All She Wrote

Well it's been quite a while since the last post. It been crazy at the Ditch and have been getting home just in time to eat and go to bed and wake for the next mornings hunt. Had non-stop action the last week and it's been just crazy. Been shooting dozens of ducks everyday, finally! It all started last Saturday, the birds were coming from everywhere and we couldn't load fast enough. Every time we looked up there were ducks. It's been a long season and the time spent finally paid off. If you're reading this and believing it, you need to stay off the eggnog. Our last real hunt was a short 5 hour sit last Sunday. Didn't see a single bird in the air. The day ended with flipping the switch, winding up the cords and neatly stacking the deeks for a later pick-up. Was a long disappointing season this year. The ducks still haven't come through and we're pretty sure it's gonna be a while before they do. From day one this season has been unusual. We had that opening weekend snow and from that point on, nothing was predictable.

Got an update from the South Ditch on this seasons success down there. A ditch that is accustomed to shooting 150-200 ducks and 50-75 Can's in a season, they've managed just 12 ducks and 15 geese. Heard a story from a Mississippi River backwater boat hunter and his take this year was 4 ducks, and they are completely mobile. Last year they shot over 100.

Throughout the season, it seems that there were plenty of geese migrating, but nothing that showed a lot of interest and a lot that were flying at heights that are deemed un-workable. Our bird numbers this year were 1/2 of 2008. The reason is still unknown. We made some changes this year and I'd like to say that they were the wrong. Unfortunately I can't. No one has been shooting ducks, and the "where are the ducks" emails continue daily. We are all locked up and only have a few hours of picking up until this years season is officially in the bag.

If you're reading this, send us an update on your season's success. Just a simple terrible, great, or 'bout normal, would suffice for now. Good news is that it's time to start thinking, once again, about the Great Snow Goose Chase. We were non-committal when this years season started, but due to the lack of action, we'll probably give it another GO. Oughta be exciting. That's all for now. Check back for the latest and greatest and thanks for all the hits. We're gonna keep updating until the CHASE starts. We'll come up with something to say, something to talk about, or some insightful(yeah right) story or tactic. So don't give up on us, hoping we can come up with enough stuff to keep everyone interested.

Clearing Her Throat

The slightly over-weight, long haired, large bosom'd gal is tuning up. Spent about 5 hours this AM at the Ditch baggin' deeks, beating ice, and looking at empty skies. The sunshine was welcomed and was hoping for birds locked up sailing in. Didn't happen, only saw 4 Canada Geese. That's it, nothing else. Can't believe it's December 10th and we're all still wishing and hoping. Wishing the ducks would come, and hoping we are there when they do. This weeks efforts fell nothing short of miraculous with the incumbent weather. Don't really know of any Ditch that's been man'd the last 3 days. If we haven't been there we've tried to get there. When we did get there we shot Zero times. I heard a horrible story today from the Duk Whisperer, formerly known as SR, he told me he's fired his gun only 8 times this season, and 4 of those were at Teal early on. Now that's a sad, sad story. He's hunted the Ditch, the South Ditch, the Leshara Ditch and the Hay Ditch...man he gets around almost as much as Tiger...and really has nothing but camaraderie to talk about. We are gonna give it at least one more go this Sunday and see what happens. All of the changes we've made this year have done everything we had hoped for. We've had open water this whole week! Unfortunately there hasn't been any waterfowl to enjoy it. That's all for now, check back for the latest and greatest and thanks for over 20,000 Hits. Email us whatever you know. (Check out the 2009 Sites at the Bottom of the Page.)

Doe Rae Me Fa So La Ti Doe

Hello again all my technologically advanced and well connected waterfowl enthusiast friends. Welcome to Muck Bottom Outfitters Waterfowl Report. Headed our way to the Ditch this morning thinking today just might be the day. The sky was clear, the winds were movin' and the snow was finally over. Could it be now that the 1 million ducks in South Dakota would radio the tower and request a fly by? The drive was as good as expected with the snow packed roads. The trek East on the county road wasn't quite as pleasing. Made it only about 100 yds in before it was time to turn around. The E to W county roads are just no fun with drifts. So was today the day? Can't really tell you. I heard a report from the Hay Ditch that a lot of birds got off the lake this AM, headed in sort of a Southerly direction and never returned. Not good! Was searching the net today in hopes of something interesting and I found it. It's the graph on the right hand side. Explains where all the ducks are. The Mallard Migration has apparently moved to the Mississippi. You can follow the ducks, see the current concentration in South Dakota and see how the masses have shifted East. Explains a whole lot! Heading out tomorrow to either hunt or breaks deeks out of the ice and pick some up, never to return to the waters of 2009. That's all for now, check back for the latest and greatest and thanks for all the hits! PS - someone had mentioned a slightly overweight, long haired, large bosom'd female warming up the wind pipes, hence the title.

When it Looks this GOOD...

...they're gonna come in. Aren't they. Well the spread looked amazing today as well as the amount of open water. Can't believe that nothing happened. First light was great, as the snow was barely comin' down. You could look up and almost see the Mallards locked-up on the spread. Almost! The snow proved to be entirely too thick and it was time 'bout 10AM. That's all she wrote. Goin' out tomorrow hopin' the winds blow 'em down. The snow is supposed to be done by about 5AM, and last I looked, mostly cloudy and a bit breezy. South Dakota has snow, not quite as much as is coming down here, but with the big winds tomorrow, they're gonna move at some point. Are we gonna see 'em? Who knows? Can only guarantee that you won't see 'em from the couch.

Got a report from the Boyer Boys, D. Oz wrote: Sunday - we couldn't get the geese to work. The snow started and the geese quit flying. We were just about to call it around 2PM when we heard a goose. Looked out and four were on a string coming in. They circled two times and two left and two came. We got those two. A lone mallard pulled the other two away. Monday - we saw everything but ducks, no shots fired. We had six trumpeter swans come 20 feet over the pond, saw five sand hill cranes and some S&B's. Not hunting Tuesday and will wait out the weather.

That's all for now. Gonna be hunting hard the next 2 days, should pay off. Check back for the latest and greatest, and thanks for over 20,000 hits. Email us your report.

Winter IS HERE

Well first I must start off with a couple "clean up" reports from Saturday. Kohler West, MC Wrote: 0 shots fired. We did see 1 lone Mallard drake, 2 bunches of S&B's and of course 2 bunches of Canadas when we were leaving the parking lot! Tomorrow is going to be the day! Boyer Boys, D. Oz wrote: Well lots of bird watching today. The S&B's were wall to wall coming down river. Saw fewer Can's today and just a few bunches of ducks. No shots fired. Maybe tomorrow, God I hope so! Leshara Ditch, DucksNBrownDogs wrote: Saturday - one goose at first light. Saw some geese flying south and not as many ducks around.

All around the world, the same luck was had...NONE!

Now on to Sunday. I'm gonna make a guess here and say that we've had a big jump in hits cause you're all wondering if we had the "day", cause you didn't. Well the weather was movin' in and we decided not to venture out in the AM and planned to roll out just after dinner. Partially due to wind/weather and partial due to some minor over hangs. Got settled about 1PM and the snow followed shortly thereafter. Was hoping for some good action but the snow and wind made it almost impossible to see anything. Saw only 3 bunches of Can's, 1 bunch of ducks, a pair of drake mallards, a hen mallard and 1 small group of snow geese. We managed to fire 9 shots today on the pair and the hen and we hit absolutely nothing. Well I take that back...we hit one but it sailed about 1/2 mile into the unknown, impossible to find. Coyotes will be happy tonight! Also, if you've never seen a hen get shot at and then land in the deeks and then escape untouched after two more, you just haven't spent enough time in the ditch. Hunted snow up to sundown and nothing in the bag.

On to reports for today.

Leshara Ditch, DucksNBrown Dogs wrote: Was hoping, with the wind picking up this evening, things would start happening. Only shot one Mallard. Seen a couple flocks of ducks and geese headed South. Getting depressed, where are all the ducks? Kohler West, MC Wrote: It is very sad to say that today was not the day...we managed to shoot 1 Chicken (Cackler) and 6 Ducks. Stuck it out to the bitter end and found more winter conditions closer to home than at the farm. This snow could be trouble! South Ditch, Duk Master Wrote: Forgot to call after we left. Day started out fun. We were setting up with more dekes then usual due to the perfect ice hole. Had a lonie Canada LAND in the floaters 5 feet away from one of the guys standing on the ice. Sent the dog on a scare away instead of a retrieve( though she almost caught the goose). Of course this was 5 minutes before legal go time and no one had a cannon loaded. Anyway had another lonie lock and look but wouldn’t finish. Then had another lock, look and die. Had 2 more get close enough to kill but the “Litigator” and “Ole One Eye” couldn’t get the job done. Waterfowl Wizard showed up late( something about bad ice in the Scotch). Had another pair come REAL close and got dead in a hurry. The Swim Suit Model aka Professor Benelli showed up even later than the Wizard, same bad ice, but brought no luck with him. So for the day 3 Cans and 2 clean misses. Did see lots of migrating Cans. Also saw something from years past, DUCKS!! Had a few hundred come out of the South East and feed in the corn behind us. They wanted nothing to do with water. Had 5 guys at the start and Myself, Wizard and the Professor left 2 newbies in the Ditch when we left at 3:30. Once the snow started the show stopped. That was it. The Legends haven't posted since Friday, so their Ditch must be the same sad song.

