Duck Hunt Opener

After finally getting my brother's LE muzzleloader elk hunt out of the way, it was time to start focusing on some ducks.  Duck hunting has always been my favorite hunting activity, although big game is making a strong push these days.  As you can see above, the pond was in great condition.  There have been some serious phrag reduction efforts going on here for the last few years and quite frankly, they are making great headway in this area.  The pond is a completely different shape and dynamic with a lot of the phrag gone and out of there.  It made it a little harder to set up and hunt, but it was still in great shape.

Although my brother has joined a club to hunt and was hoping to take part in the luxury and ease that situation offers, I am a sucker for nostalgia, and figured it was best to keep with my roots and battle the zoo in the old trusty pond.  I went with my brothers from another mother, the Coopers.  Ryan, Kelly, Brett, Jake, and Riley all were aboard for this one.  I was stoked because I was bringing Cane, my 9 year old lab, with me for the first time in a few years.  He started having seizures a few years back and I have been somewhat reluctant to bring him out into the marsh because of that.

We were set up a few (8) hours early and had exited the water and were on some higher/dry ground.  About 6:50am we decided we would head down to the water and get in position for the shooting.  As we were walking out into the water, the whole area lit up in a war zone!  People were blasting 35 minutes early.  I don't know why that surprised me, but it still never ceases to amaze me how dumb people are with that stuff.  Unfortunately for those of us that follow the rules, this pushed 75-100 ducks off our pond.  And while we were walking out and getting set up, we easily had triple or quadruple that many birds well within shooting range bombing us and the pond.

After getting set up and waiting for a while longer to get to legal shooting hours, the birds were still flying some, but not even close to what was happening for the first 20 minutes of ILLEGAL shooting.  I can't complain too much, because we still saw an enormous amount of birds and got our fair share of shooting.  It was a great time with great friends and I can't wait to do it again!

Old gray beard, enjoying another day in the marsh.

Youth Hunt

My niece was able to get her hunter's safety completed right before the youth hunt, so we figured we had better take her out to let her get a chance at some ducks.  She was pretty stoked and a good time was had by all.  I sat up on the hillside away from the pond and filmed and took pictures and had a blast watching her on her first hunt ever.  A couple birds were shot but she had fun ripping off lots of shots and is ready to head out again!

In the blind getting ready for the action

The blind

The spread

Acey doing work 

Thanksgiving Tradition renewed

For a long time it was a tradition for me and my brothers to head out after ducks on Thanksgiving each year in the morning and follow it up with some Cowboys football and turkey.  As we've all got our own kids now and as we've gotten a little older that tradition has gone a bit by the wayside.  This year we reignited the old ways and headed out to the marsh to give it a go.  It was a special day because I got to bring my 5-year old along with me.  She has been wanting to get out hunting with her dad ever since I went on my deer hunt.  It was a slow morning, but fun to be out with my little buddy and good company.  I was able to shoot a nice bull canvasback, so the hunting wasn't a total loss.

Riding the sled out across the water to our island


Set up in the blind at dark and ready to go.


Her uncle Paul bought her a lolly-pop at the gas station on the way out.


Me and my little hunting buddy.  She insisted on going Duck Commander style!


With Uncle T's hen pinny he took.


The Crew...thanks Trav!


On the way out to the truck


My bull can


A great shot Trav got of Trixxy with his phone

Back to Feathered Friends

With my big deer hunt this year I had not had a single second to think about or chase waterfowl.  It is the first time in 19 years (save 2 years out of the country) where I did not hunt on the duck hunt opener in Utah.  Well, I started getting an itchy trigger finger so I was able to convince Trav to take me out to his honey hole.  So Trav, Paul, Blake and I went out and it was a great morning shoot.  I had a couple of firsts.  I shot my first redhead and my fist widgeon.  It was a fun day and a good time with my brothers and a good friend.  Here was the day's take.

