2015/2016 Texas Duck Hunting Reports

[fishuhalik]

Well, tomorrow started our season!! It's been killing me, watching yall post pics and reports. Now, with your season coming to a close in a few weeks, I get to taunt you  

We went out scouting on Weds. Didn't find much, maybe a few hundred reds. Had a pretty cool experience when a pod of 30 or so Dolphins decided to follow us around for an hour, coming right up next to the boat to play! 

I wasn't expecting much on opening morning, but apparently quite a few birds moved down in the last couple days. The clouds of reds & pins won't be down for a few weeks, but we saw around 1500 birds or so. All redheads. When we got to the access, the wind was ripping at a sustained 18mph with 20-25mph gusts coming from the south, and of course we had to go south. Decided to hit it & it took us almost 2 hours to go 3 miles to where I wanted to set up. Finally got to the blind & got set up about 15 mins before legal light. Saw a few birds here & there but nothing close enough to pull the trigger. Movement really picked up at 9:15, when we got our first, and we were done with our red limit by 9:50.

 

 

Edited November 2, 2015 by fishuhalik

[Neighbor_guy]

Nice!!!

Welcome to the game. 

What are you using for transportation? (Just curious for curious sakes)

[fishuhalik]

I picked up a 14.5' Mad River Adventurer canoe. It's nothing fancy but it's stable & opens up a lot more possibilities. I was stuck with foot power all year last year

[Neighbor_guy]

For what it's with I like the custom paint job. Think you need to add a random black stripe here and there to seal the deal. 

A little canoe or a kayak opens up a lot of possibilities that waders and boots just can't compete with. 

[fishuhalik]

We rarely, if ever, hunt out of the canoe. We'll just use it to get to where we're going, stash it a couple hundred yards away, then hunt out of the brush along the shoreline. I mainly painted it just so it doesn't stand out too bad when it's stashed

 

[fishuhalik]

Well, the learning never stops. Figured I'd try a little freshwater action for the north Texas opener. Went to a reservoir north of Houston with a bud on the promise of some woodies, teal and gads. Got all set up & conditions were perfect. Strong north wind coming on the edge of a nice cold front. Guess the ducks had different plans. We saw a couple birds but nothing came in close enough. Had a group of mud hens come in and the boys wanted to blast em so we let em. Around 8:30 is started pouring rain so we retreated to the treeline to get some shelter. Obviously, that's when a paid of woodies decided to buzz the dekes. Woulda been a 40 yard shot if we were in the weeds but outta range from the tree line. Stuck it out til 9:30 & the rain wouldn't stop, so to save the boys moods we decided to pick up. Started gathering the dekes and another group of 4 woodies, 3 nice drakes, decided to come in. Figures. Anyways, the boys still had fun muchin snacks and goofin off so it was still a success. Time to hit the coast hard though. Sounds like a lot more reds & pins have moved in so I'm off to the big water!

 

On a side note to add to my little journal here, I gotta remember to check this place out for deer hunting next year. Saw a handful of deer on the way in and even though this was deer opener, saw very few hunters. 

Edited November 9, 2015 by fishuhalik

[Ufatz]

One of the best duck hunting spots I've seen in TX is at the tidal pool in downtown Rockport!  Man I have seen it covered with every species you can imagine.  And a few hundred yards away guys  are casting for seatrout and small reds.

I strongly suspect however that a few shotgun blasts would not go unnoticed and you would likely be doing your next planning from a small cell.

Ha Ha Ha.   Great area.  Lots of fun. But it DOES rain a lot.

Have fun. Oh....is Katy still dry?

Edited November 9, 2015 by Ufatz

[fishuhalik]

Ufatz, Katy is the exact opposite of dry. We're soaked right now! It's been a crazy year for rainfall. Seems like we get dumped on about once a week

Yesterday was a tough day. A bud & I made plans to go back into some marshes to chase pins, teal, widgeon and scaup. I've been wanting to get in there for a while. As I'm driving down to Corpus, he calls & backs out on me. Super. Ended up going to a walk-in spot of mine. Sailed one pin, shoulda had a limit of em but I like shooting em feet down as opposed to questionable 45 yard passing shots. Buddy decided he wanted to join me after he woke up & joined me at 8:30, after everything was done flying. He even let me carry the 80lb decoy/gear bag both ways. What a guy. Needless to say he won't be joining me again any time soon 

 

 

Edited November 16, 2015 by fishuhalik

[Ufatz]

When I asked "is Katy still dry?" I mean is it still a non-booze area? Used to be you had to drive to next place down the road to buy beer etc.
 That is an interesting area for hunting and fishing,  no question. I've caught some dandy reds within a mile or so of downtown Rockport and there is some great duck hunting a few miles farther up the coast-beyond Fulton.  But it is hard for an old duck hunter to get used to the idea of hunting ducks in a short sleeved shirt.  And be sure to carefully clean all your gear-that warm salt water will eat it almost overnight.

And I would for SURE lose that so called buddy of yours. What a jerk.

Have fun. Oh......I had a nice big crocodile swim right by me one day while I was wade fishing some flats close to town. Just thought I'd mention that!

