A Clean Gun is a Must

So here we are lyin' in a field, anxiously awaiting the nightly feed.  The first bunch that came hard were 3 snows and a blue.  Take 'em, Boom, Boom, Click, Cycle, Boom, Click.  This was followed by a few choice cuss words, and dropped just one when they were all at about 8 yds.  Cycled the feather duster a few times making sure it was ready for the real show to come.  Here comes the show.  About 9 Can's charging hard and dropping air.  Take 'em.  Boom, Boom, Click, Click, Boom, Cycle...Too late to even fire.  A guy can't say enough about keeping one's feather duster clean.  Could've at least had a can of Rem Oil.  Two guys ended up with a Snow and 2 Can's for an hour and a half field hunt Wednesday night.  With a properly functioning firearm a two man limit should have been easy.
Went to the Ditch Thursday morning and manged just one Mallard.  That's all the we saw.  The incoming weekend weather should push the remaining amount of birds from the North.  South Dakota has Sat Sun Monday night temps -7, -14 and -18 with snow forecast two of the three days.  This will probably be the last push of the season.  We are gonna stick it out one more morning Sunday before we call it quits for the season at the Ditch.

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

Mallard Fest

I must start by saying that there is good news to report.  The lost dog is found.  After 3 days of being gone, turns out he was lying the field he was hunting waiting for his owner to come get him..  He was lying there barking and the house right by the field heard him and called.  There he was lying there looking around as if nothing happened.  Except for being a bit hungry, all is well. 
On to hunting.  Not much going on in the way of North the South duck movement.  There are still concentrations of birds in Southeastern South Dakota and they have had no reason to move.  We hunted the Ditch last Thursday and saw 7 workable ducks and shot one.  We arrived a bit late and was moving and setting decoys as 6 of the 7 were trying to land on our heads.  There was a gaddy floating around just before we jumped in and we took him.  That's all she wrote.  We have just two weekends left and this season of duck hunting is over.     
In light of the lack of action we decided to hit the road and try out our scouting scopes.  We managed to find a field to jump in for an afternoon of what we hoped would be mallard fun.  We hadn't really gotten into a bunch of Mallards this year so when we found a field we aggressively tracked down the owner and got our permission.  Somewhere west of the Mississippi, East of the Rockies and North of the Mason Dixon Line we set up.  Didn't take long and we had our first group.  They didn't like something and we adjusted the spread.  Our second group came and were working nicely in when "boom."  A shot fired from one of the lay downs, without warning or words, and one Mallard was in the bag, despite the fact the other 15 or so were closely behind. After a bit of razzing and wondering we decided that worse case was we were gonna leave with 1 in the bag.  The skunk factor was gone.  You know when you haven't pulled the trigger on a Mallard all year you get a bit itchy.  We had large groups and small groups, 5 to 250 working over us for a solid 2 hours.  We packed up with 19 in the bag, 17 Mallards and 2 Pintail, and were not in the least bit disappointed.  There is still time to finish off the season, if you put in a bit of leg work and polish your beggin' skills. That's all for now.  Check back for the latest and greatest and thanks for all the hits.

Emergency - Lost Dog - Then Report

While out pheasant hunting (don't hold it against him) a friend of mine had his 9 yr old lab either drop in the field or run off.  We are all hoping he ran off, although he's never done that before.  The general area where the Yellow Lab named Chief was hunting was by/around the following places.  About 2 miles West of Brian Elliots house and 1 mile South.  Around Silvercreek Kennels, Gil's and Chatt's.  NW of Galls Lake.  I'm sure everyone familiar with the area knows "about" where this is.  If anyone sees him, again his name is Chief, yellow lab 9 years old average build.  Please shoot us an email if he happens to show up at your place, or you see him running around.  Thanks to all.  Hopefully he shows up.

Managed to get a couple warm bodies into the Ditch around 11AM.  They stayed until around 2PM and didn't fire a shot.  A few groups here and there was about all that was seen.  Haven't heard any reports from anywhere else with any major success.  When the winds finally calm, I believe it'll be shootin' time again.  Got and email for Dr Oz and the Boyer Boys;
Well the hunting has been good since our last report. We are getting some geese now. The ducks are decoying and it has been a season to remember. Monday the 29th was a dud till the wall of clouds moved in. The winds  were 22 mph out of the SE till around 11:00 A:M and when it hit it sent decoys flying within an instant we had 25mph North winds. Saw thousands of ducks ahead of the front and more after it got here. The first group came at 10:45 while I was in the decoys fixing some things. So I got to call that group in while on the ground. That was very cool to see fifty mallards work lower and lower from decoy level. The winds were bad news and I knew they would only get one shot in the blind. The lids throw open and they blaze away the birds flair and off they go, gone in a split second. Two Drakes are bagged and I think they did good. We bagged four more Drakes before going to work. So far 138 ducks and 25 geese. Lots of ducks moving south and north in huge flocks. The flocks appear like clouds, quite a sight.
 
Promising report!  I've been looking at Squaw Creek Numbers and the Can's are definitely not there yet and there's nothing left at Sand Lake.  There are still large numbers of birds somewhere between here and South of Sand Lake in South Dakota, they're gonna come and it's probably gonna be quick! Get down and Get Ready!  That's all for now, hope Chief finds his way!

No News

Waiting anxiously by the phone today to hear some news.   With this storm blowing in and the temps dropping, was really hoping to hear something promising.  Obviously the Legends rolled a few up today, and heard another story of one brave sole with 3 or 4 youngsters who hit 13 ducks and a few Can's on the river.  The Ditch was unoccupied and we're hoping we can get a body or two up there tomorrow, but just don't know.  After the lack of phone calls, I'm beginning to wonder if everyone is already getting tired of hunting.   The temps up North have just about froze everything up, other than the river.  Tonight and tomorrow's wind will likely push the rest of the birds South, hopefully we can keep 'em around for a while.  Had a "party" related email that I'll share with everyone.

Burt/Washington County Chapter Sportsman's Night Out! (Most cherished evening where 5 turns into 9, and "remember when" is commonplace)

Friday, December 03, 2010
Tekamah City Auditorium
1315 K St. Tekamah, NE
Tekamah, Nebraska
Doors Open 6:00 PM  (Another email said 5PM, and food at 7PM) Just pick a time that works for you.

Sounds like $25 get you your membership, food and beer.  A pretty good deal!  We hope to be there talking about the latest and greatest and showing off our Muckbottom apparel and gear, along with our full line of duck boats, steel pits, decoys, layout blinds and much, much more.  Come join the fun!  And, if you dress in your Sunday Best (camo) you'll get into a free raffle for a shotgun. 

Action Today

Was a short hunt do to Turkey Day food awaiting but it could've easily been a long day.  Nothing at first light and we were beginning to wonder why we got out of bed so early.  Just about the time breakfast got all fired up, we started seeing birds.  There were quite a few high groups of Can's and a few that we could call at and at least get them gliding.  Didn't get anything to drop in, but we honed our calling skills.  Came home today with 5 ducks.  One Bluebill and 4 Drake Mallards.  Had a group of 5 come dive bombing on us and we coaxed them to about 10 yds, not real sure why our 5 guns only took 4 of the 5 that close, but I'm pretty sure it has to do with the fact that we face East.  Yes that's right, some genius decided when moving the pit this year, that we should face right into the sun.  Sun or no son it was nice to finally get into a group.  Up to this point we had taken only 2 Mallards for the year. That's all for now, check back for the latest and greatest and thanks for all the hits.

Little Ducks Still Pushing?

A whole day spent at the ditch and 3 ducks in the bag.  Didn't have a lot moving, and had bad wind most of the day.  About 2PM the NW wind started blowing and hasn't yet stopped.  Cold, Cold, Cold tonight 14 degrees and up to 30 mph NW winds.  Gonna have a lot of ice Turkey Day AM, hope the water we have open attracts the birds. 
The South Ditch reported a late "good" hunt with 6 ducks.  Included in their bag was 3 Wood Ducks.  Has anyone ever shot Woodies over ice before.  Sure seems late, but that's gotta be good news for those of us hanging on for the Mallards. 
The Sillosocks Gang rolled up 4 Can's and 4 ducks this AM on a quick hunt.  Haven't heard how the evening hunt went.
Other than that, not much to report.  Very little migration today.  Hunting in the morning, it'll be short but hoping tonight's big wind blows some more down. That's all for now. Check back for the latest and greatest.

OMG! WTF!

