How'd the duck opener go?

steelheadslayer · 10-13-2007, 02:45 PM

Myself I fired the first shot of the season in the area I was hunting. First shot with a new Win. SX3 and down comes a big greenhead. I shoulda left shortly after that. It didn't get any better.

I couldn't hit the broadside of a barn for awhile, the semi-auto kicks the shells out pretty quick so I went through a bunch.

I did end up with 2 mallards, 1 pintail, 3 teal and a wigeon and was picking up by 12:15, it was starting to get pretty warm. Dang foggy driving out in the dark this morning, good thing the GPS was working. I was 50 feet from the blind and couldn't see it until I almost ran into it.

My best opening day in 6 years, NOT working for a change.

Ethical hunter · 10-13-2007, 02:56 PM

I know I have stated in the past that I pass up opening day ducks because they are too easy. I could not resist going to my teal hole this morning and seeing what happened. There were few teal and none came in. The first shot of the season and down came a pintail drake - the only birds flying were pintail. One group of pintail came in with a greenhead mixed in - three shots and he kept on flying. Eventualy a pair of mallards swung in and I dropped the drake. I watched pintail come in for about two more hours before picking up.

Just plucked my birds and WOW are they fat! The reason I went out today is I wanted a few birds to eat with all the fresh Chantrelles I just picked. I'll be cooking them tuesday.

Now its Tundra swan time.

EH

Bull Sprig · 10-13-2007, 03:54 PM

Well The opener went pretty good out east for us 11 ducks and 8 geese we should have been done by 10 but we can't shoot worth a darn opening day

. The topper of the whole day was the little girls first ever retrive a Banded Mallard my buddy got

. I hope every one else had as great of time as I had out in the blind as I did.

007SPRIG · 10-13-2007, 07:02 PM

My donut was awesome.

Threemuch · 10-13-2007, 07:06 PM

We had a pretty slow opener on Hunt 8 on the eastside at Sauvie. We got 5 for three guns, some bad shooting but the birds really only wanted 7, and those guys were going to shoot 12 rounds at them if they came anywhere near range. Typical blind unit BS.

My new dog was pretty confused at first, but got better with each bird. No decoys retrieved, but I don't think she understands that if she watches the birds in the sky closely, she will see the fall.

How about that Sauvie traffic? Took me over 2 hours just to drive off the island at 3. As a friend of mine put it, "every cidiot in Portland has to get little timmy his pumpkin from Sauvies."

I don't think I will do an opener out there again. The guys who got hunt 7 arrived at 10:30am Friday. There were guys in front of them who had been there since Wednesday. Ridonkulous.

raptorschild · 10-13-2007, 07:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by steelheadslayer

Myself I fired the first shot of the season in the area I was hunting. First shot with a new Win. SX3 and down comes a big greenhead. I shoulda left shortly after that. It didn't get any better.

I couldn't hit the broadside of a barn for awhile, the semi-auto kicks the shells out pretty quick so I went through a bunch.

I did end up with 2 mallards, 1 pintail, 3 teal and a wigeon and was picking up by 12:15, it was starting to get pretty warm. Dang foggy driving out in the dark this morning, good thing the GPS was working. I was 50 feet from the blind and couldn't see it until I almost ran into it.

My best opening day in 6 years, NOT working for a change.

Sounds like a good opener.

Our opening day was great. Hunted north of Tri Cities. We scouted all day while hunting for quail on Friday. We probably logged 10 miles on our boots scouting and collected 7 quail for our efforts. We found some amazing looking water but non of it looked any good for ducks as there were none working the general area...None at all...

So the last place we checked....(a 2 mile hike in) we hit the jackpot, a nice little flooded draw that was full of mallards teal, and widgeon....so we got out there early this AM, and we were done at 8:30. 21 ducks for the 3 of us. Mostly mallards. 20 min before shooting hours we had over 300 hundred mallards working this tiny pond. It was awsome to watch!

A5 Light 12 · 10-14-2007, 10:06 AM

Had a good hunt at Fern Ridge, 4 teal, 2 greenheads and a gadwall. Finished exactly 2hrs from shoot time, although it seemed everyone but me has watches that are 10 minutes fast. Gave a lot of teal and some spoonies a free pass, but the teal eventually had to be thinned out. As a knew would happen with the time of the day the mallards began to work as I was walking out. Oh well, nothing beats a greenwing on the plate

.

