Hunting Washington Forum

Other Hunting => Waterfowl => Topic started by: mburrows on October 14, 2021, 06:59:34 AM

Title: Opening Weekend Ducks
Post by: mburrows on October 14, 2021, 06:59:34 AM
Heading out for my first duck opener in quite a few years. Losing my dog Murphy a couple months back made me want to get out more with his sister this year.  Shes a good little hunter and I cant wait to watch her work.  Im sure it will be a zoo out there but none the less excited to get out. Good luck to others heading out.
Title: Re: Opening Weekend Ducks
Post by: CedarPants on October 14, 2021, 07:15:50 AM
Good luck to you! Had a fair amount of geese and wigeon move in this week with the colder temps.
Title: Re: Opening Weekend Ducks
Post by: gallion_t on October 14, 2021, 10:09:04 AM
Good luck! I think im going to skip Saturday. I hunt public land and unless your lined up camping the night before you're not going to get a decent spot. Not something I want to deal with this year. Probably try to get out Sunday morning though.
Title: Re: Opening Weekend Ducks
Post by: GWP on October 14, 2021, 06:55:17 PM
Wife and I hunted public except for a few guided hunts and we ALWAYS skipped the weekends unless we were VERY remote. Even then, we had folks on ATV’s driving around. Could have been WDFW I suppose. Did not get close enough to see.
Title: Re: Opening Weekend Ducks
Post by: mburrows on October 14, 2021, 07:11:26 PM
Yeah itll be a zoo for sure. Lucky to have a good friend with an airboat that allows us to get into some pretty fantastic spots.

Good luck to you guys as well.
Title: Re: Opening Weekend Ducks
Post by: Caveman123 on October 14, 2021, 07:27:23 PM
got surrounded by 5 groups of guys last year sky busting. A bird couldn’t get to us even if it was a mile high. Going for the afternoon hunt this year hoping for a slower pace, good luck to you!
Title: Re: Opening Weekend Ducks
Post by: Stein on October 14, 2021, 07:46:58 PM
See you guys on Monday, we're sitting the opener out this year.
Title: Re: Opening Weekend Ducks
Post by: BD1 on October 14, 2021, 08:05:02 PM
 :yeah: :tup:
Title: Re: Opening Weekend Ducks
Post by: rainshadow1 on October 15, 2021, 01:21:04 PM
Any word on the local numbers after this summer? I’ve seen geese, but haven’t been seeing many ducks. Boys and dogs are excited, so we’re going for it, but not sure how it’ll pan out.

Hoping for a migration this year!
Title: Re: Opening Weekend Ducks
Post by: Stein on October 15, 2021, 01:32:14 PM
Another reason I'm skipping this weekend is my couple of spots didn't have hardly any ducks, not a bunch of crops this year in the area and no water to speak of.  Seemed like a lot of grass fields where there were usually corn, grain or potatoes in years past.
Title: Re: Opening Weekend Ducks
Post by: metlhead on October 15, 2021, 01:38:28 PM
Just the opposite here.  My spot has a tremendous number of water fowl and I'm hoping for a lot of people to keep the birds moving.  I always show up very early. It should go really quick
Title: Re: Opening Weekend Ducks
Post by: Kola16 on October 15, 2021, 08:53:28 PM
Heading out for my first duck opener in quite a few years. Losing my dog Murphy a couple months back made me want to get out more with his sister this year.  Shes a good little hunter and I cant wait to watch her work.  Im sure it will be a zoo out there but none the less excited to get out. Good luck to others heading out.
Never fun hunting without your dog. I am starting with a new pup this year too. Good luck to the new girl!

Lola with her first bird on the chukar opener a couple weeks ago ("rock dove").
Title: Re: Opening Weekend Ducks
Post by: Gobble Gobble on October 15, 2021, 10:33:18 PM
Due to shipping delays the new chest waders I'm ordering were supposed to be in on 9/14, then got told 11/25 and today 12/15. At this rate it looks like I should have them in time for next years opener. Could have limited out today on low flying geese. Could have shot them and the part of Yakima I was working in anyone within hearing range would have thought it was just another gang shooting.
Title: Re: Opening Weekend Ducks
Post by: metlhead on October 16, 2021, 06:07:36 AM
Blocks are out. Who's anxious for that sunrise? Good luck to all and stay safe.
Title: Re: Opening Weekend Ducks
Post by: rainshadow1 on October 16, 2021, 03:45:33 PM
So, call our opener the Washington Teal Season!

We could have held out for mallards... and maybe got 3 or 4 more. They were around, but just not abundant. So I'm glad we went ahead and took our opportunities! The teal made for a fun morning! We even got 3 blue wings!


2 mallards, 1 pintail, 3 widgeon, and teal. 4 guns.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51596076182_21ac63a7f7.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2mBnnSo)245489471_10227484599090975_4753257957603949217_n (https://flic.kr/p/2mBnnSo) by Steve Tormala (https://www.flickr.com/photos/142732471@N06/), on Flickr
Title: Re: Opening Weekend Ducks
Post by: Platensek-po on October 16, 2021, 04:08:26 PM
So, call our opener the Washington Teal Season!

We could have held out for mallards... and maybe got 3 or 4 more. They were around, but just not abundant. So I'm glad we went ahead and took our opportunities! The teal made for a fun morning! We even got 3 blue wings!


2 mallards, 1 pintail, 3 widgeon, and teal. 4 guns.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51596076182_21ac63a7f7.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2mBnnSo)245489471_10227484599090975_4753257957603949217_n (https://flic.kr/p/2mBnnSo) by Steve Tormala (https://www.flickr.com/photos/142732471@N06/), on Flickr

Now that’s a good lookin tailgate!!! Nice job!
Title: Re: Opening Weekend Ducks
Post by: metlhead on October 16, 2021, 05:56:57 PM
Same here with the teal. So hard to pass up opportunity. Finished real quick because I wanted to chase coho during the morning. Mallards and wigeon started moving while picking up. Same thing every year but I get can't help it.
Title: Re: Opening Weekend Ducks
Post by: RobinHoodlum on October 16, 2021, 06:29:23 PM
My brief afternoon hunt yielded 6 birds, but one widgeon snorkeled away from me in the flooded marsh grass. Saw an eagle scoop one out on the open water a while later, which was probably that bird.

Ended with a mixed bag of 4 widgeon, 1 mallard, and 1 Pintail. The ratio of Pintail to other species on the marsh is insane right now. Very few mallards
Title: Re: Opening Weekend Ducks
Post by: metlhead on October 17, 2021, 10:11:05 AM
Another quick shoot this morning with a little bit more patience. Really surprised how few people are out. Bacon wrapped breasts and Anaheim poppers for the game today
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