Rate the duck season

[Eric Strand]

With the conclusion of the 09-10 duck season I wonder what most waterfowl hunters thought of it in terms of bird numbers, hunting conditions, weather, ability to pattern birds, etc.

It was an odd season nation wide with big ups and downs and my overall opinion after talking to hunters all across the country is that it was a pretty rough season from west coast to east coast.

What are your thoughts? How does it rank with seasons past?

[OpeningDay]

In terms of bird numbers I would give it about a 7 although towards the end of the year it would probably be a little lower. Although it wasn't the best year in terms of bird numbers it is always great to get out and enjoy the outdoors with friends and family. Had some good memories that I'll never forget.

[Headhunter]

With only five seasons under my belt I am no expert, but I personally had higher expectations for this year. The spring hatch numbers in the factory were strong to the point where the flyway council increased harvest quotas and kept liberal seasons. How could you not get excited when you have that kind of endorsement & lofty expectations?

That being said you make lemonaid when given lemons right? So things like learning more about marshboat style hunting and learning a few new places to hunt sure help. Getting out with a few new people I have wanted to hunt with, watching some great dog work or spending time with some of that standard crew all made it a great season. My personal highlight was a day where 7 guys got 7 limits by 1:00pm on public land. It was downright dirty.

I look forward to the postmortem from the flyway council, DU and Delta and see if the stats/data backs up our own personal hunches.

[Wingman Or.]

Although wierd at times and leaving me scratching my head I thought hunting in general was pretty darn good this year. All that said I think much of what people are seeing is that a large % of birds are never leaving Canada. If they have everything they need why would they? You imprint that on a couple generations in a row... It makes it out of the norm to actually fly south.

[Reaper]

Very poor season, overall lack of birds in traditional areas. To be successful one had to find pockets of birds and get a hunt out of it and move on.....In my opion overall the roughest season I've had ever and this aint my first rodeo

[redneckty1]

I had a great season. I had a ton of firsts this year, killed my first cans. After 15 yrs in the blind I have to say this was a perfect season. Met new friends, hunted some new areas. I can only hope that next season is half as good as this one....

[D3smartie]

It was a tough season. I spent much of my time learning new tricks and hunting different areas. A very rewarding experience but I'd be suprised if I killed over 100 ducks this year.

[Adjhunt]

Tough year for sure, but i have no complaints.
The season is only as good as what you make it.

Great season.

[Tred73]

I think with both of my boys having another year under there belt we shot alot of birds. It is nice to know that they are hitting birds by themselves and that opens up the choices on big flocks coming in. We did pull off a 6 mallard knock down this season that I have not seen in a long time and that is just me and the two boys. I know more decoys in the water helped out alot this year. I might be old school, but I know when I am sitting on 150 plus decoy sets we were pulling in alot more birds than others around on a public refuge system. It was alot of hard work, but it usually paid off.

[lentz]

Up this way we did ok early in the season but it seemed that right after the big freeze the birds were nowhere to be found. The last 2 weeks of the season were really good for us.

[young_gun]

It was on fire early with lots of local birds around. After the freeze things got tougher but the birds seemed to pattern well over here (Not many other open water around so when you found it thats where they were)

September geese were dumb and on fire like it usually goes..migrators would come over in spurts but were very tough to pattern they didnt hang around long, so honkers were spotty to say the least seemed to to a limit or a goose egg. On a side note, lots and lots of white geese this year over here. Lots of collars and bands.

Overall a great year learning to face adversity and hunt in less than perfect conditions.

[nitrobass]

Mine was definitely a bit slower than I was expecting. It was better later in the season than earlier and around the freeze I had some fantastic shoots.

Goose hunting on the eastside was spectacular at times so that made up for the slower ducks

[5-Salt Fever]

Slow...after freeze there was a period with zero birds

[duckslayer]

I went in with my expectations high after hearing the # of birds that we were supposed to get. I was slightly dissapointed but not by much, I'd give it an 8 1/2 for ducks, but a 10 for geese. I hear people talking about how it died after the freeze, but I saw no indication of it. I hope next year is as good!

[jnicholson]

Looks like 20% had 80% of the fun

Bucky

[redneckty1]

I would have to totally agree, personally I had a ton of fun.

[Buckhuntraj]

Had some great hunts especially early in the season and then some very poor hunts late in the year. Overall an ok year for me

[Tilla]

I had a pretty good season, the early part was pretty good. After that it was selective hunting and picking the right days. After a lot of years I learned some new things and used the freezes (2) to my advantage, meaning the after freeze periods.
Sure can be best when a front first arrives. Those first tight isobars.
I am amazed that some still discover that it can be slow even though it's windy, stormy etc, the second, third day just are not that great.

[benny boy]

Not a great year for me.... Lack of time/money put me on the sidelines a lot of the season. I guess you have to give up some things in tough times. I plan on getting out a bit more for 3rd period (I hope) need to kill a permit zone bird for the season. Definitely could have been better, but then again at least I got out a couple times......

[TAZ]

Very good season for us but I got out more than ever as I am no longer working. A couple of my boys were laid off so I always had at least one and sometimes three of them shooting with me. The season seemed a little mixed up, the last three weeks to us are usually the most productive. This year it was just before the big freeze and then just when it started to thaw. But when it warmed up....