For all of you with daughters or sons, or perhaps yourselves, the title is some "shortcuts" for texting.  OMG - Oh MY god.  WTF - What the (insert expletive).  A mid morning invite has us begging and pleading to leave work today early. Early as in around 2PM. By then we've put in 6 or so hours, so was it really asking alot?  Turns out it wasn't.  So we're off to lay in a field with the Master on the Grounds and try and shake a few feathers off some new geese that have been spotted in a field just waiting for us to take 'em home for Thanksgiving.  The set up was complete.  Uh Oh, what is that?  3 Trucks driving down the fence line about 70 yds away or so.  They stop, unload what appears to be about 12 Bigfoots and drive away.  We anxiously watch and wonder.  What are they doing?  They park the trucks and walk back to their "spread."  Oh well, a little competition never hurt anyone.  But wait, where are their blinds?  Oh there they are, those fence posts.  What?  They are setting up for skybustin', you gotta be kiddin' me.  So here we are, 200 deeks deep lying in a field the geese have been hitting for 2 days hard, and we got some idiots standing next to fence posts 70 yds away.  Hold on...it gets better.  So the obvious happens, they sky bust our birds away.  Here's the better part...after shootin' time is over, they ended up with one "sailor" about 150 yds from us and about a 300 yd walk across "our" field to get it.  We're pickin' up and this idiot (for lack of a better term, this is a family blog), comes over and asks us if we got any.  We politely say "NO", and he then asks if we'd like the goose he sky busted.  Seriously?  The nerve!  He was basically saying, "Hey, I know me and my buddy's totally jacked up your hunt. I got lucky and knocked one down, do you want it?"   I'm surprised that this great sportsman was still standing as he left us, me I'm not a fighter I'm a lover, but I'm pretty sure the other's with could've rolled this jacker up into a little ball and pissed on him. 

We managed to take some video after the idiots left and after legal was gone.  Some pretty good footage from a camera phone.  And boy those Sillosocks sure look good!  That's all for now, check back for the latest and greatest.

Had one comment to share about yesterdays post from a fellow economically sensitive and stimulus backing duck hunter.  Anonymous wrote:
Great blog, I too was in the work trenches. 2 days to go before 4 days off I hope they keep coming and you all can Drop 'em every day.

Only report from the day was from the South Ditch.  4 guys went 5 for 5 on a group of Mallards and rolled out just before noon.  Snow geese and Can's still migrating.  South wind and low sky's will stop them tomorrow, we hope!

Seriously? Is this Really Happening?

As the morning clouds hung low, the sounds of waterfowl echoed from the pond. 4 souls headed toward the abyss. The great unknown, the home away from home, the coveted South Ditch. A bird of every species flew away upon entry, and inquiring minds wanted to know, is this "the day". From "go" ducks were on the move. 3 became 5, 5 became 7 and 7 became 10. And then it happened. The great northerly winds began to blow and what appeared to be the great migration from the North began. Flock after flock of Canada geese started showing up. High groups, low groups and medium groups. Unlike in years past, they came with their dancin' shoes on. Sailing, dumping, dumping, flipping, comin' and chargin' hard like they had a date with destiny. The phone rang and rang, with desperation in their voices everyone was wondering. 4 guys turned into 7 before days end and each was burdened with a limit of can's and they split up the measly 12 ducks and two snows.
Some people's burdens are just two hard to handle. Wah, Wah, Wah. To hell with all of you with your flexible schedules, 10 weeks of vacation and unlimited "sick" days. The rest of us will work hard to keep the economy going so you can keep your jobs so you can buy your guns, your decoys and your ammo. You think it's just fun and games when you call and call and call and call and call and call numerous times throughout the day, just hitting send and setting the phone down. Making us listen to calling and shooting, you think that's fun. You think you're doing us favors cause we can't be out there. To hell with it! Leave your damn phones off! Loose my damn number! And quit sending me all those pictures. It's just not fun anymore.
So there you have it, 21 Geese, 12 Ducks and 2 Snows from the South Ditch. Have had numerous other phone calls with same results. The Canada Geese are "flying like they've never flown" (a quote from a
diamond smuggler i know).
That's all for now, check back for the latest and greatest and thanks for all the hits!

Was a Duck Day

The sky was low, the temps were cold and the wind was blowin'.  On this day one would've thought ducks, or perhaps even geese, would be movin' around.  So just what happened today?  We split up today, 1/2 to the field and 1/2 in the ditch.  The pictures below show the success of both locations.

 

Take your pick.  Me I prefer the breakfast.  A bit of a long morning at the Ditch as there was very little movement to keep you there.  Rolled out before 11AM without a shot fired.  The other boys managed to hammer 6 geese during a short, yet successful morning field hunt.  The weather up North needs to push some birds.  That's all for now.  Check back for the latest and greatest and thanks for all the hits.

Migration Mounting

A steady stream of Ducks and Geese the last two days has got to be a sign from up North.  The ducks have been pretty steady and a few geese were seen and heard today.  I just let the hound out for a bathroom break before bed-time and I heard two different groups of Can's in about 10 minutes.  Again, has to be another sign.  At night you can usually hear the "carp" but rarely the Can's.
Received one report from the South Ditch today and the birds were high flyin' and not playing.  The fellas went out just after lunch time, when the wind switched.  They rolled in and could see the geese sitting on the pond.  After a quick peak through the "spotting eyes" it was determined that 50 or so geese were waiting for them.  Enter "the great Sneak of 2010."  We've all done it.  Tried to sneak up on some geese, or ducks, as we're getting to our ditches.  I believe the last time I checked, Vegas odds were about 240:1 that a successful sneak would happen.  Too many eyeballs seeing too much movement.  After a well thought out plan of attack, they arrived at the parking garage undetected, and the sneak begins.  Got within 100 yds of the group and there they go.  Oh well, kept the blood boiling while the cold north wind was blowing.  In case you haven't been watching the weather, here's a run down for the next week in Aberdeen SD.  They are gonna be comin'.  That's all for now.

fri	sat	sun	mon	tue	wed	thu	fri
nov 19 M Cloudy 30° 14°	nov 20  Snow  29° 20°	nov 21 AM Mix 33° 16°	nov 22 Snow  22° 5°	nov 23 P Cloudy 19° 3°	nov 24 Snow  12° -3°	nov 25 M Sunny 18° 8°	nov 26 P Cloudy 26° 16°

Took a Couple Today

A quick hunt yesterday morning showed some promise and hope.  Dropped two Mallards out of 2 different groups of 3 and blasted at a group of 6 Can's.  We hadn't seen really any geese yet and this was our first day of more than 1 Mallard.  There was some early morning movement of ducks that appeared to be migrators.  Got a variety of stuff, to report about.

First off, the Boyer Boys and Dr. Oz have shot us their first report and season progress so far.  Dr Oz wrote: It's been a little slow this week but we are seeing birds. The Boyer area has plenty of water, horseshoe is full of water and ducks and we have a new twist with a flooded timber area about three miles away.We have seen one thousand to two thousand ducks daily. The decoying part has been a problem. They have a pattern going and we seem to be a little off the X.  We have managed to kill 79 ducks as of 11-17-2010. And 6 Canada's so far. Where are the geese?  Seems some weather is about to hit ND cold weather early next week with lows -7 and highs 5 degrees. I wish everyone good luck and be safe. Happy Thanksgiving too.

Also, received a call for the Sillosocks Boys and the Master on the Grounds said this.  Watching hundreds of "chickens" rolling into the area.  They just appeared out of nowhere.  The orange sky was full of geese tonight (Thur).  The birds will start this next week and through Thanksgiving. 


Finally, the South Ditch has 3 hunters and ran away with 4 Mallards.  They reported some minor movement as well early in the day (Thur) but left the ditch before noon as everything shut off. 

That's all for now, check back and keep a watchful eyeball to the North.  It's gonna happen and it's gonna be fast.

South Dakota Report

A little promising email from a friend concerning South Dakota Birds.

SpitTech Guy Wrote:
"Hang in their guys. There are ducks, and plenty of them, in NE South Dakota. I have a friend, of a friend, of a friend, of a friend....actually, a best friend from high school is wacking big greenies daily. Plenty of ducks, plenty of water, and plenty of food. Does not bode well for migration soon, BUT, the temps are going in the tank up that way, and although they won't lose food, they'll lose lots of water. What that means for us only the Lord knows, but, if it comes, it could be good."
"I really enjoy your posts, and if father time doesn't run out on us, we may still have a shot. Until then, keep an eye for cold up North and NWest winds with plenty of sun. A duck hunters dream for sure. Oh, and the guy by the urinal in Cabela's, well, that might have been me."

Thanks for the report.  A little hope goes a long, long way among us waterfowlers.  We will keep after it in hopes of the migration coming before the season ends.  That's all for now.  As always, check back!

