It'S DUCK SEASON

[William Ritchie]

Well almost . Only 3 weeks until opener . The property I hunt on Grizzly Island in the Suisun Marsh is getting water to cover about 50 acres currently . We cleaned a lot of decoys about a month ago and got blind repairs , mowing and such done . From the looks of the flyway numbers it should be a good opener . Will get to the property a few days early to get several hundred decoys out to 4 blinds . For those that hunt them , shoot straight and stay safe . WR

[Midnightpass]

Good luck and shooting Bill... Nice pic...
Butch

[William Ritchie]

Good luck and shooting Bill... Nice pic...
Butch

I never fail to be amazed by natures displays . A sunrise like this is what makes hunting worth the effort . Tight lines .

[Midnightpass]

Yea, I’m a big sunrise / set guy.. I sometimes forget to fish watching the sunrise.. Not often, but sometimes. …
Butch

[DarkShadow]

Is it easy to take the shot out of the birds when you eat them?

[William Ritchie]

Is it easy to take the shot out of the birds when you eat them?

IT IS BOTH Rabbit and Duck season currently ! Hah , spent many hours as a kid watching the Loonie Tunes .
Hunting mainly from blinds , over decoys the ranges are relatively close . The velocity remaining high at those ranges allows the for shot to do a complete pass through most of the time . I use size 3 shot over decoys , so there aren't as many hits on the birds as one may think , usually 3 to 4 hits at the most . Using non toxic shot , it is a concern as far as breaking ones teeth if not careful when eating . Hope this answered you question . WR

[William Ritchie]

02:30 start time tomorrow on the 10 hr boring drive thru the central valley . Ponds full , 70 acres of water covering , blinds cleaned and bailed , no thanks to me due to prior commitments . Grizzly Island refuge says 100k ducks on the refuge which they consider 0 ducks . Hopping for a good opener on Sat. I know the Friday dinner and drinks will be as good as any over the last 20+ years . If you hunt 'em , kill'em shoot straight and be safe . Word to the wise use all the needed precautions for Avian Flu . Big outbreak in the Klamath Basin has 100k dead birds will hopefully not be worse when they all come south . My dog is staying home , SUPER bummer . Will report next week . WR

[Stringbean]

WR,
I hope you had a good safe hunt, thanks for the heads up on avian flu.
I hunted the resident birds, jump shooting ditches.
In so cal it takes some cold weather to get them moving south, take care.

[William Ritchie]

Well pretty good opener . 4 to 5 bird average for the group , few less on the second day . Quality was there with Mallards and Teal being the majority birds , few shovelers in the mix as well . Specks were flying but smelled a rat on the few goose decoys we had out but they took a hard look . Fun was had by all , the dinner on Fri before the opener was Wahoo belly appetizer with Ahi sashimi and a great dip, good greek bread . Main course , pork ribs Carrots and corn on the cob . Heirloom apple pie / home made . Damn I ate too much . 4 days of hunting and eating wore me out , Hah . Cheers , hope all had a safe hunt . Note ,sure were a lot of Morons / weird drivers on the trip home I was surprised at the amount of hands off cars were on the road ,they appear to go slower with reactive cruise ? Most did not notice 60 in the fast lane , more than likely tracking the truck traffic . Oh well thats the progression of tech I guess , 8.5 hr trip took almost 11 hrs . WR