What's your best hunt ever?

[hillhunter]

A few topics such as how many we have killed or the bar being raised too high made me think of this time in my hunting career. Figured it would be fun. Doesn't necessarily have to be based on numbers, but overall experience.

January 1996- 15 years old. Me and two other guys from Vardaman hunted in a cotton field that was flooded by a beaver dam on a slough. We had one willow to hide under and were using some pintail decoys given to me the week before that were so old they had no paint on them, they were black, but we didn't know any better. An echo duck call. I was the only one with waders, the other two had on knee boots, so i got to do all the work.
6 greenheads, 3 widgeons, 2 woodies and had the time of my life. It was the first time i had called a duck in.
Had many much better hunts as far as numbers go, but never as much fun overall.

[MemphisStockBroker]

hunting flooded timber about 5 years ago with my son. Jr. Broker had to 'go' and the water was above his crotch (he was a little fella). so he found a log, climbed on and did a balancing act standing on it while he dropped the chest waders to his knees - and whizzed away. as fate would have it, two woodies buzzed us -- and the boy did an excellend job staying on the log but whizzed on everything around him as he tried to watch the ducks... white butt shinin' and all.

later that morning, he did shoot one of his first wood ducks... with a single shot 20ga. plucked and cleaned it himself....

[mudsucker]

The last one and the next one.

[Delta Duck]

In the morning!

[wing shot 1]

one of my best hunts this year - laid in a rice field in an otter layout boat for 2 hours without seeing much of nuthin - all of the sudden a group of 6 to 8 shovlers comes swingin through the dekes at a very high rate of speed from my left to right (i'm left handed). My partner to the left of me fire off a couple of shots... nothin The birds are a little to my right and swinging high because of the fired shots. I shoot the one closest to me and then the one furthest away... they both drop dead as a doornail - not even a twitch. My buddies dog picks the first one up and then makes a blind retreive on the other. Does that tell you anything about how exciting my season has been?

[blazer5]

I believe it was 1976. one of the first duck hunts i went on. the place was bayou deview in arkansas. i shot a blue winged teal and it seems like that ended my day because we were on the point system back then. but it was my first duck so it was a pretty big deal to me.

[teul2]

About 9 years ago, Mahanna WMA. A friend had informed me of a spot holding water out in one of the fields. So I talk two buddies into going with me (neither had duck hunted before).
We show up about 1 1/2 before daylight, get packed for the walk 200 or 300 yard walk or so we thought. 1 1/2 miles later with 4 dozen decoys on my back, I "Nestea plunge" into the bush that I am going to use for my blind completely out of breath.
We put out the decoys and setup in our spots. Daylight breaks, the wind is right, the spot is beautiful, my pup is ready for her first hunt. 2 hours later we get our first bird come in, a lone greenwing teal lights in the spread. One buddy is 5 yards to my right, the other 5 to my left. I tell them to jump him off the water and shoot him.

BOOM!!!!!!!

Two simultaneous shots, one murdered GWT. And my pup fetched it up just like she was trained. Sweet!!!!

So a little later, we call it a day with one executed gwt and a drake woodie. As exhausted as we were from the walk in, we decide to send one buddy to get the truck and come get us. So he is driving illegally on the refuge levee 90mph to come get us. In a mad dash we load the truck and get to getin. Cant turn around, so we go all the way around the refuge on the levee. I saw more ducks on the side of that levee than I have played in a long while. We finally get to the other end and tear booty out like we had robbed a bank.

That hunt killed one guys urge to ever go duck hunting again. The other guy is out buying a new duck boat right now and is one of my best huntin buddies.

I will remember that hunt (if you can call that fiasco a hunt) for the rest of my life. Not because we killed alot of birds, but we had a great time, saw thousands of birds, and formed a life long bond with my pup.

[Bustin' Ducks]

Probably the other day...ol' Gadwall2 put a hell of a shot on a Beautiful BullSprig...'bout 60 yards w/ Hevi-shot...then the foot race was on!! The ol' bull made Gadwall2 chase him down for over 1/2 mile across a flooded rice field and then onto muddy ground....

