I LOVE days like this!!!

[eyepatrol]

Well my instinct was right in that this weather has some birds moving. When I left work for lunch I stopped and took a look over the lake I hunt and sure enough there was a flock of 30 or so mallards flying around, so I just HAD to get out there. I was set up by 12:30pm and within 2 minutes of getting the boat hidden I had a flock of about 25 mallards come right in. Picked out two drakes and got them both. A few minutes later a flock of 15 or so mallards comes by, a drake breaks off and I got him. Then a flock of 5 pintail come by and I took the closest drake.

Great day to be out there. Saw a decent number of high flocks headed south, way up in the stratosphere where the commercial airliners fly.

I'll be the first to admit that I'm by no means a good photographer, but I did try and take a few pics.

Today's limit.

Mixed flock of widgeons and pintails

A few mallards that wanted to check things out.

And a small flock of ringbills that decided to land yet keep their distance from the goose decoys after I picked up the duck decoys.

By the way, if you look hard, way in the backround just off the point in the backround there is a iittle bit of white on the water....about 10 swans.

[LovenLifeGuy]

It's time for the fall run.. I love this time of year.

Nice shoot

LovenLifeGuy

[Jeremiah Johnson]

good shooting! and nice pics! I managed to get out with my buddy also this morning and got 3 redheads(hen, 2mature drakes) hooded mergi, 2 ringnecks, and hen canvasback. I was limited to shooting til 8am because of class no mallards though!

[Guest]

That it!

I am hunting in the morning!

Those pintails sure are a cool looking bird. I got a nice drake yesterday not too far away from the area your hunting.

[Gordie]

Great pics and what a hunt . I have to go in the morning

Quack Quack BANG BANG> can't wait till morning.

[eyepatrol]

The interesting thing about today's hunt was my neighbor was out in the morning in the same spot I was, he hunted until 11:00a.m., saw some ducks, but couldn't get much of anything to decoy. I get out there 1.5hrs later and it's a turkey shoot.

This is just an observation of mine, and mostly my own opinion, but on days like today when it's semi-cold, the wind is blowing and the skies are mostly blue, the mallards seem to head off the lakes early to go out to feed, then will head south and by 11:00 or later, get to a point where they need to come down to rest. Over my years of hunting waterfowl, it seems the better mallard shooting is later in the morning, at least on the lake I hunt. This is just what it appears to me, and I certainly could be very wrong, but I've had some awefully good shoots by sticking it out until 1:00pm or so while others head in at 9:00 or 10:00 to go pheasant hunting, catch the Gophers or Vikes, or whatever they're doing.

[eyepatrol]

That's the prettiest drake pintail I think I've ever shot. Of the 5 that came in, it was easy to see that 4 were drakes and one hen. In my second picture of the mixed flocks flying over head, the bigger flock was all pintails and I could see quite a few drakes in there. I don't recall a year where I've seen this many pintails before. A pleasant site to see.

[Dean Schellinger]

AWESOME!!

[Fish&Fowl]

Congrats those are some nice birds...nice job on the pics too!

[doser]

Awsome shoot and pics Eric. I am now and itching to go especially when I'm sitting at work and that lake is only about 2 1/2 blocks away from my desk.

[hanson]

Nice Job! Great pics!

I'm drooling over that little flock of divers! Fun to shoot and good to eat! Mmmmm! Lots of nice drakes in that group.

[ChuckN]

Nice! That pintail is sweet! That's one duck I can't get. I've shot at them but they must have feather armor on whenever I get a decent shot.

[waterfowlerjm]

hey basscatcher, I am a student at MSU mankato. I've been itching to shoot a nice greenhead (haven't got one in 2 years). Can you share some info on what lake you hunt? Awesome pics!

[eyepatrol]

Lake Titloe...funny name huh? It got that name for a reason....because that's about how deep it is. It's only about 5' - 5.5' deep at it's deepest, and that's when water levels are normal. Mostly just a mud bottom lake, poor water quality with carp and bullheads.

Because it's a shallow lake, it tends to ice over early on when it gets cold out. Case-in-point....1/3 of the lake is covered with ice today.

[eyepatrol]

There were 6 ringies in that flock....5 of which were drakes. They sure are a pretty bird when the sun hits them just right.

What am I saying??? Pretty much every duck is pretty, except I sure wish I could get a bw teal when they have their color, but that ain't gonna happen.

[eyepatrol]

Doser....we're gonna have a bit of a "crew" out there tomorrow morning. Keep an ear out...maybe you'll hear us light some up! I know, that's a mean thing to say, especially if you're stuck at work.

[hanson]

Quote:

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Lake Titloe...funny name huh?

It got that name for a reason....because that's about how deep it is.

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Good stuff! Is it a coincidence the swamp I hunt is called Lake Shrinkage. Only a couple feet deep.

[Ray Esboldt]

Quote:

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Is it a coincidence the swamp I hunt is called Lake Shrinkage.

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If you fell in right now, I think you would know why it is called that.