I must agree with MC, this snow is nothing but trouble. We're going to be covered up by morning and no temps above 20's for this whole week. There is a doozy building up right now supposed to dump at least 6 inches on us Tuesday into Wednesday. This could be it for the migration. They should be movin' this next week ahead of, during, and after the snow. Better make some time to get out before it's over. That's all for now, check back for the latest and greatest and thanks for over 20,000 HITS!

Just One Report Today

Kohler West, MC Wrote: 0 shots fired. We did see1 lone Mallard drake, 2 bunches of S&B's and of course 2 bunches of Canadas when we were leaving the parking lot! Tomorrow is going to be the day.

By afternoon its supposed to be goin' tomorrow. Will be updating as we hear. Check for the latest and greatest and thanks for all the hits.

Phone Didn't make any Noise Today...

...so you know we had bad winds. However, if a guy tried to look outside when he could today you could see birds moving again. Received a couple reports after the day was done. One got sent to me and the other I had to play "bird dog" and hunt up.

Leshara Ditch, DucksNBrownDogs wrote: Today we had a few flocks of ducks circling but could not get them to commit. Not as many birds flying today as there was yesterday.

South Ditch, early hunt by Duk Master yielded and early morning exit. Nothing flying until on the drive home. Professor Binelli was at it again and made the trek just before lunch. Again, a great afternoon for bird watching and honing in on your calling skills. The Professor reported that it was another afternoon of non stop birds but nothing committing to the Northwind layout with Southerly winds. The snow geese were moving again in such fashion that one string took almost 10 minutes to complete the flyover. While spending 6 hours watching the skies, only 2 ducks observed. That's right, not 2000, not 200, not 20 groups, not 2 groups, just 2 ducks.

Seems as if all of us on this side of the state are seeing very few ducks. South Dakota says they have big numbers, but if they're leavin' they're not coming this way. Thanks to all the hard work of the WRP, the flyway is shifting West. All of us sitting on the Missouri River Corridor thank you so very much. One thing that has been promising is the number of Can's. There is definitely no shortage there. If you're set up for 'em and focused on 'em you'll get into them. The weather is calming down just a bit tomorrow before the Big Kahuna. Or, at least what they're saying will be scoop-able snow. The first of the year hitting us Sunday with North Winds could be the beginning of some crazy shooting, or quite possibly the end of the birds. Only time will tell. This next week looks to be the week to consult your Duck Doctor. Could have as much as 4 inches on the ground from an in coming Monday Night into Tuesday storm. Oh could it be true?

That's all for now, check back for the latest and greatest and thanks for all the hits. Email us your report.

Cloudy with a Chance of Migration

Woke up this AM with the moon shinning bright and a small West wind. Was a bit disappointed in that and decided to roll out anyway. The winds switched abruptly and the clouds rolled in as promised by the weather dudes. Finally they were right. At shooting time had a group of 20 and we dropped 4. Sat for quite a while after that before our next action which was a lone drake with a death wish. One shot and he was done for. We sat and sat and sat. Saw some bunches of snows and quite a few bunches of Can's. Very little duck movement. Walked out just after 11AM with a one man limit of Mallards. Bout dang time! Didn't want to leave but all the texts and phone calls indicated no migratory movement and we sure as heck weren't seeing anything. Got back to the house and unloaded the dog, wishing there birds. The South Ditch managed to punish 3 of 4 Can's this morning and there was still a warm body down there waiting out the push. With the winds howling and late afternoon snow showers still in the forecast, the bug bit. Headed to the South Ditch in hopes of a great Canada shoot with Professor Binelli. He very seldom hunts for no reason, somehow it always seems as if he's shootin' birds in the late afternoon hours. What the heck, had a few more hours of freedom for the day, what could it hurt. Not disappointed in the decision even though a shot was never fired. From just before Noon to Shutdown, non stop migrating birds by the thousands. Not great at counting birds but I would guess we saw 50,000 birds migrating, almost all Carp and Can's. Just a few bunches of ducks. There were new birds coming in by the truck-load. Couldn't entice a single bird down from their comfort zone. Haven't seen migratory action like this, in a single day, for quite a few years. Even though no shot were fired, it was great to see birds again. Still wondering where all the ducks are. Who knows whats gonna happen the next few days. Lots of birds rolled in today. The Hay Ditch was hanging "no vacancy" signs in their deeks before they even crawled into the Ditch. Looking forward to hearing just how many minutes it took them to limit this afternoon. May find a field Sunday, may go to the Ditch, just depends on the weather.

Got one report so far tonight from the Leshara Ditch, haven't heard from them in a while. DuckNBrown Dogs Wrote: Well after the last couple weeks of a shot here and there on ducks and geese, today was a great hunt. Ended up with a 4 man limit on ducks early, the sky had new ducks, didn't see much for geese. Saw two huge flocks of ducks to shoot but close to our limit and didn't want to educate them yet hoping this continues through the weekend.

Got an interesting email today that I thought was worth sharing. Apparently we're getting worldwide exposure:
GOOD DAY,
MY NAME IS MR WILSON I AM A CONTRACTOR AND I LIVE IN THE UNITED KINGDOM AND MY SON IS INTERESTED IN HUNTING AT YOUR PLACE I WANT TO KNOW THE COST AND ALSO I NEED MORE DETAILS ON HOW YOUR HUNTING ACTIVITIES ARE LIKE

1 DO YOU HAVE ACCOMMODATION,
2 TRANSPORTATION FACILITIES,
3 DO YOU HANDLE FEEDING OF THE HUNTERS

I WILL ALSO LIKE TO KNOW THE HUNTING PACKAGES YOU HAVE AND PERIODS OR DATES AVAILABLE AND OTHER NECESSARY THINGS HE WILL NEED TO BRING ALONG FOR HUNTING HE WISHES TO HUNT FOR 2 FULL DAYS

I WILL BE EXPECTING YOUR SOONEST REPLY WITH PACKAGES AVAILABLE THE DATES AND AMOUNT SO THAT I CAN MAKE ARRANGEMENTS ON HIS ARRIVAL AND
PAYMENT OF THE HUNT

WARMEST REGARDS

Wow, the power of the Internet. To Mr Wilson: Dear Sir, unfortunately we are Outfitters by name only. We are just a bunch of guys with a pretty good duck spot who found the Internet and started writing about our hunts. While we're inclined to say we'd love to take your son hunting, we're just not that good to have him fly across the world to spend time with us. Unless he's interested in sleeping in a spare bed room, eating leftovers and drinking coffee, there are no more guarantees than that when hangin' out with our bunch. We are all flattered that you've thought of us and happy that you're reading the blog. We started this year saying "Muck Bottom is Goin' Global" little did we know it would be literally. Thanks Mr. Wilson for your interest, hope you find a great place for your son to hunt.

That's all for now, check back for the latest and greatest and thanks for all the hits. Email us your reports.

Tomorrow's the Day?

The good news started early today. Text messages about flocks and flocks of ducks moving. Phone calls wondering if the Ditch was man'd. Ducks down and in the bag by 15 mins after shootin' time. Pictures sent of one guys' first ever duck shot and taken home. Was very hopeful. But, just like that it was all gone. All the movement was done by 830. From then until 11 nothing flying. Until, that is, the hunters got to the truck. The hunting hound was put away, the waders removed, the guns cased, and one last look to the lake. Oh no...6 Can's floating at about 20 feet locked up over the top of the sit and shoot. If only they had stayed. Thought by now all the 10 to 2 talk would've kept 'em there till at least then but they just had to get home. Must have had a nap planned or something. When you have nothing but chores to do around the house, don't know what could possibly send a guy home with 20 MPH+ Northerly Winds. Wait...I know what it was...it was the fear of yesterdays replay. A 10AM to close with nothing but hunger to show for it. That must have been it.

