2010-2011 Waterfowling Summary: stories, thoughts etc.

[fowlweather]

any good stories pictures that you would like to share? what about the numbers of birds this year?

i personally didnt notice a big difference in waterfowl numbers except for the fact that i didnt shoot as many ducks because they didnt stay near our fields but i saw a few more geese and when i looked around the mainland i saw large numbers of ducks late in the season which i think is a good sign.:-D

[Chessieguy]

The 2010 season was one of my best in a few years...Was not the most birds that I have shot, but having moved cross country the fact that I was able to meet some great people and share a couple of hunts with them made it a season to remember.

Top that off with the fact that I was able to get out for a goose hunt and a duck hunt with my son while he was visiting for Christmas made it even better. We hunted together a lot and now that we are on separate ends of the country we haven't been able to get together for a hunt for a couple of years. Big thanks to the guys that made that possible!!!!

[city hunter]

Too slow for me this season.

[fowlweather]

The 2010 season was one of my best in a few years...Was not the most birds that I have shot, but having moved cross country the fact that I was able to meet some great people and share a couple of hunts with them made it a season to remember.

Top that off with the fact that I was able to get out for a goose hunt and a duck hunt with my son while he was visiting for Christmas made it even better. We hunted together a lot and now that we are on separate ends of the country we haven't been able to get together for a hunt for a couple of years. Big thanks to the guys that made that possible!!!!


sounds great! i am still in high school and my brother is one year older and in high school too. i hope that when we go to university i can still meet up with my dad and go hunting as much as we did now.

[nano]

I season went like this, hunted every Sunday in October and November. Then just as the ducks started to come in in large numbers at the of november I broke my ankle. Go figure eh? sucks because it made my grade 12 year suck. Oh well there's next year.

[yamadirt 426]

first double, first pintail, first merganser :( ,still no limit. First 1 footed duck. First human retrieve in the water just before freeze up :) Lots of firsts this yr. Maybe 40 ducks this yr. Lots of fun :)

[field marshal]

It was okay! Work interfered way too much!!:icon_frow
Still a bit left before withdrawl takes it's toll!!:wink:
Cheers----Field Marshal

[fowlweather]

first double, first pintail, first merganser :( ,still no limit. First 1 footed duck. First human retrieve in the water just before freeze up :) Lots of firsts this yr. Maybe 40 ducks this yr. Lots of fun :)


is it possible that it was banded and that somebody caught the duck chopped it off and let it go? i have heard of this happening before but it is very pretty cruel because they should have just killed it if they wanted it so bad.

[Dutch]

I agree with FM work sucks but in in 37 years of playing this game had my best day ever 8 ducks 5 geese in the sunlight before 9 oclock thank you elvis has left the building .waay better than last year on crutches for 2 months I hear ya Nano:icon_frow:icon_frow

[longshot]

is it possible that it was banded and that somebody caught the duck chopped it off and let it go? i have heard of this happening before but it is very pretty cruel because they should have just killed it if they wanted it so bad.

Lol it was probably Jeff Foiles... just adding to his lanyard.

longshot jr.

[Kyle84]

This year has been one of the best waterfowling years ive ever had. No problem limiting out in a day, so many birds. Enjoy looking at everyone elses pictures and always learning new things. Here are a couple pictures from my last 3 days of duck hunting. I already posted them before. Season is now done.
http://i1142.photobucket.com/albums/n620/procyon-/duck5.jpg


http://i1142.photobucket.com/albums/n620/procyon-/SAM_0028.jpg

http://i1142.photobucket.com/albums/n620/procyon-/SAM_0032.jpg

http://i1142.photobucket.com/albums/n620/procyon-/duck6.jpg

http://i1142.photobucket.com/albums/n620/procyon-/duckhunting1.jpg

[Marc]

This season I was under a lot of stress from work which unfortunately carried over to home and hunting as well. I was sick with the flue, cold, and kidney stones over the last 4 months and lost 18 lbs in the process. Marshall had his own issues with limber tail, sore foot, and allergies but he's fine now.

