Stand year of bird shooting. Our weather was 60s to water including the river solid ice for days after getting back up to 60 for days.

I got to hunt pheasant during a nice snow.
One tower shoot and 4x going to Kanas, gave wonderful pheasant meals: schnitzel, smoked pheasant, and white wine braised legs and thighs that fell off the bone.

The Wife got her first pheasant and first male bib white. Her 28 Benelli brought a high crosser, quartering away, on a bird I missed w both barrels. I was so proud of her bc, I dragged her to Sporting Clay ranges across 4 states this year w me.

I killed my first Ring this year. I finished w two, both drakes. One shot was very special. They came in one or two deer off the water straight ahead quartering. I had worked on this shot at the Clay Range. I mounted and one shot, head shot. The other, I killed on accident, shooting geese.


Our trip to Missouri was a great trip just not a lot of duck shooting. I did kill my first snow goose (Juve), second speckled belly (juve), and my third pintail who was a beautiful bull. A mallard hen and a spoonbill hen rounded out the three day bag. The weather was perfectly horrible. 25-30 mph winds and sheets of rain. They just did not play great.

That pintail shot was special. Everyone missed him crossing. I did not fire. He is going straight out. I have the only hot gun. Bang, bird comes down like lightning struck. My waterfowl best friend who got me started on waterfowl, “Good shot Josh.”

Early goose, I killed my first two bands. On one goose hunt when everything froze. I moved our Drake 4 man blind inch by inch from the inside as birds circled, went away, circled, went away, until I got it under tree cover. This was about 10 yards. Next pass now back in shadow, they dropped in and 3 guns killed 6 geese.

On one pheasant hunt, geese flew by. I had Kent Bismuth 1 1/2 no 5s on the Merkel. I killed the back bird as they glided by w the modified barrel, centering the head and neck.

Last day of our Goose season overlaps w Veterans duck day. I can shoot goose and by waterfowl best friend can shoot either. We had severe flooding and 50 degrees. He had his best duck day killing 3 mallard drakes, and missing his limit twice. I got my goose. We had a beautiful spread in this low pasture with running ankle deep water.

I finally got to hunt rabbits behind dogs. I killed 2 and made a wonderful rabbit pasta dish.

All my buddies tried to get me to mount that pintail. I did, in a cast iron skillet w orange slices and brown sugar.

Mallard, ring necks, and a gadwall made a Duck jambalaya that was dialed in. I make the stock used in the jambalaya off the ducks.


We got a few dive and pigeon days in with the duck hunting being poor numbers wise. Early season, I was driving doves over my friend’s son and buddy. I did make a very high fast kill on a dove that was screaming out over my head. Then missed one at 10 yards costing. I was tried pushing driving birds. Later in the year, we got a group to actually decoy on a cut corn field. I killed 4 w 6 shots. I made a wonderful risotto w them.

Another buddy hates geese. He shoots them, but hates them. On a cold river hunt, I brought some goose pastrami. Now, he loves geese.

After 2 years of do it your self hunts on the Ohio River, I finally killed 6 geese wasn’t seasonal, and a beautiful, big head mallard during December. The mallard made a great schnitzel. The legs and thighs went into another jambalaya and stock base.

I live by two rules of hunting. One, I mentally treat everyday as the first. Second, I never get mad if something lives.

There were other shots. A son opened fire on a mallard Drake above the stratosphere. After he went empty, I crashed him. We decoyed ducks in to 6 feet one day. They were days, I could not have shot myself in the head, missing a floating pigeon.

This season was very hit or miss.

The good days I limited out in an hour or so. The bad days I didn’t even see a duck in range.

There were a few days where it was in between… and 4 of those were the high buck hunt in Canada. Lots of geese there, but fewer ducks.

Limited on geese one time in Canada (both dark and light) and didn’t shoot a goose at all here.

If I shoot them here, I wax them and roast them. Teal are small, so usually a limit feeds 2-3 people. Haven’t had enough to make me want to switch cooking methods yet, but goose pastrami sounds like an improvement to me.

I usually make jerky out of the light geese and give it away… get more hunting that way.

I did get a decent goldeneye that is going on the wall. I’m weird that way… I only mount birds I shoot on the family place- and only a species I haven’t got there before.

