well the season is nearly upon us! the weather has definitely gotten cooler and i've heard someone say that there's already been heavy snows in the nebraska/kansas area... hopefully this will be a good year and more green heads will make it down!

Man I'm lucky I always have green heads--------------- I hunt in Arkansas

I like a mixed bag anyway!

if it flies it dies i really dont care wut kind ducks they are even though we got a slough we hunt with some mallards on it

I hope this year is as good as the last one was because I had one heck of a season.

Got me a Mixed Bag this morning.

u 16 or younger? lol

that is exactly what I was thinking

just missed out on another limit this morning, think someone found my new hunting spot, (Teague park)

I don't think I would go around saying stuff like this...seeing how the season doesn't start until saturday (November 1).

Does anybody hunt lake palestine? I live fairly close to the lake and each year I have heard some shooting here & there. I'm hoping to get a Jon boat in teh next year or 2 so I can get out on the lake and make a blind & try to hunt it. Just wondering how the hunting out there is.

My roommate hunted it a couple of times and shot a couple nice greenheads. don't know where on the lake he actually hunts, sorry sucker won't tell me.

anybody have any luck this morning? pictures? i only killed one woody, somebody was already in my spot so had to go to plan b...

We got 2 woodies. Saw 50+ all woodies.


643out

You have to get a permit for a location to put a blind on Lake Palestine. I have hunted there several times over the last 6-7 years. It can be good at times, but usually gets over hunted quickly. As far as the permits go, you get them from the Neches River Authority usually in Sept-Oct. Usually all of the spots are reserved from previous years and handed down through the family. Only a couple of spots come open, and according to the person I talked to, all of the available hunting areas are taken. So basically you have to know someone that has a blind, be one of the first people in line when and old blind spot goes back in Sept, or go out in a boat, set-up in a legal spot and hope one of those old cranky permit owners doesn't show up at shooting time and start gripping. 643out

2 more woodies this morning...

Went out on Toledo yesterday and seen a lot of ducks. Killed 4 - widgeon, gadwall, and two spoonies. Went back this morning and didn't see as many ducks, only killed 2. Done some poor shooting this morning. 1 GW Teal and a gadwall.

2 of us went Sunday morning. Saw 3-4 really nice groups of gadwalls and widgeons. They all circled and worked for 5-6 passes but wouldn't commit. It was within the first hour of the hunt and the wind was still calm where we were at. We ended the hunt with 2 widgeon drakes, 1 gwt hen, and 3 ringers. Needed one of the other groups to lock up, and we could have finished the 2man limit. Itwas still a good morning seeing those larger groups and watching the dog work. 643out

i got a woody drake and a mallard hen, yesterday morning... still haven't seen a lot of ducks but it was nice to get a mallard.. gonna try a different spot this weekend where a buddy has had some luck... he limited out on gadwall there sat.

Haven't killed a duck this season I had a bad hunting accident in bow season that will probably have me crippled through mid Jan. Hopefully I will still be able to draw a bow...not sure I will.

went this weekend to go up sulphur river in a slough thats has abunch of ducks on it but a pice on my boat broke right when we was about to put in so me and my buddy walked into a slough and i killed a pintail drake and hen the only 2 that came close enough to shoot all mornin and my buddies gun wouldnt shoot lol so i got the pintails haha

Went out on Toledo Bend Sunday and Monday. We killed 1 hooded merganser Sunday and 1 GWT hen, 1 Woodie hen, and 2 hooded Mergansers Monday. Did not see many ducks. I talked to a buddy and they killed 17 Saturday morning. He said there were a lot of ducks and the wind was blowing like crazy. I guess they all left with the wind because they didn't kill but 3 the next morning.

Careful what you post in a public forum. Shooting 2 pintails in one day is illegal. You need to check regulations. 643out

Ducks are starting to move down with the recent cold fronts. I saw about 50, wood and mallards, the other evening flying in out at my hole.

Really!?! And where did you say that was?

Frankston

I use to have access to a place between Poyner and Frankston off the creek. Bad thing was I wasn't the only one that had permission to hunt the spot and it got over hunted quickly.

I hope some big ducks make there way down for a couple good hunts over Thanksgiving break before the end of the 1st split.

