CouesPursuit

That really sucks. That's all I have been hearing from guys that I know shoot birds, they just haven't made it down yet. I think we'll have a different story after the full moon a week from today. I just looked at my duck diary and my best opening day shoot was in 2012 just a few days after a Sept. 30th full moon.

My go to for the opener had more pressure last year than ever before, don't know if its a function of the dynasty times or what. I'm still undecided.

Every duck report I have heard of has been poor. I'm going out with low expectations but I'd rather be in that layout blind on Friday than anywhere else in the state.

Setting up under a game trail is going to take a lot of shovel work! I used a climber this last January and I will be using one again January 1st. I have set up just off steep game trails in a nice flat area with lots of cover, gives them an opportunity to get comfortable, works for me.

Should be posted here sometime today http://www.azdeer.org/event/winners/

I'm not an expert in shotgun ballistics and never jump shoot but I shoot a Remington 870 SuperMag with 3" Kent Fasteel in BB or 2's and I am effective to 50 yards max. I usually bring my rangefinder and will put my farthest decoy at this distance and only shoot if the birds are on my side of it. Whatever it takes to get a couple pellets in their head, I shoot with huge leads and let the birds fly themselves into the shot. Until this year, in a layout session, the vest/parka in the photo above was the most camo he had. If he is in my bass tracker's blind or we build a brush blind, I make a 'place' for him. This year, for various reasons, I have been training him in a layout blind of his own. I have heard a lot from both sides of the debate, that 1) ducks don't care about the dog they see animals all the time in areas they frequent and 2) the ducks are shot over dogs all the time of course they flare from them. I would lean towards the birds don't care until my dog's tail starts wagging like crazy and then they cue in on any weaknesses I have in/near the blind. I'll find out soon enough which side of the debate fence I'm on, the start of my hypothesis testing commences this Friday!

In areas surrounding the Hudson Bay, polar bears are shifting diets from seals to geese eggs and goslings. Snow geese numbers in recent decades have skyrocketed and their summer breeding habitat in the arctic has been decimated. Bear predation on the eggs and goslings probably won't make a dent but there are still lots of interesting unknowns with this one! http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/23/science/for-polar-bears-a-climate-change-twist.html?_r=1

Entirely dependent on where the birds are and what the wind is doing. I use a layout blind anytime it's possible, they can conceal everything in 360 degrees except your face and I usually don't leave a trace of my existence when I'm done for the day. They can also be warm and comfortable when it's freezing. My dogs first limit at 9 months on a local reservoir, I was in a layout blind and I was stacking my ducks on the log beside me, shot the limit by 8am. The layout blind concealed me so well while I was waiting for my buddies to finish their limits a quarter mile away, I had a red-tailed hawk start to circle my ducks on the log and eventually he swooped down incredibly fast. I waited as long as I could until I was literally a bit scared and I jumped out of my blind and watched him crap as he hit the brakes! It was an amazing experience! I also had a group of turkeys approach a white mountain marsh from behind me in 2012. The dog turned around and scared the crap out of the turkeys when they were only 20 yards away! Point is, layout blinds conceal everything. If it isn't possible, build the best brush blind you can by getting in early. The better your blind the closer the ducks will get before they flare, or better yet, they will land in your decoys. It's an awesome feeling to fool a wily 'ol greenhead or sprig into landing in your spread, watch their "uh oh" face and then drop them on their way out!

Awesome how speechless and in shock you seemed after shot. Congratulations, bonecollector and team. Great bull and video.

Intent wasn't to stir up a climate change debate but to share an amazing response of bears to a surplus of a food source. Political agendas don't change the fact that these polar bears are capitalizing on the snow goose habitat dilemma.

Here is a post from the past. http://www.coueswhitetail.com/forums/topic/45990-parasite/

I'm diggin the custom cut on the barrel! Good job and congrats on all the wins the last few days!

I show my wife posts from time to time and this was one of very few that she actually took my phone from my hands to take a closer look. Thanks for sharing this wonderful little adventure. We don't have a little hunter or huntress of our own yet, but I couldn't imagine life with them to be much different than this!