It's 5 O'Clock Somewhere

The reference in the title it fitting for today's hunt.  5 O'Clock in the song by Kenney Chesney is a reference for the time to start drinking.  Meaning if it's Noon, your justification for drinking at Noon is "it's 5 O'Clock somewhere".  How that ties into today's hunt, is rather simple.  There are ducks...Somewhere?  The wind was right, the clouds were right, the temps were right, but the ducks were non-existent.  We've seen more ducks on 65 degree days than we did today.  The "adult film stars" were 85 percent right today.  They nailed the wind, clouds and temps, but missed the precip.  It felt like rain and snow, but it never happened.  We need some weather up North, Big Time.  Just a week from Turkey Day and there has only been 2 days of minor migration.  It seems as if we will need 'til middle December to see anything happening.  The last couple years it's been frozen by December, sure not gonna be the case this year.  That's all for now.  Check back for the latest and greatest and thanks for all the hits!

In Our Minds...

...tomorrow is the day.  As we sit wistfully awaiting the incoming weather and the last chance forecast from the 10PM guys, we can't help but think that tomorrow is the day.  It must be coming later than they thought because right now there isn't a stitch of wind and really no sign of the clouds that are said to contain precipitation.  Schedules have been rearranged and we may even have a guest with us in the AM.  Tomorrow's the day.  I once heard that if you repeat something 7 times before you go to bed at night it will become reality by the time you wake up, i.e. get up at 6AM, don't forget to pay bills tomorrow, remember lunch money for the kids, etc.  So I've gone crazy, here goes, tomorrow's the day, tomorrow's the day, tomorrow's the day, tomorrow's the day, tomorrow's the day, tomorrow's the day, tomorrow's the day.  There, I feel much better!

I have a dream...

-A dream that tomorrow, we all rise from the pits with guns a blazin'
-A dream that tomorrow, from the ditches everywhere, hunters of all walks can sit down at the table of brotherhood and enjoy the days harvest
-A dream that tomorrow, we will be characterized not by the brand of our feather dusters but by the accuracy of our shots

And finally,
-A dream that my children will one day say "tomorrow's the day"

And when this happens, when we let it ring from every pit and every laydown, from every lake and every field, we will be able to speed up "tomorrow" when all Waterfowler's will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old spiritual Duck Hunter:

               

Free at last! Free at last!

Just What's the Weather Gonna Do

After hours, and I mean hours, of looking for some consistency in the weather forecast.  All I can really say is that everyone is predicting rain/snow Wednesday.  It's now Monday night and only one day left to figure out if the Duck Doctor is needed.  There are 4 weather sites and one AirNet wind speed/direction site for airplane enthusiasts that all have good information.  3 of the 5 say North Winds Wednesday the other 2 say SSW winds.  Do they really have a clue?  Wednesday would be an unexpected hunting day and a guy needs to figure out his week based on weather forecasters that have no clue.  Kinda like relying on an adult film star for the state of the economy.  No disrespect to all the adult film stars present and reading!  I just don't get it, how do they not know?  Nonetheless, by days end tomorrow a decision is going to have to be made, looks right now as if 3/5 odds wins.  Haven't really heard anything good other than a call from an avid waterfowler with his eye in the sky saying that Canada Geese were observed migrating for about an hour this morning.  That's a good sign.  The last real look at South Dakota (Nov 10th) had the light geese still packed up on the Northern Border, which means the ducks are still farther North.  The up coming weather should be pushing these birds further South.  I just heard Randby (channel 7 meteorologist and recipient of the American Meteorological Society's seal of approval) say "you should see my forecast for Wednesday" on his hook to get us to watch the 10PM news.  Suppose I'll have to stay up and see what he has to say.  It better be good I haven't slept in for weeks!  That's all we got for now.  Keep an eye in the sky and your ears to the phone, one of these days it's going to pay off BIG TIME!

Two Fer One

What an exciting weekend for us.  It all started Friday and ended early this afternoon.  The Two Fer One part is the fact that I can wrap up Saturday and Sunday hunts all in ONE report.  Not a good thing!  As you may have seen a couple reports from Sat AM on the blog, those were from the crackberry.  Both posts were full of anticipation.  One at 434AM excited about the high NW wind and the rain going away and the other at 634AM saying how we were covered in Ducks at that time.  And...if I recall correctly, I may have said something about limiting out by 9AM.  Well, not really the day we were hoping for.  The birds on the pond all but disappeared into thin air at shootin' time.  There were ducks movin' tall all day and only one bunch decoyed until about 930AM.  At that time, it was decided that playing hooky was no longer an option and the time from worked needed to be saved for another day.  We left Saturday with just one Duck in the bag.  Couldn't commit to the whole day anyway so it was over early. 

On to this AM.  Having 150 ducks on the water Saturday AM was enough to get 4 eager guns in the Ditch.  Sunrise came and went with just one duck in sight.  Took a couple shots to bring him down but he found his final resting place just a few feet from our blind.  Managed to handle a single later in the AM as well, but not the day we were looking for.  We saw, I believe, about 6 or so groups of migrators.  The rest we saw were all ducks that have been here since Friday and they're not playin'.  There were always birds to call at but not much in the way of N to S movement. 
Have harvested just one Mallard so far and that was Friday.  There are some around, and I use "some" lightly cause I just don't think they've come yet.  We have seen ZERO Canada geese worth talking about, and the snows/blues don't seem to be pushing like they were 10 days ago. 

Another system coming our way late Tuesday into Wednesday and it will likely move some more birds.  There was a big push of birds Friday for everyone, but I would say the vast majority of waterfowl are still North.  Plenty of season left and it's mid November.  It's the time of year we all wish for in October, and the temps are settling into "normalcy".  It's definitely time to keep and eye in the sky and your ear to the phone.  That's all for now, check back for the latest and greatest and thanks for 30,000 HITS!!!!

It Started this Morning

The sounds of snow and blues rang through the morning darkness as anticipation of the migration mounted.  Slowly counting the seconds until the clock said go.  Ducks everywhere and in every different direction.  What decoyed came right in.  Some near hits along the way kept us from limiting early as the shootin' was, admittedly, far from "SURE."  Had all species of ducks in the bag today when we pulled out at quitting time.  Have to admit, other than wet, didn't get anything after lunchtime.  The morning was full of fun and frenzy.  A day like this is only our 2nd in 3 years at the Ditch.  While 9 ducks doesn't sound like much, it all happened before lunch and it took plenty of shells to get 'em hauled in.  This wind was a bit tough on the steel today.   The take isn't nearly as important as the process.  Very few times does a guy get what we had today in the way of decoying ducks and hard pushing birds.  This is what we spend thousands of dollars on, spend countless hours on, and why we have that lawyer on permanent retainer.  This is it.  North winds, precipitation, cooling temps up north with snow, dang it's about time.  Tomorrow is looking to shape up as good as, or perhaps better than, today.  More bodies in the morning hoping for another round or duck hunters delight.  The boys were a bit frustrated as it appeared we were just not on the flight pattern this afternoon, thousands to see, nothing to decoy.  Have heard stories and reports similar to this from just about everyone on the bottoms.  It's definitely time!   Time to quit wishing, time to quit hoping, time to quit looking at the weather, and time to quit making excuses.  IT is Happening.  Make time now cause who knows how long it's gonna last.  The game doesn't start 'til 7 tomorrow night so no reason for leaving early.  That's all for now.  You can count on a report tomorrow! 

News from the North

Got a phone call earlier from a guy who talked to a guy who talked to a friend who talked to his brothers brother in law who knows a guy that is hunting in Canada.  The birds are high-tailing it out of there!  There is 10 inches on the ground and 18 - 19 below the next 4 nights.  That's good for those boys still hangin' on to hope in N Dakota.  And speaking of North Dakota.  I spoke with another guy who knows a guy whose hunting in ND right now and said they're blastin' the birds non-stop and they aren't sure if the one's they're seeing are gonna stick around.  So that's good for those in S Dakota.  So how about us in Nebraska?  Well, I'll say this the local guys say that it's gonna snow north of here and about 4 inches worth in the next couple days, the national guys/websites don't say anything about that, so it's another waiting game.  Wait to see until it happens.  The Ditch will be full and almost all friends of MuckBottom are all rolling out tomorrow hoping it's going to happen.  Every Ditch South of the US/Can border, West of Missouri River, and East of the Rockies is gonna be full.
Dear Duck Gods:  Hear our prayers! 
Oh yep, almost forgot, we hunted today and didn't shoot anything.  Did see a fair amount of specks moving in from the North and just a couple bunches of quack's.  That's all for now, we'll be back tomorrow with the Yea or Nea.  Keep checkin' back!