Tonight's weather for tomorrow has more migratory winds and even a few snow flakes. This season's luck will have it 60 degrees by noon I'm sure. All the talk is that everyone will be full as a tick tomorrow in their respective Ditches, disappointment is surely going to pass us by tomorrow isn't it? Huh? Isn't it? C'mon, help me out here. Repeat after me, "tomorrow's the day, tomorrow's the day, tomorrow's the day." I once heard (on the Disney Channel) that if, just before you close your eyes for the night, you repeat something 10 times, it will come true. So lets all do it. Lets all say it 10 times tonight before we close our eyes. We can do it. Hey, it's not really that crazy, look at the stuff we do year after year just to hunt:

• dishes
• laundry
• clean house
• foot massages
• back rubs

Oh wait, that's probably just me. No one else here has to do anything "special" for that weekend away, that sat AM, that sun AM, or that day of the week when you roll out and 5AM and it's your day to take the kids. Anyway, hope tomorrow's the day. That's all for now, check back for the latest and greatest and thanks for all the hits. If it's really goin' tomorrow I'll let you all know, if you're not hunting. I think I've figured out how to text to this blog from my phone. Send us your report.

Calm Before the Storm

Well, one could've hoped for a bit of a push before this front began to move through. Nothing, nada, zip, zilch. The text message said "10am to close did not see or hear a single duck or goose. WASTED DAY." Lets hope they are all just hunkered down getting ready to ride the next 48 hours of migratory winds. I noticed the lack of a report tonight from the Legends Ditch so I'm assuming they stopped at "seven days and counting" and they saw nothing as well. The winds have begun and bits of clouds are starting to move in. Tomorrow, at some point, we should see some of those birds that are hung up by the hundreds of thousands in South Dakota. It may be a long day, but "rot" is definitely in the planner for tomorrow and Thursday. If you're going out, bring lunch too! We have less than 20 days for the ducks and with just a couple of free days a week, a guy, or gal needs to put in the time from here on out.

Got a weekend report from The Boyer Boys. D. OZ Wrote: don't have much to report from the weekend. Two big boys on Sunday. Lot of high flyer's and geese mostly darks. Maybe this week. Glad to hear the legends are finally getting into some.

The Ditch will be man'd in the AM, as well as the Blackberry. Email us your report and, as always, check back for the latest and greatest.

Not Today

Well today was filled with wishful thinking and excitement. Winds were howlin' on the way to the Ditch, sky was covered with clouds, breakfast was packed and the thermos was full. Settled in expecting pre-shooting time birds flippin' around the lake. Didn't happen and didn't kick off a single bird on the way in. One would've thought that with the late migrating action last night there would be birds sitting. Again, not the case. Within the first 15 minutes of shooting time we saw a lot of Geese, all Can's. The continuing push held together until around 9AM. Constant efforts to pull birds for a solid 2 hours. The cloud cover blew out way to soon. Needed them to hang 'til around noon and would've fared much better. All the local Ditches were fully man'd based on the action/traffic on the way there. Imagine just about everyone had similar luck, or lack thereof today. Did manage to have one group of ducks come from 35,000 feet just before noon. Worked us over pretty good and wouldn't come inside of 50yds before they bugged out. Walked out shortly after that as lunch was not packed. Saw plenty of geese again and very little ducks. Where are they? Does anyone know? Can't seem to find a single ditch having much luck on the "quacks." We didn't plan the year for geese and left way to much of the lake standing with weeds and cover. Almost impossible for us to pull 'em in on a relatively "closed" lake. What we did plan on was a mass exodus of ducks. That just hasn't happened yet.

Far as I know the 17 guys in the G'Ditch didn't harvest a bird today. May have happened late, but didn't happen while we were there.

Kohler West MC Wrote: Today was not the day...it should have been but it was not! 4 bunches of Canadas tried us and only 1 bunch provided the "Kohler classic" shot at under 20 yards. 8 birds in the bunch...7 down and 1 cripple we could not find. Lots of Snows & Blues moved again today but only 4 ducks spotted. We have changed our thinking from count on the ducks and hope for geese to count on the geese and hope for ducks!

South Ditch saw a lot of geese again and on last word, no harvest.

South to the East Ditch took home one Canada. Didn't get into 'em big but managed to take 1 out of 3 that worked.

That's all for now. Hope the ducks come soon. Check back for the latest and greatest and thanks for all the hits. Email us your report.

Late Movement

Hello again all my technologically advanced and well connected waterfowl enthusiast friends. Welcome to Muck Bottom Outfitters Waterfowl Report. Today was an interesting day to say the least. Just before noon it was 50+ degrees and no wind. No calls received concerning any action in the "Ditches." Then just after noon the wind started blowing and some sky cover moved in. Still no word. About 330PM the phones rang. Reports from two locations had ducks on the move. Not just ducks, but Migrating Mallards in big numbers up and down the Mo River. Lots and lots and lots and lots and lots was one phone call. The other call included the word "thousands." So it appears real movement has begun among the ducks. The weather right now is 42 degrees with minimal West winds. By 6AM the winds are supposed to be whippin' from the NW with gusts up to 20mph. Lets hope there is some action to be had in the AM. Did receive an email report concerning today. I read that RK and the boys got into the Can's again. Let hope tomorrow brings good fortune to all of us "patient" hunters.

Kohler West MC Wrote: No shots fired, 5 bunches of Canadas spotted. 1 bunch of 75 tried real hard to play but must have felt 63 degrees and no wind was not the right look. Tomorrow will be the day!

Check back for the latest and greatest and thanks for all the hits. Email us your report.

Friday Success

Kohler West MC Wrote: 3 Canadas 1 Cackler 3 Snows and 3 ducks...not bad for 67 degrees and little to no wind. Only bad part was missing out on 11 Canadas at 12:00pm, they must have heard the noon whistle and went to see what was going on in town.

Definitely a sign that there are birds around. 67 degrees and got some shootin'. That's all for now keep checkin' back and thanks for all the hits.

Another Report

Received another report from Turkey Day. Waterfowl Wizard wrote: Hunted the Hay ditch on Turkey day. Killed 5 big geese. Ditch Honcho said that many more geese are roosted across the road and must be sittin'. He believes that we only saw a fraction of them come off in the AM. He's out huntin' today. Will keep you posted with any reports.

Post script; We continued to see migrating flocks of dark geese, in the morning, no ducks on the move.

Funny how that works. We've been watching some large groups of geese the last 4 or so days and they come out like clockwork at night but are almost impossible to find in the morning. Maybe the nice weather only has 'em comin' out once a day to feed. Have some promising winds Sunday and some cooler weather and winds Wednesday and Thursday next week. Still holdin' out hope. That's all for now, will keep up with the reports as they come.

High Hopes - Disappointing Results

Hello again all my technologically advanced and well connected waterfowl enthusiast friends. Welcome to Muck Bottom Outfitters Waterfowl Report. After Tuesday's actions we rolled up to the Ditch Wednesday AM with high, high, high, high hopes. The Duck Doctor made a call and we had 3 bodies there hoping for, at the very least, a Thanksgiving Goose to cook up. 9 hours later we walked out with the worst possible wild animal you could come home with...that's right, the SKUNK. Fired only one round. The amount of birds migrating was unbelievable. Lots of Geese, both light and dark. Not very many ducks though. That part was a bit disappointing.

Got an email from a new reporter, down by Boyer Chute. D. Oz Wrote: We have had just a ball in October with the Teal and the Wood ducks. But the November weather is killing us. We've been hunting hard even the nice days. We are getting a few Canada's now and then we've shot four in the last two day's. The last two day's we are seeing a lot of geese mostly snows, but are seeing some ducks. Our season starts out better then last year. So far we have 102 ducks and 12 Canadas. Enjoy your web site, keep up the good work. I hope we all get into the duck's soon.

Kohler West Weds MC Wrote: Today's kill = 12 Canadas (all Cacklers) 7 out of the 1st bunch, 5 from bunch 2 and 1 duck (Pintail). From 11:30am through 3:00pm over 53 bunches of geese were spotted with 90% being dark. We saw 1 duck all day and he rode home with us, the only disappointing part of the day. Breakfast was 5 star!

Kohler West T-Day MC Wrote: 4 Mallard Drakes in a bunch...all in the pile...the only ducks seen. 12 bunches of Canadas with 1 bunch of 8 hanging over the lake when leaving. Timing is everything.

South Ditch Wed: A determined group held out all day. Had 3 Cans come rolling in and they popped up at 'bout 50yds and dropped zero. Had another 5 come a rollin' in later and dropped just one with 5 guns. They ended the day with a bigger group that just wouldn't commit. Again, reporting very few migrating ducks seen and nothing decoyable.

G'Ditch Wed: The part about this group that kills me is we can see 'em shoot every time from our location, sometimes they win, sometimes we win. They had the upper hand all day on Wednesday. When we walked out with zero, they had to have walked out with at least 20 ducks and 7-10 Can's. If that don't make a guy want to turn the shotgun around don't know what would. They were where they needed to be for that day and we just weren't.

