Hunting Washington Forum
Other Hunting => Waterfowl => Topic started by: CP on November 28, 2010, 02:11:10 PM
-
I just heard Ridgefield has reached their dusky quota and is closed to goose hunting for the remainder of the season. I have a #1 pick coming up in Dec. is it worth going?
-
It's times like these I wish picks were transferable :) I haven't hunted out there enough to answer your question.
-
It is worth it to hunt ducks. Not sure why people care so much about the geese out there. The refuge doesn't kill that many.
-
Anyone else out there on Saturday? I was on standby and was second to last pick but was able to get in blind 3. Between the two of us I picked up 7 (first limit ever, actually :IBCOOL:) and my father-in-law picked up another one. If we had been shooting well we'd have had both limits, mostly shoveler though..
Lots of shoveler and pintail flying around. Before shoot time there were some good sized flocks of wigeon moving but didn't see many big flocks throughout the day. It may have just been good conditions (post-thaw, a few extra days without hunting, etc) but it was definitely worth the trip.
-
With a #1 pick, yeah. If you just want ducks (spoonies) go to 17 or 18. If you want something better, go to 19.
-
way to go in 3. I have only taken 3 a day when i'm there.
We were in 18 on Sat. Had the #9 pick.
South end was a bust for 18 and 19. I don't know what 17 did . they didnt shoot much more than we dd.
You guys in the north did great from what i hear.
-
Which blind is the best bet for a pintail or two?
-
Pm sent.
-
way to go in 3. I have only taken 3 a day when i'm there.
We were in 18 on Sat. Had the #9 pick.
South end was a bust for 18 and 19. I don't know what 17 did . they didnt shoot much more than we dd.
You guys in the north did great from what i hear.
3 is the only blind I've hunted more than once now, and I was really happy with it this time. Last time I was in it was the last day of the season at Ridgefield and it was easy to lose birds in the grass. I think they may have cut it shorter further towards the road this year :dunno:
There seemed to be a good amount of shooting going on around us. Quite a few times we had birds on final and someone would shoot and that was the end of that... common story with that many blinds. I didn't get any picks for December, but I'll probably try to swing in and hunt standby one of these days.
-
Finally got a limit of birds. :IBCOOL:
Mixed bag. Pintail, spoonies and widgeon.
Shooting time 7:05--- limit 8:52.
It's miller time :IBCOOL:
-
Good deal! What blind were you in?
-
8
-
Sounds like i missed a good one out there today. I had the day off waiting for the well repair man to come. He had come and gone by 9am. But i stayed home to moniter the well and make sure it was fixed for good.
-
I had so many birds coming in.
I had 5 ducks by 745, then i couldn't hit my arse with both hands.
It was :mgun: :mgun: :mgun: and nuthin droppin.
I finally sat the gun down, opened a coke, and watched for a while.
Saw lots of mallards, but they were real high and spooky. Some landed out away from me, but when someone shot, they went straight up and gone.
It was fun though.
-
So how was the shootin in the wind today?
I had to do some work for folks.
-
Didn't seem to be all that windy out there. We (3 of us) took blind 5 and got 5 birds. Lots of birds were out, they were just flying way too high.
-
How was the crowd?
I wondered if the wind would be down that low.
-
Seemed pretty busy when picking blinds, but then I was out of there after making the pick so not really sure. It was only my second time out there, so I'm not a very good judge.
Heard quite a few shots, so I think it was probably an ok (probably not great) day. If shooting time was 10 minutes earlier we probably could have had 3-4 more. They were all over our blind just before time, then disappeared :'(
-
They have watches I think. :chuckle:
-
It was good for some. Not so good for others. ALL of the guys that were checking out in the afternoon from the northern blinds got skunked. Most never even fired a shot. I got a blind with about 3 hours shoot time left. Finished with 6 and lost a greenhead. >:( 13 finished him off thow. But the birds were working awesome if you were in the right area.
