Astoria Ducks.

[Capin' Dan]

Mainly trying to find info on the lower estuary birds. How have you guys been doing and what are the best areas and tides. I have hunted tidal waters in Wa. before so I know all the special decoy issues and personal safety required to hunt in heavy tidal areas. Just wandering about this area. how do the winds effect it and storms and hi or low tides do you change areas for the different tides ect...
If you want you can send me a personal mial.

Dan!

[MikeT]

Dan,
I've hunted Lewis and Clark NWR a few times and love the area. In my opinion, it's difficult to hunt until you put in the time to really learn it.
Most hunters seem to like the incoming tide, and hunting is reported to be best around Russian Island and Jim Crow Sands as well as toward the west end around Woody, Horseshoe, and Welsh Islands.
Most of my hunting has been around Marsh Island but I can't say I've ever had exceptional hunting there. Still trying to figure it out.
A boat blind or layout boat gives you some advantages; mostly allows you to set up without worrying so much about the effects of the tide on your blind and spread.
It's real easy to get stranded out there at low tide so be careful. Some guys take two boats, anchoring the big one in a safe place and using a small boat to explore and hunt.
Hope this helps a bit. Like I said, I'm still trying to figure it out myself.
Here are a couple urls you might find helpful: http://terraserver.homeadvisor.msn.c...=1599&Z=10&W=2 http://terraserver.homeadvisor.msn.c...=1599&Z=10&W=2
regards....Mike

[bigshark]

Dan
I just came in from S.I. and want to shoot you an answer before I take my nap. The wind blew so hard here last night the garbage can went on safari. I was so excited about what this morning would bring that the last time
I looked at the clock it was 3:58am. Alarm went off at 5 am. I feel awful so after a quick post I'm off to bed.

The L&C is so large that I have to wonder if
only the true "regulars" really have a good handle on the place. I'm not a regular but I hunt it 6 or more days each year and have done so since the 80s. There are a couple of things that come to my mind as "must know".
First, the birds like to raft up at Sand Island at low water and they won't move till they are flooded and blown out when its too rough for them to just sleep all day. The second is that the incoming tide floods the little sloughs that run though most of the islands and make small lakes just right to set-up in as well as making the navigation
easy. Don't overstay your tide. You and a handful for one boat can limit in 5 hours or less if they fly as they usually do.

I'm too tired to recall if I posted this before or not. If I did please excuse this post. I would like to know about the dog you mentioned on another thread or was it someone else? Sorry Dan, I will be more clear headed after a couple of hours of shut-eye. PS Dead calm on the island...almost nothing in the air...even the geese are sleeping and they aren't even shot at yet.

[bigshark]

Hey Dan
Just a couple of more comments about L&C. Another thing about that I find out of the ordinary is that when you are getting birds to come in, it seems that everyone else is also. You hear shots
from elsewhere and they seem to be quite some distance away. Russian island is a really neat hunt but I scared myself in my 17ft tin boat the last time there so I hang around Horseshoe for a quick run or straight out of Aldredge and go up river. It gets sloppy out there as well. I have found that you can make most any lee-side work if
you want to put out enough blocks. Just about any
pattern works as best I can tell though a few diver drakes (white-backs) seem to help catch their eye. The little channels in the islands are
surprising producers. I sat up in a really good spot late one morning only to find at shooting time I was within a hundred yards or so of other hunters. The wind was 25 plus and the birds just
bombed into where they were, no circle, no anything, just straight in. I wondered if they had
baited or what....They left in a short time and came by my set-up on their way out. The boat was
camo covered and was not much more than dingy size. The water was still high and I figured I could learn something and went exploring. What I found was three 2x4 stakes that had been used to hold their boat in the position they wanted. Empty
shells in the water and on the bank...nothing else. The little slough was barley wide enough for me to turn my boat around. The top of the banks were still 5 feet or so below waterline. Those ducks must have wanted to get out of the rough water so bad that they just head for a deep ditch. Point is, those guys knew something and its
worth keeping your antenna up.
About the 2 yr old female. What do you know about her? I have decided to bite the bullet and try to find a senior hunter. At my age I don't want another pal thats not totally interested in hunting. I want one that wants me to get better at what I do so she can have more fun too.
I'm not a trainer, I wish I were. The truth is I learn somthing evertime I get around one of those gifted people. I have decided that there is enough difference in their methods that whoever I buy from is willing to give me a little training
as well. How the dog responds is so darn interesting. I watched a gal handle a dog that was just superb. But when her husband, who trained as well handled the dog, I couldn't believe it was the same dog. I don't think it liked that guy. Anyway, I'm open to any and all
suggestions or leads. Thanks for remembering I am
looking.