Weather Change

Well in late morning the weather system that moved through made the skies look good the wind blow favorably.  The temps dropped for around 60 to in the 40's awfully quick.  After seeing the weather change the Ditch was man'd quickly.  Upon arrival 20 or so ducks jumped off the lake causing high excitement and anticipation.  After sitting until dark, sadly, I must report nothing going on.  Thought just maybe we could possibly see some action this afternoon.  Heard no words from anyone all day long.  For November 10th, 40 degrees, overcast sky's, precip and Northerly winds, that was very surprising.  Tomorrow is a new day.   We're heading up to see if anything decided to move around tonight or perhaps in the morning.  The weather looked promising coming up but I see the fortune tellers have changed their minds.  Some minor weather in the form of pouring rain Friday and that's about it.  It is going to start getting colder at night but there is no "cover" forecast from here to Canada for the next 10 days, just those cold temps.  That's all for now.  Hoping for a "forward-looking" and "promising" report and forecast tomorrow after the hunt.  If you jump back on here and there is a report before noon, you know it wasn't good.  Check back for the latest and greatest and thanks for all the hits.

Danger - Die Hards Only!

An early, early, early morning and to say we had high hopes would be a lie.  We went out today cause:

1) We're die hards
2) We wanted to eat breakfast
3) The coffee maker was brewing when the alarm went off
4) We enjoy the beautiful sunrises and the crisp morning air
5) Sleeping in is just not an option during season
6) Why not?

So there you have it.  While I'm certain most of you passed on 70+ degrees and south winds, the Muck Bottom Boys were out in full force.  We expected to shoot nothing and were a bit disappointed.  We shot one!  A beautiful little Teal.  That's right, you're not reading it wrong.  It is November 7th and there are still Teal around.  I had previously thought that Teal being around was a good thing that meant the big ducks haven't moved yet.  Then I realized that we only have 4 weeks left.  At 2 times a week that's only 8 hunts.  C'mon weather and C'mon ducks!  We heard massive shooting on the river this morning.  Only thing I can figure is they got a boat and they found where the ducks were wanting to be.  We're only 'bout a stones throw away from the river and we didn't see any of the birds they were shooting at.  Not a single group broke above the tree line or into the horizon.  Not sure what was goin' on over there but it sounded awful fun. 

That's all for now, check back for the latest and greatest and thanks for all the hits!

A Great Email from an Old Friend

I received an email early this morning from an old friend MC of Kohler West.  It was in reference to the "Story Worth Sharing." From a few days back. If you haven't read that story, you will need to in order to understand the email.  MC Wrote:

I have waited patiently this entire fall…to report only good news to this web site. I finally have some!

While pondering when things will happen for us and if we will still have any season dates left when it does happen a true “feel good story” brings us back to reality. A simple gesture on behalf of the UNL athletic department has renewed our collective hopes in mankind.

 

I just happen to have a daughter who works at UNL…in the athletic department…very close to the football program. Trust me on this…the MuckBottom web page has been circulated throughout the hallowed halls of the UNL athletic department. The statement made towards the end of the story about this person…”She will never read this blog and will never know the affect of her kindness”…has been taken care of.

So there you have it!  Much thanks to MC for taking it to the next level.  You can only say "thank you" so many times on the phone and you just don't know if it sinks in.  I contacted the persons of the "story" and told them about the blog and what happened with the story.  They are very grateful and appreciative of the athletic dept and ALL of us as well for being a part of their amazing story.  I think they've officially converted to being "crazy's" with the rest of us.  One by one we can convert them all, we just need more blogs!  Again, thanks a million to MC for really bringing it on this one.  May the Duck Gods bless you and keep, may your face shine only when ducks aren't around, may the migration come and give you peace.  CAN I GET AN AMEN!!!!!!!!!!!

Last Night to "sleep" in

Well, nothing at all to report today as far as duck action is concerned.  It's the last night to "sleep" in as daylight savings time ends.  If you're leaving at 6 now, it'll be 5 after tomorrow morning.  Wow that is early.  For all you favorable weather hunters, you are probably going to have at least another week to sleep in and get used to the change as there is nothing to indicate any waterfowl movement or change in behaviors for quite some time, if you pay attention to the weather dudes that is.
I was reading the Legends report last night and saw there is yet another group of "crazy's" among us.  Another blogspot talking about duck hunting.  I nosed around a bit and it doesn't look too bad.  Their site is http://www.platteriverwaterfowlers.blogspot.com.  If you can't get your fix from one of us, you're just not that into duck/goose hunting.  There is some great stuff on the Internet.
I do have a bit of action to report from our friends, the Sillosocks Boys (F.K.A Hay Ditch).  They did a bit of scouting last Tuesday and found a spot for Wednesday afternoon.  The Magic Man on the Grounds had this to write:  "Hunted the corn field blind, last 10 mins of light was nuts. Me and "The Inventor" smashed the green heads, they never knew we were there until it was too late. The Sillosocks 3D Ghilli Blinds really work. Great hunt for the last 10 min then time was up. Got some great work in for the young dog.  There were no new birds, but we had geese landing in the field while picking up.  Sillosocks rule>>>>>The Gang."
They put in the scouting efforts and it paid off.  There's always something to do if you have two very important qualities of a successful waterfooler.  Time and Mobility!  Wish we all had it.  That's all for now.  Check back for the latest and greatest.

12 Long Hours

Yep, that's right.  12 Long hours in the Ditch Wednesday and Thursday and Zero Ducks in the bag.  Hunted the afternoon on Wednesday and had just one bunch of 15 mallards come close, but not close enough as it turned out.  There were ducks here and there all afternoon.  There were some groups of migrants and a few groups that appeared to have already been in the area.
Thursday wasn't much better as 3 minutes before shootin' time had 3 mallards give a great swing but it was a bit too early.  Just before 8AM had a group of 4 mallards work and work and work, could have pulled the trigger once but didn't and the rest is history.  Only saw one bunch of high ducks all morning.  A guy could figure that with this wind and the fact that it's now Nov 4th the ducks should just be flyin' cause mother nature is telling them to, but that is not the case.  Had big winds yesterday and today and while there were quite a few more birds moving Wednesday afternoon, there was  nothing moving Thursday.  The weather looks as if it's holding again until possibly next Wednesday with just a chance of rain predicted.  Mid to upper 60's again for the weekend, and no weather North of here.  Might be time to roll around the countryside and see if you can't get in on a field here or there that last weeks pushers are using, assuming some of them stayed.
That's all for now, check back for the latest and greatest and thanks for all the hits!

Comment Regarding Story...

Hard to believe even on slow duck days(weeks,months)you have a great story to tell and keep the blog interesting.  WELL DONE!!!!

Story Worth Sharing

It appears that there is nothing going on in the duck world so I decided to share a story I ran across today while dreaming about duck hunting a work.  It has absolutely nothing to do with hunting but a lot to do with the University of Nebraska and how far the program has come since SP and BC departed, and TO is calling the shots as AD.

There is a couple who recently had their 2nd child about 6 months ago.  Their new baby boy has "flat spots" on his head and they recently visited the experts at Children's Hospital and they recommended a helmet.  We've all seen kids with these from time to time.  They are pressure helmets that re-shape the soft head of a baby and allow proper growth of the brain and proper shape development of the head.  Being a Husker fan they ordered the helmet all white and figured they could find a red "N" to put on the sides of the helmet.  He was searching and searching for a Red Husker "N" to put on both sides of the helmet.  He searched the Internet, made numerous phone calls and just wasn't coming up with it.  You could get some "N"'s but they all had writing across them or numbers or something else they just didn't want.  As a last ditch effort, he looked up the athletic department phone number at the University of Nebraska.  He called there simply to ask where they got them and was hoping to get a store or website or something.  The person on the other end of the phone asked him why he was looking for one and he explained the story.  After hearing the story, she threw him the best 12 to 6 curve-ball anyone could have ever imagined.  She told him that they would be glad to send him a couple if he would just draft a small letter explaining the story and send it to them.  He was asked to send a self addressed stamped envelope with the letter and she would make sure they sent the "N"'s out as soon as she got the letter. 

A few years back when the program was run like a business, and was, what I would say in the "crapper" far as all of us were concerned, that would have never happened.  I wonder how many top 10 college programs across the country would've extended this gesture to one of their fans?   I would bet not many!  Kudos to the woman on the other end of the line that took 2 minutes out of her day to extend courtesy and listen to a dad wanting to make light of an awkward situation.  Let's face it, do any of us really want our kids wearing helmets?  She took the time to listen and made a dad's day.   She will never read this blog and will never know the affects of her kindness.  "People" really do make a difference.

Thanks for reading and check back for the latest and greatest. 

