It was all lining up pretty nicely for waterfowl hunters down here in south Louisiana. Fronts were coming through in late September and into early October with unusual strength. Much of the Mississippi flyway was caught in a pretty significant drought making water scarce. These conditions make for a perfect storm of ideal migration conditions to put more birds in south Louisiana on a record pace. But then the cool fronts began to wane and the skies opened up. October 2015 became one of the wettest on record and the wet pattern continued into early November. 

Even by Halloween it was still more like early September and rain even forced a reschedule of trick or treating for most areas. Warm and abnormally wet conditions are the exact opposite of what we'd want to see right before our season opens. The migration halts and the freshly flooded backwaters and fields provide prime habitat for birds to take their time making the journey south. Though there were some good hunts to be had, most would agree the first split seemed to be at least a little bit off, depending on where you're hunting. From my own observations, we just have not had the push of birds we're accustomed to by this point in the season. I'm not seeing the rafts of birds on big waters, I'm not even seeing the large groups of coots that typically precede the ducks. A Thanksgiving visit to the rice belt of the Bunkie/Whiteville area is usually a spectacle of geese trafficking overhead; I didn't hear a single goose much less see one during my trip.  Many are also reporting blue wing teal being taken in unusual numbers, yet another sign of a delayed migration. I typically harvest very few blue wings during the regular season, but on a recent hunt we took 7 teal from a decoying wad with 5 of those turning out to be of the blue variety. In general, I'm finding the green wing teal to be nearly nonexistent, with less than 10 taken for the first split.  Though we had a few brushes with high, salty tides leading up to the season, I'm finding the food to be in pretty good shape in most of the marshes we're visiting, so lack of food should not be a factor. 

The table is set, but will they come? And if so, when? Though we've had a few minor fronts, we closed up the first split with what most consider to be low duck numbers overall and no significant fronts in the forecast. In recent days the upper reaches of the flyway have received some decent snow so hopefully that's got us headed in the right direction. For things to get back on track we'll need a few Arctic fronts while minimizing rainfall. Unfortunately, all of this is out of our hands. So what's a die hard hunter to do? Go hunting, of course. Though conditions may not be ideal, your 60-day calendar is back to ticking when we kick things off on December 19. You won't kill them at home or in the deer stand or from a bay boat under the Causeway. You might have to work a little harder or be more patient, but you should find a few shooting ops. Good luck out there!

With the teal season now in the rear-view mirror, all eyes are on the big show to come in early November. Surely some of you are fishing or hunting deer, squirrels, rabbits or doves to pass the time ‘till we kick things off in the Coastal Zone on the 7th. My fishing trips this time of year are dual purpose: put a few specks and reds in the freezer for winter cooking and also to spend time in the marsh with eyes to the sky for arriving birds. My cork might be swimming off to the deep but that’s no reason to take my eyes off that wad of grays dropping like rocks into a pothole just 100 yards away. When a buddy gets back from fishing, it’s usually “See any birds?” before “How’d you do?

Recent trips to the interior waters of the Biloxi marsh have been productive with the usual suspects finding their way into the fish box, but more importantly allowing us to put eyes on the first arriving “big ducks” to our region. Indeed, the migration of both fin and feather is on. Gadwall, teal and shovelers are being spotted across our coastal area, with the same smattering along with specklebelly geese arriving to the agricultural lands of our west end. 

Youth hunters will get the first crack at arriving birds a full week before shooters of adult age will be allowed to pull the trigger. This will make my 5th year running to take a young hunter (under age 16) to the blind for a hunt centered on him.  With no gun of my own, I’m focused solely on putting him in the best position possible to make the easiest shots possible. As newly arrived migrators are not yet conditioned to all the tricks of the trade, they’re typically more than willing to oblige us with decoying opportunities aplenty. 


I’ve come to realize that the preparation for this annual hunt and taking part in it without even shooting are some of the most enjoyable times of the fall seasons. The satisfaction that comes with initiating a new hunter to chasing waterfowl coupled with the smiles produced via the typically hefty strap are more than enough return for the time spent preparing for the trip. 

Hopefully those introduced to the sport at a young age via these special youth dates will be lifelong waterfowl hunters to carry on the traditions in a responsible, ethical manner. Whatever you do, be sure to set a proper example for the young hunters, as that may be their lasting impression. There’s enough complaining about some hunters’ hijinks as it is, don’t set an example for another addition to that contingent down the road. 

