Posted By:
Hugh-Carney
Field Editor
11-20-2007 09:12
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Kwack:
Hard to follow what rivers you are talking about. Sat. was on the Yakima river? Sun you were along the Columbia?
Posted By:
Kwack Wacker
Guest
RES. 11-19-2007 14:10
Cloudy, Snow & Rain Mix – 30-34 Degrees – Open Water
Hunted yesterday afternoon on river, not a ton of birds left, I bagged 3 greenwingers. Hunting partners killed their limmits in the same area Saturday morning easily, must have ran em’ out. saturday I was as I said, helping my grandpa kill a deer, he did (170 class) noticed a TON of birds working the Priest Rapids pool near where we killed the deer. We figured at least 30000 of em’, divers and puddlers. The guys huntin em were lighting it up big time.I was wishin I was down there!!
good luck on Thanksgiving hunts!!!
Posted By:
Hugh-Carney
Field Editor
Columbia basin 11-19-2007 10:59
Cloudy, Snow & Rain Mix – –
The storms from last week looks like they have move birds around but not out. It looks as thought from I saw in the field this past weekend, there are fewer birds where they were previously concentrated in mass, and more birds where there were none before. I noticed a particular increase in mallards and redheads.
The weather was miserable for E. Wa. Rain on Sat AM then all day on Sun. turning to snow in the Yakima Valley. the birds will willing to fly in moderation on Sun.
The 4 day weekend coming up is usually more of a challenge dealing with other hunters in the field that it is finding the birds. With the birds seeming to have spread out it may ease the crowding issue a little more. Temps are expected to drop this week with lows in the low 20’s and highs in the upper 40’s. There is snow on the ground in parts of E. Wa. and by the weekend there may be some icy spots left in shaded areas. The farther east you go the more snow there is.
Be safe and have a happy Thanksgiving.
-Hugh
Posted By:
Kwack Wacker
Guest
Yak. valley 11-16-2007 19:42
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 45-50 Degrees
Good luck this weekend, jumped abut 30 ducks today hunting the last hour of shooting time and knock 3 down finding 2 of em’, they looked like possible migrators. Heard some other guys had good success last weekend on the RES. as well. Hopefully it will go again this weekend, got to help my grandfather shoot a deer on the Firing Center tommorow but hopefully I can get out on Sunday.
Posted By:
Kwack Wacker
Guest
Yakima River 11-15-2007 21:04
Mostly Sunny, No Precipitation – 30-34 Degrees – Open Water
Had a good hunt Sat. on the RES. I limmited and dad did as well, the other guy that we were with knocked his limmit down but lost a couple. Deccoyed a few in the morning and got a few mallards and then finshed up jumping a few sloughs and channels, we saw a few more woodies this time and bagged a few. Shot a wiegeon and the rest were Greenwingers. By the way deffinatley had some of those little butterballs migrating through. After my limmit was filled we jumped a flock off the river that had to be around 600 strong, I’ve never seen a single flock of teal that big. Saw a good # of mallards as well (biggest bunch was about 300) and there was plenty of geese working a section of the river, if we would have been there in the morning we would have got into em I’m sure. If we would have been set up on the backwash we jumped the teal out of at shooting time we would have had our limmits done in the morning.
Quite a bit of shooting 1st 1 hour or so.
It was a great hunt. Northeners should be coming in #’s soon!!
Any reports for the Snake yet???
The bands I was talking about last week were all form one guy and he had killed them that week hunting the atfernoons on the Toppenish unit.
Posted By:
guyg
Guest
East side of Basin 11-13-2007 22:43
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 45-50 Degrees
Sunday, east basin singulary devoid of waterfowl. Few ducks, fewer geese. Hope this front moves in new birds and the guides can say “the northerns are in” and not be lying. Saw this a few seasons ago, pretty dead for early season, a few days were great and then winter set in.
Posted By:
Hugh-Carney
Field Editor
Columbia basin 11-13-2007 13:37
Sunny & Clear, High Winds – 50-60 Degrees
Numbers are still good in the western basin but the huge wind we had on Mon. may have moved them. It has been a pattern in the past that the birds get moved around with that kind of heavy, extended wind. By the same token, new birds may be pushed in. It’ll take a few days to see what settles out.
We were lucky to get off the water on Mon. before the big gusts. By noon the water was being lifted and thrown hundereds of yards. Swells looked to be 4-5 feet. Dust made for worse driving conditions than any fog or snow I’ve been in.
Minor systems are expected through the week into E. Wa. Low temps are expected to dip into the mid 20’s and highs in the low 50’s. No big wind at this point but rain is expected off and on.
Had a drake Old Squaw in the deke’s at one point. I have never even seen one before, let alone in E. Wa, although I have gotten a hen Old Squaw, so it’s not out of the question.
I drove into the WB 10 ponds in the White Bluffs area. Much of the vegitation was wiped out in the fire this past summer but the ponds look to be okay, although I didn’t walk all the way back from the parking area. The parking area looks unused. I am curious if the area is getting hunting pressure.
Quail seemed active this weekend too. I stumbled into some Hun’s as well. Good time to be in E. Wa.
-Hugh
Posted By:
jsdod04
Guest
11-11-2007 11:02
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – –
did those bands go to one guy or is that rummer because i was on res oppening and group next to me shot around 70 birdsand they were saying that they got that many bands no 100 doller ones thou stoped in saterday afternoon perty quitedid not see one bird their for three hours
Posted By:
Hugh-Carney
Field Editor
weather update 11-09-2007 13:43
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Newer weather info for E. Wa:
Yakima valley hgih winds to 30 MPH
Columbia basin winds Fri.PM to Sat. AM upto 15 MPH. East of the Columbia dense fog is expected.
Pick your poison.
Posted By:
Hugh-Carney
Field Editor
Columbia Basin 11-09-2007 09:38
Sunny & Clear, Morning Fog – 45-50 Degrees
Duck numbers are very strong in the basin. Diver numbers have steadily increased over the past weeks. Calm and warm days allow the birds to sit in very large numbers on big water and we need something to get them to move.
A weak front will move through the region this weekend and rain is expected on Sat. and cooler temps may get the job done. Wind is only expected on friday. May be a good weekend to get after it.
-Hugh