I was all over the place. Had some great shoots and some not so great. On my first day out this season, which was a week into the season already before I had the chance to get out, I managed to shoot a double limit. Five resident geese field hunting in the morning and then 8 ducks hunting solo with my dog in the evening, fired around 20 shells that day.

http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/Marshall_in_dog_blind_with_geese.jpg

http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/limit_of_ducks_on_the_fatboy.jpg


My worst day was out with ShotgunJohn for ducks. We had a decent amount of birds flying and all shots were within 30 yards, I only managed 2 ducks and firing a total of 22 shells, stress can do amazing things. Just to clarify my day wasn't my worst because I was hunting with ShotgunJohn : )

I had my little 2 hp outboard I use on my duck boat stolen from my yard, the only good thing is it fried a few days earlier so they helped me dispose of it.

Had a couple of good shoots with Islandbowhunter this season as well, his dog is really coming along great, was a pleasure sharing the blind with.

http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/17_Oct_duck_hunt.jpg



Had several great shoots with Filed Marshall, Duck Buster and Chessieguy, and for the first time I managed to get into some cacklers. Sent a nice mature one off to get mounted by Artistic Wildlife Creations, who is a sponsor on the site and amazing with birds.
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/Marshall_with_todays_birds_.jpg

During the late season I got the chance to hunt with IanF over the Christmas holidays, ShotgunJohn invited us out for a goose hunt and we were on the "X" that morning. We must have had 300-400 geese visit that field that particular morning. We shot 15 geese and a hen mallard that morning, Marshall had a great workout that morning.

My shotgun broke down that morning and I had to use it as a single shot for the rest of the morning. Contacted Reliable Gun who I purchased the gun from in the first place and they sorted me out in no time knowing the season was still in full swing. Great customer service and a sponsor on the site as well.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/TRV58/JohnRussMarcIanMarshall.jpg

In a nutshell it was a decent hunting season, saw a lot of lesser, cacklers, speckle bellies, and the odd snow goose in the bunch early in the season.

We had a decent migration of ducks until we had a decent storm push the majority of them down south.

I did up a spread sheet to see what impact hunters would have on reducing the resident goose population on the Island. I'm not into the numbers game but did it to gather data.

I managed to shoot 28 geese in 8 days of targeting geese, out of the 28 geese I managed to limit out 4 times. Meaning if they increased the limit, those days I probably could have shot another limits worth or more to cut the population down.

Out of the 28 geese 3 were cacklers, and one lesser, so 24 resident birds were taken by one hunter who was limited in the number of birds he was allowed to harvest.

Ducks I managed to shoot 47 in 14 days afield which is about half of what I managed last year. I managed to limit 4 times this fall with the majority of the birds taken were mallards, then widgeon, pintail, teal. No banded birds this season.

[lorneparker1]

Some pics from this year,

Well my season started in Alberta. Spent 3 days hunting with2 friends back east and a copuple of locals he had met since moving there.. One lives in michigan now andthe other lives near red deer. It was a reunion of sorts. We hunted 3 days (4 hunts) and managed 91 honkers, and 64 ducks.

http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u279/LorneP/sparkdizle/sparkdizzle/P1010050.jpg

3 man double limit (24 duck, 24 geese)
http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u279/LorneP/sparkdizle/sparkdizzle/P1010071.jpg

Limit of ducks anda few cheeks
http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u279/LorneP/sparkdizle/sparkdizzle/P1010062-1.jpg

[lorneparker1]

MY BC season was blast, hada ton of fun and met same great people. 303 and I became hunting partners and i hunted 90% of the time with him. However, I hunted with Field marshall a few times, Duck buster, Marc, Crazy Farmer, Mattchu_19, and a few others. All of these guys are class acts and i would share a blind anytime with them. Had a riot! We shot around 30-40 geese, and 100+ ducks. not sure exactly, and didnt take pics eveytime.

A few pics

http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u279/LorneP/P1010087.jpg
http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u279/LorneP/Oct302010.jpg

2 man double limit
http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u279/LorneP/Oct242010.jpg

3 man duck limit
http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u279/LorneP/3manlimit.jpg

http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u279/LorneP/sweetshot.jpg

[lorneparker1]

And lastly In ontario i made it out for 3 hunts. A limit of geese (2 a piece with 7 guys) no pics is was -28 C, A few divers from a fan/airboat through ice 3 foot ice jams in 40 feet of water( scariest stuff i've done to shoot ducks since I was a teenager), anda full 4 man limit of lards witha beauty pinny in a cornfield with 5K plus ducks in it.

pics

http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u279/LorneP/sparkdizle/P1010235.jpg

http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u279/LorneP/sparkdizle/P1010239.jpg

http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u279/LorneP/sparkdizle/P1010238.jpg

http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u279/LorneP/IMG_1656.jpg

http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u279/LorneP/IMG_1654.jpg

All in all a decent season. Only regret was not shooting seaducks (lack of boat). However this fall except Dead scoters, harli's sqauws and GE's all over this forum!

