Duck Totals

[eastduck]

OK it's time for the totals of the 2005 season
65 Ducks and 13 geese
22 hunting trips that averages about 3 birds a trip
shot 93 times for a ~70% shooting percentage
Had 2 doubles with one shot.
Had 1 triple with three shots
Took no banded birds but my buddy had 3 during the 2005 season.
Met some great people and had a bunch of fun. Hope everyone else did too? Next year will be 30 years as a duck hunter and every year gets better. Build some wood duck boxes or some mallard flats this spring, kill a fox if you have the chance gear up for next year with good end of the years sales.

Now, let's direct our attention to protecting the yellow perch from a commercial fishery proposal in MD.
Eastduck

[choptank]

Hmmm...lets see

I as well met some realy great guys this season. However this was my first year for waterfowling and moving to Md's Shore did not hurt!

Approx

30 geese...5 snows
30 Scaup
10 Scoters
10 Buffys
1 Old Squaw drake
and my only puddle duck was my drake Widgeon shot with Eastduck!

Oh yeah and a partridge in a pear tree!

Jason

[poon patrol]

Not sure, but it wasn't a great season for bird numbers in the area. It was a fun season as is every year!

[swancaller]

Dont remember the numbers from much of the season but do have the last 6 days. I am a guide and hunt everyday so these numbers are for one boat 6 different hunts.

96 ducks bluebills, teal, gadwall, 2 buffleheads, 2 ruddy's, blackducks, red heads

4 geese-we are allowed 1 per year by permit only
4 swans-we are allowed 1 per year by permit only


the first week of the Nov season had 3 days in which we killed our 6 man limit of 30 ducks mostly mallards, bluebills and teal

[eastduck]

Now that is some shooting. I am impressed.

[BIG EYE]

Did not hunt as much as in years past, but we killed good numbers when we did go, in fact the last shoot produced a limmit of mallards for all three of us. I believe this was the year for the farm pond massacre. Can't wait till next year, but still planing to thin the goose population in these parts!

[crazylegs]

7 duck hunts and 12 goose hunts

3 mallards
8 widgeon
6 gadwall
2 rb mergansers
3 blue bill
1 ringneck
2 black
15 oldsquaw
27 canadas

These don't include the 200+ we shot in Mexico and the 20 Sand Hill Cranes

[swancaller]

Eastduck we have a lot of ducks that winter here. our entire county is filled with personal impoundments. the last week i never even PICKED up a duck call. We had roughly 40,000 bluebills flying the river!!

[eastduck]

That's awesome I used to live in Manteo and hunted several times with Bill Blount at Matamaskeet Ventures over by Englehard and can attest to the amount of birds in that area.
We had a similar situation in N Virginia at our undisclosed location We generally had between 10-20K BB around at any given time. But it still is not like NC where we would see 40-80k per day on the impoundments.
Maybe I'll come down next year aren't you friends with Butch from Matthews county? If so we hunted together last year.

[swancaller]

I dont know Butch. I guide for Stuarts lodge. Bill Blount hunts with us. His boys hunted with Watson this year.

[eastduck]

He is a good guy. Wonder if he still owns his place? Tell him hello. I 'll give you guys a call next year.

[fishingforlife16]

here is a VA duck report:

17 mallards
4 black duck
1 hybrid mallard/black duck
2 gadwalls
6 canadas
1 goldeneye
2 shovelers
1 canvasback
1 redhead
3 bluebills
11 oldsquaws
60 brant
15 scooters
12 merganzers
25 buffleheads

[eastduck]

Great Report and good season.

[baycountry]

Poquoson VA report:

12 trips

6 mallards
7 dippers
18 hairy heads
total 31

Slow season. But still Fun. Dave F

[MarkTakacs]

Alright..............I ask

What is a dipper and a hairy head?

What is a mallard...same as a greenhead?[grin][grin][grin]


Mark

[KanePole]

dippers are Buffleheads

hairy heads are mergansers (depending on where you are may refer to only hooded mergansers - as shellducks would be common/red breasted variety)

[cuhollow]

37 geese
36 ducks - mostly woodies, mallards, canvasbacks

didn't keep any track of the divers but lots of ho
Virginia report near the Rappahannock
probably 15 trips

[rbr5e]

more wood ducks this year than mallards, which makes sense...
goose hunted twice in suffolk and limited out both times...
one trip to the VA eastern shore for a few buffleheads...
the highlight of the season: a pair of wigeon in early january
hunting beaver swamps in southampton county
not a bad season, but have definitely had better
;

[Surfbass]

AA County, MD:
34 blackheads
11 cans
19 mallards
4 blacks
49 trash ducks (buffleheads, goldeneye, scoter, squaws, ruddies, mergs)
23 canadas
2 redheads
4 greys
8 baldpate

hunted every day in january, weather ruined the canvasback huntin...the season wasnt nearly as good as it looks on paper

[eastduck]

Wow, sounds good but your right it was a lot of work for what ducks were shot. It was so cold in Nov. I thought it should have been better. I saw thousands of Ducks Sun and Mon while tending my clam grounds on the Eastern Shore of Virginia. As many as 5000 Canadians, 2000 Blluebills, several hundred Cans, Blacks, Mallards, and Buffleheads. I had ducks and geese walking under my duck blind for goodness sake but as the saying goes the ducks don't show up until the seasons over. Guess they are right.

[BIG EYE]

Eastduck, er, Matt, you live in Arlington?

[eastduck]

Check your b-mail

[Agrady208]

Looks like some great days in the field, you guys have me dreaming of next season. Recently retired Army, with 7 month old lab pup with lots of promise. Still getting used to Virgina hunting with stakes and permanent blinds. Hunted a good bit along the Alabama River and while stationed in Kansas. Attached photo is a 2002 photo of my daughter's first hunt and first goose. (hopefully the photo attaches, first try at that). Our older lab retrieved wonderfully. Looking forward to breaking the code on hunting here and getting that young pup out. :)

[castnblast]

.

[Bay Bob]

Too many geese , bluebills, and ringnecks - - -

Not enough mallards and woodies !

BW
BB

[ailsworthless]

I gues its a good thing, but I have no idea how many ducks I killed this season. here is my guess though...
Hunting mostely out of Gloucester Va and Surry Va
mallards-10
black ducks-5
woodies-1
widgeon-2
geese- 6
divers- not gonna go there

Killed a good amount of ducks and definetly put my time in. I'm in favor of cutting out the novemeber part of the season and extending it until feburary. the weather KILLED us this year, huntng on 60 degree days doesn't work.

[Steel Fly]

It was a great season - thanks to John, Eastduck, Badger, Hussein and Barney for sharing the rain, waves, frost and ice. Don't know how many birds totaled - I lost count limiting the first 2 days and getting a banded woodie.

[Bandkiller00]

Dorchester county
mallards 86
Blacks 36
teal 32
pintails 15
woodies 16
blackheads 97
cans 3
gadwall 4
buffies 71
mergansers 7
redheads 2
whistlers 2
ringnecks 3
geese 84
scoters 29
old squaw 15
coot 1
snows 115
total 618 bands for season 6

bandkiller00

[eastduck]

Steelfly, and what a shot that Woodie was at least 65 yards and a prayer, droped him dead cold.

[eastduck]

Bandkiller what a year sounds fantastic thanks for the report.