The weather is cooling and the winds are shifting to the north as another taste of fall drops in each week. Are you ready? Don’t forget to sharpen your four-legged hunting buddy before opening day as well. Good luck out there! 

With less than a month to go, area waterfowlers are beginning to itch, if not already in full blown duck fever. Yep it’s hot but the cool breezes of fall are at least a tiny speck on the horizon. 

From the survey results reported, it seems the birds have had a good reproduction season and we’ve got no reason to believe a delayed migration is in the works with a timely spring.  Typically it’s the full moon at the end of August when we’ll start seeing some flocks buzzing the marshes, this year that’s on the 29th so it won’t be long! 

In the meantime, are you ready?  How are the decoys from last season? Leaky? Need re-rigging or some touch up paint? What about the spinning wing decoys? Got batteries?  Be sure to also check the electrical and wing connections for corrosion so you’re not cursing it on opening morning when it won’t spin. 

What about your means of getting to and from the blind? Be it by fourwheeler or boat, there’s a good chance it hasn’t seen much use since January. Give it a good shake down now while there’s still time for repairs to be made if needed. 

How’s the ammo supply? I usually try to hunt up some 2 ¾” #4’s for the early teal. This load packs plenty of punch for the early birds not yet plumped in winter’s fat and feather, and is typically cheaper than the 3” counterparts at your local sporting goods store.  Also don’t forget to check your choke tubes. Improved cylinder will help you get a pattern on the acrobatic little rockets and will also help to conserve the bird if shot at close range.  A round of sporting clays or skeet wouldn’t be the worst idea as well if you can make time for it before the opener. 

Last but not least, how are you planning to avoid being devoured by the inevitable swarms of biting insects? For my crew, our routine includes deploying aerosol yard fogger to the grassy hide before we take our positions. From there, the ThermaCell is put to work and stays on until later in the hunt when the bugs tend to retreat. 

A few other items of note:  Calls, snacks, drinks, ear plugs, light weight camo clothing, and boots all come to mind as items critical to my hunt.

I’d like to offer one other observation, and lesson learned, from the 2014 teal season. We all enjoy going out to the hunting grounds and seeing hordes of birds hanging at our favorite honey hole. But what if you see no birds at all? Should you still roll the dice and make the hunt, or instead ditch the hunt for a nice fall fishing trip? For me the answer was obvious, I was going to be hunting on opening day even though we saw zero teal in the area just the day before; though, most would attest that’s par for the course since I’m so eaten up with duck fever year round. Some, however, opted to go fishing that morning nearby. Well as it turned out, we nearly ran out of shells on opening morning while our fishing buddies listened to the marsh blaze away at the birds that hadn’t shown up until that morning.  I know we routinely say “ya gotta go to know” and that couldn’t be truer with migrating teal. They literally can be here today, gone tomorrow, so you really just need to show up and go through the motions to see what sunrise brings. You might be pleasantly surprised!  Good luck and be safe out there when September 12 rolls around.

Whether your fall pursuit involves fur or feathers, the off-season is brutal. It doesn’t take long from the close of the season to get caught up on rest and all those things neglected during the season so it’s usually around this time of year I start to get the semblance of an itch for the season to come and start poking around for chores to do in early preparation. Maybe you’ll finally replace that old skinning rack that hardly stands up straight any more or fix up the feeder with the rusted out bin. For the duck hunters you might have a pile of decoys needing patching from a few low swats over the blocks last season or a leaky pirogue that barely made it to the blind each trip without a stop off for some bailing.

A few years ago I was fortunate enough to have a buddy give me an old wooden pirogue after he’d upgraded to two new fiberglass models. The gift came with one condition: that I fix up the pirogue and keep it hunt-ready to be used when called upon, if not in the everyday fleet. 

I’m admittedly far from the expert on intricate wood work or anything else I’d need for the job like paints and epoxies but I figured, for a free pirogue, I could do some learning and bring this thing back to its former beauty. After all, one critical aspect of the craft was intact despite its estimated age of well over 30 years: it did not leak!

The first task was to get through the assorted coats of paint that had been piled on the hull over the years and down to the wood itself. After some serious sanding using both hand and electric sanders, we got down to the beautiful wood below, with about 5 different coats of paint identifiable along the way. 

 

Once sanding was complete, we could really get a look at the seams and nail holes throughout the vessel.  Small nails were replaced along the seams where needed, some were nearly rusted out or missing altogether. A light caulking application was used to fill any voids in the seams before a 2-part epoxy, the West System, from West Marine, was applied on all of the seams. Following thorough curing, the epoxy surfaces were lightly roughed via a fine-grit sanding in preparation for painting. 

