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.