Time To Spare

 

The cold front came through over the weekend and as suspected, it brought a bunch of birds to the river. This is Cutter with his first limit of mallards. Pretty sweet.

 

This isn't going to be the last of the migrations either. These ducks aren't the Northern ducks that we'll see at the end of December and into January. You can't tell by the picture but they are much smaller than those Northern ducks. They're not all that smart yet either.

 

I parked along the road yesterday and saw a number of birds sitting in the channel I was going to set up in. I was going to try to jump shoot them but as I got closer to the river, they spooked. There really wasn't a good way in so I figured that was ok. I'd just get to my spot and set up and try to catch them on the way back. These ducks really wanted to be in that spot so I knew eventually they would come. What I didn't realize is that the couple dozen I saw were actually a couple hundred and I as kept getting closer to my spot, they kept busting out. I was a little bummed that I didn't go in with a better plan.

 

Cutter and I did get set up and we did have a couple set into the decoys and of course, I blew it. A few more landed in the channel just upstream so we went after them and I dropped a couple. We headed back to the blind and groups of threes and fours just kept piling in and they were setting hard.

 

I'm not sure how much you duck hunt but typically, mallards can be a little testy when it comes to decoying. It doesn't take much to get these guys to flare but they weren't shy yesterday. Like I said, they wanted to be there so a couple decoys and a couple quacks and they were committed. Give it a week or so and that will all change. (FYI, generally speaking, the dumber the duck, the worse they taste. I also had a number of ring-necks land in the decoys yesterday and opted out...)

 

The nice thing about having that many cooperative ducks is that you can pick and choose. You're only allowed two hens so after shooting one right away, I was able to pick out the drakes to round out my limit. The last group of four came in on a string about 20 minutes before shooting hours ended. They were not only cupped up and setting but they had actually put on the brakes and were sitting down when I stood up. A chip-shot to end the hunt. Perfect...one shot, one green head.

 

Today is another day and with the temps climbing, it could be an entirely different ball game. That usually means the birds disappear until the next front. We're hoping for one more good day. We shall see. 

 

Keep 'em where they live...