Final duck shoot

Well, the Utah duck season came to a close today.  I was able to get out with a good group of guys for one final shoot.  It wasn't fast and furious, but we did get plenty of shooting and it was quite the mixed bag.  As a group we shot mallards, widgeon, gadwall, shoveler, buffleheads, ringnecks, coots, crazy farm duck looking thing, and a few geese to boot.  We literally had dozens and dozens of bluebills with their feet down in the water in the deeks as well, but they are closed so we waived them on by.  Too bad because there were some dandies that came in.  It was a great day, and thanks to those who made it possible.  Here is a portion of the day's take.





Not a bad day at all to end the duck season.

Late Season Waterfowl

A Little Green

Today's spoils

Duck Opener

The time has finally arrived.  It's time for the big boys to play with our feathered friends.  The flight today was not what we usually see in our opener spot, but we did put 31 birds in the blind.  We shot a lot more big ducks, especially mallards than we usually do, and A LOT less teal than usual.  I think we only shot one green wing, which is very unusual.  Here are some shots of the crew and the ducks.  Big shout out to Curty who went and finished hunter's safety and participated in his first hunt ever today.  Nice work on your limit of green heads Curty!

Late Season Hunts

Some of the guys made it out for a few late season hunts this year.  These were the results.

Best thing about this sport is getting the young ones involved.  The birds need to look out for these boys, Chase is going to have them ready to rock and roll before you know it!



And the proud papa.












It was a great end to a great duck season.

A Few Hunts

A few successful hunts with Blake and others from the layouts.

Layout Hunt

Travis and Blake were able to take the new Bonneville Layout Boat out to shoot some birds.  It started off slow.  The birds finally rolled in, but Trav couldn't get his shots straight.  Rumor has it that he was through 2/3rd's of a box before hit his first bird.  But then got in a groove and got these three nice birds.

More Jewelry

I was able to head out to the BRBR for a good hunt.  More jewelry came along with it.  Can't complain about how this year has started.



-Blake

Utah Opener 09

We had quite the crew out and about on the opener this year.  Paul, Trav, Tyson, Tyler, Blake, Chase, Ryan, Kelly, and Jake all came out gunning that day.  Ryan also brought his boy out with us to get him broke in a bit to what a real opener looks like.  We headed out to the normal spot at Ogden Bay.  The phrag had been sprayed and was dead everywhere around us.  For the first time in 15 years our pond had taken on a different shape.  The phrag for the first time had moved inward and cut about 1/3 of the pond off.  It's good to see the work out there that will open up so much huntable water for everyone to enjoy, and especially for the birds!

We were able to get a limit for all 9 of us.  Mostly teal, a handful of gadwalls, and some mallards and wigeon mixed in as well.  What a great day.....a perfect start to the season!



-Tyson

Wyoming Honks Year 2

Blake, Tyler, and Tyson headed up to Wyoming again this year to hunt honks for their opener. It's nice to get hunting in a week early! We hunted the same fields as we did last year, but this year set up adjacent to a shallow pond the birds had been working for the last little bit. We saw a lot of birds, but didn't quite set up on the "X" on the opener. We had two come in early and we shot them both. Tyson was also able to shoot a blue wing teal off the pond as well. We had a flock of about 30 come in and go down about 70 yards behind us. They worked the deeks for 3 circles, they never flared. There was just something in that back field that they wanted. The rest of the birds were working up the fields from us about half a mile. We tried to figure out how to put the sneak on them, but it didn't work out that day. Here's a couple shots of that day's take.





Blake was able to stick around for a few days after Tyson and Tyler left to go back to reality. He was able to find the "X". He reported that he landed approximately 150 birds in the decoys solo hunting, and was able to take his time and find a band. That hunt was over quickly for him that day. He was able to get old Coot out and on some birds as well. A great warm-up to what promises to be a great waterfowl season in Utah this year.







-Tyson

End of another great year.

Well, it's the end of another great year and we wanted to put up a couple pictures from the last two weeks.  We closed out the year in style, although without a camera, so you have to settle for just getting a couple to end the year.  

Bring on the snow goose hunt....

-Blake

More Recent Hunts

Blake and Tyson with a nice take from a late-season open water hunt.
Chase and Rip with a shoot take from the flowing water.

Blake on the maiden voyage and had a great hunt with Brandon. (below)

Coot with his prized honks!

Another of Coot with some of his birds....and another band.  

Brandon and Blake with a nice late-season ice hunt

-Blake