BrotherWolf · 10-14-2007, 10:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 007SPRIG

My donut was awesome.

and you didnt share?????

billc_sbio · 10-14-2007, 11:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by raptorschild

So the last place we checked....(a 2 mile hike in) we hit the jackpot, a nice little flooded draw that was full of mallards teal, and widgeon....so we got out there early this AM, and we were done at 8:30. 21 ducks for the 3 of us. Mostly mallards. 20 min before shooting hours we had over 300 hundred mallards working this tiny pond. It was awsome to watch!

I'm guessing you're GOING to go BACK?!!:grin:

Wang · 10-14-2007, 11:15 AM

Seven year old daughter got sick with an ear infection and a cold. She passed her illness on to me so I missed the opener to take care of both of us. My two buddies hit the river and brought down a few mallards before they had to be at work at 9:30.

Smokin'Bulls · 10-14-2007, 11:31 AM

My group and I shot 20 mallards, three teal, and one widgeon. Should have limited, but we passed on a lot of birds hoping for mallards. We ended up leaving at 1:00pm because it just got too hot. Seven of the mallards were banded.

bassin'87 · 10-14-2007, 01:32 PM

hey smokin bulls sauvies? or what general area?

Rauly · 10-14-2007, 01:35 PM

This was the highlight of our day. A double on Widgeon, hen and a drake.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDETukyGb6s

lor · 10-14-2007, 03:12 PM

I had a reservation and hunted Deadwillow on SI.
This was my first time hunting a roam unit, I got to SI at 1:45 am, catch two winks and wake up a 4:30am , spoke to IFISHER Threemuch and a couple of other folks. Get my chip and drove over to a parking spot for deadwillow.

Big Mistake - I didn't put fresh batteries in my headlamps.

When I parked, there was only 1 group ahead of me, asked what side of the lake they wanted and planned to hunt the otherside. Loaded up 4.5 dozen decoys, spinner, pair of chairs, decoy bag, etc on my
deer cart and try to find a spot. My first time hunting deadwillow, and the first time I try to find an unknown spot @ dark thirty.

The first headlamp gave out before I made it to the gate, no problem I have a spare, switched lights and I'm down the road. While walking I noticed this second headlamp is getting dimmer, no problem, I'm on the road, I can find my way. Turn at the gate going to footbridge/deadwillow, by now my headlight is just a candle. No problem, pass the barbwire and continue pushing the cart. Although its much harder now to walk, I'm looking for the opening in the brush for deadwillow, but it never showed up, so I keep pushing, and pushing, and pushing, then I realize, I'm not on the road, but that section of grass between the fence and the two roads and that briarpatch. I'm at the end of deadwillow on the boundary of mudhen. Crap, double back, find the cornrow between footbridge and deadwillow, find a section of corn, and proceed to unload the cart and put out the decoys. I fell the water, and it feels shallow, I put out the decoys in what looks like open pockets. By now the headlamp is dead. I set out my decoys, the spinner, find a spot in the corn and get ready. 15 minutes to go.

As the sun came up, this is what I finally see of deadwillow.

Water, but very little of it is actually open. For the 5 hours I hunted, the birds wanted very little to do with my or anyone else decoy spread. To best I can tell, only 3 blinds are setup on deadwillow.
Everyone is only getting pass shots, the birds are not working.

I manage two spoonies, 2 guys to my south had about 8 spoonies, a mallard and teal between them.

I won't be back to deadwillow till we get more water.

Finally get back to my rig at 1:30, try to get off the island and ran into the wall of traffic exiting the island. After waiting 30 minutes, I tried to be cute, got out of line and made for the loop to come out closer to the bridge, no go. Thats side is worst due all the directed traffic next to the pumpkin farm. Back track back to the normal road. At 3:00 I pull up in line. Line moves 50 ft, every three minutes. Between three minute breaks, car is put in park, I get a catnap, and move before someone behind me honks the horn, every three minutes, this repeats. Its not until 4:45 pm that I get onto hwy 30. Finally got home at 5:30 pm.

So, how was the opener. Sleeping in the car, I'm too old for that.
Getting out was fun, the hunt marginal, leaving the island horrible. Thats about it, going back to SI tomorrow, hopefully it will be better.

thehunt · 10-14-2007, 03:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Threemuch

We had a pretty slow opener on Hunt 8 on the eastside at Sauvie. We got 5 for three guns, some bad shooting but the birds really only wanted 7, and those guys were going to shoot 12 rounds at them if they came anywhere near range. Typical blind unit BS.