As we flip the calendar to January and the home stretch of the 2014-2015 waterfowl season, it's time to buckle down and get after them hard before a long offseason. There's nothing more frustrating about the offseason than thinking of what tactics or new locations you "coulda-woulda-shoulda" tried before you ran out of season days.Recent fronts have brought good numbers of birds to the region but we're unfortunately already seeing typical late season patterns that can make hunting them a challenge. On recent trips the birds have been observed rafting up in large lagoons or out on the tidal lakes.

 
When they do come into the marsh they're often favoring the middle of the larger ponds, avoiding points or other land masses like the plague. If you've got access to a layout boat or other means of setting up in middle of larger waters, now's the time to give it a shot. Otherwise, look for small islands to set up on if it can get you out away from the bank. Typically you'll want larger decoy spreads for being out in the middle of big waters in order to mimic the rafts of birds the flights are keying in on. That said, for more typical setups, I'm starting to scale back my spread right now for a couple of reasons. The first is that since the beginning of the season most hunters have been putting out roughly two dozen decoys on every hunt. The birds wise up to that and will either only commit where there are hundreds, if not thousands, of birds, or will land with only a couple of birds out in the open. Don't be afraid to scale back to even a pair of well detailed dekes or even no decoys at all.  The other reason to scale back is to be more mobile, taking a run-n-gun approach to your setup. Scouting will show you where to start but if the morning flight is elsewhere you've got to be ready (and willing) to hustle a quick change of location. When you're on the move, the fewer decoys the better! 

 Also, don't get married to any one spot! We've all got our favorites that have produced over the years but some days you've just got to go where the birds want to be. This is not the time of the season to be hardheaded and trying to sway birds your way; go to them! A hunt this week started at a blind that had been steadily producing hefty straps but when shooting time came around there wasn't a bird trafficking within 400 yards. We quickly moved where we'd seen a few go down and the birds were coming back in around us as we tossed decoys.  With just over three weeks to go, it's time to hunt hard but also smart to finish the season strong. Good luck guys!

These birds were clearly locked up and coming in, just the way you always want them to. That wing beat begins to slow and the landing gear comes out well before actually touching down. Coming in as if tied to a string and I had the other end, 100 yards and closing. Then in a blink……. nope!

"What could be wrong?" I whispered, "Why aren't they finishing?" The flock had soon set their sights on points elsewhere and were out of view shortly thereafter. It’s easy to place blame on the blind, someone not hiding properly, an overturned decoy, or something left uncovered. But if you’re one of so many duck hunters who routinely puts out a spinning wing decoy (or 5), you’ve got to be prepared to accept that sometimes they just don’t work. And in fact, can even work as a duck repellent!

It can be difficult to accept but the success of your hunt can hinge on whether you’re willing to make a change. So many have seen the spinner mesmerize birds into landing right next to it, seemingly solely responsible for the harvest of so many ducks over the years, especially when initially introduced well over a decade ago.

But the birds have adapted over the years, with many having wised up to the spinning and flashing, so the game really has changed. Has your decoy spread adapted? Are you one of so many in a sort of “Mojo-denial”? As a guide buddy in southwest Louisiana has often said, “the Mojo giveth, and the Mojo taketh away,” acknowledging the two results common to the decoys’ use.

Under the right conditions, the spinner can still be a great tool to attract passing flocks to give your spread a look. The flashing can be seen from a long way and can serve as a flashing billboard advertising the spread you’ve so carefully deployed. The key to success, however, is being able to read the birds and understand when your spinner is doing more harm than good. 

Teal are often apt to dive right into the spread, spellbound by the spinners flashing. But the assortment of “big ducks” we commonly work in the area, your grays, wigeon, pintail, mottleds and mallards will often make pass after pass to carefully study your spread. It’s at this point that the details will matter, and you may be better off using a remote to turn the spinner off. If not equipped with a remote, you’d might be better off just putting the decoy away for the day. 

On more than a few occasions I’ve witnessed skittish birds refuse to finish with those wings spinning. On recognition of this, the spinner was pulled from the spread and packed away. More often than not, this move can be a game-changer and may be the difference in going home frustrated or making a haul on a hefty strap of birds. 

