Almost as much fun as a good morning's duck hunt is the process of getting things ready for the upcoming season. My pond seems to be coming along nicely at the moment. Here's a pic from last week; I flood it in November. Just gotta hope some ducks decide to come our way!

Hey Spring,

That's a proper pond!! do you drill it with Maize then flood it?

We are dwn on our shoot to get the duck feeders out and running tomorrow. Season opens on the 1st Sep so I'm hoping ot have an early flight to see the season in then let the birds in peace for later in the year.

I'll try and remember to post some pictures.
Rgds,
Fb

Fb,
Thanks and, yes, we do plant the corn each spring, though a bit later than other spots around my farm. I usually leave water in the pond until around the end of February since it is still full of ducks and I want to keep them happy and remember us when they migrate south the next season. As a result, it takes this naturally low spot a while to dry out enough to allow a tractor to stand up in there.
It's fun and here's the result of a typical morning's hunt in this pond:

Very impressive. Are you on a good flyway?

quote:

Originally posted by Palmer:
Very impressive. Are you on a good flyway?

Allen,
I wish I was! We get some big ducks near me, but probably 95% of what I get are woodies. Fortunately I have a roost pond on my farm, so most of the ducks that I hunt stay on my place and I can control how much hunting pressure they receive. About 500-600 ducks feed in the flooded corn twice each day. Hunting them one morning a week doesn't bother them and it's nice to know you'll always have a good hunt. It's almost of much fun to sit in a blind up on a hill overlooking the pond and simply watch the show Mother Nature puts on each afternoon.

We have a small farm , with woodies and some GreenHeads the pond is small but it works.
Today we did some pest control for a local horse farm. They wanted to get rid of some flying Rats , it was good practice for ducks.

Spring,

I got my feeders out at the weekend, and so I'm looking forward to the start of the season. I would love to use that method here in the UK but I don't think we are alowed to do it. I should think that grain would have a similar effect.

Do you have limits on your ducks?

We tend to shoot our ponds about once a month making sure to leave before the main body of birds come in to feed. It's great shootig even if you only get a brace or two.

One of my ponds has a large number of Mandarins coming in to it so I'm hoping to get my first this season, and get it mounted if it isn't too much of a mess.

Rgds,
FB

FB,
Yes, we do have limits on our ducks and it varies by species. Some allow you to take 5 daily, others as few as 1. The wood ducks I primarily hunt are limited to two daily. We get some mergansers in this pond as well. The big ducks in our area usually like larger ponds and lakes.
If you’re in the neighborhood in a few months, maybe you can come and hunt with us.

Spring,

That is very kind indeed. I'd love to come out to the states some time and experience some of your type of hunting. It's unlikely this year but perhaps a hunting swap could be lined up for the future.

Do you ever get to the UK?

Rgds,
FB

quote:

Originally posted by Fallow Buck:
Spring,

That is very kind indeed. I'd love to come out to the states some time and experience some of your type of hunting. It's unlikely this year but perhaps a hunting swap could be lined up for the future.

Do you ever get to the UK?

Rgds,
FB

I've never been, FB, though am thinking of taking my daughter over there before too long. I took my son to Africa shortly after he went off to college and my daughter is nearing that same point and some sort of trip may come her way, though one with too much time away from a bit of shopping doesn't seem to fit her well. A family visit to the UK might be more her style.
If you ever decide you'd like to hunt over here, let me know and maybe you can time it so that you can not only duck hunt, but add in a good dove shoot, deer hunt, and some quail hunting. It's a fun time of year when all of that is going on at once.

Spring,

Thanks for that and likewise if you are planning a trip over here let me know and we'll try and time it to get you some sport UK style. November/December is a great time as we have al the game and waterfowl species in season and plenty of deer stalking.

Rgds,
FB