Wdfw reservation hunt sites

[Andrew8235]

Hey all,

Like some here, been having a rough time getting into ducks.  I'm from puyallup but with little to no public land in pierce county I head up north usually (Marietta outside Bellingham) but recently hit a few reserve to hunt sites in snohomish. Hoping the spots would yield good ducks but no avail! Anyone have any experience with any of those wdfw hunting spots?

[Special T]

Wdfw employee Rob Wingard is in charge of those up here. Not all are created equil, and some require certain weather conditions. At the Washington Waterfowlers Association meetings I've been to there are several members that hunt those and do well. I belive that magical first 30-45 min is key as well as the last light of day. Rob keeps statistics  on the different sights which is why they have those survey cards. Make sure to fill them out.

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[Andrew8235]

Thanks! We filled out the card for sure, lots of birds dropped in the spread about 15 min before shooting light (hard not to shoot em) but they were really shy after light.

[ian_padron]

Feel free to hunt and hunt by reservation are a nice option/gesture but really no more of a sure thing than good old public land.

Plus the sites with designated blinds are usually so poorly constructed that you stick out like a sore thumb.

You definitely have to keep an eye on weather and water conditions for specific spots to be good, and with you being from so far down south it's basically impossible to do so. I live in Snohomish and still find it tough to actively scout all of the sites north of me.

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[Skyvalhunter]

Tough in what way?

[Dbushnell]

Thanks! We filled out the card for sure, lots of birds dropped in the spread about 15 min before shooting light (hard not to shoot em) but they were really shy after light.

Same experience in Snohomish this last week.  Tons of activity and shooting opportunities from around 7am until 7:24am (first shot was 7:25am) then after that almost nothing. 

Hunting is hard.

[Andrew8235]

Thanks! We filled out the card for sure, lots of birds dropped in the spread about 15 min before shooting light (hard not to shoot em) but they were really shy after light.

Same experience in Snohomish this last week.  Tons of activity and shooting opportunities from around 7am until 7:24am (first shot was 7:25am) then after that almost nothing. 

Hunting is hard.

Yeah bit discouraging but hey, got time left !

[Buckewe]

I hunt the spots you are talking about and the birds are pretty educated at this point. Like said first light is the best bet depending on the weather.

[ian_padron]

As in it's impossible to keep tabs on exactly when each spot is primed for a good hunt unless you live right smack in the middle of all of the sites.

Tough in what way?

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[Chesterdog]

We're from Seattle and tried a South Sound WDFW Reservation site in early Dec. with the same results.  We needed the river to flood the field we were hunting and it hadn't yet, so we had a slow time.  We're learning.  I'd still rather do that than race to the blind at 3am at the Skagit headquarters. (no thanks) When we did manage to get those blinds, we had people walking around or setting up so close that birds wouldn't work.. (same old story).  For my $ I'd rater go east 2 or 3 times a year and hunt potholes.  If you need a guide the first few times to get it figured out, so be it.  At least that way in the end, you get to pull the trigger more than once or twice, the wife gets jerky and the dog gets to retrieve something other than rotten salmon.  I think my dog is starting to think I like to put on camo and sit quietly on cold mornings and then go home. I've gotten some weird looks from him this season.

[h2ofowlr]

Many of the reservation sites are block blinds and the birds fly way wide of them or flare off of them in this stale weather.  Wind and rain is about the only thing that helps them hunt better unfortunately.  Layouts can help the hunt out tremendously if you have that option.  Another option if you have birds working them, push the decoys out further and try to get the birds to focus on those and swing on the inside.  Running them out to 70 yards might get them to swing in between with the correct wind.  Decoys up wind if possible.