-
What blind did you have gunner?
We heard very few shots in the north, heard quite a bit in the south. We left around 1ish. We were seeing mostly pintail, with the shovelers showing up mid-day.
-
Took 1 of the lesser desirable blinds today.
Managed to bring home 5 birds. When I learn how to shoot strate, :hunt2: i will limit every time. NOT :chuckle:
I didn't shoot no spoonies :IBCOOL: :IBCOOL:
First time i have shot a green wing and blue wing teal in the same day. :IBCOOL:
Throw in 2 sprigs and a hen mallard, all in all a good day.
-
How was the shootin over all.
-
Sounded like everyone did pretty good throughout the refuge.
Couple of blinds limited and had new guys in them when I left.
#1 shot good too. The guy got 5, then he ran out of shells.
#17 got 15 birds I think.
-
nice work on the birds! bluewing teal!? wow! pretty rare in these parts!
-
I've shot them in Stanwood but not down here. This was my first one down here.
-
those will fry up nice :drool:
-
Marinating as we speak :drool: :drool: :drool:
-
I've shot them in Stanwood but not down here. This was my first one down here.
interesting.. I have never seen one before
-
Yeah they are rare. Stanwood was where I got my first one.
I looked up their range once in some DU material and they aren't real plentiful around here.
-
It would be my guess that it was a hen Cin teal. They look very similar to the hen Bluewing. If it was actually a Bluewing, it is very rare cause they don't like any cold weather and head out well before it (like early Oct), whereas Cinnamon teal don't mind it.
-
Anyone heading out tomorrow? My buddy has #9 pick (I think) tomorrow so I'll be out there again. Hopefully better luck this time.
-
I will be there tomorrow.
-
So how did everyone do in the monsoon on Sat?
I had the #7 pick, which with the low turnout, turned into the #4 draw.
My son and I hunted #12 blind.
We managed 3 birds each.
-
I will probably be in the handicap tomorrow.
-
I hunted up north with my son. Total hurricane hunting. Cold as hell.
I will prob. hunt thursday. Gotta clean my gear of all the salt mud. My choke tube showed rust 2 hrs after we got in the blind.
-
I'll be out there Thursday morning on standby. Not sure with the holiday if I'll have a decent shot or not, but I've had decent luck thus far.
I got #15 pick on the 18th. Anyone else get any decent draws?
-
We got bumped for a handicap blind. There was a ton of people out there for sure. More them I have seen all year, heard the shooting was not great. I would expect it to be packed Thursday.
-
Didn't get any draws for Jan.
I'll be on stby the rest of the season.
Hope we start gettin some more birds.
talk up north is, birds are holdin up near the border.
-
Was out there hoping to get in on standby on Saturday morning and got to be part of the lucky crew that went to breakfast with the guns in the car :'(
Birds or no, I'll still give the 18th a shot just for fun. If you see me in a red '00 Tundra feel free and say hi.
-
I'll be there in tuesday morn. Got no job, and my chores are done.
Bring on the green heads.
-
Well i guess my string is broke. Got drawn everyday until today.
The odds weren't good.
24 groups for 4 blinds.
I did get drawn #1 for the 10 o'clock list :chuckle:
Ahhh well Thursday will be better.
-
Whoo hoo got drawn again. Blind 3.
Got my usual 3 ducks from blind 3. 2 widgeon and a spoonie.
A lot of fat on them widgeon.
-
Good to see ya today Cliff... Maybe we should become duck hunting partners...
We got blind 10 and we were shooting all day. Alot of pass shooting right over the dekes. To much sky busting around us for my liking. The guys in 9, 13 and 13a were sky blasting like crazy.
I shot a drake spoonie with my first shot of the day and that was the only bird i hit. I missed a drake pinner 20 feet infron of the blind i could see his eyes when he realized he was about to go down,i pulled the trigger as he was cupped and reeling and have no clue how i missed 3 times.