Trick or Treat

It's Halloween and how fitting for this mornings' hunt.  I would compare it to Trick or Treating on Oct 30, last night.  One would assume that you could dress up, knock on doors, and get some candy, even though no one would really be ready for you.  They wouldn't turn you away, but it would be work and the results would be far less favorable than waiting the one additional day to get to Oct 31st. 
We took home another 4 ducks and our only volley was 1 minute after sun-up.  The results were acceptable but sure was a long couple hours without really seeing anything.  We didn't have the normal hour of duck flipping around and not a single bird before sun-up.  Not much in the way of migration again today.  The weather is holding steady until about Thursday when it dips just a bit.  That's all I got for now.  Check back for the latest and greatest and thanks for all the hits.

And Just Like That...

...the migratory action was pretty much over.  After a morning Wednesday/Thursday seeing bunch after bunch of high flying geese, it ended abruptly today with very little movement in the way of continued migration.  The wind is now from the South and it's back to reality after a brief cool down and favorable winds.  The warm air will once again set in and this warmer October/November is going to continue.  A quick hunt this morning, ending at 9AM, reminded us of just how unstable and un-duck-hunter-esk this fall has really been.  Managed to scrape together a half a limit consisting of one teal and one wigeon and one duck carcass.  A slight oversight in the size of ammunition thrown toward the heavens left the first teal almost unrecognizable.  Made and adjustment from 3 1/2 BB Heavy Metal to 2 3/4 inch 6 shot for the reaming round.  Much better choice.

Heard from the South Ditch, and they never fired a single shot and saw less than a handful of groups of ducks, no group with more than 10.  So there you have it, today's action, or lack thereof, for this Friday before Halloween.  Any change in weather is not really predicted for the next 10 days so slow goin' is probably what we're gonna have for a little longer. 

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

1st Wave Underway

Today started about 3 times before it actually started.  Once at about 1130PM last night, again at 141AM this morning, again at 323AM and finally the alarm went off at 5AM and this time it was time to stay awake.  That's what I call anticipation.  The big winds and late reports from yesterday made it tough to get a good nights sleep before it would all start this morning.  After exiting the trucks you could hear specks and snows by the hundreds flying above in the black sky, only adding to the excitement of the first real migratory hunting hopes of the year.  The sounds continued through moving deeks, resetting deeks and trying to find just what happened to the deeks in last nights big winds. After about 35 minutes of getting things back together we settled in, turned off the lights and poured a cup of coffee.  The sounds continued.  Whistling wings above gave way to splashes in the pond, as early morning risers were well inside gun range.  Two minutes before LST we had 13 ducks on the pond, 4 Mallards and 9 Teal.  The little one's were a bit of a surprise after yesterdays monsoon style winds.  In the final two minutes just one lone hen Mallard was left.  Just as we prepared to "yell" her up here comes some gaddy's hot and heavy like a dog in heat.  We waited for them and unloaded.  The only duck that managed to fall was the Hen that was already sitting.  She popped up after the first shot and a quick swing and shot dropped her down.  FRUSTRATING when they are that close and you just can't get your bearings the first time around.  The action continued for about 2 hours, and we had 5 in the bag.  One Mallard, Two Blue Bill, Two Teal and One Gadwall.  We sat and sat even after the direct action seemed to have stopped.  Nothing really paid much attention to us after the sun got up and glaring.  We stuck it out until right at Noon and then figured we could get home and make the wives happy by cleaning or doing laundry or...yeah right, straight Night Night Time. 
The snows and specks are moving.  There was always something in the stratosphere, as long as you could focus.  Saw very few migrating ducks and not a single bunch of migrating Can's.  It appears that the storms and winds up north got a lot of the early one's moving this way.  The weather is switching back to above normal for at least the next week, so what's around will stay around.  Might see a few that didn't stick around roll back North tomorrow with the 35+ Southerly winds predicted. 
South Ditch - Just one hunter this morning, much to his surprise.  Professor Binelli hunted 'til 10 and rolled out of there with his limit of Can's and 3 ducks to even out the game carrier on the way out.  I'm tellin' ya that guy gets more birds by himself than anyone I know.  He should write a book on the "right" days to hunt, he rarely misses when the time is right. 
Oh, and the "X" goose hunt we turned down went exactly as planned.  They were limited out by 830AM.  There will be another time.  That's all for now, check back for the latest and greatest or check us out on FACEBOOK.

Apocalypse Now

I have a dream...

Or perhaps a vision, or nightmare or false hope or whatever it is that one hangs on to when the N wind is blowing and there's weather coming and it's late October.

With varied success across the bottoms and further South, just what will tomorrow bring?  3 ducks in the Ditch today, all teal, and quit by 930AM.  3 ducks out of the South Ditch today from 1PM to close (gaddy & 2 mallards) and no one hunting at the G'Ditch (we don't think).  Who knows whats gonna happen.  I'll tell you this much, turned down a "on the X" goose hunt for the morning with promise of completion by 9AM just to hunt this wind and what appears to be a good push of new birds.  Observed just a small push of birds today until the clouds came in, then it was prevalent, maybe just cause we could see 'em with the clouds in the sky.  Just after dark the captain of the Hay Ditch was giving me play-by-play on Geese and Ducks piling into fields near his killin' spot.  Also mentioned specks and snows, those are definitely, without question, new birds.

We are fully committed for tomorrow with breakfast and a croc of chili for lunch.  Hoping to get to the chili!  The skies are supposed to clear by morning and don't know if that's good or bad.  Wind is favorable and a bit more "workable" than today with those gusts we had up to 50mph.  A guy can live with 15MPH but 50's a bit out of control.  Tomorrow should be a good shootin' day.  Got a funny feeling it will turn into the first all day "rot" of the season.  And don't worry...we will be discussing the 930AM leaving of a certain hunter, who knows better than to leave from the Ditch on a weather day like we had today.  Didn't even have to common courtesy to roll back up there once the clouds came in.  Amazed he's still married with that extremely low level of COMMITMENT!

That's all for now.  Check back for the latest and greatest and CHECK US OUT ON FACEBOOK!

Mission: Impossible?

Today's post begins with a mission from Duk Master regarding the most recent "Hello World" post. 

"Ok some of those countries make sense. Russia and China(Mandarin Duck) make a little sense. But what kind of birds or should I clarify, what kind of waterfowl does a guy shoot in Slovenia or Latvia? This we need an answer to. Your mission, Not So Sure Shot, should you choose to accept it, is to find the answers."

Slovenia : Mostly bird watching advocates.  In order to hunt in Slovenia one must first undergo, what we would refer to here in the US as, a hunter's safety course.  Now this is no easy task as the program lasts 1 full year before you are able to discharge a weapon for hunting purposes.  Whether by gun or bow, it's a year.  Slovenia is thought of mainly as wintering grounds for both ducks and geese.  By the end of the migration you will find birds in small numbers grouped no larger than 20,000.  Among the inhabitants of Slovenia are: the Horned Grebe (aka the Slovenian Grebe) Goldeneye, Tufted ducks, Mergansers and a large number of Teal.  You will also find White-fronted geese and the hard to decoy and much sought after Bean Goose.  Not many waterfowl hunters or outfitters in the region.  Which is why my research and training has led me to believe our hits from the area are from birders, bird watchers and perhaps even some well studied Ornithologists. 

Latvia:  Whole different story here.  Waterfowl are a very popular kind of game, and the opening of the hunting season on waterfowl in August could be considered more like a holiday for more than 19,000 active hunters of Latvia.  I contacted my friends from Latvia; Teodors, Mikelis and Kristaps of SIA Latvijas Safari Klubs (pictured above with nice harvest of geese).  They were kind enough to send me the picture and explain how I could possibly get it on a Wild Duck Hunt and Geese free of charge.  For 450 Euro ($626.04 USD) one could get in the possibility of free duck/goose hunting and they take care of the following:

1st day – transfer from the airport Riga to the hunting place;
2nd- 4th day – hunting;

5th day – transfer to airport;
Full board and accommodation;
Transportation during a hunt;
Hunt organization – 3 days;
Hunting permit;
Ammunition;
Possibility to hunt wild duck and geese free of charge
Not included:
Airline tickets;
Lodging, meals, travels, sightseeing trips - before and after hunting;
Alcoholic beverages, airport taxes & other items of personal nature;
Additional trophies (depending on season);
Gratuities.

Sounds like a deal to me, spend thousands of dollars to maybe shoot birds.  Just how is that different from hunting here?