One thing is certain, I would rather go and experience the freezing rivers, or the empty bag days w friends in the blind than stay home.

Thst is what I love about waterfowl besides the eating is the communal/shared aspect of it.

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This side of the pond, I had a great season - shot pigeon and crow over decoys a number of days with some good bags; ran the Springers on a number of shoots on pheasant and hare with good results; enjoyed some pheasant shooting in the UK and shot 30 foxes in our concession across the winter for the benefit of the ground game! All in all a good season!

Picked up a Beretta EELL Diamond Pigeon in 28 bore and a 12/70 Russian made Tundra O/U as a bad weather and fox earth shoot shotgun. Something that I will not worry over if its laying in the mud next to me or getting wet in the rain!


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Reading all this from you guys in other parts of the country, I feel pretty damn fortunate since I do nearly all my waterfowl hunting in Idaho & California. This year, I hunted less than I think I ever have. Only hunted waterfowl 8 days in Idaho and one day in California; 3 days of Sandhills in Texas. I’ve got a couple dozen ducks in the freezer, mostly mallards, as well as about half a dozen specklebellies and several Sandhill cranes from Texas.

I always find it interesting how big of a deal it is for duck hunters in other regions of the country to take a pintail, they seem to be a rare and highly prized trophy duck in much of the country. Living in California and hunting since the late 1960’s, we’ve always taken pintails for granted. I can’t even begin to figure out how many I’ve shot over 57 duck seasons but I’m sure a couple thousand. They’re one of the most common ducks in California and back when we could shoot seven sprig a day it was common for us to come in from a hunt with limits of nothing but bull sprig. They’re one of the very best eating ducks. Now, with a 1-bird limit and only hunting 1 day in CA this season, I only shot one this past season.

Most years, I hunt ducks & geese around 20-30 days a season and we’re blessed with 7 bird limits on ducks, so we shoot quite a few. Idaho is over 90% mallards and we do nearly all our duck hunting with 28 gauges, but also some 410 & 20 gauge days. Shooting honkers ‘up close’ with a 28 gauge and 4’s is good fun.

When I see what the rest of the country is like, I feel very fortunate to hunt ducks out here in the Pacific flyway.

quote:

Originally posted by DLS:
Reading all this from you guys in other parts of the country, I feel pretty damn fortunate since I do nearly all my waterfowl hunting in Idaho & California. This year, I hunted less than I think I ever have. Only hunted waterfowl 8 days in Idaho and one day in California; 3 days of Sandhills in Texas. I’ve got a couple dozen ducks in the freezer, mostly mallards, as well as about half a dozen specklebellies and several Sandhill cranes from Texas.

I always find it interesting how big of a deal it is for duck hunters in other regions of the country to take a pintail, they seem to be a rare and highly prized trophy duck in much of the country. Living in California and hunting since the late 1960’s, we’ve always taken pintails for granted. I can’t even begin to figure out how many I’ve shot over 57 duck seasons but I’m sure a couple thousand. They’re one of the most common ducks in California and back when we could shoot seven sprig a day it was common for us to come in from a hunt with limits of nothing but bull sprig. They’re one of the very best eating ducks. Now, with a 1-bird limit and only hunting 1 day in CA this season, I only shot one this past season.

Most years, I hunt ducks & geese around 20-30 days a season and we’re blessed with 7 bird limits on ducks, so we shoot quite a few. Idaho is over 90% mallards and we do nearly all our duck hunting with 28 gauges, but also some 410 & 20 gauge days. Shooting honkers ‘up close’ with a 28 gauge and 4’s is good fun.

When I see what the rest of the country is like, I feel very fortunate to hunt ducks out here in the Pacific flyway.

I was spoiled years ago here in Florida. Way back when, we were on the point system. Pintails were 10-point ducks which was basically a 10-bird limit. I did that many times.

I quit duck hunting here for a long time. Now, I shoot a few woodies on my place. I have not tried my old stomping grounds in over 30 years. I do sometimes wonde what it is like now.

It's gotten so bad up here in the northeast I think I hunted once this past season. 10 years ago I hunted 50 days from sept-jan. Now I'm trying to dial in MT but even that was lousy this past season.