643out

Ducks are ahead of this cold front. Yesterday evening when I was coming out of the woods, I saw about 100 mallards flying over! Look like something you would only see on a hunting DVD.

well how would you guys rank the first split? mine was fair, maybe a 5 out of 10, killed mostly wood ducks with a couple of mallards, teal and widgeon thrown in..

I had some pretty good luck over Thanksgiving break, got my limit every time I went out. Killed mostly gadwalls and widgeon, with a few green wings thrown in. Actually, I have been pretty surprised with the results that I have been having.

well anybody had any luck since the second split started? i haven't even got to go yet but may sneak off in the morning

Went Monday with a buddy and we killed 2 woodie drakes and a GWT drake. Should have had more, but we didn't shoot worth a flip. Plenty of ducks though.

i've been kicking the tires on starting duck hunting. any advice on how or what to get started with?

I started two years ago at the ripe old age of 27. I had a friend that had been trying to get me to go for years. I finally relented and almost didn't go when I saw how much the waders, jacket, and shells were going to cost. I ending up getting the waders wore a borrowed jacket and it was easily the best hunting experience I have ever had. For the starting hunter I would recommend a cheaper pair of waders you can them at Wolf in Athens for about $90. I say get a cheaper pair cause I have been out with a few first timers that never went back. If you are looking at guns I would say Remington 870, it is a fantastic all around gun that doesn't cost too much. I am using a Stoeger this year but I have seen 870's been dropped in the creek and still used. I even saw my roommate use his as a paddle once. My roommate finally retired his this year after ten years of hunting dove, squirrel, and ducks. There are plenty of places to go and hunt, tomorrow I will be sweating my butt off at the DU marsh by Richland Chambers. I would see if you have any friends that hunt and tag along with them a few times to see if you like it. Duck leases are hard to find and can get expensive but the first time you have ducks come in on some decoys and you hear "TAKE EM" you will be hooked. If you have a little bit off cash on hand I would recommend a couple of guided hunts. Tell the guides you have never hunted before and they can help out alot. I have just started in the calling aspect of duck hunting and believe me that is a whole different ball game. All I can say is practice, practice, practice. Mojo and Air Lucky decoys have made the mediocre caller look like a king cause those things bring the ducks in. My roommate had to buy a new Mojo cause he had a huge green head fly into his and tore it up, the duck actually hit the decoy at around 10am of a clear day. Just thinking about going hunting tomorrow is getting me excited. My girlfriend got mad at me yesterday when I told her I was going on Christmas Eve, the day after Christmas and the day after that. She said she wanted to go shopping, I said we can shop anytime the second half of the season is only open for a short time. I have had a few friends that said they learned to call ducks by sitting at the marshes they hunt after the season and just listening to the ducks chatter. Like the duck Commander Phil Roberston said " no duck would even place at a duck calling contest".


Duck hunting is a challenge like no other. First you have to get them in gun range then you actually have to get a shot on them. Think about something the size of a toaster flying by you at 40 mph and swinging from side to side the whole time. tomorrow morning can't get here fast enough! sorry if I got long winded but if I could hunt one thing for the rest of my life it would be ducks.

Does anyone duck hunt public land? Tomorrow will be my first experience in public land hunting. I have heard good things and bad things about it. People being too close to each other and idiots that have a shotguns and think they are the next great duck hunters. A friend went last weekend and said the four people in his group all limited out and that they didn't have any problems with other people around them hunting.

We have hunted a fairly large private stock tank, with a smaller pond close buy. The dam broke on the big tank, and it dried up. Now the ducks won't come to the smaller pond: I guess the larger one drew their attention to that area. The owner won't fix the dam, and we were hunting for free. I trained a lab who is two years old, and has good potential. She is not gun shy, and retrieves well. It's a shame we haven't been able to shoot many ducks for her to retrieve. Next year I guess I'll have to lease a spot so my son and I can hunt. The lakes around here are not that great for duck hunting. I enjoy reading about you east Texas guys having good luck hunting. I'm up in north-central Texas, and the drought has really dried the ponds and tanks up a lot.

Where at in North-Central Texas? Plenty of public lands to go. you might call the contact and ask them if the holes are dried up or if they still have ducks coming in.

http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/landwater/land...public_hunting/

We are south of Dallas in the Waxahachie area (rural Ellis County). Thanks for the info in the link you posted.

thanks for the advice. i have a 870. would it be to late in the season to try and find a guide? i live between gilmer and big sandy. is there any areas around there that are good? thanks again for the help.