My new dog was pretty confused at first, but got better with each bird. No decoys retrieved, but I don't think she understands that if she watches the birds in the sky closely, she will see the fall.

How about that Sauvie traffic? Took me over 2 hours just to drive off the island at 3. As a friend of mine put it, "every cidiot in Portland has to get little timmy his pumpkin from Sauvies."

I don't think I will do an opener out there again. The guys who got hunt 7 arrived at 10:30am Friday. There were guys in front of them who had been there since Wednesday. Ridonkulous.

Are you sure it was the pumpkin pickers? might have been some other type of folds

Dr Strangelove · 10-14-2007, 03:41 PM

I went to the coast yesterday, but all the fowl were in the unshootable part of the Willapa Refuge. So we went pheasant hunting instead. And on a lonely stretch of a coastal river, I espied a lonely duck fighting the incoming current. I loaded a round of Hevishot 1oz #6 20ga and walked up to the shore; by the time it saw me, we were still 70+ yards apart and I had a choice to shoot or let it go. Well I wasn't going home emptyhanded, and I'm confident with the extended choke I shoot, so I let the Benelli teeth sail. Basketball size spread splashed the water and it fell back in without a sound. I had to wait 15 minutes for the bird to float back to me upstream, but look what I was rewarded with. A Big Fat XXX - Scoter!

24 very tasty wrapped in bacon appetizers, shared with the camp. Meaty birds!

sprigkiller09 · 10-14-2007, 05:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dr Strangelove

I had to wait 15 minutes for the bird to float back to me upstream, but look what I was rewarded with. A Big Fat Can!

24 very tasty wrapped in bacon appetizers, shared with the camp. Meaty birds!

I think your ID skills are a little rusty....That is what you would call a Scoter. That bacon duck sounds awesome though....

Ethical hunter · 10-14-2007, 05:53 PM

The wife had me working around the house all day but I got out with a little shooting light left and bagged one big fat greenhead.

EH

Ethical hunter · 10-14-2007, 05:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dr Strangelove

I went to the coast yesterday, but all the fowl were in the unshootable part of the Willapa Refuge. So we went pheasant hunting instead. And on a lonely stretch of a coastal river, I espied a lonely duck fighting the incoming current. I loaded a round of Hevishot 1oz #6 20ga and walked up to the shore; by the time it saw me, we were still 70+ yards apart and I had a choice to shoot or let it go. Well I wasn't going home emptyhanded, and I'm confident with the extended choke I shoot, so I let the Benelli teeth sail. Basketball size spread splashed the water and it fell back in without a sound. I had to wait 15 minutes for the bird to float back to me upstream, but look what I was rewarded with. A Big Fat Can!

24 very tasty wrapped in bacon appetizers, shared with the camp. Meaty birds!

I would soak the meat in buttermilk for a couple of days before cooking it. I have had good luck with scoters soaked in buttermilk.

I hope you have your seaduck validation - you need it to shoot scoters in Washington.

EH

duckboy · 10-14-2007, 08:06 PM

Aye, You got yourself a Big fat Can all right,

About a quart can of King Coot!

Hen Surf Scoter!

Hey, be glad you got out at all, and to find a Scoter off the salt is unusual.

She'll eat just fine, although, most seaducks are better when you skin em (the fat is so oily, it has a very fishy taste) Skin the breasts and legs out, and soak em in something with lactose in it (milk works fine) in a fridge for a day or 3 and then just cook it up.

Heck of a feat to kill one with a single shot (even at 30 yards).. That iScoter is the most Iron Clad duck I have ever gunned.

Now you have had the "Scoter Experience"

Dr Strangelove · 10-14-2007, 08:07 PM

Sorry, Scoter. Yeah, SDV covered. Got a little rusty on the billshape. Ate just fine...the bacon sure helps.

Howlemup · 10-14-2007, 08:43 PM

2 Hen wigeon, 1 Drake Spoonie, 1 hen spoonie.SI Seal lake.

Wish I could say I passed on alot of ducks but I shot every one that came in.

Hope you all had better luck.

lor · 10-14-2007, 09:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Howlemup

2 Hen wigeon, 1 Drake Spoonie, 1 hen spoonie.SI Seal lake.

Wish I could say I passed on alot of ducks but I shot every one that came in.

Hope you all had better luck.