[fishuhalik]

Oh, no, Katy definitely isn't dry. There's booze in every gas station (not that 3.2 junk either!) and several liquor stores, bars, etc. I'm working this weekend and real bummed about it. I'm guessing we're gonna have a pretty incredible push the next day or so with all that cold weather y'all are getting. Kind of a blessing though, since I've only worked in the field 2 days in the last month and a half. Thankful everyone is enjoying the cheap gas, but man is it hurting my industry and the men in it! Been working a few hours in the shop every day, rebuilding and going over every inch of our equipment and downhole tools. Thankfully, my boss pays us a minimum of 50 hours a week so I'm able to keep my bills paid. I don't make much hourly and most of money comes from job bonus and overtime, but at least we're staying afloat.

Edited November 21, 2015 by fishuhalik

[fishuhalik]

Beat up some bills yesterday. Tried a new spot and they were thick. Saw very few birds other than bills and a couple reds. Bud took the nice drake he shot home with him and gave me the rest of em. Great spot to keep in mind but I think I'll keep looking. I haven't killed a full limit of 6 birds since NoDak last October. The numbers of ducks down here is just ridiculous, but it seems like reds & pins are in one kind of area, bills in another and various puddlers in another area that I haven't tried yet. Back to the drawing board tomorrow 

Edited November 23, 2015 by fishuhalik

[fishuhalik]

It's a diver beat down!! Tried another new area & had a ball today with reds, scaup and buffleheads. Almost had a bachelor party today but one suicidal hen buffie decided she wanted to get in the same pattern that killed her boyfriend. Quite a few (+/- 500) in the decoys today. Had several small groups of buffies, a real nice group of about 50 scaup and a few hundred reds come in with their feet down. Jumped a MESS of pins when we got to the spot and we were hoping they'd come back after LST, but no such luck. Weather was beautiful at 75 degrees for a high, cloudy and 10-15mph winds  

First split is over this weekend and I'll be staying with family in Dallas from Weds-Sun, so this is probably my last chance to hunt for the next few weeks, unless I travel up to the North Zone. You guys have fun closing up the season in that state I still call home. Believe it or not, I do miss it up there some times!

Edited November 25, 2015 by fishuhalik

[fishuhalik]

Oh, and in case you guys were wondering, stuffing a medium sized Otter sled with dekes and pulling it behind a canoe works GREAT! We fit 6 dozen dekes in the sled and it floated perfect. It slowed us down a little bit we only had a little over a mile to paddle and we were able to get over 10 dozen dekes out in one trip

[fish_hunt_guy]

Awesome pics sir. Way to stay on em and keep the reports coming.

[fishuhalik]

FINALLY got a chance to get out today and was able to get MiniMe out too. Forgot how much fun it is loading an 85lb canoe on top of a car by myself haha 

First light had 3 different flocks of buffies come in on a string and land in the dekes. Today was about Brendan though & I let him try to table blast em. He must of got his marksmanship skills from me though, cuz he missed all three chances. Once the sun showed herself and the Reds started moving, they formed 2 rafts of several thousand birds each about 1/4-1/2 mile away and were sucking in every bird for miles. Had lots of passing shot opportunities but I wanted to save our 4 red limit for him. As the day waned and he was ready to go, I dropped a lone drake that came too close. A little while later a fishing boat busted up the raft and I tripled to end the day. Believe me when I say, that's about as rare as a banded pintail hybrid haha

After we were done & headed back home to Katy, we were passing a small salt slough by the road that was loaded with coots. Experience has told me that usually good ducks follow coots, but they were nowhere to be found so I broke out the spottingn scope. On the far shoreline was quite the spectacle. I've never seen so much variety in one place. Along with severa hundred pins were wigeon, bwt, gwt, gads, shovelers, reds, cans, scaup, ringers, ruddies, common mergs, buffies, and even a drake mallard. Guys that hunt salt their whole lives without seeing a mallard. I definitely know where I'll be this weekend!

 

[SledNeck]

Atleast youre seeing some. I head down south on the 30th for 10 days. If it doesn't get colder in the Midwest its gonna be a drinking trip.

[IceHawk]

Some good looking  ducks man those redheads are beautifull!

[fishuhalik]

Sled, if y'all can't find any birds up where you're at, come on down to the coast! Might not be much green but we have everything else. I've got a group of guys coming down to hunt the 1st-8th & we have plenty of room for some more guys

[fishuhalik]

Was hoping to get out duck hunting this weekend, but we've got 30-40mph winds and I really don't think its a good idea to take the canoe out by myself in this wind since I can't find a partner. Besides, the dove are ridiculously thick around my shop so I figured I'd give them a try. Never shot dove, but how hard can it be? Apparently, a lot harder than shooting ducks!! First day was flat calm and they were flying high. Was hitting decent and shot 5 with about 15 shots fired, along with 2 squirrels. Today, the wind was gusting up to 40mph and man, what a challenge. I burned through 56 shells to get 11, sailed 2 & knocked off a couple feathers on some Hail Marys. Kinda nice being able to walk out the door of my company housing, walk 300 yards & be shooting. I think I might be doing this more often...

Edited December 27, 2015 by fishuhalik

[SledNeck]

is that a 26" barrel?

[fishuhalik]

24"

[SledNeck]

you use that for waterfowl too?

[fishuhalik]

Yes sir. Takes out some of my range but I love the way it swings and handles. I don't shoot em past 35-40 yards anyways

[fish_hunt_guy]

How do you prepare squirrel? Just curious I've never tried it. Or don't you eat them?

[fishuhalik]

Those were extermination kills. They get into the shop and wreak havoc. I did try skinning em but once I got the pelt off they smelled AWFUL