Though I’ve typically erred toward just leaving the decoy at home when in doubt, this year I’ve got a remote installed into my usual unit so will give it a shot by leaving it on for teal, yet switching it off remotely once I’ve got the attention of a passing flock. Stay tuned for an update on this later in the season. 

Pond after pond, the story was the same leading up to the 2014 teal season opener: stellar habitat in our local marshes of southeast Louisiana but no teal. Sure some folks were reporting a band here or there while fishing but for those who really went looking for huntable numbers to ambush on opening day, it wasn't looking good. As a buddy and I scoured the marshes for birds the day before the opener, the outlook for the next morning was grim at best. Plenty of mottled ducks and a few wood ducks took to the air as we poked our heads into a variety of ducky habitats but the blue wings were MIA. 

We ended up doing what many other duck fanatics did for the September 13th opener: set up in areas that had plenty of feed and ideally were holding mottled ducks while scouting. After all, when the teal do eventually show, they look for what other birds are already enjoying. 

"Is that one!?" I questioned as a dark silhouette dipped and swung his way erratically to our pond's edge a few minutes into legal shooting time on opening day. "Yea it is! Shoot!" Anthony barked. Sure enough, after setting up based on hope, we had our first blue winged visitor and the first shots of the 2014 waterfowl seasons. A shot from each of us rang out simultaneously as the bird splashed down among the dekes. Success! At least this hunt won't be a scratch. Though it was just one teal we were elated to shrug off the long offseason, but the hunt was just getting started.

Soon a pair worked us nicely, proving the spinning wings of the two Mojo decoys mesmerizing, both were welcomed to the strap. Then another few here and there and before you know it we were really slinging some steel, during a hunt I'd figure to not even fire a shot. At one point while on a retrieve of a downed bird, I was ambushed by a flight of at least 20-25 from my blindside. That's what you get for bringing only half the usual supply of shells and also intentionally leaving the fancy camera behind. After all, what could we possibly photograph this morning given the scouting report?

Shotgun blasts echoed across the marsh as others enjoyed the blue rockets winging across their spread. It wasn't lights out but it was opening day of teal season and people were putting teal on the strap, others who had similarly shunned the grim scouting report for the love of the hunt, just hoping the birds would show up overnight. And they did. Not in droves but enough to make us restock our shells and plan the next morning's hunt long before this one was over. 

Since the opener, we've been far from lighting the world on fire and sinking the boat with limits of teal, but we're managing a few each hunt if you make the shots on the opportunities presented. No limits have been taken yet but we're getting to shoot the gun each hunt on a few decoying birds and that's what keeps me going. Reports from Venice to Manchac have been pretty spotty overall with even some perennial hotspots like Delacroix and Scarsdale giving up fewer birds than normal.

So far the keys have been focusing our efforts on shallow ponds with plenty of feed. Finding feed hasn't been the difficult part but with tides typically a bit above normal this month, finding the shallower ponds has been key since teal really rely on the shallows to feed. 

Each morning I'm going with anywhere from 16 to 24 floating decoys, really only going with more to add visibility when needed. The spread is mostly teal decoys but really any species will do. I've heard many reports of pintail, spoonbills and even wigeon seen this early season so don't fret on the species you put out. Heck, we had a greenhead mallard land in the decoys last Sunday with a pair of mottled ducks.

I couple those decoys with two spinning wing rigs on separate poles. The flash of the spinners is usually a slam dunk for getting teal to visit but I'll caution that you should watch for any signs of them pushing off the spinners and be prepared to pull them. Just like the ducks of the regular season, the teal are known to wise up to the spinners so take that day to day. And always remember that pretty much every single other blind out in the marsh is running spinners as well. 

The flights have usually been over with by 7:30-8:00 with a few birds moving later in the 8:30 timeframe but overall it's shut down by then leaving time to pack up and head to work if needed. We've got the rest of this week to go through Sunday the 28th so hopefully we'll get a few more birds into the area before it closes. 

Good luck and be safe out there, and please respect your fellow hunters' space by not setting up on top of someone already in place on your arrival. 

The idea of public hunting land, for many hunters, is both a windfall and a thorn in the side. Sure it’s a place to go for a few birds, but all too often a few birds in the bag come at the cost of a huge headache from overcrowded acreage. After all, it’s a free place to hunt, and that means free to everyone and often their brother too. Throw in a location in close proximity to a major metropolitan area home to a plethora of passionate hunters and you’ve got a recipe for one chaotic gumbo.

