2008/2009 Louisiana Duck Hunting Thread

[Coot]

Let's here it La. boys!!!! How has the hunting been so far????

I made a duck hunt today in hopes of some new birds showing up prior to the front. Not much flying today besides gnats. The water was very high. Two of us hunted till 8:45 (had to go to work) to bag 6 ducks (4 greys & 2 mottled ducks) and we missed a few.

I might take my boys hunting tomorrow!

[Coot]

The Migration is On!

I made a hunt yesterday and this front has pushed new birds into the area. I saw plenty of high flying V formation flocks of ducks, lots of divers including buffle heads showing up, and low flying snow geese which appeared lost.

The puddle ducks worked beautifully in the 15-20 NE wind mph and we should have easily had our limit, but our shooting was VERY, VERY, VERY BAD today.

3 man blind = 11 Ducks (9 greys, 2 gw teal)

I have only made 4 hunts so far this year. Opening day was slow as we shot 8 ducks. I hunted last week in the no wind, gnat infested air to shoot 6, shot a limit last weekend with my boys, and my hunt yesterday.

The area I hunt is holding the least amount of ducks I have EVER seen since I have been hunting out there. We have a huntable amount of birds to put together a decent bag. Definitely will need to hunt the windy days and think outside of the box to get the ducks this year.

[br,lc,LA]

8 of us brough back 87 openning weekend (9 short of a bag). only two went last weekend and didnt get the report. I am headed out for my second weekend this Fri. and third the Fri. after Turkey Day. Then hard to believe the split is already here.

[Coot]

The last two days we have done well. Despite the strong winds there hasn't been many ducks flying where I hunt. We just don't have the numbers that we normally have (no feed), however I have been killing a few due to proper scouting, hunting smart, being patient and of course some luck is always needed.

Yesterday, The grey ducks never flew and we had a mixed bag. We knocked down a 3 man limit only recovering 16 (9 gw teal, 5 spoonies, 1 grey, 1 buffle head).

Today, There were a few more greys flying but most would not come near us. They wanted pot holes today. I was about ready to call it a day and a skunk until just before 8:00 we finally killed our first duck and quickly shot a few more so we decided to ride it out. We shot our 2 man limit by hunting till 10:15.

2 man blind today = 12 ducks: 1 green head, 2 mottled ducks, 3 greys, 4 gw teal, 1 spoonie, 1 buffle head and 2 hooded mergansers.

[BUCKWILD]

Reports from Deer park to clayton were slow. That's all I've heard today.

[BoatDR]

Havent been hunting too much (been working too much) but in intend on changing that in the next week or so.

Here's my summary so far:
Opening weekend, only hunted Sunday and shot 8 from a 2 man blind by my camp on the west side of the river. 3 Greys, 2 mottled, 3 gw teal.

Last weekend hunted my lease on the west side of the river, Sat blowin 30+ mph so I hunted solo in a little pot hole and shot the only 4 ducks I saw (2 mottled, 1 gw teal, 1 bw teal), but all in all a miserably slow morning. There were 2 other groups of hunters that were about 200 yards in opposite directions from me and both blinds shot banded mottled ducks......go figure. Sunday hunted a 3 man blind and lots of action, but birds were reluctant to work well, but we still managed to knock down 10, mostly teal.

Hunted today (Sunday) on my lease on the east side of the river, and it looks much better, quite a few birds, and almost constant action, but marsh is completly dessimated since the last 2 storms so hiding the boat is a real challenge. 2 man blind: 1 mallard, 1 grey, 1 mottled, 5 bw teal, 4 gw teal, and back at the launch by 9:00................I think I'll be hunting the east side of the river till the split.

[Coot]

Today was a bit slower and the water dropped on us quickly so we had to leave the broken marsh I was hunting before 8 am because it was going to be all mud flats. We barely got out!

2 man blind = 7 ducks (4 greys, 2 gw teal, and 1 mottled duck)

[Coot]

PS: With the warm temps predicted this holiday week coming, I might concentrate more on fishing! My youngest boy wants to go fishing, but my oldest wants to go duck hunting. I guess we will try a little bit of both, but Daddy is leaning towards fishing this week.

[Coot]

I took my two little junior duck slayers armed with a BB gun and a toy shotgun into the marsh today, but the ducks weren't flying well today. We only hunted for about an hour and bagged two ducks (1 grey and 1 buffle head). We saw very few ducks flying today so we called it an early day. My boys had a great time and want to go back tomorrow, but I think we might go fishing instead. It's all about making memories!!!!

