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LITTLE TO SHOW FOR A BUSY
WATERFOWL SEASON
By: Ron Wilson
January 27, 2009.... Hunting Ducks this
year has been dismal all over
California. We've only
seen a small portion
of the migration during the
hunting season.
While we struggled to get a bird or two,
the
migrating birds stopped in the upper reaches of Oregon and
Washington where there was plenty of food and water. No matter
how cold it got they just stayed there.
On the few day that birds did come
through in numbers, we had good bags. However there were far to few of
them to even put a dent in the waterfowl population that came through
California.
We killed a few Specs when they came to the wintering grounds in Central
California but they are really getting in tune with the hunting program.
Once they have been here a few days they round up in huge flocks and
develop a flight path that keeps them safe from the local gunners.
 The
local honkers have grown way to smart and have developed flocks that are
hiding up in the mountain ponds and lakes like
Don Pedro, McClure
and New Melones. Then there are the golf course honkers who have found
plenty of water and grass to there liking and a safe place to stay away
from the gunners.
I haven’t tried it yet but instead of a
blind maybe I should try a picnic table and food basket out in the open
to lure these educated waterfowl into gun range because when you find
them rafted up in non hunting areas you can walk right up on them and
their wild cousin who migrate through the area.
Once my son Donald and I returned back to
California from our deer and elk hunting in Wyoming I missed very few
days in the outdoors looking for the migrating waterfowl to show up in
huge numbers, but it never happened this year. Oh sure there were a few
days when
we saw plenty of birds in the air as they migrated around the
central valley area,
but no
mass migration was spotted by me. Maybe I missed them if they
came through during the night but I never missed a day with my gun,
hoping to welcome them when they came through.
My son and I had two great hunting days
together. One was on Christmas morning when a storm came rolling through
the valley. The wind was so strong that I would not go out on the lake
until 7:30 a.m. during a lull. We got in the blind and our first honker
came in at 8:30 and by 10:30 we had limits of honkers and 4 ducks and
called it a day! One hell of a Christmas present for me being in the
outdoors with my son. It could have been better but my grandson was all
mothered up with his girlfriend and didn’t make it out to the blind with
us.
 The
next best outing was the closing weekend that started on the West
Bear Hunting Club
he belongs to. All cement septic tank blinds and meandering ponds
through them where we scratched out close to a limit ducks and a goose
in a good rainstorm. Followed by an invite to another local club where
we set up and pounded early limits of teal and widgeon
on Saturday and celebrated the night away at the club house with
food and drink and cards before turning in for the night. The closing
day found us looking at the stars at first light and the flocks of teal
had disappeared heading south I guess. We did kill a half dozen mallards
and widgeon to end the season.
While this story sounds like we stacked
them up I was out there for better than 80 days of gunning and there was
just 2 days that were great. Lets hope that the 2009 and 2010 waterfowl
season is a whole lot better. |
