 4 times. I never got an answer back.
[Edited By dwilliams3 on 2008-12-05 16:43]
Posted By:
tylersmcdaniel
Guest
12-02-2008 12:22
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Is Brian Donovan still our Field Editor? He used to contribute frequent and insightful reports.
The number of posts in general is way down this year. This used to be a very productive discussion board. Any ideas on why it’s fallen off so much?
Posted By:
tylersmcdaniel
Guest
near the Trinity River in north Texas 11-30-2008 19:44
Sunny & Clear, High Winds – 50-60 Degrees
Got my woodie limit which is always a great day for me. I completely blew an opportunity on two green heads that on jumped up as I approached my hunting area. I should have anticipated there being something other than woodies in the area I was going to hunt. It was a complete rookie mistake and I’m being hard on myself because I’ve yet to shoot a mallard this season.
I wasn’t going to do the evening hunt but with the split coming up I wanted some birds for some gumbo while I could still get them.
Posted By:
Muddy Bud
Guest
Laguna Madre 11-23-2008 09:41
Cloudy, Light Rain & Drizzle – 50-60 Degrees
Since I couldnt find any ducks in Port Bay I hunted some spoil islands north of the JFK bridge yesterday afternoon. One thing was evedent the major numbers of red heads and blue bills are not here yet but the ones that are here are decoying great. I did manage a limit with two Red Heads,one pintail and one green wing and a widgeon. The number of ducks seen was not the sun blocking clouds of birds that usually gets up during the last hour of shooting but it was steady. There will be huge numbers of Reds here after the split. If youve never witnessed the evening flight over the Laguna Madre in mid to late December and you love watching ducks you need to see this.
[Edited By Muddy Bud on 2008-11-23 09:44]
Posted By:
Muddy Bud
Guest
Port Bay Near Rock Port 11-23-2008 09:25
Cloudy, High Winds – 50-60 Degrees
Hunted the back of Port Bay Saturday and the duck action was pretty slow. We did manage to shoot two snows geese that drifted in off the bay right at us. We probably would have dropped a couple more but my gun jammed after the firt shot and my son was shooting a 20 gauge in 4 shot. One pintail and a ring neck was about the extent of our duck shoot. Those were the only 2 ducks seen all morning.