So there you have it another "no birds" report from your most trusted news source Muck Bottom Outfitters.  There is snow and 35-50 MPH NNW winds from Aberdeen, SD all the way up to Fargo, ND all day tomorrow and into tomorrow night.  The forecast here says 17 MPH NW winds here Thursday so I'm gonna call it.  Thursday is the Day!  To take a line from a fellow blogger, I wouldn't miss Thursday for Nothing.  Well I might miss it for Latvia?  That's all for now, check back for the latest and greatest and thanks for all the hits.

Mission ACCEPTED and COMPLETE!

Hello World!

As we're trying to pass the time until something happens, it's simply amazing what you can find out about whose takin' a peak at what appears to now be, the worlds most trusted news source Muck Bottom Outfitters Waterfowl Report.  Look out CNN!  The map above shows where all of our hits are coming from. Below you will find the rundown, for the month of October, of the whereabouts of fellow technologically advanced and well-connected waterfowl enthusiast friends:

United States 1,914
Canada 28
Japan 27
Russia 26
South Korea 21
Germany 20
Hong Kong 20
Portugal 19
Philippines 14
Australia 11
Denmark 9
India 9
Slovenia 4
China 2
South Korea 2
Latvia 2
Russia 2
Denmark 1
France 1

There is a section of this blog that you cannot see titled "stats".  It gives you information concerning whose watching. When the night started we figured it was time write something, but didn't know what to talk about.  After searching and searching around the control panel of this blog, we found it.  Some real information!  Something to write about! There must be some sort of translator out there that allows this cheap entertainment to be understood internationally.  Now I have no idea why someone in China would be reading this.  I mean, other than the outstanding creativity and intelligence displayed, there's really not a whole lot here!  Did you even know they shot ducks in China?  I thought it was just cats, or maybe dog, or whatever it is that makes Sweet and Sour Chicken taste so good.  Could just be the "sweet" or the "sour" I guess.  The "chicken" could just be the "chicken".
What is most interesting for me is that there are people from the "meca" of waterfowling, Canada, reading this.  Almost any day they can drive less than an hour and shoot more birds than most of us do in a whole season. Goes to show you that Netflix, Dish Network and Time Warner are all missing the boat on the entertainment needs of our allies just to the North.  Get up there, there is money to be made!  With that my successful ramblings will abruptly end.
As for the last few days of hunting;  Nada, Nothing, Zip Zilch.  If you came here for a duck/goose report, I'm sorry.  Got nothing to say!  They haven't really started to push yet, and nothing was harvested over the weekend.  Sure hope the ducks start flyin' South soon. I don't know how much more creativity one is capable of. That's all for now. Check back for the latest and greatest and thanks for all the hits. If you're from another country and reading this, send us an email, we'd love to hear from you.

Weather Got the Best of US

Non stop ducks 15 minutes before shootin' time got a guys hopes up a bit.  There were all species of smaller ducks flippin' around just before it was legal.  Even had a drake Wood Duck land in the Deeks.  Then it happened.  Shootin' time.  Had one big bunch of teal land outside the deeks and a surprising group of 4 Mallards that escaped any and all steel.  They left unscathed,  not because of shooting but because "one more swing" was on their side.  Passed up two decent shots and regretted it for the rest of the time out there.  Left without firing a shot.
"Not So Sure Shot - Have you not learned anything in the past years? One more swing is the kiss of DEATH and not for the ducks. TAKE EM WHEN YOU CAN!". Said our friend DukMaster.

Saw about 10 or so bunches of migrating ducks way up there, normally you would complain about the heights, but it's a good sign of things to come.  Ran by Desoto today and saw snow geese that haven't been there the last few times by and 5 huge swans.  There seemed to be an influx of Canada Geese over there but observed very few ducks.   Hoping to fire some shots again this weekend.  That's all for now, check back for the latest and greatest and thanks for all the hits. 

Very Picky Day

The Duck season is finally starting.  It's not a huge start like last years snow storm on opening day but it's sure nice to see some new ducks around the area.  Not much in the way of Mallards, but plenty of Pintail and Teal still floating around and pushing South.  Had to be choosy today cause the amount of Pintail around.  Started the day with a drake followed by a couple teal and then a hen.  One guy walked out with 4 ducks and left early.  Still a ton of Shovelers around and decided not to fire at them today.  Was impressed with the shooting today at more season-like and realistic targets.  The B52's from Sunday weren't quite as hard to hit.  A nice small push of little ducks has begun.  Been hearing conflicting stories about the weather the next 10-14 days, dare I say "Duck Doctor" anytime soon?  Best refrain from that for now!  We are just 10 days away from November, which is hard to believe as nice as it's been for the fair weather lovers, me I hate it.  I'm certain most of you do too.  The first week of November generally brings a push of Mallards, but I'm guessing it may be moved back just a bit.  We'll be back in the Ditch tomorrow and a post will come again for those of you who are interested.  That's all for now, check back for the latest and greatest and thanks for all the hits!

Get By With a Little Help from My Friends

Everyone has a guy they know that knows just about everyone within about 50 miles of your location, right?  After some aggressive scouting and watching, a field was found and the only thing missing was permission.  We called our left hander out of the bull pen and he came through.  Made a call on behalf of MuckBottom and through osmosis, we got our permission.  Without him who knows, we could've been shooting "smiley's" wondering just how to properly prepare them for a meal.
We rolled out of town bright and early and found ourselves set up about 30 minutes 'til shooting time.  Had 8 guys today and were hoping that there would be 24 in the bag when we left.   We stood around and slowly sipped some coffee as we reminisced about days gone by.  Days when you could count on sitting in the Ditch in Middle October and the only thing keeping you from taking home a limit of Gaddy's or Wigeon was your shooting ability.  Seems like we're a ways from that right now.  After exchanging pleasantry's and evacuation of coffee we jumped in.  Not many sounds early on, and very little action.  We sat around for quite some time wondering just when the traffic would start.  Got a phone call from DukMaster about 7:40 wondering if anything was going on.  "Nothing yet, probably about 8:10" was the response.  "Well call me back at 8:11."  Here comes the first group of 5, coming from our right, just over the horizon.  They passed in front, a bit tall, swung behind, got a bit further out on the swing-back and then down they go.  Yep that was easy.  Just kidding, down they go about 75 yds off the mark.  Here it comes.  The over thinking!  While we were all relatively quiet about where those birds just set down, you could pretty much hear all the hamster wheels turnin'.  Did we miss, what didn't they like, should we have called more, flagged less, called less, flagged more...the possibilities are endless!   Should we walk them off, should we send the dog, should the guy closest throw a couple warning shots their way?  Then a few honks from the South quickly averted our attention, from the wandering/feeding geese already down, to the sky.  Never mind the group 75 yds away, these baby's are gonna play.  Sure enough they did, don't know how many we dropped, but the action from that point on was fast and furious.  Didn't pick up a single bird until we thought we were done.  After 3 groups of hard approaching and decoying birds we picked 'em all up and had 19.  Still 5 to go.  Had more birds coming as we were lining up the carnage so we hopped back in for round 4.  A bit of a tougher shot this time and we only grounded 3.  That's 22, we're almost home.  Oh and by the way, after 19 two guys put the guns down and began filming the rumble in the jungle.  So we got 20-21-22 on film.  Only two left.  We had a 14 yr old with us today, as we almost always do, and we decided to put all the guns away except his.  The last two he was gonna have to shoot, didn't matter how long we had to stay.  Next bunch was a group of 5, belly up about 30 yds in front of him.  Three shots and dumped 2, just hammered the first one and had to chase the 2nd one down a bit.  Got those on film too!  That's all she wrote.  We started shooting about 7:45 and were done by 8:15.  Fast and Furious may be a bit of an understatement.  Remember that phone call from DukMaster?  Little did we know that just 4 minutes after 8:11 we would be done and ready to pack up.  Truly a great morning.
Birds 20-22 are on video below.  Please keep your laughter to a minimum.  We didn't hire anyone to film and certainly no one to call.  But hey, proves that what sounds good to the human ear, doesn't necessarily sound good to a goose.  You can't learn to call like that on stage!  That's good-hard-aggressive-feet down- shoot 'em in the eye goose calling derived from years of watching and listening to geese call in the wild.   And for all who are wondering, yes these are more than likely local geese mixed with early migrants.   The NRCS USDA Wetland Reserve Program doesn't pay $3300/acre (or more) to develop wetlands that don't hold local birds, or stop early migrators.  Hunt 'em when you can - where you can.
That's all for now, the migration will start soon. Check back for the latest and greatest and thanks for all the hits.

