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Post by smallchunk on Jan 13, 2020 22:08:40 GMT -6
I shot one a few years back, was super confused when I went to grab it and it wasn't a mallard.
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Post by badgerfowl on Jan 14, 2020 7:30:26 GMT -6
Ducks. I've never hunted them. I think this season I may buy the tags and take my shotgun back to the old beaver ponds and see if I can jump shoot a couple. The only activity that is both more time consuming and expensive than deer hunting. And (with few exceptions) they taste like flying liver. Medium rare is the only way. Only one I couldn’t stomach is a bufflehead. Tasted like fish.
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Post by Reagan on Jan 15, 2020 16:29:33 GMT -6
No blackies but had decent shoot this morning. If the weatherman would have been right, I think we could have done better. It was also our first time breaking out the kids sled for transport.
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Post by biglakebass on Jan 15, 2020 17:07:24 GMT -6
shit, its still open there?? Wow.
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Post by Reagan on Jan 15, 2020 17:51:32 GMT -6
It doesn’t get good until late December and January. It usually closes the last Sunday of the month. They let us shoot geese a couple weeks longer.
Today started at 32 and got up to mid 50s. We’ve had no freezing of the ponds.
Northern Ohio usually closes in December
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Post by wklman on Jan 17, 2020 23:12:34 GMT -6
Nephew was out after them today.
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Post by Reagan on Jan 18, 2020 4:16:02 GMT -6
Ducks close a week from tomorrow. We have sleet falling that’s going to turn to rain. I am going this morning. It might be the last hunt of the year.
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Post by Reagan on Jan 18, 2020 14:13:43 GMT -6
No blacks today but we killed a few. Had a green head sail on us when we killed the two ducks. I knew he was hit and expected to find him at the tree line at the edge of the field. Walked it after getting the gear back to the truck and found it. So 5 geese and 3 ducks between 2 of us. Should have killed more ducks but they kept hugging my side of the spread. I passed some shots in hopes of getting shots for us both. This is the first year using a blind lik e this. It’s beats the hell out of a layout blind. I would normally call this dry field hunting but the rain really poured down today.
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Post by jbird on Jan 21, 2020 12:06:06 GMT -6
Never even seen a black duck in person. Main ducks here are woodies, mallard and a few blue wing teal (early) and an occasional pin-tail and a Buffy once in a while. We got our canada geese with an occasional snow come thru as well. We are not on any sort of major flyway so we shoot those that are resident or lost! Been a few years since I have hit the layout blind.... I really like hunting over water which is a struggle around here. I have heard that the black ducks are moving westward into Mallard territory and I have even seen some reports of cross-breeding.
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Post by Reagan on Jan 21, 2020 12:39:32 GMT -6
I’ve killed a lot of blacks that have traces of green in their head. I’ve read that the mallard is so aggressive they might breed the pure black out of existence.
There are some corn fields just north of the Honda plant that is near you. They hold a lot of geese. When I see big numbers of geese we often get into ducks too.
That blind in my pic belongs to a coworker who lives on the Indiana side of the state line. If he could get permission on those fields, I might buy an Indiana license. If it ever happens, I’ll send you an invite. He has bought an Ohio license the last few years since we have more places to hunt over here.
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Post by Catscratch on Jan 21, 2020 12:52:32 GMT -6
No blacks today but we killed a few. Had a green head sail on us when we killed the two ducks. I knew he was hit and expected to find him at the tree line at the edge of the field. Walked it after getting the gear back to the truck and found it. So 5 geese and 3 ducks between 2 of us. Should have killed more ducks but they kept hugging my side of the spread. I passed some shots in hopes of getting shots for us both. This is the first year using a blind lik e this. It’s beats the hell out of a layout blind. I would normally call this dry field hunting but the rain really poured down today. Tell me more about that blind. What kind is it? What's it called? Looks like a ring with straps to place bundles of grass.
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Post by Reagan on Jan 21, 2020 14:09:58 GMT -6
It has a metal frame with a canvas front and back. We put half of the metal inside each canvas piece and roll it up when we are finished. There are loops for adding vegetation. He went overboard on the grass so its pretty heavy. We drag it and dekes our with sleds and set up. It allows you to sit in a chair and stand to shoot. Birds seem to ignore it more than layout blinds. I am amazed what you can get away with.
I know Avery makes a version but this is another brand. I’ll find out for sure what it is.
On my pic about with the green heads, we set up half of it on a small pond in timber. We had enough tree cover to skip the second half.
I have a few layout blinds but I don’t think I will use them again. This is much more comfortable.
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Post by Reagan on Jan 21, 2020 14:29:24 GMT -6
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Post by Catscratch on Jan 21, 2020 15:28:06 GMT -6
Thanks! My dad has a layout blind and I love it. I'm considering building a permanent blind on the watershed by our house. We don't hunt it much for several reasons, but something like that would make it much easier to get out.
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Post by jbird on Jan 22, 2020 22:28:16 GMT -6
I’ve killed a lot of blacks that have traces of green in their head. I’ve read that the mallard is so aggressive they might breed the pure black out of existence. There are some corn fields just north of the Honda plant that is near you. They hold a lot of geese. When I see big numbers of geese we often get into ducks too. That blind in my pic belongs to a coworker who lives on the Indiana side of the state line. If he could get permission on those fields, I might buy an Indiana license. If it ever happens, I’ll send you an invite. He has bought an Ohio license the last few years since we have more places to hunt over here. I actually know some guys who hunt those fields and have hunted them myself in the past. Saw the biggest bunch of ducks in my life there once.....literally 1,000's in one giant ball of birds stirring and they was getting ready to head out due to weather moving in. The hunters I was with called it a "mondo ball" which I had never heard that term before. It turns out them birds are not as dumb as they may seem. There is a golf course not far away and the geese simply move back and forth between the golf course and the retention ponds at the Honda plant. They know they are not safe in between. They may talk a few migraters in once in a while, but they tend to follow the lead of the resident birds as well. There is a lot of ground out there and trying to find the right field is a bit daunting as well. Also if they spread any manure on them fields the local CO considers it a baited field.... I know of another situation in another town that is the same way....the birds know where they are safe and where they are not and trying to get them out of those safe areas is nearly impossible. Its a lot of fun when it works....but it's very frustrating knowing them birds are on them ponds and won't go anywhere until forced or dark.
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