Waterfowl

I hate getting up in the morning to duck hunt... but that first 30 minutes can be so magical... and worth it.

Me too. Seems like the mid west guys say the ducks are stale. No clue why but we picked up a saying. “Should have went goat roping”

Seems like the first 30 minutes can make or brake a day. But like all I’ve seen things change in a few seconds. Only takes a good flurry.

Kind of deer hunting. Only takes that one to show up..
 
I havent gotten up early to hunt waterfowl once this year
 
There is always an 8:30am flight. And a noon flight. And a 3:00pm flight. I don't know how many times I've hunted over decoys until 9:30am, went home to eat, then came back and jumped the same pond as I hunted to find ducks there. All day hunts can be productive, but dawn is magical!

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Depends on where you hunt. Ponds are an early morning endeavor. Public is a different animal. Especially now you want see dick first thing, but 10 to 1 see thousands. They pattern the hunter quickly.
 
Almost all of our good duck shoots on water over decoys are morning hunts.
My two boys this morning.
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My buddies just got back from Arkansas. I skipped this year since we saw 3 birds in 3 days last year. This year they bagged over 50 including geese.
 
My buddies just got back from Arkansas. I skipped this year since we saw 3 birds in 3 days last year. This year they bagged over 50 including geese.

I've got ta couple buddies down there right now, they pounded ringnecks this morning in flooded timber and stacked specks last night out of a pit, they got a few nice pins and a couple mallards yesterday morning. They have a fresh two year old female chessie they raised from a pup and trained themselves that is getting a really good workout.

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Arkansas becoming more known for geese - especially specs - than ducks. There was a day you wouldnt fire a gun at a ringneck. Now, any duck is fair game - because they dont come here in nearly the numbers they used to.
 
Any of you have taxidermied ducks on your walls?
 
A couple....
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Wow, you have all those done in Ohio? What taxidermist do you use?

And why does that fox pelt have rings on the tail?
 
Wow, you have all those done in Ohio? What taxidermist do you use?

And why does that fox pelt have rings on the tail?

I've used a few different taxis over the years...I'm done getting stuff mounted. The youngest son has a drake mallard/black hybrid and the buff hen mallard coming soon as a dead mount.
It's not rings it just spun when I was using the tail stripper skinning it, it was a nice cherry color that I thought would make a good wall hang.
 
You have a waterfowl taxidermist you can recommend in Ohio?
 
Where's the Grizzly? :-)
 
Zero waterfowl on my wall. Im not a big taxidemy guy.
 
Arkansas becoming more known for geese - especially specs - than ducks. There was a day you wouldnt fire a gun at a ringneck. Now, any duck is fair game - because they dont come here in nearly the numbers they used to.

Yep mallard is always king in most spots. My buddy up in Alberta is the same way, he just doesn't get it when we pass mallards and big geese to shoot Cans and cacklers..I tell him I can kill all the big Canadas and mallards I want most days around home...I want something different. I used to be in a club in AR and loved shooting prime drake spoonies because we never see them like that at home. Up at the duck camp in Ontario we pass most small ducks even Bluebills some days to fill limits with Cans and redheads, at home we don't let anything pass when we are hunting on the lake it might be the only birds we see!
 
You have a waterfowl taxidermist you can recommend in Ohio?

Not in Ohio but real close...Greg Harvey- Game Bird Taxidermy in Monroe IN is really good, sometimes he takes to long but he does nice work. I've known him for over thirty years and he has done some birds for me. http://gamebirdtaxidermyin.com/5743.html
 
Super,lots of geese around here but I don't like to eat them.congrats on another band.I heard that elk city refuge or whatever it's called over there is laoded
 
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