ducks

[fowlmouth]

woo hoo!! thanks  Dan! now I don't have a reason to go to that other forum!
any other duck hunters here? if so sound off! where do ya hunt? Myself I usually stick to shiawasee, fish point and sanford.

[canvsbk]

 We always start in the western UP, Gogebic area, which was about normal this year. More gadwalls than normal but about the same for the rest of the puddle ducks. I don't think there were as many divers raised there as usual but some red heads and blue bills for sure. Alot of the mallards were still eclipse which makes it tough to lay off the suzies for sure.
In the SW part of the state the mallards are WAY OFF of normal this year. The lack of acorns even makes it tough for woodies.
Too early to get any kind of feel for the divers yet but always hoping to get a can or 2!
No North Dakota trip this year, still hung up on those brown bass.
On a good note, my yellow, Gus, made his 1,000th retrieve last week in the UP on a grouse trip. He's been a great companion all these years, he and I both have slowed down quite a bit lately.
This cold snap seems to have moved some mallards in...I know a place!
Good luck this year, try to go easy on those canvasbacks!!

[djkimmel]

I haven't hunted in years, but duck hunting was my favorite for some reason. Fish Point was the backdrop for forming many a teenage and young adult memories (some good, some not so good).

I got charged by a 6-point buck one time in the flooded barley (or rye - I forget) right out behind the old HQ building. Thought I was going to be shiskabob for a few seconds. Almost shot the thing with my shotgun, but it swerved at the last minute and ran right past me. At least I didn't throw my gun into the flooded corn like the other guy who had the first close encounter with that deer.

I can't believe you actually know how many retrieves your old boy has made. Did you notch your shotgun??

[fowlmouth]

You originally from this area Dan? that's a long drive to be at the draw at 5:30 a.m. from Lansing.

[djkimmel]

I grew up in Flint. When I was young 'un, we used to camp in the old gravel 'camping' lot just north of the HQ for a day or two or three. Lots of memories from those days...We could usually count on getting drawn so late we didn't get an area or got one of the so-so areas.

We did get drawn 2nd once. That was a shock. And when I was a little older and on my own, I got drawn once pretty high and everyone above me took pheasant fields so we got the best area that day too. Too bad I'm a terrible shot.

Used to be some great pheasant hunting up there.

[canvsbk]

Years ago I used to hunt with a guy that had an English Pointer, named Joe. Joe always made it an interesting day, he killed every porcupine he came across.
We still had pheasants and quail around then but grouse hunting up north was the ticket. Well his owner always claimed he'd shot 1,000 birds over Joe, a number I found hard to digest. Since that time I've kept track of every bird killed over every one of my dogs. My last 3 dogs all had over 1,000 birds shot over 'em, it's not an impossible number but you do have to apply yourself to get it done. I think of every single one of my dogs every day, I miss them dearly. This one I have now is extremely special to us, both he and I are slowing somewhat but he's all heart. His specialty is skunks!