That's all I got for now. There was some stories of great huntin' and some stories of disappointment. Let's hope all the birds aren't South. Check back for the latest and greatest and thanks for all the hits.

Are they comin' Yet

Got a great email from our new friend Spitfire and we may still be waiting a while longer even though the weather incoming is making us think it'll be now. Spitfire wrote: I have enjoyed reading your reports. We have a spot a close to you and have had pretty much the same results. Although I spend most of my time in a boat blind, this year has been dismal at best. Thought you might want an update from Up North. NE South Dakota has water and birds everywhere. I just got off the phone with a guy who has been smacking mallards in flooded fields. His report, according to the local people and farmers is that the “Northern Birds have not even arrived yet.” He also saw plenty of pintails and teal. Thought you might want that bit of good news about what’s to come…if it stops. I will be heading to SD in the next ten days and will try and report my results. Keep up the great reports…what would we do without technology.

So there you have it! Don't know what the next couple of days will be bringing from the North, but the Duck God's have to be on our side. We've all put in our time, energy and what seems to be never-ending expense. Surely they are on our side Be posting as we hear today, everyone is out. That's all for now. Keep checking back if you happen to be working and not out. Reports to follow:

1st Report 11 AM MC Wrote: Early indications point toward a poor decision to choose work over hunting today. 3 ducks, 3 Canadas on the pile from the 1st call then, “we’re covered up…I’ll call you back”…from the 2nd.More to follow...

2nd Report 1 PM MC Wrote: Non-stop migration…mostly Snows & Blues with some Canadas and ducks mixed in. “get out here” was not mentioned.

3rd Reoprt 1 PM - Call from South Ditch on the board finally today with one Pintail. Asked them if they knew it was Thanksgiving already!

4th Report 337 PM - Wizard wrote: Spoke to S to E Ditch around 2:00. Pulled nine canadas in after I left. Managed to only down 1. They did indicate a increase in movement after I departed. However, they also said that the ducks are not playing. Won't come off the river. Waiting for a recent report from the hay ditch.

5th Report 400 PM - Done at South Ditch 1 Pintail - lots of geese movin' ducks not playing at all saw a ton more geese, snows and can's, than ducks.

Quite a day developed, I just read that RK and the Legends pounded the birds good today. All parties involved took home limits. They reported many more workable ducks than everyone else. The winds are supposed to hold on thru Thursday. Will be at the Ditch in the AM, hoping to hear Duk Master's shooting calls come true. We need to have limits before running out of shells tomorrow. That's all for now. Check back, throughout the day, to see what's going on. Thanks for all the hits.

If it Ain't Now? When?

Tonight

Rain showers. Lows in the upper 30s. North winds 5 to 15 mph. Gusts up to 30 mph after midnight. Chance of showers near 100 percent.

Tuesday

Breezy...colder. Rain showers in the morning...then rain likely in the afternoon. Highs in the lower 40s. Northwest winds 15 to 25 mph. Chance of precipitation 90 percent.

Tuesday Night

Mostly cloudy. A slight chance of rain and snow in the evening...then a slight chance of rain after midnight. Lows around 30. Northwest winds 15 to 20 mph with gusts to around 30 mph. Chance of precipitation 20 percent.

Wednesday

Breezy. Partly sunny with a 20 percent chance of snow. Highs around 40. Northwest winds 15 to 25 mph.

And to that Duk Master Wrote: Wednesday is the day!! Ducks at 8:12 AM. Geese at 10:41 AM. You heard it here first from the Duk Master!

Tomorrow Might Be Worth It????

Hello again all my technologically advanced and well connected waterfowl enthusiast friends. Welcome to Muck Bottom Outfitters Waterfowl Report. Zero anticipation of action today so the Ditch remained unman'd again, and yes it is November 21. Received a phone call from the Wizard around 4PM this afternoon and he was wondering if anyone had been hunting today. He had some time to waste late this afternoon and was sitting at the South Ditch. Excitement rang in his voice and I could tell something was going on. There was about 2 hours, from 3PM to close, of migrating Mallards. His best guess was that he saw around 5,000 or so high in the sky. On a South wind even! The captain of the Hay Ditch had called Wizard and told him, in exact words, "IT"S ON!" Some new birds have moved into the Valley area and tomorrow is full of high hopes for the Hay Ditch and crew. For us, we'll have to hope the birds are still movin' around Wed and Thurs. With an already short week of work with the Holiday, almost no chance of getting any extra days this week.

Got a report from Kohler West echoing the same hopeful news. MC Wrote: Saturday 11/21 - 7 ducks, 6 Mallards 1 Hollywood. Sunday 11/22 - Zero, no shots fired. Did see 2 bunches of Mallards, no decoying. Never saw or heard a goose either day. Side note…scheduled off all of this week to hunt but altered that plan after yesterday. 3 of the guys are out today and based on their report I will decide on tomorrow. Hunting Wednesday through Sunday regardless.

That's all I got for now. We'll be updating as we hear, check back for the latest and greatest and thanks for all the hits.

No Guns, No Ammo, No Surprises

Hello again all my technologically advanced and well connected waterfowl enthusiast friends. Welcome to Muck Bottom Outfitters Waterfowl Report. Today was pretty much as planned. Slept in, made coffee, drank coffee, sent the kids off and then watched TV. Something came over me around 8AM that I just couldn't pass. I looked at the calendar, saw the clouds and just couldn't help but wonder. So...you guessed it, headed to the Ditch about 830. Loaded up the dog, left the gun, the bag and the calls at home. Figured if I was gonna see some ducks it'd be when I was least preparred. Normally that's how it works, today, not so much. The pooch and I headed in and settled down. Figured I'd give him a taste of the season too. So there we sat and sat and sat and sat and sat and sat and sat some more. After about 2 hours figured he'd had enough. I was just there to pound my thermos of coffee and see for myself the lack of movement. Got some great training in...a good dog needs to be able to handle a slow day. I did grab the dummies and dokens so we got about 30 minutes of retriving in. When you roll down the road a guy usually sees the birds floating around the area. Floating around the unhunted wetland, floating around the competitions layout, and floating around the Ditch after you kick them off riding in. Today...again...not so much. Didn't observe a single duck or goose in 2 hours. Did I somehow wake-up this morning in the spring of 2010? Guess most of us feel like that about now. Here it is November 19th, it's 50+ degrees, there's a ton of corn in the fields and there ain't no sign of waterfowl. You know it's bad when it's been 10 days since the Legends have posted that they were "still waiting." Not even as much as a breath of movement. Just to scratch the itch, drove around the last 30 minutes of light and was not disappointed. Did see some geese feeding and floating into a few fields. So there is still waterfowl on the planet. Just don't really know where they all are. Looked at South Dakota Missouri River fly-overs and they lost a ton of birds from the 2nd to the 12th and haven't yet posted the 19th flight. Squaw creek had 71000 Mallards a week ago and now have 75000. Didn't DU report that there were over 7million Mallards this year? That's an extremely low number for this time of year. The Goose numbers at Squaw Creek are disappointing as it went from 11000 to 300???? Heck maybe they just didn't count at the right time. So there you have it, at least there is something interesting to read, well at least I hope it's interesting. Expecting by morning to get to 18,000 HITS, wow, started the season around 12,000. I'm certain the lack of action is making the numbers climb as we are all clinging on to every available word waiting to hear something good. That's all for now. Check back for the latest and greatest. Email us your report.