I see the westside is full of spoonies like the eastside. I was planning on hunting it Friday to get away.
Somebody call Jokester, he's looking for a limit of spoonies, maybe he'll get there numbers down.

Eric Strand · 10-14-2007, 10:13 PM

I wish I had something good to say, SLOW.....

" Shoot em with their feet down "
Eric Strand

Sauvie's Slayer · 10-14-2007, 11:08 PM

28 birds for 4 guns. 11 mallards, 6 widgeon, 5 spoonies, 4 pintail, 1 gadwall, 1 woodduck. Hunted the river.

QH's Paw · 10-15-2007, 04:10 AM

20 birds 4 guys. One gun didn't start until after 1:00pm. Checked for all the license and stamps in the morning and realized he'd lost his fed stamp somehow (for sure already bought, no really he has witnesses). Had to go find a stamp after dropping others off at there second spot. The other three guys were about limited before he (read he as me) even started. We could've stayed through the tide and finished off but, some were going to hunt the next day. Mostly mallards and teal with one widgeon and one Bluebill mixed in.
I was hoping to try my hand with the bow on those stupid opener ducks everyone talks about. By the time I got to hunt they were getting smarter and it was sunny so I opted out on the bow. Anyway, I'll give it a go next trip.

dixiefisher · 10-15-2007, 05:59 AM

We hunted the fog down in the lower Columbia.....made our way through the "bouy 10" type launch....fired up the boat and off we went...I usually wait until I sit in the boat to fire up the GPS, but on this day....that was a mistake. My GPS never got "position", so there we are floating blind as a bat with a train bridge somewhere downriver. As we decide what we are going to do ( anchor and wait, or find the shore line and try our best to get out in the channel).....up comes the bridge out of nowhere!!!!....so, still blind as a bat, we go right through it out into the channel. We had zero reference for anything, I haven't seen it that thick in awhile. Anyway, we decide to just grab the nearest shoreline....and that would be our spot ( after a bunch of time this summer scouting ). It ended up being a decent spot actually. I do attribute it to the fog though, once we were settled, I really enjoyed it being thick. The ducks just zoomed into the spread.
Anyway, ended up with 7 by 8:30, I was the only gun shooting, my partner was working his 8 month old on her first hunt. I was thoroughly impressed. Her first retrieve was a double....and she did well. Our last birds of the day, was my first triple ever....and they were walking the bank at low tide ( to figure out where the heck we landed )....anyway, Sadie didn't see a thing...so, a triple and a blind retrieve to boot. She hit every bird, and responded to some casting by her owner. She will be an awesome addition this year!!.....great opening day fellas!!!.....I can't believe its finally here....good hunting to ya!

Paul

Hunt'nFish · 10-15-2007, 08:30 AM

Wife had to work, so had to be home for kid duty otherwise I'd liked to have been on the river. So the westside chip draw it was. I was true to form with chip 137.

Pretty slow over on Seal too. But I got the skunk off........TWICE, once off me and once off the dog. Yes, Chance rolled in a dead shunk opening morning and we poor souls had to endure his stench all day long. Had to stop at the Mud Lk launch and give him a bath twice just to get him tolerable. Still can't get it out of his collar. Might have to buy a new one or at least swap it out and let it air for a while.

Man getting off the island proved time consuming. 1&1/2hr just to get on the hiway. Wife took it ok, she just laughed and apologized for forgetting to warn me about all the pumpkin traffic. Geeze, I'm an hour late, dog stinks, I've only one greenhead to show for it and she greets me with a laugh.
Man I've got a good woman!

Anyway, felt good to get out with friends. Rob, Thanks for letting us hunt with you guys.
Hunt'nFish

PS: I forgot.....Headhunter gave us a good scare with an unlocked breech action explosion...or at least that's what we figure happened. Either that or some weird hang fire but it went off unlocked, but it's not supposed to be able to do that. Might have to check the mechanism out to be sure. Will post a pic of the hull & brass base....scary stuff. Sure had him rattled w/ ears ringing for sure. Sure glad he was ok.

Teton · 10-15-2007, 10:06 AM

We whacked them, but had to work for them.

thehunt · 10-15-2007, 10:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by QH's Paw

20 birds 4 guys. One gun didn't start until after 1:00pm. Checked for all the license and stamps in the morning and realized he'd lost his fed stamp somehow (for sure already bought, no really he has witnesses). Had to go find a stamp after dropping others off at there second spot. The other three guys were about limited before he (read he as me) even started. We could've stayed through the tide and finished off but, some were going to hunt the next day. Mostly mallards and teal with one widgeon and one Bluebill mixed in.
I was hoping to try my hand with the bow on those stupid opener ducks everyone talks about. By the time I got to hunt they were getting smarter and it was sunny so I opted out on the bow. Anyway, I'll give it a go next trip.

