Posted By:
Michael-Bride
Field Editor
Lake Champlain 11-07-2004 18:42
Cloudy, High Winds – 40-45 Degrees
It’s been a while since my last post but thats because there hasn’t been much to post. It looked like a midseason lull last weekend with fairly empty skies around the boat launch at Larabee’s. The birds we did see were reluctant to land with real ducks resting off shore. They would make several passes only to land a hundred yards away and swim in very cautiously. Overall the numbers were low to say the least. With some cooler air in place to the north it looked like some new birds may have been around early last week as well as the past two days. We were seeing small flocks of ten or so puddlers and also medium flocks of twenty or so divers. We saw the first Bluebills and Whistlers of the year. As luck would have it we only had a couple of Black ducks decoy for us and I guess I must have grabbed some of the defective shells from last year. I know that they forgot to put any shot in them. But they’re better ducks for it. Needless to say we haven’t been able to boat any birds in the past couple outings. They’re out there I just need to stop these shoot and release tactics.
Good luck and keep swinging!Bubba…
Posted By:
Michael-Bride
Field Editor
Lake Champlain 10-24-2004 18:01
Cloudy, Winds Calm – 45-50 Degrees
Where are all the birds? This weekend the area near the mouth of East Creek was very quiet. Not a great deal of shooting going on south of the boat launch at Larabee’s point. Some steady gunning going on around the ferry both days but I never got to speak to anyone about bird numbers. As for myself the number of ducks in my view has declined in a big way.The woodies we saw so many of just two weeks ago have all but gone and the mallards as well. Even though I’m not looking forward to winter, I would welcome some colder weather to the north to push some birds down. I hope other hunters are seeing more than I did in the last couple of days. But to me there is still no such thing as a bad day of duck hunting.
Good luck and keep swinging!Bubba…
Posted By:
Michael-Bride
Field Editor
Dead Creek G.M.A. 10-16-2004 17:56
Cloudy, Occassional Rain Showers – 50-60 Degrees
Well we made our trip to Dead Creek on Friday and had a really good day. Not because of the number of geese we got, (zero), but more because of the high numbers of Snows that are at the preserve. Late last week through the weekend there were only 3000-4000 birds. Over the past few days, including Friday, the number of birds has grown to between 10,000-12,000 and will no doubt continue to rise. As the geese move down I would expect a good number of new ducks could be in the area just in time for next Saturday when the Champlain zone reopens for both ducks and Canada’s.
Good luck and keep swinging! Bubba…
Posted By:
Isaac514
Guest
Alberta 10-11-2004 17:04
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 45-50 Degrees
To the gentleman I spoke to on 9-25-04 in Deerfield,MA at the mobil gas station, I just got back from Alberta and the total was 191 geese in 3 mornings on our hunt with Sean Mann. Canadas,Snows Specks,Mallards,Pintails. With out a doubt the best trip we have had so far, VERY FEW juvie snows.Send me a Private message if you want more info or if you are going to be down here again to set up a hunt. E-mail me at Scoots514@aol.com if you want also.
Posted By:
Michael-Bride
Field Editor
Champlain Zone/East Creek 10-09-2004 16:44
Mostly Sunny, No Precipitation – 50-60 Degrees
Well right now we’re already one day away from the season split over on Champlain and all in all it’s been very impressive. The duck numbers in the area have been very good. So far we’ve seen a ton of woodies that have been seeking refuge in a large pothole just south of the boat launch at Larabee’s point. Good numbers of greenwings and mallards have been winging around as well. I’ve also connected with a couple of what can only be described as black/mallards. From the air these ducks look like greenheads in an early color phase, or mabey like a hen with a green/yellow bill. But in hand and side by side with hen mallards they are slightly darker like a black. The speculum on them is bordered in white but slightly different than the mallards. I assume that most every greenhead should be in full, or near full, color at this point so unless I’m wrong these must be blallards.(no I’m not on any medication)
I’ve also heard reports from the area of pintails and bluewings but no divers. Tomorrow we’ll be headed in the same area to try our luck again before our two week break from the big lake. Hopefully, after a goose chase on friday at dead creek, we’ll concentrate our efforts on the interior zone. Even if it is short lived.
Good luck and keep swinging! Bubba…
Posted By:
jhallo
WFC Sponsor
Milton 10-06-2004 17:11
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 40-45 Degrees
First time posting here, but I’ve been a reader for awhile…thought I share this time. Went out with a friend (Brian) this morning for the duck opener. Action started right at legal time. Plenty of teal (both blue and green) winging their way through our spread. Most often they’d slip past unnoticed until we’d realize that one of the decoys looked a little too real. Probably 7 to 8 different groups of teal, a few more mallards, and what I’m pretty sure were shovelers…it’s my second season and it was Brian’s first day ever. Overall the action was heavy until 8:00 then died down. We ended up with one mallard and one green winged teal. The marksmanship (particularly on my part) was pathetic…definitely cleaning the cobwebs out. Really a wonderful start to the season! Just watching sunrise over the marsh is enough to keep me coming back for more.
Posted By:
Conn. River 09-19-2004 17:29
Mostly Cloudy, No Precipitation – 50-60 Degrees
Another long afternoon steam north from Wilder to Piermont. Small numbers of teal, woodies and mallards. Put up a flock of 40+ geese loafing in a setback south of Orford. Getting much colder tonight- might start to move some birds down. All local birds so far. Will hunt Friday 9/24 on the River for the last day of resident geese. Would love to hear what other people are seeing.
Posted By:
Interior Zone 09-18-2004 23:35
Cloudy, Rain & Thunderstorms – 60-65 Degrees
The Arse End of Ivan- Early morning scouting on a few farm fields and interior marsh areas for geese. The usual un-shootable suspects. Corn is still up just about everywhere. Not much to be seen yet. Even the big flock of resident geese I’ve been watching way up in the hills were nowhere to be seen??? Heard shots late Saturday up the valley. Hopefully a pale full of geese for someone. Going to scout the CT River (S) again tomorrow.
Posted By:
Michael-Bride
Field Editor
09-06-2004 15:42
Cloudy, Winds Calm – 50-60 Degrees
Today we made our first trip over to Champlain this year for the sole purpose of waterfowl.Today was the annual”pick a place for a blind day”.And as usual we celebrated it a couple of days later than everyone else. No matter we’re going to be in pretty much the same place we have always been. Our spot is just outside of the mouth of East creek.
This morning was a great morning over there. We spent some time watching birds and what we were seeing was very encouraging. Several small groups of puddlers speeding around without a care in the world. Plenty of Mallards,Blacks,and Woodies. In all we saw around 25-30 birds and that was more than enough to keep me awake all night on October 5th. I’ll be going back over to that general area a few more times between now and the opener so I’ll report anything I see that I think will be helpful to you.
Good luck to everyone thats going to be chasing geese this week.
Good luck and keep swinging! Bubba…
Posted By:
08-30-2004 15:49
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yes cabelas does sell camo pants that have zip off legs