Same Song - Different Verse

Hello again all my...what the heck...no need to go into all that. You know where you are and what you're reading. November 16th and 17th Report. The Chuckler Wrote: Ditto here on all accounts. I was so excited by the forecasts and so starved for action.............then so disappointed in the outcome. Went real early Monday with no sign of moisture in the air or on the ground, nice and cloudy and a pretty good north wind.....so thought it could happen anytime. Started hearing geese just before the opening. Then started seeing a few bunches of snows and blues high. Over half the groups were heading north up river at migrating height. Then saw some flocks of ducks al at 2,500-5,000 ft and above heading south. At that point was still convinced it was going to turn into a memorable day. Never did! All told, saw about 20 flocks of ducks and about 20 flocks of geese (mostly snows and blues). Had a small flock of each circle us at 5,000 ft........so did get some practice blowing the call!!!!!!! The flights slowed down as the morning drug on. We quit seeing birds about 9:30-10:00 AM.........pulled the plug about noon. Even though no shots, it felt good to be seeing birds again! On the way to lunch the forecasters assured us that there was just a temporary delay in the rain and snow for the area, with most of the heavy stuff falling to our south. They were still assuring us that we were going to get flight lowering conditions tomorrow. Our spirits refreshed we committed to Tuesday morning. Stars were visible out the bedroom window as I arose Tuesday. Clouds were clearing out as we walked to the blind. Had 3, blue wings, about 10 yards off the deck at sunrise.........waited for another pass that never came. Ended up being the only potential shot of the morning. Saw about 2 or 3 other small bunches of mallards trading around, but we apparently didn't get enough of the right practice with the calls yesterday! We sent them all your way! About 8:00 the sun came out in beautiful full force......announcing the beginning of a "blue bird day". About 9:30 we saw and heard a group of a dozen Canadians loafing down river looking for a spot. They were just over the trees........ and we pleaded with them to come closer! They wouldn't have any......and continued on down river. About 10 minutes later they were coming back up river, on the Nebraska side. For a few moments, I thought perhaps they might have reconsidered our offer. Not to be. We sent them on toward Tekamah. Nothing for 2 hours.......so quit at noon. All in all........ was hoping for more.......but good to see some birds. It is hard to keep an addicted waterfowler down. What amazes me.........is how can the forecasts be so far, far off......for not one........but two days in a row???????? Had planned to check in with you all earlier. Good looking Canadas on the web site!!!!! Keep up the good work! Maybe should have been in the blind this morning???!!!

Keep checking back for the latest and greatest and thanks for all the hits. Send us your report!

Hot, Mild or Fire?

Hello again all my technologically advanced and well connected waterfowl enthusiast friends. Welcome to Muck Bottom Outfitters Waterfowl Report. Well we all saw the weather yesterday and it looked and felt like it was a "fire" day. A day where you just should be out regardless of prior commitments. Then the phone didn't ring, the emails didn't come and my attitude turned from "fire" to "hot", still thinking they were flying and everyone was just too busy to call. Then last night I got on the net, counted birds in South Dakota, counted birds in Mound City, and tried to find someone posting something successful from the day and nothing.

Then I got an email titled November 16th Ditch Report: Had calls and emails flying yesterday. Snows moving high, Canada's moving high and Specks and Snows landing at the Hay Ditch. A note from Kearney had and influx of "chickens" (cacklers). But, around 11AM, when it was all said and done and the phone slowed down, the final total from all the emails and phone calls was a whopping 2 Greenwing teal shot by 1 guy out of the South Ditch. Pretty impressive for November 16th. One the bright side, there has to be thousands of birds still to come. That's all from the Duk Master.

And then - got another email! Waterfowl Wizard wrote: Spoke to the short guy.....He just returned from N. Dakota on a pheasant shoot. He reported millions of geese in the Garrison area (snows and canadas). He also said that he saw very few birds in S. Dak. on the way back. Looks like we will be waiting a little while longer......................................WE NEED A WINTER STORM!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just like that, it turns "mild", and "mild" only because you could actually see birds flying and migrating, other than that pretty much a bust all around. Definitely not the reports we were hoping for. That's all I got for now, check back for the latest and greatest and thanks for all the hits. Email us your report.

Gotta Find A Way

Hello again all my technologically advanced and well connected waterfowl enthusiast friends. Welcome to Muck Bottom Outfitters Waterfowl Report. After the lack of migratory bird action we decided to keep a watchful eye out around the area just to see if we could find some birds. The early part of the week brought a few new birds into the area. Some scouting W-TH-FRI-SAT lead us to the field that a fair amount of Can's were using. About 5PM Sat night 2 determined souls wandered around with nothing but a "yes" on their minds. After a couple hours chasing tractors and knocking on doors they got the "yes" we were all hoping for. Today started out early, and we pulled into the field around 545AM. "Six poles East, Four poles South. Six poles East, Four poles South." You see we just had to be on the "X". We unloaded the trailer, set the deeks, set the gear and poured a cup of coffee. Before shooting time we saw 5 groups of high snows, 730 and it was time. 2 Can's working hard, swinging, working, swinging, working, still working, should've shot but it was behind us, and BOOM...gone just like that with no shot. What happened? Chalked it up to bad luck and settled back in. 30 minutes later 10 came rollin' at us, gave us one swing and then down, 150 yds away. It's around 830 now and we were planning on all the birds around 930. Are we in the wrong spot, are the birds we've been seeing at night feeding in a different spot in the morning? The overthinking never stops! After about 10 mins and a lot of wondering, they got up and flew away. We decided to stay put. Just a few moments later here they come 'bout 100 of 'em, comin' right at us. Worked for about 15 minutes and kept going behind us, 3 or 4 would swing low and then pop up...they disappeared to the North and no shots fired. We jumped out of the laydowns and moved everything about 25 yds away in front of us hoping that would work. Not 10 minutes later here comes about 30. Setup and dumped, managed to coax them right to us with no swings. Two with feet down and 9 yds away, Take' Em. Managed to dump 3. Should've had more. After chasing a cripple down we had 3 in the bag and were thinking it was over. We had made the right choice by staying on the "x" from the night before. Just after 9AM we had another 7 come-a-rollin' towarad us and dropped 3. That's all she wrote. Took a 3 man limit home with us and made the wives happy gettin' home around 10AM. Live to fight another day! Saw some high bunches of snows most of the morning so I'm thinking a little push is beginning. MC Wrote: Saturday - Snows & Blues on the move. Saw a total of 2 ducks, both rode home with us…the only 2 birds to get over the decoys.Sunday - Snows & Blues day two. 1 Blue in the decoys to start the day…3 shot dispatch technique (2 warning - 1 killing) Had a couple bunches of S&B’s look and sail for a few passes. Saw 2 bunches of ducks…killed 4. 1 lone Canada was issued a warning shot and then put down at 15 yards.Now to the fun part…16 Canadas tried to interrupt breakfast…belly up at less than 20 yards right in front of the blinds! 6 piled up. A Kohler classic decoy and shot! Thanks RK for the lessons!

Might be worth the trip the next couple of days. Our new friend The Chuckler agrees: Out most of the day today. Saw about 20 flocks of snow and blues migrating very high, seen mostly before noon. Most flocks in the 20-50 bird size. Saw one flock of about 200 around noon extremely high. Had about 30 mallards on the pond at sunrise and managed to kill a hen. That was it for ducks...only saw 1 other duck flock flyin' the river. Quit at 330PM. Tomorrow and Tuesday could be the days to be there. Send me some birds! Regards, The Chuckler.

Sounds as it he saw the same birds we were seeing. We both left our spots thinking that tomorrow and Tuesday could be successful. Gonna wait til we hear something before making a Tuesday trip to the Ditch. That's all for now, there will me more reports in the AM, so check back for the latest and greatest and thanks for all the hits.

Great Email - We are Not Alone!

Hey: Just a quick Thanks!!!!!!!! for putting your web site up.  Good work!!!!!!!  Please keep it up. Glad to know there are outfits in the area that are experiencing the same kinds of outcomes that we are.  I had real high hopes for the DU Migration Report on the Net as a source of information like yours..... but that hasn't really worked out.  I really enjoy reading about your hunts and value the info, particularly since your nearby. We hunt just off the Missouri a few miles below Desoto Bend.  So we are just 20-30 miles south of you.  Been waterfowl hunting there for about 15 years.  However, I personally, have been hunting on, or near the muddy MO for about 40 years, from Plattsmouth to Decatur.  We have friends that hunt on the Platte near Yutan, others on warm water near Leshara, and others in The Basin near Hastings.  It has been very hard over the years to compare notes with them......as they are in very different environments and have always seemed to do much better on ducks.  Until the last few seasons...... we have always done better on geese.  Have never experienced years like the last few here and our results have been on a decline for about the last 10.....even though I hunt more....... particularly since I retired 7 years ago.  Wish I knew what was happening with the waterfowl numbers and migration.  The only birds I see more of are wood ducks, and Canada's, they seem to have increased on the "MO" every year for the last 10.  Every other waterfowl species I see on this river is way down, in numbers seen, from when I was 15-16 years old.....and that is not selective sorting of my memory. Where are the bigger ducks and geese this year??????? or for that matter the last 3-5 years.  Reports that I get say they have moved west in their migration flights.  When I was a kid there very few migrating snows and blues in CO and the western half of NE....now they are there by the thousands, spring and fall.  I finally see that the Feds are acknowledging this.......changes in the flyway.  At least this is mentioned on the Internet Desoto Bend front page, they talk about snow geese moving west.  But what about the ducks?  I have been up there asking questions for the last five years.  I get no answers. We were out this morning (Saturday) north wind, low ceiling....weather looked promising........about 8:00.....saw 1 migrating group of about 50 snows and blues, up high........one decoyable flock of 6 snows about 9:00 ...... we screwed up.......and that was it.  Not one duck!!!!!!!  No one popped a cap!!!!!!!  Quit about 11:00.  Back tonight or tomorrow. Keep up the good work and pray for birds!!!!!! The Chuckler