Short Day

Hello again all my technologically advanced and well connected waterfowl enthusiast friends.  Wednesday was a bit disappointing as we had huge N NW winds most of the day Tuesday and all night.  When the sun came up the wind wasn't blowing at all.  There are still fair numbers of small ducks around and even starting to see a few Pintail.  Took home a couple tasty little teal this morning and unloaded on some pinney's with no luck.  They were just a bit tall, thought they'd come down but they didn't.  Is it time to re-think the Patternmaster?  Workable birds were just 4 can's before shootin' time and only 2 small groups of teal.  Hammered two out of one group and watched the other group get blasted by the G'Ditch.  They came our way, landed outside the deeks, got up, flew toward them, and with cannon's-a-blazin' they dropped 4, kept calling and called the other 3 or so back and dropped them all too.  Decided it was time to go after that!  Didn't get skunked and we're gettin' close to last years total already, which ain't sayin' much, but it sure is good to know we may be on our way back to normalcy.
Won't be in the Ditch again until Sunday, but things are starting to look up.  The weather is starting to get a bit colder and the Southern Portion of Canada has large numbers of white geese.  The Cormorants are flying at a relatively steady pace so the real birds have to be just a bit behind.  The SSPI (Sure Shot Predictive Index) says; Within the next 10 days we should start seeing the brown ducks.  Wow, really goin' out a limb there!  That will put us toward the end of October and really about right on schedule as in years past, excluding last season of course.  As we continue to see the water on the river stay at a high level there are new ponds, sloughs and run-offs everywhere.  All the water should get the birds shifting back on the eastern path and hopefully a more "normal" migration.  Only time will tell.  Keep and eye in the sky and check back for the latest and greatest. 

Great Sunday and a What you'd expect Monday

It's that time again, time for news from your most trusted news source Muck Bottom Outfitters.  445 AM was awful early Sunday but the price is a small one to pay to get on some geese.  Over the hills and through the woods on to the X we go.  Got there real early and set up about 100 or so deeks.  The setup went pretty smooth so with about 45 minutes 'til shootin' time, a small nap and some coffee was enjoyed.  Walked out just before noon with 11 in the bag.  The lack of wind really played havoc with the geese.  Not one bunch came from the same direction, or looked to set up in the same spot.  Moved the spread 4 times and bodies 2 in hopes of landing the perfect shot.  Can't really complain, but it was a very frustrating 11.  If you're keeping score, that's 32 geese in two days out of the same spot.  A great opening weekend for geese.
This morning some good old fashioned hard nosed hunting was on the mind of one of us and a trip to the Ditch just had to happen.  With the most inclement weather in days and nothing in the forecast, clouds and little shower seemed like a maybe.  After a couple hours, managed two teal and passed on numerous opportunities on "smiley's".  Nice to see there are still birds around.  Hope to be in the ditch Wednesday and Thursday and hope to be throwing some steel in the sky.
Managed to hear a story of a few guys around the area who hunted last night and this morning leaving about noon today without a bird in the bag.  It is early I guess, if your not into shooting little ducks, now is not the time.
That's all for now, check back for the latest and greatest and thanks for all the hits.

X marks the spot

Well not a lot going on with the temps as high as they are, unless of course, you're one of the 7 who were lucky enough to get in on the first day goose hunt above.  Yep that's right 7 guys 21 birds and done early.  Gonna hit it again in the morning and see what turns out.  The duck movement has slowed to less than a snail's pace with the last two days creeping around 90 degrees.  Will hopefully have some video/pics from a little action tomorrow morning, we'll see.  That's all for now, check back for the latest and greatest and thanks for all the hits.

Don't know if they were flyin'

Hope you are all enjoying the T-Magic show on ESPN.  Today was just too warm and there was zero wind, so no bodies in the Ditch today.  Had a warm body yesterday morning for about 2 hours before it was quitting time.  Not much at all going on around the area.  The warmth has settled back in which has been typical the last few years and it's simply waiting time. 
While out and about today I tested some new camo for Huntech. You gotta check it out below. That's all for now, check back for the latest and greatest and thanks for all the hits.

What a Nice Day

A typical early October morning was today's hunt.  Got a message saying that there were teal sitting on the pond early and that today's hunter passed on a group of "smileys" early.  Why? "Just Cause"  What he didn't know what that those sweet little ducks would be the only group that would give him a shout.  Not knowing what was going on after a couple hours, a message was sent wondering how the day was.  The reply was "sure was a nice day."  After no action the hunt ended late morning with Zero in the bag.    The birds around have pretty much found the safe zones among the bottoms after the weekend barrage.  Amazing just how quick they figure it out.  A couple thousand ducks are sitting just 1/4 mile away on an unhunted piece of property in the comfort of zero hunters or pressure.  Just waiting around for a new batch to find their way South.  Another day in the Ditch tomorrow AM long as the DU dinner doesn't get out of control tonight.  That's all for now.  Check back for the latest and greatest and thanks for all the hits.

More Saturday Success - Zero Sunday

Hello again everybody, it's that time again, news from your most trusted source: Muck Bottom Outfitters.  Some afternoon visitors to the Ditch late Saturday walked away with more success.  They added another 5 ducks to the bag, so all in all a 15 duck day for opening day.  Looks like the two first-timers had tons of fun and still made it home for supper.  Great Job!
We rolled out this AM hoping for a repeat of yesterday but were a bit disappointed.  All the people scattered around the bottoms yesterday morning stirring up all the ducks sure played havoc with us this morning.  Yesterday started off fast and furious, this morning I would say was slow and lazy.  Very few birds sitting when we walked in and very few birds at shootin' time.  We ended up taking a couple more, but only had two groups of working birds.  Saw a few additional groups but nothing to really write home about.  The wind was non-existent until we walked out, why wouldn't it be?  Just the luck I guess.  Well the first weekend had us with 17 birds.  Not to shabby!  We will definitely take that.  Non-Stop from here on out, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday for sure next week.  Possibly some fill-in days as well.  Just have to see what's goin' on.  Until next time, check back for the latest and greatest and thanks for all the hits!

Great Opener

Aquatic vegetation, tiny crustaceans, mollusks, alga and insects.............sure doesn't sound like a very good diet. But if your hungry for duck hunting and it's the season opener, you'll shoot any duck that decoys. Wrap it in BACON and move on! Word has it there is a cook at a Choke and Puke up in Canada that can cook 'em up good.
Hello again all my technologically advanced and well connected waterfowl enthusiast friends. It's time for another report from your trusted news source: Muck Bottom Outfitters. The season is here. An opening morning harvest consisted of Teal, Pintail, and if you read the first paragraph, the great Anas Clypeata. Yep, that's right, the Great Northern Shoveler. Managed 10 ducks in the bag at the end of today's hunt and really can't complain. That's more birds today than any one day last season, species notwithstanding! The birds set up really well and even managed to call a couple Can's to 2 swings over the top at 10 feet and eventually right down to the water. Too bad it's too early, trigger fingers were gettin' real itchy.
It was a good morning to take our guests, who flew in from Montana, out to enjoy the brisk morning air, good coffee and about "bogey golf" shooting. After the long morning hunt, it was back to the lodge for smoked ribs and smoked turkey, and then a well deserved nap I'm sure.
Tomorrow will hopefully yield the same results. If we can pound another 10, that would be 60% of last years yield in just the first two days. Until next time, check back for the latest and greatest and thanks for all the hits!

Youth Season Excitement

Hello again everybody it's that time again.  Time for another story about the Ditch.  With the lightening and thunder Saturday about drive away time, it seemed like the right choice was to stay home the first day of the Youth Weekend.  Little did we know that just 25 minutes after LST would it be over, oh well.  Sunday was the call we thought so we pulled out early this AM wondering what kinda shape we were going to be in when we got to the Ditch.  Deeks blown around and water as high as the Missouri River is what we found.  A couple inches of rain a week or so really filled up the pond.  We were overflowing on the west bank so it was time to quit pumping.  The bottoms are completely soaked right now.  Mud everywhere and water sitting in every crevice.  We took a couple young men with us this morning who were more than willing to answer the 5AM wake-up call.  The bird action started right away and there was no disappointment to be found.  The boys ended up bringing home 4 birds, 2 teal and 2 smileys.  Had about 6 kaboom booms and the entertainment was second to none.  Each volley went about like this...Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom..."got ONE"!  It was great.  Being the only dad there without offspring on sight, I only had breakfast to really worry about.  Seeing the boys nailing some great shots and hearing ducks thump in the water really got my blood boiling.  Between the two of them there was a full box of empties lying around after just 2 hours.  We packed it up right at 9AM.  There are alot of teal and smileys around.  We had bunch after bunch buzzing us for a strong hour and a half.  Saw just a few bigger ducks and two small bunches of Can's getting off some of the local water.  Next week is the opener and the season is finally here, you can sleep in again sometime after the first of the year.  If the ducks and geese decide to migrate our way this year and they set up shots like the boys took today it could be a fun season for us.  Looking forward to getting back here to write.  That's all for now.  Check back for the latest and greatest and thanks for all the hits.

