Total bust yesterday morning

[Rfjeff9]

This first trip was a complete experiment, I wasn't sure what to expect. I didn't get out there until 8:30 due to having to drop kids off at school first. That was probably the biggest problem.

I took the kayak to my area and paddled at least a mile up the west side in the grassy areas. I wanted to see what sort of ducks I would see.

Unfortunately, there were hardly any ducks at all. Coots were everywhere, but I guess most ducks flew over to the feeding area. I saw two mottled, 2 woodies, and 2 mallards. I totally missed the woodies and mottled. My bad aim, I have no excuse, they should have been bagged. Mallards were a bit far, but I shot anyway.

The bird that I could not ID. I saw a couple little guys that would dive down under the water to evade me instead of flying away. I don't know what they were, but I followed one for a good ways just to see what he would do. I didn't want to shoot it not knowing what it was. After awhile, I he completely gave me the slip. He LOOKED duckish, but no idea what he was.

Coots. Man these things were EVERYWHERE. Useless.

The kayak. Pretty darn good hunting on this thing. I wanted to see what sort of jump shooting I could do. It was my own fault for missing those above, so the future is fairly bright on this thing. Maybe fix up a blind a little better on the front end so that I can creep closer. Modify the paddle so there is less movement. The ultimate objective is to go into those blackwater sloughs.

Headed back next week. Hopefully more ducks. Hopefully I get there at a proper time.

[Wildfowler]

You need to take a buddy and put him out, then you paddle back and wait for the coots to stack up again, then paddle through them toward your buddy effectively making a "coot drive".

[teul2]

No public hunting area is to be mentioned by name (correct or incorrect spelling) in any public forum.

http://www.ducksouth.com/phpbb/viewtopi ... =1&t=99145

Every participant in the forum is required to read and comply with this policy. Your participation in the forum implies your agreement with this policy. If you do not agree to follow the policy, you are required to PM a global moderator to have your account disabled.

Due to the increased pressure on public lands, it is now our policy to forbid posts that provide information on public hunting. This is in an effort to prevent further damage to the quality of the hunting experience on public waters. Many of us have seen some of our favorite areas turn into a three-ring circus over the years. Increased numbers of hunters along with internet scouting have turned many public waters into places that I wouldn't even attempt to hunt; by my standards, what you can accomplish with that much pressure isn't even "hunting".

This is personal to me. I'm sick and tired of the crap that goes on with public water and the yahoos that show up and ruin the hunt for everyone. I've experienced it personally, and I refuse to allow my site to contribute to the problem.

The specifics of my policy are as follows:
1. No public hunting area is to be mentioned by name (correct or incorrect spelling) in any public forum. This includes "any" public hunting area "anywhere" (ie. Mississippi, Arkansas, Canada, New Zealand). Do you get the idea?
2. No member is to publicly solicit "specific" information on public and/or private hunting areas. If you want to know something, you PM a specific member that you know in that area. If you don't know anyone, then maybe you haven't been a member long enough to be asking such personal questions. Are we Clear?
3. Posts about weather and water in a fairly large geographic area are generally acceptable. As an example, "How much rain did you get near Cleveland last week?" would be an acceptable post. Asking about duck numbers or water levels at a specific WMA, NWR, etc.. is not acceptable.
4. Moderators are the final judge of what is acceptable. Their judgment will not be questioned; their decision is final.


The first violation of the policy will result in a warning. The second violation will result in a permanent loss of posting privileges on the site. This is non-negotiable.

This policy is effective immediately. Moderators will be removing offending posts ASAP.

[Rfjeff9]

Totally forgot. I fixed it.

[Agua]

Mystery bird - grebe

[Rfjeff9]

Mystery bird - grebe

Distinct possibility there - I looked up the grebe. That looks alot like him. Glad I didn't shoot.

[teul2]

most likely a Pie-billed grebe.