If you’re one of those who rely nearly exclusively on these sorts of areas to pursue our favorite feathered quarry, I feel for you, for I too am what you could call a public land warrior.  We’re always looking for that one place where the nearest gunfire is but a distant roll of thunder on the horizon, rather than a stick of dynamite in your backyard. That pond where the birds are pouring in and you can do no wrong with call nor decoy placement to keep them out. With some forethought to the season, you can up your odds of finding such a honey hole all of your own.

Now I know most of you are fired up when the season comes along, when those leaves start turning you start to get the itch to get out the gear and begin scouting missions. However, I’d tell you that you’re already handicapping yourself right off the bat. Sure you’re out there on the water in October and November but where were you in July, August or September?

I’ll tell you one thing, as sick as I am with the waterfowl illness, I’m out in my nearby marshes during these pre-season months. In just a few afternoon sessions afield, you can greatly expand your knowledge of the ins and outs of the area and get a leg up on which areas are holding the most abundant feed for arriving birds. 

Maybe that small trenasse you noticed leads back to a wooded slough? Maybe that small pond is just a tributary to a much larger one that remains out of sight? In my experiences from just spending time looking around, often there is much more to an area that immediately meets the eye. You can review maps all you want but nothing substitutes for time spent getting to know your quarry's turf, you better believe he knows it well!

In my small circle of waterfowling friends, we’ve committed to employing these strategies and in turn have enjoyed some hunts for the ages. One such example comes to mind in particular where a fellow duck fanatic and I found a pond with above average amounts of feed during the summer, which we promptly marked with our GPS units. In the heat of the summer, the resident mottled ducks and wood ducks had the whole area to themselves. This of course is one of our keys to identifying what areas the fall flight will use as they will tend to join up with the resident birds where feed abounds.

Upon return to this area in late October, we weren’t surprised to find it loaded with ducks, mainly early arriving grays, widgeon, and teal. As we glassed them from afar, we knew the area would be a fail-safe opening day spot. However, when the opener rolled around, low water conditions prevented us from reaching the area so we had to settle for coming up short and hunting some decent areas 300 to 400 yards away. All morning long we watched birds pour into that honey hole knowing full well we (nor anyone else) could get to them.

This all changed during a morning hunt the following week. Due to continued low water conditions, we had initially set up in an adjacent area with only two birds to show for our efforts in two hours. As the morning wore on the birds continued to pour into that elusive pond however we noticed the water levels beginning to rebound as a result of a wind shift to a more southerly breeze. Right then and there the decision was made to pack up our dekes and find a way back to that pond one way or another. 

Though it took some hard work with exhaustive poling and paddling, we found our way into the pond as the masses erupted from the water. We made our way to a small island for a quick setup, tossing a handful of dekes haphazardly at best. Some were left upside down, side by side, strings wrapped around, but it did not matter as the birds were pouring back in right where they left. We filled our limits within ten minutes and took the time to take pictures basking in the glory of hard work paying off beyond our expectations. And this pond was not done paying us back. 

My cousin and I returned to the hole a few days later with high hopes of repeating what the last visit had provided. Fifteen minutes before shooting time, no sign of the masses. But that soon changed as the air around us began to whistle and quack, miraculously on cue right before shooting time. We took turns taking our birds, picking out as many drake widgeon and grays as possible. It was over in an hour and a half but could have just as easily been twenty minutes had we not prolonged the hunt for maximum enjoyment.  As we picked up our decoys, the birds continued piling in.

The next morning we were there on time, again with empty skies shortly before shooting time. However right as the legal shooting hour struck, it was déjà vu. We enjoyed non-stop action until we had a three-man limit in hand within an hour’s time. Again, mainly widgeon and grays filled the strap. 

Since that weekend in early December of the 2005-2006 season which followed on the heels of Hurricane Katrina's wrath, this particular pond has produced memorable hunts though none quite as exciting as those first few. Most notably, the lesson taken from the experience was that scouting for a hard to reach location can certainly be worth the trouble. Less hunting pressure, less human interaction and plenty of feed usually make for ideal refuges for ducks, or really any other game.

With that in mind, every summer and early fall we are out there long before the season starts. We’re searching for the next overachieving locale far from the chaos of those most easily reached. Though the instance above was a waterfowling adventure, the same can apply for plenty of other critters we chase like deer, squirrels, rabbits, hogs, etc. with the common theme being: Are you willing to put in  more effort than the next guy in looking for unpressured game?  A little extra time in the woods this season just may be the difference maker in putting your next trophy on the wall. Good luck out there!