My buddy got a spoonie hen and that was it for him also. We had the chances. We left at 2:30 and i had shot 20 shells and he had shot 15. With 2 birds to show for it...
You would have laughed at me, i went after his hen spoonie and she was swimming away from me, i caught her and rung her neck. As i was walking back to the blind 2 more spoonies were committed to the dekes and i set her down and shot 2 times and missed of course,i look down and she is swimming underwater away from me. I was trying to grab her but she was fast. I did get her when she came up but man it was pretty funny.
It was my first time expierencing ridgefiled and although i had a good time i didn't enjy the amount of sky busting that was going on. Really hard to get birds to work when that is happening.
-
It was my first time expierencing ridgefiled and although i had a good time i didn't enjy the amount of sky busting that was going on. Really hard to get birds to work when that is happening.
I often wonder how much of the shooting I hear is done at in-range birds. The last time I was hunting out there we had several birds committed and on their way in and someone on our end of the hunt area would shoot. There were enough birds that day that I could believe it being legit, but you still have to wonder :dunno:
Sucks about the shooting, but it sounds like you at least had a convincing spread and were concealed well enough :)
-
We had 18 dekes out. We called very little. You could hear people high balling and the ducks would swing around and then fly off. We had birds flying all day.
I told my buddy good day for shooting... Man was it cold. I was dressed fo rit and i was still cold.
-
Glad you made it out and had fun. :brew:
I have had many a day like yours. Lot of new guys out this year. Lot more bad shooting this year than most.
3 or 4 weeks ago I limited in blind 8, you heard them shooting behind you, to the left.
Had 5 birds in 30 minutes, then couldn't hit my arse with both hands. Took 12 shells for the first 5, then the last 13 shells for the last 2.
Today was better. 3 birds with 9 shots. The last bird folded like a wet rag. Spoonie. Most damage I have inflicted on a bird this year.
I thot my sight picture looked different on that bird. My bead sight came off sometime during the morning shoot.
Had a double in the dekes, both widgeon. Killed 1 outright. the other tried to fly after it was hit. She lifted off and turned, i hammered her. Unbeknownst to me, 1 of my decoys took a direct hit. :bdid:
A drake pinnie came over and spooked. he circled back and spooked again.
I went out to check the dekes, and the injured deke was listing heavy and sinking. :chuckle:
I was out by 1100. cold as hell, forgot my heater.
I am jobless, so momma said I can hunt if I do my chores. I will be out there everyday after the newyears day closure. Got a new sight for the shotty today.
Give me a holler.
-
Right on cliff... I don't have any duck equipment outside of a shotgun and clothing. Yesterday was the first day i have duck hunted in 6 years and man i have missed it.
I will be able to hunt next week i think. I might go out for an evening hunt one of these days. And a few morning hunts before it closes.
-
I got all my dekes. Bring your gun.
lets kill sumtin
Tuesday may be a bluebird day. I will go non the less.
thursday , rain, better.
-
Will probably hunt one day next week. Maybe an afternoon hunt tuesday. Still need to look at the schedule at work.
-
Hunted 12 today. Still frozen over.
Got nada.
Heard some of you shootin and heard some killin happened.
Next week will be better.
-
How bads the ice? I was gonna do the 10 oclock list saturday after my boys basketball game
-
If you go goosegunner give me a call my hunt should be over in plenty of time.
-
I heard ya shootin, Tealer. How many did ya get?
-
Haven't been out there in a while. Want to giv it a try sat or tue in the afternoon.
-
Holy crap.
i have confused you with someone else.
We must meet again tue. to straighten me out.
Sorry.
-
Okay all you Ridgefield regulars, who hunted the last day at the refuge today.
I did. took the wife out . her only day this year.
Got drawn 3rd in the stby lottery. Went to , yep you guessed it, Blind 11.
Got 4 mallards and a sprig pintail. :IBCOOL:
See everyone who can attend at the work day on 02/26/2011
-
nice bag there fishnclifff!