WidgeonFest 2010
Posted: Sun Jan 24, 2010 11:04 pm
All in all...I can't complain. I am done for the season. Work has kept me closer to home this year and I have been very few times. The hard freeze a few weeks ago basically ran most of the birds off from my Oklahoma hunting grounds. The refuges have mainly local geese and the ducks were sparse. BUT the ducks that remained were hitting cut milo fields hard. Typically, we are shooting birds over peanuts but there were very few planted in the area this year.
Dry field hunting is something that most folks haven't had the opportunity to experience. We have accumulated hundreds of water keel decoys over the years that have been put to good use. As decoy forms and paint schemes have improved, the old flambeaus and G&H's with or without shot holes have been converted to field decoys. The keels have been cut off and they make a great footprint that can be seen good by approaching ducks. We supplement the spread with 4 dozen full body Avery mallards and another 4 dozen Avery mallard shells. You drive to where you set up and off load the spread from the trailer..park the trucks and you are in business.
One thing that has bothered me over the last 6 seasons is the lack of widgeon. We used to see them by the hundreds in great big groups buzzing the spread right at shooting light in this part of the Central flyway. Some on this site have been fortunate enough to experience that scene with me over the years.
Growing up is Mississippi was great. I was fortunate enough to experience great shooting as a kid back in the mid 70's. Even in the hay day, I don't remember seeing a lot of widgeon in the state. We would usually kill one or two drakes 80% of the time per hunt when the ducks were there througout the season. The pattern was the same until I left the state in 2004.
The widgeon were back in full force this weekend. Four greenheads into the hunt, we decided to fill the balance with widgeon drakes. The sun was below the high birds and behind us with the wind coming from our backs....a perfect set up. When they would cup and break down to the spread, the white on the drakes' heads gave them away. Picking a single target out of 50 birds in your face isn't as easy as it seems
Here are the spoils of the hunt and a great way to end the season this year.
Dry field hunting is something that most folks haven't had the opportunity to experience. We have accumulated hundreds of water keel decoys over the years that have been put to good use. As decoy forms and paint schemes have improved, the old flambeaus and G&H's with or without shot holes have been converted to field decoys. The keels have been cut off and they make a great footprint that can be seen good by approaching ducks. We supplement the spread with 4 dozen full body Avery mallards and another 4 dozen Avery mallard shells. You drive to where you set up and off load the spread from the trailer..park the trucks and you are in business.
One thing that has bothered me over the last 6 seasons is the lack of widgeon. We used to see them by the hundreds in great big groups buzzing the spread right at shooting light in this part of the Central flyway. Some on this site have been fortunate enough to experience that scene with me over the years.
Growing up is Mississippi was great. I was fortunate enough to experience great shooting as a kid back in the mid 70's. Even in the hay day, I don't remember seeing a lot of widgeon in the state. We would usually kill one or two drakes 80% of the time per hunt when the ducks were there througout the season. The pattern was the same until I left the state in 2004.
The widgeon were back in full force this weekend. Four greenheads into the hunt, we decided to fill the balance with widgeon drakes. The sun was below the high birds and behind us with the wind coming from our backs....a perfect set up. When they would cup and break down to the spread, the white on the drakes' heads gave them away. Picking a single target out of 50 birds in your face isn't as easy as it seems
Here are the spoils of the hunt and a great way to end the season this year.
