Posted By: mike-schireman Field Editor Snohomish County 12-14-2009 16:17 Arctic Blast – 25-30 Degrees – Ice Well hopefully you have been able to hunt the rivers or bays over the last week. Very cold temps have frozen up standing water in the valleys and forced the birds out. Bird numbers are way up as they have been concentrated in open water areas. Work has limited me to only one hunt over the past week but it was an amazing one!!!. Most of the ice has flushed out but boaters be aware that thin ice can cause major damage and even slice open your smaller boats. I actually turned back on Sat (now that I have a wife and kids :)) and opted to take a larger boat. Live to hunt another day folks. Enjoy the birds…temps due to go back up in the next 48 hours. Watching a bird dog… Continue reading

Posted By: John-Kruse Field Editor Stratford 10-25-2009 17:32 Mostly Sunny, No Precipitation – 40-45 Degrees Took my son and dog up to the Stratford Firing Line above the reserve hoping the geese would be on the lake and that they would fly over when it was time to feed. Found about a dozen other hunters up there as well hoping for the same outcome. As daylight broke we could see there were probably 12,000 to 15,000 Lesser Canada Geese on the lake, less than usual for this time of year and far less than the 30,000 birds expected this year. When the birds did get up they unfortunately did not come our way. Nobody on the firing line got any birds this day. Hopefully more birds will be on the way to this area soon – and hopefully a few will fly over the firing line for the hunters that… Continue reading

Posted By: Hugh-Carney Field Editor High 5’s 09-30-2009 17:01 – – – So how many high 5’s are okay on a hunt until it’s too much? I suppose it could be a ‘real men of gienus’ commercial. You know the one guy that high five’s too much or screams really loud when he shoots every bird. Don’t get me wrong, a mild celebration or acknowledgment of a good shot or a rare bird or a band is understandable, but jumping up and down for that hen teal you just killed may be a bit much. Posted By: mike-schireman Field Editor The Garage 09-29-2009 14:07 – – 50-60 Degrees OK no more procrastination!!! We are now under 20 days until the big day. It is time to fire up the boat motor, untangle the decoys and wash them up, and get your gear together. A reminder to also get those life-jackets/PFD’s… Continue reading

Posted By: John-Kruse Field Editor Columbia Basin 01-02-2009 18:45 Mostly Sunny, No Precipitation – 30-34 Degrees – Ice Slowly drove to the Columbia Basin this morning after we got another couple of inches of snow last night. First stop was Winchester Wasteway, which was frozen in several places – to include the general area around the Dodson Road Access Area. After a short hike to confirm there was no open water in the area I headed down to Frenchman’s Wasteway and hiked a couple of miles through the fresh snow with my lab for the better part of the day. Almost zero ducks flying, though there were a few geese moving about on this non-goose day. I did jump a few mallards (less than half dozen) and a small flock of bufflehead. Peppered one of the mallards that my lab retrieved and missed my first attempt at the buffleheads. Fortunately,… Continue reading

Posted By: Hugh-Carney Field Editor Columbia Basin 11-19-2008 09:29 Mostly Cloudy, No Precipitation – 45-50 Degrees The weather is turning to more faverable conditions. The stagnant air will be replaced over the next few days by wind and possible rain showers. Temps won’t be too severe with lows still in the mid 20’s. By Sat the calmer weather may return then fog and still conditions by the first of next week. This may be a window to catch the birds moving. For those looking for Red Heads, the Wells Pool is reported to be packed with them. With the Red Heads comes the Canvassbacks so be careful with the identification, particularly @ first light. You don’t have to have a boat to get em. If you really want to try just get yosef some GHG Red Heads and either put 10-12 on a long line or drop your single decoys… Continue reading

Posted By: mike-schireman Field Editor Fir Island 10-28-2008 14:24 Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 50-60 Degrees I finally got to hunt with my Uncle Frank this weekend, the one responsible for introducing me to this sport and exposing me to some amazing days in the field. We more or less scouted since the weather has not made the change to “ducky”. We headed to Fir Island to find an amazing number of Snows and a few Canadians. They were moving nicely between the refuge areas and the bay from around 8:30 on. There was very little duck activity along the shoreline with doubles and foursomes but no large groups. The season is early and the weather is good for scouting and enjoying being out there and the conversations with good hunting buddies. As waterfowlers we are not the norm. We wait and hope for rain, wind, and snow…and we… Continue reading

Posted By: Hugh-Carney Field Editor Central Wa 09-25-2008 13:32 Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 60-65 Degrees Cooler temps have caused a lot more bird activity through the Basin and Yakima Valley. Birds are taking to wing early and late in the day over the past few days. Dove are still fairly active in spots and I hear the res. is still very good in spots. Quail numbers look to be very strong in most of E. Wa. and that season opens Oct. 4th except on the Yak. Res. If you’re looking for last min. materials for the opener check out craigslist. Decoys, clothes and boats are starting to show up regularly. -Hugh Posted By: Hugh-Carney Field Editor Central wa 09-12-2008 11:10 – – – Well, I didn’t think I was gonna do this again but I’ll give it a try and see how it goes. Hard to believe that… Continue reading

Posted By: John-Kruse Field Editor Central Washington 01-04-2008 00:15 Mostly Cloudy, No Precipitation – 25-30 Degrees – Ice SNOW AND COLD MAKES THINGS INTERESTING Spoke with three local guides as I prepared my weekly radio show (The Great Outdoors – KPQ 560 AM – Wenatchee). Here’s what they had to say about Central Washington Waterfowl Hunting: Jerrod Gibbons – Okanogan Valley Guide Service – Jerrod reports goose hunting has been good this season but fresh snow is making things more challenging. He recommends looking for uncut grain fields and orchards in Okanogan County. If you find those, you may well find geese feeding in them. Jeff Zender – The Columbia River Water-Fowler – Jeff says duck hunting is pretty good on the Columbia between Brewster and Wenatchee. He noticed there are fewer redheads and canvasbacks being taken this year, but on the bright side, there does seem to be a… Continue reading