Posted By:
ohioriverhunter
Guest
West of Augusta 12-08-2008 15:04
Sunny & Clear, High Winds – 25-30 Degrees – Open Water
Launched the boat at 5:30 A.m. yesterday. We were hunting a new area, so we had to take the “big pole” as we call it and check our depths. We got 6 dozen GHG mallards out and 2 mojos with about a 25 ft. hole in the middle and slight “j” bends at the end of each group. Seen several migrators- ducks and geese both. The puddle ducks didnt want nothing to do with us. Only the divers would work the spread. We killed bluebills, redheads (100% they weren’t Canvasbacks), Buffleheads and Mergansers. Only heard the guys fire down from us one time. We got our mixed bag then headed to the house around noon. Good luck and be safe !
[Edited By ohioriverhunter on 2008-12-08 15:05]
Posted By:
Wareagle23
Guest
Ohio River 12-08-2008 10:42
Cloudy, Snow & Rain Mix – 25-30 Degrees – Open Water
Well I made it to the other side from last year and here we are talking about ducks again. I have been fortunate to have been out all but one day since opener and so far hunting has been fare.
Today however, things were a little better than just fare. Setup alone with the new dog Jethro, and within 50 minutes I had harvested four mallards and a black duck. As Jethro made the last retrieve I heard an old friend on the river bank saying hello. He brought along his trusted dog Jim Cooper and we were hunting again. Over the next 1 1/2 hour he had 1 black and three mallards.
The last duck shot was a black mallard so I let his dog make the retrieve. Unfortunately his dog, Jim Cooper, is 11 years old and the black duck did a lot of diving. After somewhat of a chase I sent Jethro on the back command to aid in the chase. Just as Jethro approached, Big Jim made the retrieve and Jethro honored the retrive and thought there must be another duck. Eight minutes later I am watching my dog walking on the Ohio shore. For whatever reason today he decided to take a swim acorss the river. Remind you, we are miles from any bridge and today, I did not have the boat. Thankfully, he quickly decided there was not a duck to be found and back he came. He had gotton so far out on the retrieve I don’t think he could hear me on the whistle and with no collar on today, he just kept going. Amazing the drive and passion of watching a two year old swim the river and an eleven year old chase a diving black mallard.
If not great enough to see the dogs work, I must also mention one of my mallard drakes I shot was banded. Banded in Ontario 9/08/07.
There were several groups of ducks coming out of the north this morning. Many of the ducks I saw were blacks. Just received a call from another hunting partner and he is seeing large numbers of geese on the move today and ducks in a cornfield along the river.
“I take no prisoners”
Posted By:
Shawn-Keeton
Web Member
12-08-2008 08:34
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We didn’t hunt Saturday as I was sick, however we did get out in our duck skiff yesterday (Sunday) and boy was it a hoot.
The wind had layed down some but it was cold. There were no other boats at the ramp so I was wondering if we were the only one’s dumb enough to get out. From the ramp we spotted a small group of buffleheads. We launched at 9:00 (after fueling up and putting on 19 layers of clothes). The sad part is that we had to be out by 10:30 as my brother had an occasion he couldn’t miss without the wife going ballistic. We started up the Indiana bank and ran into a group of sawbills, taking 2 beautiful hoodeds’. After a short jaunt we crossed over to the KY bank and it wasn’t far til we hit a single gadwall. After adding her to the bag we headed on down and paddled up on a group of mallards taking two drakes out of a group of 8. The birds were sitting tight against the banks. In this time e also saw more buffleheads, bluebills, black ducks and some geese that we couldn’t get upon. After going another couple of miles we added two more drake mallards to the bag and it was past time to go. A cold little run but a lot of fun. We saw several groups of ducks in the 15-30 range and plenty of divers if someone wanted to set a layout rig or some longlines. The blacks aren’t here in huge numbers yet, but are beginning to show. Although we saw some geese it wasn’t nearly the numbers I thought we would. Most of the small ponds were frozen solid (we tried busting some ice for a quick hunt to no avail) but with the warm temps and rain coming I suspect it will change a lot.
Posted By:
Saskentuckewan Hunter
Guest
Ohio River – Meldahl Pool 12-08-2008 07:59
Mostly Cloudy, No Precipitation – 25-30 Degrees – Open Water
My predictions of a mass migration came true Sunday morning. We looked north over the hills of Ohio around 8:00 to see clouds of birds moving in. Only one problem – they weren’t ducks, nor geese. Instead, we witnessed the arrival of hundreds of terns. In my early days of waterfowling I would have said that such a migration meant the ducks would come within the next couple of days. However, I’ve since learned that trying to predict waterfowl movement is like trying to pick lottery numbers.
