Has the Season Started Yet?

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

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

Soggy Day

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

Finally - New Ducks!

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

Migration?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Congrats to the South Ditch

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

Wednesday Follow-Up and Thursday Blues

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

Thanks for all the comments.

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

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

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

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

Betcha Can't Get Just ONE

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

What a Difference a Day Makes

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

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

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

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

So Much to Report...Not Enough Space

I'll cut the normal entry to save space, so I'll just say hello. I must start off with one missing comment do to email troubles last night. I got a new crackberry and my stuff wasn't coming through, so I was unaware of the email.

DukMaster Wrote:
"I have said it many times in the past(I think I was even right once), but "tomorrows' the day". Based on the weather report from Canada, 9" of snow and 18 degrees Wednesday and Thursday, which explains by we've had an influx of birds the last few days., you may want to consult your Duck Doc, as you seem to look a bit pale. The remedy is at least 4 hrs in the ditch. I recieved an email from my decoy making buddy, you know the sillosock man, and his group shot 117 geese and 76 ducks this last week in Canada. Reports like that make a guy want to call in sick. Keep your ear to the North."

It seems our friend Duk Master was right today (Sat) was the day, at least around our area. The South the to East Ditch pounded a 4 man limit of ducks, 8 Bluewings 2 Woody's and the rest Gadwall. Gone before Noon. Not a bad outing for the first time out in a new spot.

G'Ditch was pounding birds as well. Not sure how many they shot, but each one had to have burned at least a box of shells.

The NW Ditch was also firing hard today. Sounded as if they had 'bout 10guys there and I recon they took home at least an 8 man limit, unless they can't shoot real well but I seriously doubt that.

One funny report recieved today comes from the South Ditch. The "Litigator" was on his way early getting ready for the first hunt of the year and he called Duk Master making sure they weren't leavin' him at the trailer. You see, he don't like walkin' and as true as any litigator, he much prefers the easy ride. To his disappointment Duk Master informed him that duck season wasn't open yet in the Blair Zone North of Hwy 30 and East of 75 and South of Burt County. He couldn't believe it so he drove all the way to Tekamah to get a waterfowl season pamphlet that he knew the gas station would have. JACKPOT, he saw that Canada Goose season was open at the South Ditch. The "Litigator" finally unlocked the gate and pulled up to the trailer, it's now 8AM at the South Ditch. He got dressed and listened. There it was, the murmurs and honks of the old days. Can's, Snows, Specks and Mallards covering almost 1/2 of the 3 acre lake and feeding out of it to the North. The sneak was on...do I need to go any further...we all know the success rate...really do I need to say it...okay then...it didn't work. All the birds jumped up and flew away as he crawled ever so stealth-ily, almost mouse-like, toward the lake. He picked up the pace and shimmy'd into the Ditch. Here's the part you're not expecting. He settles in...He looks around...He waits 5 mins...He sees a single Can...He honks twice...Goose locks up...Goose Dead. Wow, couldn't have drawn it up better than that. Wait, it gets better. After playing bird dog and settling back into the ditch...yep you guessed it...repeat above sequence. 20 minutes in the ditch after the failed sneak and two Can's in the bag. Time to go home. And to think how he started out the day, what luck!

The Legends Ditch and Killer Carl had tough luck today as did a few other spots around the bottoms. Not real sure what was going on with the birds today. The Specks were crazy, I don't remember this last year, wow they were everywhere. Out of respect for the Legends Ditch, who gave us this idea in the first place, I will not comment about "THE DITCH." Let's just say we had our luck today and we missed some opportunities today. All others within 1 mile of our location experienced success rates not seen for years on Opening Day. Tomorrow is a different day and we'll see what happens. We are heading up real, real early tomorrow, so early that we almost considered spending the night in the Ditch. We will have frost with 87 percent humidity and no wind. Today's setup will not work for the morning..

Finally, that's all for now. As always, check back for the latest and greatst, and thanks for all the hits. Send us your report.

Season Opener

Today's wise cracks and anticipation comes from our old buddy Waterfowl Wizard. It's good to hear from him again, it's been a while.

Wizard Wrote:
Not-So,
It's just about that time. Less than 48 hrs and the bangin' will begin. I hope to see you Saturady during the pluck. Me, Dork-Master and the man who can really talk dirty to the big geese will be out in the morning. If you happen to see a string of honkers, let 'em go. Once they hear the sswweeet tones emanating from our location, they won't even look your way. By the way, isn't the forecast a little harsh for your taste? I hope is warms up enough, in the near future, so you can get out and experience the season. See you Saturday. Least amount of birds in the bag buys.

Thanks for the note. The weather is a bit chilly for me, but the newley installed (today) base board heaters should do just fine. I set the thermostat at 72 hopefully that will do. Guess I'll have to buy Saturday night as we are all stuck at work. SR is heading up, I think, so you may see him when the pluckn's done. We will be there Sunday, so, if you get a chance to get up there you may want to bring your tape recorder. You can't hear those sounds anywhere but on the new CD, so if you want to save your money, HIT RECORD. Good luck to Wizard, DukMaster, Sweet Talker and all the rest of the South to the East Ditch, hopefully you can bring home a full bag of Teal. Don't forget, they are fast, so lead 'em!

