2014 Duck/goose season with Amber

[lokidog]

So, I figured this would be a good way to keep track of my ducks/geese for the season.  Follow along if you are interested.   Most hunting will be done here on/near the island I live on.  It will be open water drift hunting (maybe some decoying), island/rock sneaking, and some pass shooting/decoying along the beach.

So far, this year, I've gotten two geese, five Common Mergansers, one Green-winged Teal, and today five Buffleheads using two rocks as a blind (it sucks when the tide is out and you want to duck hunt).  I was hoping for more fog this morning, but it cleared pretty quickly.  Saw a nice group of Scoters when pulling my crab pots, note to self - don't forget shotgun when crabbing.....

[Cap.Silver]

Good job Amber  and Loki 

[npaull]

What do you do with the bufflehead and mergansers?

[JJD]

Mergansers; Fish darts, Saw Bills, etc.
Are great dog training tools.  They are tough and hold up to multiple retrieves. They hold together even after being frozen. 
I put a couple in the freezer every year for later use.
Most other ducks turn to mush after more than a few retrieves.

[hntrspud]

Nice start so far!

[lokidog]

What do you do with the bufflehead and mergansers?

Merganser I make Salsbury Steak out of (see recipe on my Merganser thread).  The Buffleheads I fried up last night with onions, garlic and some seasonings.  All but one were really mild.

Nice start so far!

Thanks.  Sat out this eve for the last 45 minutes, tide was out a bit so the Buffleheads stayed about 80 yards out.  It was a good practice time for the dog to just lay quietly and watch the birds swimming around.  There was a minimum of 67 Buffles in the flock.

[Special T]

WOW! 67, now that is a heard of butterballs!

[npaull]

Merganser I make Salsbury Steak out of (see recipe on my Merganser thread).  The Buffleheads I fried up last night with onions, garlic and some seasonings.  All but one were really mild.

Cool, good for you. I was afraid they were "shoot and boot." I may have to re-think my holding off on those birds if they are actually edible! Now to track down that Merganser thread...

[lokidog]

No shoot and boot for me, I even keep the legs, they make great hors d'oevres when slow cooked.

[Special T]

It looks like they would be pretty hard to "boot" on that gravel anyways....

 

[WSU]

I'm going to try the recipes you posted but still cannot envision a merg being edible.

[JJD]

I'm going to try the recipes you posted but still cannot envision a merg being edible.

 

[lokidog]

WOW! 67, now that is a heard of butterballs!

I went out yesterday morning and counted 192 Buffleheads when a second huge flock came into the bay.  Who knows how many were under when I went through though.  Passed on some hooded Merganser hens and a few Buffles in range in the hopes that the 18 geese might swim near enough, no luck though.

[lokidog]

Added two gorgeous Oldsquaw today.  Oops, wrong pic, let's try this one.

[lokidog]

Last night I set up a new decoy line so I had to try it out this morning.  At low tide, I placed a cinder block at fifty yards from where I usually sit in some rocks.  Attached to that is a 3' piece of 1/4 inch surgical tubing that can stretch to about 10 feet.  This is then attached to  a 'U' shaped piece of drain pipe.  I then ran 50lb braided fishing line, fairly thick stuff, through the 'U' and back up to a driftwood pile on the beach.  I tied the line in a loop and placed two snap swivels on it about five yards apart.  I then attached two decoy strings to it.  I can now, at least until some crap huals it away or something else happens to it, move my decoy strings either in or out with the tide.  I can also stretch the tubing and release for movement other than me pulling on the line.  It seemed to work pretty well this morning.  The only thing I will change, for now, is that I may hang a decoy off of my anchor which will give me a fifty yard reference point.

It was a little breezy this morning but I had more birds land near my decoys than in the past.  Too bad I couldn't hit much until I took off my glasses.  I missed two beautiful Goldeneye drakes first thing.   

I did have a visitor swim up to the beach in front of me, he was carrying a flounder that was about ten inches long.  Luckily I had my video camera on the gun so got some video of him and a double on drake mallards.