That's why they make it sticky on the back

Just giving you a hard time.

umpkin: I'm impressed you didn't hunt anyways. That's very good will power and personal discipline

ogrejager · 10-15-2007, 10:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hunt'nFish

So the westside chip draw it was. I was true to form with chip 137.

Rob, Thanks for letting us hunt with you guys.

Hunt'nFish

No problem, Mike. Anytime. I hate to see a guy go home, you know?

Just, next time...remind me to not listen to Headhunter when it comes time to choose blinds!

bmccain · 10-15-2007, 10:54 AM

Four Westerners and a big Mallard for my boys and I.

live to fish · 10-15-2007, 11:57 AM

Myself and a friend hunted the lower columbia and had our 14 birds by 9:30. we managed 4 mallards 6 widgeon 1 pintail 3 green wing teal.We could have shot another limit while we were sitting there plucking our birds waiting for the tide to come back in so we could go home.

Elkiller · 10-15-2007, 01:30 PM

Tilly bay- took out my four year old and 8 year old boy. Walked a slough and set up deeks. My 8 year old took hunter safety this year and it was his first day packing a brand new benelli montifeltro youth 20 ga. Sweet gun at only 5.3 lbs. First duck over was a hen mallard and he dropped it with the first shot! He finished with a greenhead later. Daily total 4 mallards, 2 teal. Sunday was super slow. Only 1 mallard.

BrotherWolf · 10-15-2007, 04:15 PM

Not to bad but kinda slow on sat....10 mallards...6 Drakes..4 hens

Meister Jaeger · 10-15-2007, 04:17 PM

We wrapped up about noon with the typical mix of mallards, GWT, wigeon, and a couple Pins. More mallards than in years past (6 total) with a couple big fatty drakes. The fog made the morning a bit challenging, but there was no hurry given the tide.

One of big greenies did something I'd never seen - he was crossing right to left about 10-15 feet above the water, and when the shot string caught up with him, the feathers 'poofed' off his duckbutt, then, like he'd stepped too hard on the air brakes, he whiplashed his head and cart-wheeled...BACKWARDS! Always forward, but never had seen one backwards...

Sunday we netted 5 birds hunting the incoming tide for a quick couple hours.

Glad to see others had successful outings too.

Game On!

DukAddict · 10-15-2007, 07:02 PM

Slow once again today in the PDX.

Brett Neffendorf

Headhunter · 10-16-2007, 09:13 AM

I got totally SPANKED this opener. Saturday I pulled chip go home...or go to the Decoy anyway and Rob "Ogrejager" and Scott came to the rescue and extended the invite to Mike & I.

At pick 18 (or was it 22) all the best blinds were picked and tough choices needed to be made. Rob wanted to hit blind A and I talked him out of it to go to blind B.

. We ended up only seeing 3 or 4 flocks hit our end of the lake the entire day! I now live by the motto...MUST LISTEN TO HUNTING BUDDY's....MUST LISTEN TO HUNTING BUDDY's.

I joined Chance and got skunked...heck I might have rolled in it too because Monday I took a vacation day from work and picked chip 168 and didn't get into a blind.

Oh did walk out to Holman #1 just to get some exercise and watch birds fly over head way too high to shoot. Waited for someone to bang out and back fill a blind...pulled the pin at 11:30am, drove to the eastside and dang...no decent blinds were available.

Man the duck season is just not getting off to a good start for me. I shaved off my goatee last night to change the luck!

Well at least it can only get better from here!

BrotherWolf · 10-16-2007, 01:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Headhunter

IMan the duck season is just not getting off to a good start for me. I shaved off my goatee last night to change the luck!Well at least it can only get better from here!

Have you tried changing your underwear yet???... It always works for me...LOL

Hunt'nFish · 10-16-2007, 03:26 PM

Jim, I wouldn't worry about it too hard.........there are 103 days left ya know.
And we did have fun and even got in a little exercise.
Any day outdoors is a good day.
Hunt'nFish

Besides, it's just began and already you have two new species under your belt. Chin up buddy.