[JUICEDLBZ]

I have been hunting in Madisonville, La. Definately not like south louisiana but always a mixed bag.
Here are totals through the split:
5 Red head, 18 Teal, 2 Woodies, 22 Do Gris, 8 Merganzers, 5 Bluebill, 5 spoonies, 5 Bufflehead, 1 Ringneck, 1 Mottleduck, 1 Grey Duck. 73 Total

[Coot]

Originally Posted by JUICEDLBZ

I have been hunting in Madisonville, La. Definately not like south louisiana but always a mixed bag.
Here are totals through the split:
5 Red head, 18 Teal, 2 Woodies, 22 Do Gris, 8 Merganzers, 5 Bluebill, 5 spoonies, 5 Bufflehead, 1 Ringneck, 1 Mottleduck, 1 Grey Duck. 73 Total

Not bad at all for so close to home. Where are you hunting in Madisonville. I grew up hunting the Madisonville area, i.e. Rice Fields, Guste property, Poole proerty etc... The best hunting back then was the Lewisburg Marsh on the East side of the Tchefuncte River. I also use to hunt the flooded timber off of the Ticfaw river and Maurpeaux/Manchac/and Reserve Canal area.

Now a days, I hunt more brackish and salt water marshes.

[Coot]

1st Split Results
This split was slow compared to prior years. My blind harvested 75 ducks (mostly gadwall and gw teal) equating to 3.95 ducks per hunter per attempt. A lot of my hunts where just a one man blind with my 2 boys (6.5 yrs old & 3.5 yrs old) who aren't shooting yet. One is hunting with a BB gun and the other is using a toy gun. The boys are loving it and begging for more. Although this might have been my slowest split in some time, it was definitely my most MEMORABLE since I was able to share the great outdoors with both of my children. This split was about making memories.

I saw very few ducks flying during my hunts. We would often have periods of 30 minutes to an hour without seeing a duck on some days. During my pre-season scouting and scouting during the season I never saw any large number of ducks as I normally do. Simply put, our feed was completely wiped out from Hurricanes Gustav and Ike. I shot a few ducks by hunting smart, late, and scouting to see where the few ducks we have are hanging out. It will be a tough 2nd split. I hope it gets better. My boys are already asking to go hunting again.


The future generation of duck hunters!

[JUICEDLBZ]

I am hunting in the back of the ricefields (leased) almost to port louie road. Too bad they turned east of the tchefuncte into a sanctuary. We should hook up some time.

[Coot]

Originally Posted by JUICEDLBZ

I am hunting in the back of the ricefields (leased) almost to port louie road. Too bad they turned east of the tchefuncte into a sanctuary. We should hook up some time.

PM Sent

[muddydawg]

Originally Posted by Coot

The future generation of duck hunters!

Now that is a nice picture. Teach em young

[Coot]

This is very rare! It be snowing in SE Louisiana (Mandeville, LA which is 30 miles north of New Orleans)!

Sure hope this cold front pushes some more ducks our way!

[Coot]

Too Bad our duck season is closed right now for the split, b/c it would be really cool to hunt in da snow. It reopens this Saturday. We cajuns don't see snow too often. You should see all of the folks going nuts over snow down here. Looks like this snow fall will set records in amount of snow fall and how early in the year it came.

What Global Warming????

I'm dreaming of a white duck hunt!

[usmc0844]

its official! this has been the crappiest duck season that i can remember. I been hunting 25 years!

[Coot]

Originally Posted by usmc0844

its official! this has been the crappiest duck season that i can remember. I been hunting 25 years!

Me too, I definitely agree! 1st split wasn't too bad as my blind averaged 4 ducks per hunter per attempt, however we normally average 5 or more per hunter.

2nd Split has been terrible!
I am lucky if we are averaging 1 duck per hunter per attempt now. I have only made 5 hunts this 2nd split due to hot weather and high water. The few I have made with the exception of one have been terrible. We have a few ducks, but they just aren't flying and when I spook them up when scouting they land back down within seconds. The large flocks (groups of 75-150) of green wing teal have finally shown up, but they aren't flying as well and of course with any south winds and high water will push the teal out as well. I am praying for some cold weatther with north and west winds to push the water out. I definitely am doing better on the SUPER low water days with the north winds when all of the ponds are mud flats. It is more work, but definitely better hunting. Hopefully these Southwest winds starting tomorrow will push the water out. Looks like Thursday and Friday might be good days to hunt, but I doubt the cold weather will stay for long.

Friday - 3 man blind shot 2 buffle heads, 1 gw teal and missed 2 greys

Saturday - 3 man blind shot 2 buffle heads, 1 gw teal (same as Friday) and never had any greys decoy

I went scouting after the hunt and found several large schools of reds in the duck ponds. These were shcools of 15-25 redfish in the 25 +/- inch range. So today, I am about to head out for a mid day fishing trip hunting me some reds.

[Coot]

Well,
I caught a few reds and some trout today and watched ducks while I fished. I watched them sit on the broken marsh ponds and when spooked they would go back down within seconds. I was in the marsh fishing most of the day and saw very few ducks flying unless spooked. What will it take to get these birds flying? Looks like I am not missing anything by not hunting till Noon either.......

[ABNRanger]

13 yr old killed her first duck in the Pearl River over the holidays with her 20 gauge Charles Daly. Here are a few pics from the Pearl River area.

[Gun Doc]

A few years down the road, some lucky boy is going snag himself a pretty girl who hunts.

[ABNRanger]

Yea, but I will remind them that I do shoot a 10 gauge as seen in the picture!!!!

[SMILIN JACK]

Or a 308 for more range.........