We did end up bagging two mallards and two black ducks. Our shooting improved dramatically over that of the previous morning. The four we got were the only birds we fired a shot at. The down side is that we only had shots at four birds. We saw a total of around 100 geese and about the same number of ducks.
I guess it was nice not to have to take this weedend off, with the season continued right through from Thanksgiving. But I can’t help but think that the numbers of ducks we saw this weekend won’t compare to the birds we will have during the last week of January, as season closes on the 25th. I’m still having difficulty understanding that decision.
Good luck, and be safe!
[Edited By Saskentuckewan Hunter on 2008-12-08 08:02]
Posted By:
nashua
Web Member
Central Kentucky 12-07-2008 14:50
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Saskentuckywan,
A better decoy would be to place a huge clock outside the blind set 5 minutes past legal shooting hours. That’s when ALL the birds show up!
Enjoyed your entry.
Posted By:
Saskentuckewan Hunter
Guest
Ohio River – Meldahl Pool 12-06-2008 20:33
Cloudy, Snow Flurries – 25-30 Degrees – Open Water
What a beautiful morning we had today! A crisp 27 degrees and snow falling. The light winds made it a perfect morning to be on the river. Some days in the outdoors just have that extra special feel about them, and this was one of them.
Frozen ponds and lakes have pretty much forced all of the geese back to the big water. We probably saw 250 this morning. Most of them got up off the water and headed north to feed in Ohio around nine o’clock. Only one single gave us a look. We didn’t have any goose floaters out this morning, but we we able to get him to give us a few looks just by calling to him.
Ducks were pretty scarce. We may have seen 75, but that’s being pretty liberal. I would say many of them were the same ducks over and over again. We did manage to knock down two mallards. The highlight of the morning was watching Jethro and Spirit (both black labs) retrieve them. Both ducks were still swimming and heading to the middle of the river as fast as they could get there. Both dogs were going for the closest duck when, just before they reached it, Jethro broke for the far duck, leaving the close one for Spirit. Both ducks made several diving attempts to escape, but the dogs brought their “A game” this morning and the ducks made a trip to the boat in the mouths of labs.
After that, some dismal shooting allowed three woodies and three mallard to escape over the course of three different sets and volleys of shots. Dogs – 1, hunters – 0. Jethro and Spirit were not impressed with the shooting.
I’m anticipating good things to come tomorrow morning. A little snow to the north along with frozen water and a cold northwest wind could add up to some new birds moving in over night and throughout the morning. It’s time to put out the big migrator spread and a couple of mojos and hope for the best.
On a lighter note: I have an idea for a great waterfowl decoy. I think it could be the hottest thing since the mojo. In twenty years of duck and goose hunting, I don’t think I have ever gotten out of the blind to take a leak without being bombarded by birds, only to have my gun sitting too far away to grab. So I’m thinking about designing a decoy to represent a hunter taking care of business. I’ll bet you could stand him just outside of the blind and kill a limit in no time!
Good luck, and be safe.
[Edited By Saskentuckewan Hunter on 2008-12-06 20:35]
Posted By:
nashua
Web Member
Central KY 12-06-2008 15:17
Cloudy, Snow Flurries – 25-30 Degrees – Ice
Hunted large farm pond Friday.
Totally iced in.
Broke up ice with canoe.
Skimmed over 20 minutes later.
Took one mallard drake and one shoveller.
Saturday morning set up in cornfield for geese.
Saw 6 flocks high and heading elsewhere.
Hope we get a thaw.
Posted By:
woodsman695
Guest
12-05-2008 17:28
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Hey KYStrokn,
It just depends which barrel went off first. One is improved and the other is modified!!!
Posted By:
eville
Web Member
Henderson County 12-05-2008 15:58
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Three of us got out in the ice this morning on an open hole and did really well. We ended up with 18: 5 mallards, 1 wigeon and 12 gadwalls.
So a lot of ducks flying in from high over Ohio River about mid-morning.
Posted By:
KYStrokin
Guest
12-04-2008 21:30
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Hey woods what area did you kill your birds in?
[Edited By KYStrokin on 2008-12-04 21:31]
