Patterson

[elkspert]

So thinking about heading over there this Wednesday. We haven't hunted it in about 8 years. I am wondering if Wednesday's are as much as a mad house as the weekends. Also do they still have the no entrance rule until 5:00 A.M or has it changed to the 1 1/2 hour before leagal light.

[incoming]

i think it is still 5 not nearly as many people as 8 years ago

[h2ofowlr]

A flyway shift may have spurred the decline in birds.

[coyotecrazy]

Coworker hunted it a few days ago and didn't fire a shot.

[elkspert]

Thanks for the updates. Looks like we will start looking in that area and maybe head north if there is not much around there. As of now we are leaving Tuesday morning to do some looking and plan on hunting Wednesday and Thursday.

[xdog]

Hunting reports from Paterson and vicinity have been pretty grim the past few years. There is still some great hunting to be had but my experience is the great days are getting much farther and fewer between and much like the general report much more often not so good. 
Check yor regulations but I believe the Paterson entry time has changed to one and one half hours prior to sunrise regardless to what the guy racing ahead of you 5am might say. 

 

[HookedOnQuack]

i believe there is also a shell restriction there, havent been there for several years but i know the last time we hunted it it was less than a box so better check up on it

[duckdog98604]

25 shell limit, no entry till 5am, wind will be ripping. See you there!

[elkspert]

Well we got called back into work for Thursday so we only got to hunt a little bit Wednesday morning. Managed to take a couple of mallards from an old area we use to hunt. Called it quits when the water rose up after only a couple of hours of hunting. Didn't see much through the patterson area on Tuesday so we kept moving up the river. Sure doesn't look like it use to in that area. Almost no farming on any of those fields in that area.

[h2ofowlr]

Well we got called back into work for Thursday so we only got to hunt a little bit Wednesday morning. Managed to take a couple of mallards from an old area we use to hunt. Called it quits when the water rose up after only a couple of hours of hunting. Didn't see much through the patterson area on Tuesday so we kept moving up the river. Sure doesn't look like it use to in that area. Almost no farming on any of those fields in that area.

Ducks aren't flocking to the vinyards and orchards these days then back out to the CR.  You also have Royal City holding up a large majority of birds and all the private corn ponds around the Tri-Cities area.  DU is helping suck a lot of birds to those high dollar clubs.    Definately isn't the same as it was in my younger years.

[270Shooter]

Well we got called back into work for Thursday so we only got to hunt a little bit Wednesday morning. Managed to take a couple of mallards from an old area we use to hunt. Called it quits when the water rose up after only a couple of hours of hunting. Didn't see much through the patterson area on Tuesday so we kept moving up the river. Sure doesn't look like it use to in that area. Almost no farming on any of those fields in that area.

Ducks aren't flocking to the vinyards and orchards these days then back out to the CR.  You also have Royal City holding up a large majority of birds and all the private corn ponds around the Tri-Cities area.  DU is helping suck a lot of birds to those high dollar clubs.    Definately isn't the same as it was in my younger years.

this is my theory on why mallard migration through the yakima valley has really dropped off it seems. The only big push of birds seems to come when it gets warm and the stuff starts to flood.

[hdshot]

The 2 major things that put the hurt on patterson and ridge unit is farming much more efficient and Oregon opened up their shore line to hunting as well.  In my younger years thousands of birds would be on their shore line, raft out on nice days, and then a barge would come causing the ducks to fly over to the WA side and join the decoys.