Notes to Pass the Time

Hello again all my technologically advanced and well connected waterfowl enthusiast friends. Welcome to Muck Bottom Outfitters Lack of Waterfowl Report. Got around on the net today and found some reports here and there concerning waterfowl. After hours and hours of searching for something I finally found it...there it was...nothing...nothing...nothing. No one's talking about anything. South Dakota hunters are talking about the fields being flooded and full of crops, North Dakota is wondering about where the birds are and us lonely hunters in Nebraska are pretty much dark. Did manage to get a couple emails that I thought would pass along. Our old friend Husker turned Gamecock wrote: Would be sweet if you could add me next year to the reports. I will be hunting a pit near Morse Bluff on the Platte and would be happy to give y0u what I'm seeing. As for now, I still stuck in South Carolina. I'll be back for good next summer. The hunting here sucks! I have put in for a lottery duck hunt the past 6 years that the SC DNR manages. I was fortunate enough to have my name drawn this year for the famous ACE Basin on the coast near Charleston. This is a major wintering ground for tons of Atlantic Flyway ducks and geese. The hunt isn't until January 14th but I can't wait. This will be the closest thing to real waterfowl hunting like at home in Nebraska. Your website rules, only wish you had a prostaff that I could join. Thanks
It's great to know that we sad soles here in Nebraska are not the only one's longing for waterfowl.
Another great note came from Waterfowl Wizard. Good thing about this note is that we may get the rest of the story and get something good to hang on to. Wizard wrote: Hay Ditch is ready for action...The captain has it looking really good. Me, Dork-Master and Prof. Binelli (aka Swim Suit Model) are heading out Saturday AM to clean up on any geese in the area. I've been told that the Sillo-Sock man and his crack research and development team have come up with a new type of "flyer". Prototype will be in the action on Saturday. Hay Ditch Honcho assures me that it will revolutionize goose killin'. Details to follow........

Well there's at least one group of hunters who are confident. The rest of us in fixed locations, with no time to scout, are stuck. What's a guy gotta do to get invited on a sure thing? You'd think all the props they get would lead to at least a "maybe we can work something out." Oh well, I'll just keep writing about it hoping there's a revolutionary invention coming our way. Course don't do much good right now. You could send us 100 doz deeks and there ain't a duck in the bottoms that'll see 'em. The weather looks a bit on the promising side as I managed to find a weather report with rain/snow mix in the forecast for Monday. Didn't see which way it's comin' from. The seasons luck will having in coming up from the South, I'm sure. Keep a watchful eye to the sky and your ear to the phone. When they start flyin' there is no room for tomorrow! That's all for now. Check back for the latest and greatest and thanks for over 17.000 HITS.

Mum is the Official Word

Hello again all my technologically advanced and well connected waterfowl enthusiast friends. Welcome to Muck Bottom Outfitters Waterfowl Report. It seems as if the season is at least 2 weeks behind schedule. While early reports had duck numbers and success high, there ain't nothin' goin' on right now. I heard a question posed to a fellow waterfowler from his dad who has a cabin by Niobrara. He asked him if the waterfowl migration was over already. You see he generally sees all the birds coming down the Missouri River, he thought maybe it was over already and he just missed them all this year. Sorry to report they ain't here yet! Did manage to receive a bit of successful news from Kohler West.

MC Wrote: A COMBINE WARNING has been issued in our area. Saturday - 7 Ross at shootin' time, 5 down - one banded bird. 3 ducks added later. Sunday - 1 Blue Goose...never saw a duck! Best B&G since the creation of the fork...worth the trip.

Thank goodness somebodys shootin' something somewhere! The ditch has been unoccupied for almost a week. One brave sole and a buddy rollin' out there tomorrow just to see what's going on. The offical quote was, "if there's anything even remotely close to shootin' range we're firing." Gotta love the spirit. Just got done reading the next 10 days of weather...and can you believe it...it's not changing at all. Sure it might get a little cold at night, sure there might be a 20% chance of rain here or there, sure the wind may be out of the North for 1/2 a day, but there ain't nothin' goin' on to make a guy think that waterfowl is on the way. We've officially shot 1/2 the birds this year as last year at this time. Important life changing decisions have been made and it's set in stone. When the word comes, no more work until the huntin's done. The end of duck season is creeping in , we are officially 40 days away, and with the weather forecasts, the 40 is gonna turn into 30 with little to no change. Best news now is that the crops are slowly coming out so the chance of a "fly-over" decreases every day that goes by with no push.
That's all I got got now, thanks for tuning in. Check back for the latest and greatest and definitely a big thanks for all the hits. Send us your report!

Definition of Rot

Hello again all my technologically advanced and well connected waterfowl enthusiast friends. Welcome to Muck Bottom Outfitter Waterfowl Report. Well yesterdays hopeful news got us rollin' before 530 heading out to move deeks and set up for the South winds. Got 'em all moved with 'bout 2 mins to go. Nestled in just in time for a Drake Pintail, gave two good swings and just as the alarm went off, he rolled out. Shortly thereafter a baker's dozen rolled by and there it was, those words we whisper on a marginal, or lack of, wind day "one more pass." Yep you guessed it, should've taken the shot. Passed up two shots inside of 20yds to wait for their feet to go down and just like that they were gone. Managed to get in a single gaddy and that was all she wrote. One shot, one duck. There were far less birds today than yesterday. Little did we know, but 9AM was the last we would see of any workable ducks. Occupied the ditch until darn near closing time. 64 degrees walkin' out was a far cry from 27 when we walked in. The strong South winds didn't help move anything around and for a short time we even had white-caps. Just two small migrating group of ducks observed today. Made a little drive past Desoto just before sundown and nothing observed comin' out for the nightly feed. Looks like this warm weather is going to hold and no breaks in the pattern for at least 10 more days. It's gonna be the middle of November before we know it and the early season hasn't really shaped up to be all that we hoped for. Last year we shot over 1/2 our ducks for the year in October. Really hoping that doesn't ring through for the 2009 season. There has been plenty of good hunts in the area, but our timing and schedules just haven't been in sync with Mother Nature. That's all for now. Check back for the latest and greatest and thanks for all the hits. Email us your report.

Signs of Life

Hello again all my technologically advanced and well connected waterfowl enthusiast friends. Welcome to Muck Bottom Outfitters Waterfowl Report. Good winds today gave high hope. Disappointment was not present today, finally. The walk down kicked off about 30 Mallards from the pond, a nice sight to see and the first real sign of migrating birds. Up to this point all we've been kicking off has been brown ducks and teal. Within minutes the first bird of the day was down. Within another few minutes the second bird of the day was down.
A great start to the morning. I could say the day ended there and should as there were no more successful shoots. So there you have it! Two ducks. Saw migrating snow geese, migrating mallards and even some more specs. Movement, up to this point, has been not existent since the uncharacteristic opening day. There were chances after the first 15 minutes but the sun played havoc with one man's depth perception. You see you can only follow the birds in so far before the East facing blind gets the best of you. Looking up after that will only make your face light up like the Christmas Tree in Time Square. After experiencing the first couple groups of decoying birds and the 10 yd shot that accompanied them looking down away from the sun seemed to be logical. However, when you imagine where the birds are before flipping the lids, you should be certain that you are right. What a difference 4 or 5 seconds makes with dumping birds. The bloods rushing, the birds are cupped and dumpin, the sun forces you to take your eyes off the birds...but that last look had 'em comin', you wait for just a couple seconds thinkin' they should be there, you flip...and...(insert expletive)...what you thought was 10-20 yds turns into 50-60. Shots fire out of frustration and nothing drops. Not only did this happen once, it happened twice. First time on a small bunch of Gaddy's and second time on 30 or so New Mallards. Now while you may be laughing about that, you know it's happened to all of us at one point or another. Whether it was the sun, a cell phone, an itch, fumbling for your call, or looking down too make sure you safety was off, it's happened! To all of us! The day ended a bit short as much of the early movement slowed to a bit of a crawl and a nap just seemed like a better idea. The bunks haven't yet been installed so a trip home to the couch was the afternoon plan. Good signs of mother natures clock tickin' on the birds. Goin' out tomorrow with the South wind forcasted and will definitely move the spread. That's all for now. Check back for the latest and greatest and thanks for all the hits.

