Any Duck/Goose hunters out there?

[Paul Greathouse]

Anybody do any Duck/Goose hunting this morning? Our season opened this morning and it was kind of slow. My younger son and a friend of mine were in my ricefield blind. We got one Greenhead, a Mottled duck, three Teal and a Spoonbill.

My older son hunted down in the marsh in Cameron with some friends and three of them only got 4 Teal. Real slow for the marsh and ricefield. I guess there just hasn't been enough cool weather to push them down yet.

Can anybody north of Louisiana give me a report on the bird population in your area?

[George Morris]

Good hunting! In PA the weather is still warm for November I have not noticed a lot of ducks on the move!
On another note my son is married to a dean they are from Lake Charles have to visit there someday!
Be safe and have fun! G

[Joe Mioux]

no, but we have a pretty decent Duck and Goose Season here.

Having a 26000 acre lake helps with the hunting.

http://www.carlylelake.com/ducks/projects.htm

The local DU chapter is very active and raises a boat load of money every year.

a bit off topic, but I have hunted Quail twice already this year (opening day was last Sat). Quail population still isn't where it was say 15 yrs ago, but it is much better than it has been since that time.

[Paul Greathouse]

Thanks for the report George,

A few minutes ago my oldest son called me, he and one of his friends that hunted the marsh yesterday, were in my blind this morning. The two of them got 8 birds, a mix of Teal, Widgeon and Mottled ducks.

What a difference a day makes. The weather conditions were almost exactly the same this morning as yesterday, so I didn't go. It would have been a quick hunt before church was another reason I didn't go (didn't want to be dosing off in church). Well it worked out my son and his friend. I can't wait for some cold weather. Its supposed to get up to 80 degrees today.

Glad to hear that your still having good hunting. What type of work does your son do in Lake Charles?

[Paul Greathouse]

Thanks for the link Joe, looks like you guys have a great organization up there.

We used to have a healthy number of Quail down here when I was young (15-20 years ago). It was a real treat to unexpectedly jump a covey yesterday on a canal bank out by our blind. Maybe they will make a real comeback some day.

[Steve Rozmiarek]

Paul, you really make me wish harvest was over so I could go again. I think we're on a different flyway here, but as of two weeks ago, the early season stuff was moving, widgon, spoonbills, teal, and some various diver ducks. I got my first wood duck too, which is pretty rare here. It'll look great in my office.

The mallards are starting to fly over now, and cold weather is setting in the Dakotas. Should be able to go again this week some time. Goose season is open here now and they are starting to move in.

I hunt on the Platte river system, what do you hunt there?

[Paul Greathouse]

I hunt a ricefield blind that I have had for over 20 years, its on my inlaws property. It's located southeast of Lake Charles La., its only a 15 minute drive from my house. I used to get good hunting on my families property when I was a kid but the local flyway has moved more to the east when farming slowed down in our area.

We get a very good mix of ducks here at the bottom end of the Mississippi flyway, once they start coming down. Looks like you guys are still going strong up there, it might be awhile before you chase them down to us.

We also do pretty good on the Speckelbelly Geese but I haven't seen any large numbers yet like we are used to seeing. Last year we got 4 specks the second Saturday of the season. Maybe the cool front we are expecting the first part of this week will push some down.

[Zach England]

Yesterday I saw three geese flying northwest. I told them they were going the wrong way, but they didn't stop. Where were they going?

[Paul Greathouse]

Maybe they forgot something and were going back to get it.