Just got off the phone with a fellow waterfowling friend who just relocated to a different state (PA). Yesterday was the opener there as well. He didn't have much time to scout, but set out with a canoe and dog, and headed out to a spot to see what he could do. He excitedly reported that he bagged a BWT, a redhead, a couple of mallards and a couple other birds, filling his limit. He went on to say that he spoke with a F&G bio on the way out, and was told that redheads, pintails and I believe fulvous tree ducks were on the menu down there. I'm nutty about ducks/geese, and hope to continue to collect as many species as I can. Here's the question: what species are local to you--wherever that is--and are part of a typical bag?

Here, we get:

GWT
BWT (very few)
Black
Mallard
Wood ducks
eider (common)
eider (king) super rare
scoter (surf, common and ww)
oldsquaw
goldeneye
wigeon (not many)
gadwall (not many)
pintail (very few)
bufflehead
ring necked (very few)
northern shoveler (very few)
Ruddy (rare)
Canvasbacks (super rare)
scaup (lesser) (not many)
scaup (greater) (not many)
redhead (rare)
merganser (common, RB and hooded)
harlequin (we seem them often in particular places, but there is no season for them; closed indefinitely as they are hurting as a species)

brant
canada
snow (very few)
swan (2 flavors, I think, both off-limits)

Upland, we get turkey, ruffed grouse, wood cock, rail (sora and virginia), snipe and coot. Pheasant I don't count, as they're all stocked. Doves we have plenty of, but the damned things are designated as 'song birds' here, so are off-limits.

A few others I'm probably forgetting, but it often makes for a great mixed bag. To quote ole Forrest Gump, "you never know what yer gonna' git!" How about sharing what you all get, just for S&G?

Cheers,

KG

KG,
We have similar birds, but not all;
GW Teal (Sept young and plenty of mature birds during the winter)
BW Teal (Sept teal season, young of the year) rare to bag mature males during season.
Black Duck
Mallard
Wood ducks
Goldeneye
Wigeon
Gadwall
Pintail (feast or famine)
Bufflehead
Ring necked Duck
Northern shoveler
Ruddy (rare)
Canvasbacks (late season)
Scaup (lesser) (not many)
Scaup (greater) (not many)
Redhead (some)
Merganser (common, RB and lots of Hooded)
Coots (millions)
Sea Ducks, very rare but on occasion

Giant Canada (lots) some Lesser
Snow/Blue/Ross (very few) W. TN, lots
Speckle Belly (White Fronts)same as Snow
Swan (rare, both off-limits)

Upland, we get turkey, ruffed grouse, wood cock, rail (sora and virginia, rare), snipe and bob white quail. Pheasant, Chukar I don't count, as they're all stocked. Doves, and lots of them. Split season on Dove.
GH,
David

KG, here we get:

gwt
cinnamon teal
bwt (very rare)
mallard
pintail
canvasback
redhead
bufflehead
lesser scaup
greater scaup
wood duck
ringneck
wigeon
gadwall
northern shoveler
ruddy duck
common goldeneye
barrows goldeneye
Oldsquaw (very rare, I got one in the SF Bay)
common merganser
hooded merganser (uncommon)
rb merganser (uncommon)
lesser snow geese
ross's geese
whitefronts
canada's, many subspecies
blue geese (very rare)
surf scoter
pacific brant

as an aside, I know (2) guys locally who've killed European Wigeon locally, and I saw a Mandarin Duck in a pond about 12 year ago. They apparently were raised locally and released, wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it myself....

Regards,
Craig Nolan

Canada geeese, wood ducks, mallards and the odd scaup - throw in a few widgeon and teal and you just about have it for here in Georgia. Our waterfowling is just about zilch if you take out the geese, too many hunters and not enough birds. Couple of trips out of state plus what we have available makes it tolerable, especially if one scores in Arkansas or Illinois.



“If it flies and you shoot it with a shotgun, put me in – I’m your boy!â€

Great to see the variety from different places! Hey David, I didn't know you guys got black ducks with any regularity inland; it was my understanding that the vast majority of blacks relate almost always to the coast, from NB to south of the Chesapeake; interesting. No mottled ducks down your way?

Craig, that's a *very* nice menu! I think I'm going to have to look into that, yes indeed.
In the strange bird category, my bird taxidemist had a barnacle goose in a couple years back. It came into a corn field with a flock of canadas. Nice bonus! They're common to the UK and thereabouts. Must have been one *hell* of a storm to blow him that far off course...

Got a pair of handsome woodies and GWT this am. Out for a cast and blast tomorrow for seaducks and bass in Boston. I imagine we're going to be extremely busy...

Cheers,

KG