Just replied with a text and pm buddy, and yes a couple of Walt Gabbard's songs will make your senses go if you're hooked on quack!

Take those quizzes, that is a dang good resource! http://www.deltawaterfowl.org/quizzes.html

Didn't notice and hence your joke in the duck dummy thread this week, that's funny. I looked relatively close too as this is the first year you do not need a State waterfowl stamp.

That's a good source of useful information, thanks for sharing. We as hunters are lucky to have a great, organic meat source. If we paid attention to our sources for grains, fruit and veggies we would be in great shape!

Thanks, Adam, but you don't have to be. Since we last talked I convinced myself I'm hunting opening weekend, send me a note if you want to join, leave Thursday night to go get blinded in!

With 2 weeks to the mountain opener, it's time to put that duck depression behind us and get ready to put our eyes to the sky. Good luck to those of you getting out! Hope you scratch a limit or two! Last year's opener-

The fact that you care is what matters. Its public land, get out there, learn what you can when you can and enjoy it! The main thing is, only shoot at birds within killing range and hide well. If you do those 2 things, you will be successful in bagging birds and you will meet people in the field that want to hunt with you, that will invite you into their group, guaranteed.

Yup, there is a reason this thread went an entire day today with only one kind reply from Heat and yours has several replies. http://www.coueswhitetail.com/forums/topic/52185-looking-for-some-new-duckgoose-hunting-buddies-and-spots/ It's taken at a minimum, several thousand dollars in fuel and hundreds of days in the field the last few years to know my what and where about ducks in this state. I really enjoy helping educate people, and it's the best thing I can do for both waterfowl and waterfowlers, just can't afford to on the "where." You made the impression you could find that on your own, that's awesome and best of luck.

+1, my calls never leave my truck. Turning the call around backwards and blowing the same notes can help you understand your own air control as well, it's a good way to practice when volume is a factor.

Just about everywhere gets pressure whether it's posted on the AZGFD website or not. Water is easily scouted on Google Earth, but to find out where the ducks actually want to be, you have to get out and see for yourself close in timing to your hunting efforts. Scouting is extremely effective. If you can watch undisturbed birds feeding or loafing, you can get an exact idea of how to set up your spread at that spot the next day. They will typically hold their patterns until people start shooting at them. A new push of fresh migrators could do the exact same thing or something entirely different so it makes it interesting. If you find birds and want to keep them around, never, never shoot a roost site! If they don't feel safe somewhere nearby at night they are going to vacate the area immediately.

I'll add this as I re-read my post, there is more often than not a "boss hen" in larger groups of ducks. She is in the lead of the flock and she is the decision maker. In this case, more drakes in a spread could change her decision as to where she takes the flock. But this is extremely variable, depending on early/late season, pressure from hunters, hunting a feeding or loafing area, etc. Variables that are tough to have in your favor in central AZ which is why I stated my hens ratio opinion. Good luck and avoid shooting the brown birds if you have a choice.

Heat gave you excellent advice. I'll add my opinion on decoying birds, I don't have much experience jump shooting and hiking tanks. I don't necessarily agree with the adding more drakes to the spread but to each their own and their experience. I love shooting decoying drakes right in the face, and they like decoying to hens, especially later in the season if they haven't paired up yet. More hens, and an odd number as stated by Heat, help with this IMO. Tons of guys take their dozen decoys they bought, typically 8 drakes and 4 hens, and drop them in the water. Be different! Calling is way overrated in Arizona, it takes an experienced caller to bring in the pressured ducks we most often see. Learn single quacks before you blow strings of calls and only call, if at all, when the birds are in decision making mode. If you see a flutter of the wing, a quick drop in elevation, a bird changing direction, that's when to hit the call. Never when they are decoying straight towards you with the rare exception that the birds on a given day like some quiet feeding chatter to "finish" them down into range. Ducks see everything, just when you think you are going to be hidden enough, hide some more and definitely cover your face.