[Dano]

Tough year for me.
As a lot of you know, my father passed away early in the season, he hadn't made it out to the blind for a couple years but the last trip he made was probably the best ever and I have a number of excellent pictures he took to remind me of that day. I'll post a few here for you guys, most of you have seen these but the newbies should enjoy seeing them for the first time.

http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa264/Canso_Dan/IMG_1726.jpg

http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa264/Canso_Dan/IMG_1724.jpg

Here's my dad in our blind with my hunting buddy 'Ol Dan:

http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa264/Canso_Dan/daddan.jpg

On one occaision, dad and I were joined in the mash by his actor friend Steve Kanaly and his wife (Steve played Ray on the Dallas show).

http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa264/Canso_Dan/dadsteve.jpg


Before the start of this season, I got some bad news from 'Ol Dan. He is on medication now and his doctor had to take away his driver's license until a review was made. They took their time and he got a negative result in november. It has since been reviewed again (late dec) and he is allowed to drive again. But they wouldn't let him drive while the first review was pending. Tom and I took turns picking him up in Surrey and bringing him out for a sleepover or I had to get up early to travel to his place for a hunt. Dan is 75 and he lives for his duck hunting. We got him out as often as we could but he is suseptible to cold weather and with my dad's illness and then my daughter's wedding in dec., we didn't get out nearly as much as I would have liked.
Dan had a few good hunts though, his shooting is starting to lag a bit and I can tell it bother's him a lot (he used to shoot competitive trap and he got me into it too). He did make some good shots though and a double or two, he normally makes a couple triples a year, I've seen him triple twice in one day a few years back! I hope it warms up for the spring goose opener and he makes it out more often. If the weather is good, I'll take a week off. Here's a picture of Dan from this year:

http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa264/Canso_Dan/dannov1010-1.jpg

[Dano]

The number of birds has been on a steady decline out in the Pitt Marsh. I don't know if it's the cold weather we have experienced chasing them out to the foreshore or simply just the fact most of our valley is now blueberries and cranberries and the birds simply aren't stopping here like they used to. We had some good shoots though, one 3 man limit, and a couple 2 man limits. The big flocks never seemed to show though, it was a lot of singles and pairs coming in.
The geese flew by a few times and I think we bagged 7 this year. Like usual, the best flights flew low during the spot closures......
Heritage day was a big success. Ty's dad is working on his PAL so he can get a shotgun and get Ty into shooting clays. We'll be heading out again next fall.
Met a few members out there and was fortunate to hunt with a few too. Terry and Angus (yeah, his dog is Angus, Terry must be into Indiana Jones) were a pleasure to hunt with and Angus posed for some of the best pictures I've taken. Terry's hunting buddy Gregg joined us one day for a memorable hunt and it's great to see they have a nice set up out there too. I spoke to a few guys via PM, sorry Darcy but I had a lot on my plate this year so I couln't get you out. Stay in touch, send a pm prior to next year and we'll make it happen.
Thanks to Heyblast and Blindman and others who shared reports here and via pm. It helps to have a network of friends to help us prepare for the next outing.

Thanks all you guys for the pictures and reports, when I wasn't getting out, it was sure great to live your hunts through your stories and pictures. Let's hope for a successful goose and brant season to cap this season!
Dano
P.S. I will be missing a few days of the spring season, my dad was voted into the Canadian Angler's Hall of Fame and I have the honour of accepting the award for him in Toronto in mid february!