Valuable Lesson Learned - Should Really Know Better

Hello again all mt technologically advanced and well connected waterfowl enthusiast friends. Welcome to Muck Bottom Outfitters Waterfowl Report. A 5 am wake up call and not much wind and clear skies. Decided to head out anyway. Arrived at the Ditch 15 mins before shootin' time and hurried in. The sounds of ducks and geese were everywhere. Lots of birds flipping around early and continued on for over an hour and a half. Was a loner today so I decided not to move the 100+ decoy spread and boy was that a mistake! North wind spread on South wind day. Sat and sat and sat listening to every spread within 5 miles light up the skies. The bottoms sounded like a shooting range this morning. Managed to empty just once on a gang of "bills" and no luck. What a frustrating morning! There are 5 times more birds here now than there was just over a week ago. Saw lots of Can's and heard Snows but never managed to see them. Wrapped up the day from 3PM to close and shot one beautiful spoonbill, so no skunk. Saw plenty of birds again and the new wetland is holding all of them, man I wish those guys would start hunting. Heard a couple reports from the weekend.

South Ditch: Friday Professor Binelli handled 3 Big Can's late in the day. Was hoping to get some action on ducks, but all he could do was watch more Can's piled in without a means of taking. He was the only one in the Dtich. Saturday, managed to wrap up 2 Geese,one banded, and a couple ducks.

South to the East Ditch: Saturday hammered 3 out of 3 Can's that came off the river and also took 4 ducks home with them.

Kohler West MC wrote: A killing crew this weekend handled just about every bird that got close. Ducks on Saturday, geese on Sunday.   Saturday - 14 ducks decoyed and 12 went on the pile…1 of 3 on GWT, 6 for 6 on Mallards and 5 for 5 on Gadwall.Sunday - 9 geese decoyed and 8 went on the pile…4 of 5 on Ross and 4 for 4 on monster sized Canadas. (Six sunburns also recorded

Not a whole lot going on around the area from what I gather. Today couldn've been decent but lack of preparation and laziness will never, ever, never, ever kill ducks. Treat everyday like it's "the day." No reason to be there if you don't! The wind switched just before sun down and 10-15 from the N tomorrow with some clouds. Although temps aren't cooperating the wind will be with gusts up to 25. Knock 'em down if your out. That's all for now. Check back for the latest and greatest and thanks for all the hits.

Has the Season Started Yet?

Hello again all my technologically advanced and well connected waterfowl enthusiasts friends. Welcome to Muck Bottom Outfitters lack of Waterfowl Report. It's been quite some time since our last post. The schedule included a hunt last Sunday, but the picture illustrates why the morning was not so successful. Did manage to slip out around 230PM and sat 'til close. Didn't fire a single shot, can't say the same for the night before. Heard a few reports from around here and there and not a whole lot going on.
South Ditch: Saturday took two Can's home and saw very little of anything. Sunday Duk Master showed why he's the best by taking home the only Mallard he saw during a brief 3 hour stint.
Kohler West MC Wrote: Saturday - twice as many ducks as husker turnovers (16). Sunday - first zero day of the season.

Today was the first opportunity to get back out there but...no thanks! South winds and nothing in all the reports. Stayed home and did a bit of stuff that's been put off since the season began. One report I did hear today was that an elementary school around the area had 50% of all the kids home today. So we got the H1N1 thing we can talk about, great. That's all I got for now. Check back for the latest and greatest on H1N1, at least 'til the ducks start flyin' again, and WOW thanks for over 16.000 HITS.

Soggy Day

Hello again all my technologically advanced and well connected waterfowl enthusiast friends. Welcome to Muck Bottom Outfitters Waterfowl Report. Our hopes were high for today, probably too high considering the amount of consistent rain we were supposed to get. Turns out the weather dudes were right it's still raining! Right at shootin time we had quite a few birds flipping around. A Pintail landed right in the deeks, we sprung open the hatch and 6 shots. NO BIRD. Not a great showing. We made amends on the 2nd round today by taking 2 of 2 Pintail. They came right in and we could have asked for a better setup. Down they went! Stayed the course until noon and just couldn't handle the sogginess. Walked out with 1 bluewing 1 greenwing and 2 pintail. If a guy had no regard for his level of soakedness you could've came home with a limit of birds. Not a whole lot in the way of migration with the rain. There are new ducks that have arrived to the area, but still a ton of teal around. The majority of the birds we saw flying this morning were teal. Tomorrows forecast is for the rain to end but the winds to keep blowing. If one were able to "flex" tomorrow I'd say it would be worth it. The new ducks that have blown in on this wind have been hunkered down the past couple days and the back of this front should be carrying more birds. That's all for now, check back for the latest and greatest and thanks for all the hits.

Finally - New Ducks!

Hello again all my technologically advanced and well connected waterfowl enthusiast friends. Welcome to Muck Bottom Outfitters Waterfowl Report. It was rainy this morning, did anyone notice that? At first light a single teal, or coot, or teal, or coot, or teal, or coot came in. Great another Coot. Good thing the day produced more than that. As soon as the rain stopped here comes a nice little bluewing setting up perfectly for the shot. Boom, teal down, and as you can tell by the pic, the sun was out. The sunlight shinning through must have gotten in the eyes of the shooter. He didn't even notice the band. That's right more jewelry, on a little teal nonetheless. So the day could have ended right there. Another Wednesday of Banded Birds, kinda thinking we should all switch our day off to Wednesday. Fortunately the action didn't stop. Had some groups that worked perfectly, and one couldn't ask for better shots. The highlight of the day was a group of 3 wigeon that set up nicely for a 3-some. Ended the day with 2 teal, 2 gadwall and 3 wigeon. While the numbers may not have piled up as good shooters, with accurate feather dusters would've hoped, there were definitely new birds around. Hunted bell to bell today, had breakfast, lunch and dinner in the Ditch. Depending on the weather station, or forecaster of your choice, the wind is supposed to blow through the night at 10-15mph from the North. One report even gave us a rain/snow mix in the AM around shootin' time. More hours logged tomorrow and hoping for at least a repeat performance. That's all for now, check back for the latest and greatest and thanks for all the hits.

Migration?

Hello again all my technologically advanced and well connected waterfowl enthusiast friends. Welcome to Muck Bottom Outfitter Waterfowl Report. Well reports say there was a push of birds today and that this week will be one you won't want to miss. Hard to believe with reports like this:

Kohler West, MC Wrote: Small crew for small ducks...2 gunners killed 9 ducks Saturday and the same 2 killers returned Sunday and scored 5 more. BWT & GWT only targets. Surprisingly, the sun did come up in the capital city on Sunday...Big Red fans were dark until noon!
Leshara Ditch (picture), DucksNBrowndogs wrote: Sat 10/17 Saw some teal and big ducks, slow starter only shot to Gadwall. Sun 10/18 No teal around but lots of big ducks willing to work. Mixed bag of 8 ducks, 3 tasty Spoonbill, 3 Gadwall, 1 Wigeon and 1 Pintail.

South Ditch, Nothing on Sunday and apparently missed some opportunities on Geese. Well one goose and one opportunity. As they were out taking care of some bladder pressure issues, a single Can came floating by and all they could do was hold on. Now why they were all out at the same time I'll never know. Just doesn't make sense. Did the coffee hit them all at the same time? Did it just sound like a good idea to stand next to each other and compare? Who knows?

We had ZERO birds at the Ditch over the weekend, no hunters on Sat and Sun was a complete bust. The hundreds of roosting birds at nightfall decided that Sunday was not going to be the day. Did see a lot more bigger ducks. Getting tired of trying...and I mean trying...to hit them damn teal.

The only migration observed today was that of the great Harmonia Axyridis. They invaded the exterior of the house and now that it's nightfall, they've somehow found my ceiling, inside the house! Good thing 'bout it is: at 1221 fps a 3 1/2 inch BBB will take out about 50. Can't get those numbers in any Ditch or field. Happy Shooting!

That's all for now. Check back for the latest and greatest and thanks for over 15,000 hits. The Harmonia Axyridis is also known as an Asian Beetle, or perhaps you refer to it as that beetle that looks like a lady bug that just appeared out nowhere about 5 years ago.

Hello, once again, all my technologically advanced and well connected waterfowl enthusiast friends. It appears we've all been bitten by the "early bug." You know that once in the last 10 years when we get a cold front in October and see lots of birds migrating and think that everyday in October should be good. Well, it's back to reality. 65 degrees tomorrow and big South winds, that's more like it. Virtually nothing in the forecast showing any signs of migratory action. Some success stories (South Ditch) today included the harvest of Aix Sponsa, a medium sized perching duck that grows to 19 inches and has a small wingspan of just 29 inches. The beauty of these birds is found in their distinctive multi-colored iridescent plumage and red eyes. These trophy birds are often referred to as Wood Ducks among lay-persons.