As always, check back for the latest and greatest and thanks for all the hits. Email us your report!

Welcome Aboard Kohler West

MC wrote:

"I've been reading and laughing since your first posting and finally decided to get in the game. I run a private club NW of Lincoln. I was taught by RK starting in 1976 and have mirrored his operation ever since. The only thing I don't have to complete the duplication is Killer Carl. I wanted to establish contact and thank you for the entertainment. Let me know if you're interested in reports from this country."

Well how about that, turns out people really do read this. Welcome new Ditch "Kohler West." The reports are welcomed with open arms, and quite honestly a bit scarce right now. It's good to hear that we're not the only "psycho's" out there. Oops, did I say "psycho", I meant technologically advanced and well connected waterfowl enthusiast. Welcome Aboard and we hope to hear from you as often as you can get around to it. That was the polite way of saying "please email me everyday so I don't have to keep coming up with all this crap on my own."

We are now less than 60 hours away from the first group, the first call, the first shot and hopefully the first success report. If nothing else, I know the breakfast will be good. Oh...I almost forgot. What's the chances the weather guys are right on this one? I'll wait for your answers.....................................................................um hello....................................you there........................................okay then, judging by the response I will take your silence as a big fat "NO."

That's it for now, as always, check back for the latest and greatest and thanks for over 14,000 hits. Send us your report.

Magical Mouse Trapestry to Keep UP with Legends

The be all and end all of duck/goose hunting gadgetry will be found, developed and produced before weeks end. We have contacted numerous sources and experts from around the world and our team is assembled. After long contemplation, and a few beers, we've decided to take a brief sabbatical from our daily jobs and work on the ultimate mouse trap. Our team of scientists and experts consists of:

1. Daniel Goldin, NASA's longest serving administrator and appointee of three US presidents,
2. Charles Elachi, director of NASA's Jet Propulsion,
3. Mike Kotschenreuther, senior researcher and scientist with the Institute for Fusion Studies,
4. Minoru Yamasaki, architect of the fallen and sacred World Trade Center

Along with these experts we have also gathered some necessary film and microfiche of lost KISS videos and old re-runs of Mr. Wizard. To organize, format, and moderate our discussion topics we've decided on Graham Mackay CEO of Miller Brewing Company. In anticipation of theft and copyright infringement we have ex-supreme court justice and attorney Clarence Thomas on retainer, turns out he's quite an avid duck hunter.

By weeks end we will have the next best thing in duck/goose hunting. We will begin production by next Sunday and it will only be available at muckbottom.com. You will not be able to get this product anywhere. We already hold the patent and nomenclature. We will have pictures and video soon, so check back for the latest and greatest and thanks for over 14,000 HITS. Send us your report.

"Creativity and innovation are often the key to success, particularly when strategizing during strategic planning and when designing new products." by SURE SHOT

PS - to fully understand this you must read the kohler report, we need a waterfowl fooler to keep up with the legends ditch

Canada Ducks, Geese and Cranes

Hello again all my technologically advanced and well-connected waterfowl enthusiast friends welcome to Muck Bottom Outfitters Waterfowl Report. We are just 6 days away from shooting birds and to feed the waterfowling monster, better known as our brains, I've got one report from up North. One of the greatest waterfowlers off all time, DukMaster, has recently returned from a 5 day getaway to Canada. The group spent the first two days scouting the area and asking for permission to hunt. All the locals were extremely giving and more than willing to let our fellow hunters set up shop. After two days the boys set up in a field where they thought would be the mother load. Turns out that the ducks were using the field at night, not in the morning, so the first go round was a bust. The rest of their day was spent sitting in the weeds along various sloughs and ponds pounding ducks. Pothole hunting/jumping/pass-shooting is the way to go when you're across the border. Our friends managed to shoot 88 ducks, 7 cranes and 3 Canada geese. I heard a story of limits in 20 minutes and picking up decoys while walking around live ducks sitting and landing, that had to be quite an experience. The crane hunting was like shooting down B53 bombers with a ground assualt missles, they just dive and helicopter to the ground for what seems to be 10 minutes. A 6 and 1/2 foot wing span kinda scares a guy. For all the good ole boys reading this report, you'll be happy to hear that 3 and 1/2 inch 2's are way too aggressive and totally unnecessary. There was a gentlemen in his "ladder" years hunting who rarely missed while slinging his 20 gauge with 2 3/4 inch shells. Guess this was one case when bigger wasn't really better. This was DukMasters first trip across the border and he assured me this will be a yearly event. His hat cam was working but the technologically savvy "master" is in a holding pattern circling the computer waiting for a message from above as to just how to get it posted. I'm confident he'll figure it out and the vidoe's will be on here soon. ********warning********** video is rated "R" for violence and language. Sorry guys no nudity in this one.
That's all for now, check back for the latest and greatest and thanks for almost 14,000 hits. Send us your report.