People Really Read this Crap

It's been a while since the last post.  Been kinda lazy I guess.  For those of you who have been "checking back for the latest and greatest", I hope you haven't given up. While flipping around at the Waterfowler's Weekend Events at the local hot spot (cabela's), a friend of Muck Bottom, aka SR, was sporting his highly sought after and well recognized Mock Neck Long Sleeve Mid Season Advanced Muck Bottom Outfitter's one of kind and field tested Shirt.  You know, those 5 shirts we paid a professional designer to design and logo and print that were like $500 cause we thought we had something, yep those shirts.  The highly recognized and unmistakable Logo got the attention of some passers-by.  Well, at least the attention of the guy standing over the urinal next to him.  Seems as if people actually read this stuff.  And they laugh! Amazing to me! But then again, we're all nuts!  Appreciate the compliments and interest.  Hopefully we can continue with the antics this upcoming season.  Know this, we will continue to operate and report with the utmost integrity and sincerity, knowing that not a single story is embellished, or exaggerated.  You can count on us, One is always One, and Two is always Two.  We cannot, however, say that all the reports we receive contain the same levels of integrity.  We are aggressively seeking an actuarial professional to provide expert assessment and to evaluate the likelihood of the said events that allegedly happen in "other" ditches across the country.  If anyone knows of someone that may have actuarial talent and can mathematically and sensibly turn One into Ten and Two into Twenty, please refer them our way.  We pay in high quality T-shirts and large amounts of B.S. 
The Youth season is just 3 1/2 short days away and we're looking for some great action those two days for our youngsters.  We got a call form the Gate Keeper and he said we had about 1000 ducks laying all over the pond Monday AM.   There was also a report of about 100 Can's floatin' right in, like they owned the place, over the weekend.  You combine that with some minor migratory movement of cormorant and teal Sunday afternoon in the drizzle and wind, it should be a great Youth Weekend if the shootin's straight. 

That's all she wrote, for now.  Check back for the latest and greatest and thanks for all the hits.

Mixed Bag Day

Hello again all my technologically advanced and well-connected waterfowl enthusiast friends.  Sunday morning led way to an invite from DucksNBrown Dogs to hunt teal at the Leshara Ditch.  Yes, of course.  The morning was spent with DNBD, Sure Shot Sr, and "The Don".   The action started and stopped at the same time. Saw just 3 bigger ducks and some local geese floating around. No Shots Fired!  Today about 1130AM an email came with pictures, Ducks N Brown Dogs wrote:
After two days of not seeing anything, today 9/6 we got into a nice good sized flock of teal. I was helping my boy take the first shot and he shot his first teal, pretty exciting for him. Sure Shot Sr. was out again today along with "The Don" and ended up dropping 10 total out of that flock. Stuck around but didn't see much else before heading home.

Attached some pictures from today. Thanks for coming out this weekend wish we could of got into a few while you were out.

Well what do you know, a day late and a dollar short!  Man, I can't believe how those guys shoot.  This is the same group who did almost the same thing last year.  One group and 10 birds, on teal nonetheless.  I don't know how they do it with 12 shots.  Especially when I know that 2 of them while hunting at the South Ditch have been unable to scratch Can's at 20 yds and they are now out popping 3-Fer's on teal.  Someones obviously been practicing.

Tonight, Monday we decided to run up to The Ditch and see if we couldn't bring home a few doves.  We rolled up about 5PM and rotted until dark.  Took home 10.  Had two dogs who got in some much needed water retrieves and an introduction to the new dog pits.  They were not real sure about 'em but a slow burn made it all better.  Kinda like making your kid ride a bike for the first time without training wheels.  They may fall and get scratched up, but they'll do it again and figure it out.  Was real happy with the dog work, doves in weeds and water aren't an easy find.  Glad to see their noses work.

The 2nd of October is quickly approaching and The Ditch looks good, we need another 3-4 solid weeks of pumping until the grin becomes an all out ear to ear permanent smile.   That's all for now, check back for the latest and greatest.

Muckin' Around

I started posting so I guess I need to keep going. Today’s post is nothing more than jibberish. Thoughts in my head, and probably yours too beings you are reading this, that consume what little space is left for day dreaming.

As everyday passes we inch closer and closer to the 116 days of pure bliss. The seasons are starting earlier; the proposed start date for LP Early is October 2nd. Wow, that’s early! If you’ve been hiding under a rock and this is a surprise to you, you better move your plans up a couple weeks. If this year’s plans include a “better mouse trap” you had better be started already. There is no more time to waste!

I received the new Cablea’s waterfowl catalog and have wishfully been flipping through it. All the gear! If money was unlimited, the next delivery truck for “waterfowl weekend” would be backed up next to the ditch and taken directly to the island. Can you ever have enough? When is it too much? I read an article that said the average waterfowler will spend between $1200-$1700 per year to hunt, everything from coffee to duck stamps and licenses, to decoys, guns and leases. There are currently 30,000 or so of us in the state of Nebraska, some more foolish than others. On the low end we will spend more than $36mil on this upcoming season alone, that’s about $300,000 per season day (obviously not counting the sky carp conservation season, whole different ball game there). Now you know why everyone and their dog is out there trying to sell to us something. We are a special group of enthusiasts that choose emotion over judgment and chance over guarantee. We spend countless amounts of money on “stuff” and dream away complete days that our friends have quietly described as “muckin’ around.”

Don’t forget about Dove season, they are migratory birds too and deserve our attention and dedication as well. Why pay for the migratory bird stamp if you’re not going to observe the beauty of the season. If you happen across a “pigeon” while dove hunting, take ‘em, “they’re good eatin’.”

That’s all for now.

Early Morning Over-Thinking Way Too Early

You'd have thought it was November this morning.  The alarm shot off 5AM, the booze from the night before still lingered and the smell of fresh coffee pulled me out of bed.  Why, you may ask? Well let me tell you.... we got our new pit buried and we had lots of work to do this morning.  We rolled in just a couple clicks after 6AM to see what it looked liked.  Nailed it!  Perfect location (so we think) and plenty of surrounding island ground for deeks.  The old sit and shoot constructed last year just wasn't going to work. Talk about "sore thumb."  That thing just didn't look right.  It was comfortable and constructed to last, but again our over-thinking got the best of us and it was on to our 3rd major re-construction in just 3 seasons at the Ditch.  You know the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.  We are sooooo far from insane.  I just know it! 

With the pit buried and no idea of what to do with the old (new last year) above ground "house for elephants", we decided on a little gas, a little brush and a clicker and there you have it.  Just like that, it's reduced to rubbish and ash (see image above). 

Yep, we are crazy, and waterfowling (serious waterfowling that is) requires multiple "jack sessions", and a number of conversations concerning the betterment of your situation. We pretty much got that part figured out.  That's all for now, check back for the latest and greatest.

It's Gettin' To Be That Time...

Well, hello all my technologically advanced and well connnected waterfowl enthusiast friends.  I thought maybe it would be a good time to update the blog.  The Great Snow Goose Chase of the spring was a bust, we didn't set up and didn't shoot.  We thought we could go and literally "chase" some down but we had no luck getting to the birds.  It was wet, wet, wet...What a mess.

Exciting things happening for us this year.  We've got our island we've been wanting and a last minute decision to bury the pit in the island has been made.  With no rain, and a blessing from the man upstairs,  by Sunday's end, it should be over.  Then the real work starts.  Can't wait, haven't really had any projects going this summer to occupy all the "free" time we have had and it's nice to finally have something to do.  If anyone wants to help we have beer, wine and liqour.   At just $15 a beer, $26 glass and $101 a mixer, we should have it all done and paid for by the time it all runs out, feel free to stop by!  We could use the money (I meant help, sorry).  Mosquito spray will be provided for your comfort.

The hopes are high for a much more "normal" year this upcoming season. Plenty of water everywhere and without and opening day snow storm, nothing is indicating a repeat of last years FEST.  The smoke poles are being lubed and dusted for the first outing of the year, just 4 short weeks away.  That's right, DOVE season.  I can almost smell the burnin' barrels and smokin' shells.  The time of year to see just how bad ones' aim is.  Just how many boxes of shells can you burn through before you hit your daily bag limit?  Over/Under for you gamblers is 4 boxes.  For the "novice" marksman 4 boxes is a good day, you have fun and get bruised.  I've decided to give into the pressure and take out to the field 1 box and 1 additional  shell, just in case.  Hopefully I won't need it, but you just never now how the wind will be blowing. 

We are all excited, hope everyone reading this is too.  That's all for now, check back for the latest and greatest.