[fowlweather]

The number of birds has been on a steady decline out in the Pitt Marsh. I don't know if it's the cold weather we have experienced chasing them out to the foreshore or simply just the fact most of our valley is now blueberries and cranberries and the birds simply aren't stopping here like they used to. We had some good shoots though, one 3 man limit, and a couple 2 man limits. The big flocks never seemed to show though, it was a lot of singles and pairs coming in.
The geese flew by a few times and I think we bagged 7 this year. Like usual, the best flights flew low during the spot closures......
Heritage day was a big success. Ty's dad is working on his PAL so he can get a shotgun and get Ty into shooting clays. We'll be heading out again next fall.
Met a few members out there and was fortunate to hunt with a few too. Terry and Angus (yeah, his dog is Angus, Terry must be into Indiana Jones) were a pleasure to hunt with and Angus posed for some of the best pictures I've taken. Terry's hunting buddy Gregg joined us one day for a memorable hunt and it's great to see they have a nice set up out there too. I spoke to a few guys via PM, sorry Darcy but I had a lot on my plate this year so I couln't get you out. Stay in touch, send a pm prior to next year and we'll make it happen.
Thanks to Heyblast and Blindman and others who shared reports here and via pm. It helps to have a network of friends to help us prepare for the next outing.

Thanks all you guys for the pictures and reports, when I wasn't getting out, it was sure great to live your hunts through your stories and pictures. Let's hope for a successful goose and brant season to cap this season!
Dano
P.S. I will be missing a few days of the spring season, my dad was voted into the Canadian Angler's Hall of Fame and I have the honour of accepting the award for him in Toronto in mid february!
could it have been that with a dissapointing winter they had no real want or encouragement to move south any further? Its possible but where would they have gone? i did see lots of birds flying REALLY HIGH heading out to the valley along with geese. we got mainly wigeon this year but i am not complaining i got a banded euro this year! if you want to see it check out my thread for it

[Dano]

I would think there's a combination of reasons for our lack of mallards/ducks in general this season. The main reason may well be the northern areas didn't freeze up from the north to south gradually, it appears the province was hit by a cold snap thet moved down all the way and the birds simply moved with it and never settled here. We froze up prety good again in Dec., this is never good out our way but very good for the foreshore guys. Our birds just never hung around up here....
We no longer have much feed in the valley, as the fields are cleared for blueberries the cover is cleared all the way to the edge. The birds probably don't feel safe there and there isn't much left to eat either. There isn't any nesting cover left here now. Not the best short term outlook, in my opinion.
If we get a milder winter next year, birds will hang around longer. When the larger migrations come through after mid-november, they will stay longer if we don't get the freeze up we have experienced the last couple years.
Dan
BTW, I saw the Euro banded thread and have to say it's way up there on the cool things I've seen on this site. Congratulations!

[Dutch]

Hello Dano Say hello to DK glad he can drive again,I wonder if you didn't get the birds out the valley because of all the feed so close to the bay?.Never seen so much standing corn in Sumas and Delta in fact after the first freeze in Nov. I shot afternoon in Delta where I seen mallards ripping cobs off with there little beaks ,hungry enough??.Also Sumas had a ton of corn and some big spud fields that they never got off ,dirty little guys were eating there fill of Macains .My last flight 2 days before the season in Sumas I watched raft after raft of mallards pour into a field across from me after legal ,more than I have seen in a while ,hope it swings back your way next year.( tell old Dan, watched 300-400 honkers go into Deck lk. he'll know where that is):-D

[meat eater]

gotta luv hunting with the old boy's i had a great year baggin deer my my oldman can't wait to get him into some geese next month!! just waiting for my boy to get alittle bigger so i can start the memories going with him!!

[sneg]

Duck season was average for me this year. Went out probably two dozen times,only few times did not make full limit. Snow geese was slower this year, got only 5 of them for this season. We hunt in Ladner either Westham Isl or Brunswick shore.Mild weather has something to do with snow geese success, they typically were flying very high.

[shadow1982]

It was a very productive season, 5 doubles, reached limit all but once. Thats the time cops came... showed them papers and everything was ok

[303Brit]

All I can add to what Lorne already covered is he isn't a bad guy ;)
Oh and we made over 90lbs of pepperoni ;) Out of Waterfowl

303

[kyleklassen]

http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/Heritage_Days_2010.jpg (http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/showphoto.php?photo=20564) got my daughter out on the heritage days thx to duck buster and field marshall.

[kyleklassen]

http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/DSCF03701.JPGgot a few sea ducks myself

[kyleklassen]

http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/medium/scan00092.jpg (http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/showphoto.php?photo=22057&size=big&cat=500&ppuser=10944)took the old man and the kid out too.

[kyleklassen]

http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/DSCN2109.JPGand smacked a few geese on opening day too.

[kyleklassen]

http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/DSCF03651.JPG