That darned Sprig was waddlin' as fast as he could...funny I tell ya!!

[Dutch Dog]

Probably the time about 7 or 8 years ago when we put (guessing) about 400 mallards in our decoys in the timber at Tunica cutoff. It was EXTREMELY foggy, I mean you could just barely see the tops of the trees. We heard some wings up in the clouds/fog and just let out a simple 5 or 6 note call. That was all it took. Those ducks poured in for about the next minute to minute and a half nonstop. I believe every duck in the country got together and was flying around looking for a place to come in. It was an AWESOME sight that's for sure. I got 3 greenheads and my buddy got 2. My 1 year old pup picked up all 5 ducks...She had all those ducks swimming around her for that extended length of time dropping in as close as 5 yards or less from her and she just sat back and watched the show like we did. I can say honestly that I have never put anywhere even remotely close to that many ducks in our decoys before or since. Probably 50 ducks or so is the closest and that has been done a few times....but not in the past 4 or 5 years.

[SilverBack]

It took place in monroe county of all places 3 yrs ago. My brother-in-law was over from Texas and had never been duck hunting. I had scouted a place and found several ducks in this hole. it was 5 hunters that morning and we tore that booty up ! We limited out on mallards and bro-in-law killed a black duck! I will never forget the look on his face when those(G-heads) came in the dekes that morning! He was hooked for life!

[Unlucky Ducky]

Three years ago in Arky, only my 3rd year of hunting, pouring down rain, low cloud ceiling, foggy, turning colder, stiff wind out of the north.

My 2 hunting buddies back out that morning, so I went alone, not something I like to do, too much can happen. I was in a flooded rice field, and as soon as I got in the pit and settled in I could hear whistleing wings covering me up. All I had to do was wait for shooting time and then it was on. I'm a terrible shot and even a worse caller but that morning no calls were needed and the birds were so thick I beleive a blind man could have limited out. I've been on a few hunts in which I killed 4-5 ducks but that day was the first time I had limted out with 6 ducks. 4 mallards, 1 teal, and 1 gadwall.

[landscaper]

two come to mind:

About three years ago. Two buddies and I and one dog were where the ducks wanted to be. The first greenhead pitched in at first light. my buddy killed him and sent his dog. As the dog was swimming out the rest of the ducks showed up. We put seventeen more on the water before the dog got back and only fired eighteen shots. I, unfortunately have to claim the extra shot.

Same year, Judge JB's neck of the woods, failed corn crop still standing. Me, my dad, and my dog(his first hunt). Bout fifteen minutes after shooting light 3000+ ducks started working the field. My dog came UNGLUED. My dad had to lay on top of him to keep him still. Took about an hour and fourty-five minutes for all of them to get on the ground. They sat there for about ten minutes and for no particular reason picked up and left. I pulled the trigger twice as they flew off just because I thought I had to. That was an awesome sight to behold!

[CBU93]

First duck hunt of my life. I swore for five or six years I'd never duck hunt with my brother in law, as it would interfere with deer season. FInally broke down and went with him one morning. Hunting a flooded gas line standing in the woods. Had probably two hundred on the water five minutes before shooting time. Tore me up....been worthless ever since.

[torch]

I don't know about best but most memorable. A buddy of mine had backed up to a sunflower heater to warm up. We had about 15 gadwalls locked up, I said get down and they circled twice. In the mean time his wader caught on fire you guessed it in the left buttock. Another buddy whoopin him in the booty trying to put it out so me being the smart one just pushed him out of the blind. After all the laughing his waders had fillled up with water and ended the hunt. I will always remember it.

[gadwall2]

Michael, it felt like 2 miles in that mud. Funny thing about the whole deal is the fathead that me and this other feller missed the next mornig at 20 yards. I won't tell you his name, but his initials are "Delta Duck".