SI slowed big time with so much open water around in every field so we moved up river where the birds were more concentrated. Still had to work harder and try new places as the birds seemed to move from the usual places.

[gottafish]

I met some great Ifishers this year and killed a few ducks. Share the blind with some great guys and made some new friends. Thats what huntings about. it dont get much better.

[GDuck]

I'd say this depends on the area you were hunting, and whether you hunted public or private. I'd like to hear from any private land hunters on Sauvies or in Scappoose that would rate the season better than "fair", especially after the freeze up.

We've had trouble for the last several years with lack of birds showing to our club during shooting hours. At night, its an invasion. Daytime, unless there is severe weather, nothing shows up. Weather? Change in flyways? Something else? For me, its rapidly not becoming worth it for few ducks on private land, when you can play tactics right and maybe hunt less but get more ducks hunting public....money+no headache+few ducks private vs. money?+headaches+ some ducks(variety of places) on public. Just thinking out loud.

G

[Theelkhunter]

This was probably the slowest season that I had seen in years. We didnt seem to get the numbers that we usually see.

Oh well, hopefully the spring season will be better.

[Duckdog98604]

We did pretty good, just had to think "outside the box" and try new places, they almost always paid off. Scouting is the key guys, you have to be out there to find them....

[Bill Monroe]

http://www.oregonlive.com/sports/ore...ds_with_a.html

[honyacher]

Originally Posted by Bill Monroe

http://www.oregonlive.com/sports/ore...ds_with_a.html

It was the worst season in 18 years for me! El nino says it all- not enough rain

[Team Thunderjet]

I had a lot of fun just not alot of birds.

[Tulelicious]

My season was best in the early months. I learned a bunch of new areas. Shot about the same number of birds as last year. Hunted with some great people. I was getting a little tired of the rain towards the end though.

All in All a good season.

[Steelie Ben]

Great season for me. The best ever accually but this is only my fourth year and apparently the learning curve is pretty steep when you are unmentored! I had lots of first including, first woodie, first solo hunt, first time sleeping in line, first venture to the ES, first time hunting with people from Ifish, first time eating more duck than I cared too(gotta start freezing it and duckeroni'ing it!) and first time almost drowining in mud lake(I now know why they call it mud lake!!!) All in all it was a great year with a fair number of birds and lots of great company. I learned alot about being on the proverbial "X" and alot about calling to working birds! I am super jazzed for next year, only about 8 or so months right?
Ben

[SImudBogger]

Very poor for me. Couldn't draw a chip under #150 on the westside and even when i had a good eastside reservation it would end up being a 55 degree bluebird day with no wind. I hunted johnson twice (once in late november and once in january) and shot a total of 2 birds. Hunted 2 good blinds on racetrack with 2 other guys and we shot 7 total birds for 2 outings. There just weren't any birds around when i had time to hunt. We would go hours without even seeing them flying. My biggest problem was probably bad luck with the weather. Damn El-Nino!

There were short periods of time when the birds where out, i just couldn't hunt then

Last year was pretty good, shot a lot of mallards and probably averaged 3-4 birds per trip, all at SI except for one trip to the lower river. Even shot 2 bands toward the end of the season.

[lab1]

Seems like the weather was a little poor for the ducks didnt shoot that many but oh well its always fun.

[Jrfisher]

After three season, I feel like this one expressed my the duckaholic gene, it was hard and I learned that it is not always a easy as throwing out some dekes and adding a few quacks. Seemed like birds were alot more educated when they reached Oregon. Scouting became a major part of my hunting and learned to change up my calling when conditions change. I didn't kill as many birds as other years, but had some amazing hunts and learned a few dirty jokes. Overall, it was a great year for learning duck hunter!

[marthagofish]

It's pretty much the worse year duck hunting that I've ever had and I started hunting in 1981.

How do you get people to stock sky bushing or scouting/walking thru your hunting area when the birds are flyinh around your spread?

Maybe I'll try again next year. Quack Quack

Glad it's time to start fishing.

[catfishman89]

was a great season until the big freese in december.

[Tar Heel]

Not sure I hunted the minimum # of times to qualify to vote--that pretty much sums it up for me. What hunting I did get was pretty much usual-- some great hunts, some slow ones, and an inevitable goose egg risking it at a community hole on a Saturday. A season that approcahes four months is bound to seem slow at times, especially towards the end.

[bigchinook]

10 we had a great season

[mbaseel]

Good season overall. got 101 ducks with my little bro close behind with 80+. called in 10 wood ducks for my dad and bro and they got the 4 drakes out on sauvies. most fun i have had in a duck blind. Early season was good and finally got that motion i wanted for Christmas with a knotty duck and a whipsplash . can't wait to get out again next season. But then again to me the ducks are just a bonus. Time with Dad and little bro and the dog is always good to have.

Anyone lookin for someone to hunt with in the 2010-11 season my name is mike u have probably seen me in the lime green 75 Chevy half ton. I am always willing to let some ppl draw chips with me and hunt over my deeks and dog. I will be in Florida till jan 2011 so anyone who wants to get together on a week day and kill some ducks after then shoot me an email and we will get out. I know the west side like the palm of my hand so I can even show the new guys around.

p.s the new shotgun without a bent barrel also helped this year. Stoeger m2000 camo 28" barrel. no problems so far. would recommend it to anyone.