Other news among the bottoms was the taking of Anas Discors. And no, I didn't get email or message about how someone blew up the portable toilet at their ditch because of too much alcohol last night. Anas Discors is a small 15 inch bird that always weighs less than 1 pound and is often the culprit of many, many, many, many cuss words and emptied shells. After much research I have discovered that this small dabbling duck is also known as a Blue-Winged Teal. Apparently the South to the East Ditch harvested 6 of these. I was unaware of the common name and had to search my favorite website Wikipedia.

Haven't heard much in the way of success from anywhere and quite honestly don't expect to. Typical October weather is back and we are gonna grab the sun tan lotion and shorts for a tomorrow afternoon-close shoot. The pond has been the site of hundreds of birds multiple nights this past week right around quitting time. We haven't been up there since Thursday AM so we're hoping they're comfortable. Lord knows we haven't been scaring them while we've been there. We're gonna try and fool 'em tomorrow night. That's all for now. Check back for the latest and greatest and thanks for OVER 15,000 HITS.

Congrats to the South Ditch

Hello again everybody. Not a whole lot going on in the area. Friday’s only report comes from the South Ditch. The ducks were flying but the season didn’t open until today for them. Hope's were high for a good harvest of Canada Geese but no such luck. It turned out to be a long afternoon. With guns packed up and the waterfowl viewing blind empty, the day ended with an unexpected bang as the boys found themselves visited by the NWTF. That’s right the National Wild Turkey Federation. This year’s honorees are Professor Binelli and Duk Master. Apparently their contributions toward the betterment of Wild Turkey have earned them top honors. It was the intent of the NWTF to honor 3 members of the South Ditch, but Waterfowl Wizard was a no-call, no-show. So the board elected just two new members. The blinds are full today and I’m quite certain the newly elected contributors are sharing their stories of fame and fortune, as it takes a special breed to gain NWTF recognition. We’ll post as we hear. Check back for the latest and greatest and thanks for all the hits.

Wednesday Follow-Up and Thursday Blues

Not much happening today. We had the sky we needed, but the lack of wind just killed us. Didn't start blowin' until after 11AM and had to got shortly thereafter. Just one measly blue wing harvested today. If mother nature would've blown just a bit we would've been much happier. Isn't that always the case?
Comments from Wednesdays Hunt:
Duk Master wrote: "Not So, I am jealous. Nice job on the set up. I do have one Math question for you. If a guy only gets a chance to harvest 1 band every 5-10 years, how old are you and how long have you been hunting in order to get all those bands you have around your neck? GREAT DAY for MUCK BOTTOM. And the race is on!!!!"
Anonymous wrote: "Wow, nice haul, especially considering nobody else is getting hardly any Can's in that area. Congrats on the bands, 4 for 4 that's awesome. Were you shooting over your spread or another spread somewhere else? Hope you get a chance to bag a few more."
Tom wrote: "Do you guys guide other hunters? My friend and I have hunted with the Legends Ditch the last 10 years. Maybe you can give us a try when we come out that way."

Thanks for all the comments.

First to address Tom's question. No, we do not guide anyone but ourselves. Often times even screwing that up, we don't want to be responsible for screwing up any one's hunts!

Next our success, in this case, was in thanks to a good friend of Muck Bottom who put us on the "X" for a morning. We got the call Tuesday Eve. Have trailer will travel! So the Ditch was not the location that morning, we traveled just a couple miles West and got 'er done.
And to that Mike Wrote: "Dang that's some friend ya got throwin' ya on a spot like that. I need a couple of them kinda buddies. Hope ya bought him a beer or two! Good Luck."

Finally, to answer the question of Duk Master. I am 167 years old, I've been hunting since I was 7 and harvested my first banded bird at the age of 10 after it flew away from our chicken coop. Back in those days we could use live birds for deeks. I always put a band around the necks so I wouldn't shoot them on a slow day. He escaped so I shot him.

Looking forward to the season and many, many more stories and comments, that's all for now. Check back for the latest and greatest and thanks for gettin' us close to 15,000 hits. Email us your report, or comment!

Betcha Can't Get Just ONE

Hello all my technologically advanced and well connected waterfowl enthusiast friends. Welcome to Muck Bottom Outfitters Waterfowl Report. It was a goose day today. While the picture doesn't look that spectacular the story will make you jealous, I'm quite certain! No ducks on the mind today, only geese. Set up for geese and waited for geese. For once, it worked. You see 4 of the 7 geese taken today in the picture, keep reading and you'll understand why. The day started off a bit slow, by 744 AM there were 2 on the ground. There were two singles floating around that apparently had a death wish. Definitely not the start we were hoping for. More action a bit later when a pair came swooping by bout 3 feet off the deck right at the setup. Destined to be made into brats, or jerky, or something that resembles a meaty-type substance, 4 feather dusters fired off and...what, only dropped one? From 15 yds, what is going on? Oh well, 3 in the bag, that's acceptable...for now. It's 930 and here comes a small bunch of 10. Calls rang out and the geese dropped and dumped, here they come. The soon to be famous goose caller among us called the first 4 to the ground, a silent whisper echoed, "wait here they all come"...."wait"..."wait"...the death of us all the "W" word, normally you'd be laughing at us right now cause we waited for one more, not the case, FEET DOWN-Take EM. The feather dusters proved their worthiness by knocking down 4. Don't know if one guy shot 3, if everyone shot one, or what happened, but four were down, and down hard. No movement! One by one everyone rushed to the closest goose down. First man to his bird hollers "Look at that, it's banded." A loud whoohoo rang amongst the group. Second man to his bird yells "Holy (insert expletive), got a band here to0." Third man, now running to his bird, Holy (insert stronger expletive), another band." Forth man, now totally bummed out, gets to his bird, seriously this is getting out of control, "can I get a Hell Yeah." That's right. Four birds down out of 10 and all 4 banded. The day was over after that. Took the pic's at noon and that was all she wrote. You couldn't have planned the day any better. For those of you reading this who have 100 bands at home, oh well, you should have your own blog. For the rest of us who get 1 every 5-10 years, this was awesome. Tomorrow is a new day and we are hoping for a big duck day. Long as this rain stops, we should have it. That's all for now, as always, check back for the latest and greatest and thanks for all the hits. Email us your report.

What a Difference a Day Makes

Hello again all my technologically advanced and well-connected waterfowl enthusiast friends. Welcome to Muck Bottom Outfitters Waterfowl Report. Not much for success around the area compared to yesterday. We had no winds, clouds and colder temps, but really no ducks. Didn't see a single Speck from all of yesterdays reports. Didn't see a single Canada Goose. Heard tons of shooting again but the success rate's were far less than yesterday. The South to the East Ditch managed just two. The G'Ditch I believe had 15 or so on the ground when we left (just a guess on what we saw drop from the sky). The NW Ditch was in the 20's, again this was as of the time we left, just before noon. We managed to fire a whole bunch this AM, but only bagged a few.

Sunday South Ditch:
The Litigator was at it again. Early arrival to the Ditch. Yesterdays luck was without decoys. That's right he shot those 2 Can's and called with no deeks anywhere. They haven't set up yet 'cause their season doesn't start for a week. So he decided to decoy the pond Sunday AM. He grabbed 2 bigfoots and 1 floater and hauled the heavy load down by himself with no 4-wheeler. The spread was set up in just seconds and he settled in. Shortly after shootin' time a single Speck come rollin' by. The amazingly calculated and well thought our decoy spread worked. BOOM one Speck. That's all folks. Don't know if the new set-up at the South Ditch is the reason for the success of one man, or if it's just a little Litigator Luck. Either way I'm sure we'd all take it.

Sat Sun Report from Kohler West: MC Wrote:
SAT - Opening morning snow storm piled up 2" before we arrived, snow fell most of the morning...5 mins before LST we heard and saw the first bunch of specks and they flew alomst non-stop until noon. Biggest Speck migration we can remember in a long time. The first bunch of decoying birds for the season was 40+ Specks, they gave us 5 or 6 good passes...we needed 5 or 10 more yards on every pass as we were loaded for GWT. Ended the day with 11 ducks and 1 Whitefront.
SUN - After Sat. action, weather and overnight forecast we knew Sunday would be the day! Oh well, the breakfast was good! Ended the day with 5 ducks. Only saw a few gesse, all Cans and we can't start on them 'til the 24th.

Hunting season is here and you can't complain about anything, it's been 9 months since we've fired a shot and today was great, far as we're concerned. Breakfast was completely unhealthy, the dogs were a bit skiddish, and the ducks didn't work for crap, but sleeping in was just not an option. If you've never cooked hot cakes on a skillet, after you've cooked a pound of bacon and neglected to wipe the grease off, you don't know what your missing. For those of you with high cholesterol, you may want to opt out! Had plenty of good conversation and the coffee was hot. The season has begun! That's all for now, as always, check back for the latest and greatest and thanks for all the hits. E-Mail us your reports.