I don't know if there would be any guides open. I know there is some public land around Hawkins. I have been hunting around Sand Creek and that was some real good hunting.

Edit : Hunted the "DU Marsh" at Richland Chambers saturday and I will say the gates open at 5 am and you better get there early. It is truly the early bird gets the worm or best hunting spots in this case. We didn't get many ducks in on us do to the guy 100 yards sky busting the birds we had working our decoys but thats what you deal with when public hunting. The guys to the left of us limited out on teal, shovelers, and gadwalls. We could have limited out on Coot but who really wants Coot? Now we know where to set up and will be ready on wednesday when we go back out there. Also if you go out there you better have all your stuff legal cause the Game Wardens will check you with out a doubt. The two we spoke with were really nice guys and talked to them for about 30 minutes. It was nice to get out and hunt but it was weird getting out of the truck in mesh shorts and putting out waders without thermals on and just wearing a long sleeve camo t-shirt instead of a jacket.

you wouldn't have done that this morning... it was COLD! me and a couple of buds killed 2 GWT, saw a lot of ducks but most of them were flying high and didn't want anything to do with us..

yesterday morning we killed 2 canvasback hens, a mallard hen(missed the drake ) and a blue bill

going back this evening and tomorrow morning... lovin this break from school!

You are so freaking lucky! I was at work before the sun came up and will be at work after the sun goes down. Enjoy the days off, I told my girlfriend(a teacher) I was going to call her and wake her up when I got to the office and she said I had better not or I would have dinner waiting on me at her place. She sent me an email that said she turned the heated blanket up last night and didn't get out of bed till 10am this morning.

some thoughts after reading this thread...

used to be able to hunt the "DU" marsh before it belonged to the state of Texas and DU...talk about fun...was still in high school and did not realize how lucky we were...we also had permission to hunt the bottom underneath the "new" 287 bridge...Wow...talk about some good expereinces and funny ones as well

the Rem 870 with interchangeable chokes is the best shotgun I have used...have shot more expensive brands that me pardners bragged about and there is no difference in accuracy/ease of use...imo the fewer working parts you have in the marsh the better you are..ifn you deke hunt long you will be stadning in water trying to repair a gun at some point...I have stuck my present 870 in the mud, dropped (submerged) in water and other kinds of abuse and it works great...best gun for the money...have been hunting ducks for 30+ years and I am using my third Rem 870 the other two are in the gun closet and will be given to my kids as they get old enough to handle...

Ifn you decide you love to duck hunt spend the money and get the best waders you can afford it will improve your experiences...I am too old now to be getting wet and cold, staying warm and dry is not overrated...

I now hunt in Red River cty and the 1st split is the best I have seen in about fifteen/sixteen years...have seen more big ducks early than I can remember...did not hunt during first split just scouted...in my part of countryside this is the most impressive numbers I have seen in awhile...

have limited out the past three hunts with good mixed bags of mallards/woodies/gadwall/widegon...have seen pintail but did not want to shoot...have a couple of new guys on our lease and hope they dont screw up the roost areas...ifn we dont should be good all year long...

good luck to all...

easton gave some good advice...the only thing I might add is get out and scout...ifn you can get close to numbers of ducks listen to how they talk to each other...I sat in a slough several days ago and just listened to the ducks talk...did not pull the trigger and had many chances...it was alot of work and expense to go out and not shoot, but that scouting day led to a great hunt for my daughter two days later...now she is hooked and that is what it is all about...

my opinion...dont go out and buy the $100 deke calls, they do sound good, but the Haydels of the world do the job just as good...have seen a guy with a Olt call in as many ducks as anyone else in my experiences...

Bock is right about the waders. Also if you go to a marsh that you have never been to and you can't see the marsh bottom then grab a long walking stick. Trust me stepping in a unseen hole up to your eyes(that fills your waders) at 6am when it is 30 degrees then going duck hunting for 4 or 5 hours is not fun and enjoyable experience. But it is funny to see it happen to one of your friends.

My good friend and I were hunting in the Chambers bottom underneath the new 287 bridge about 30 years ago ...was very cold wet and misting type rain...we were walking back to the truckwith our kill and we decided to cross this field we were not familar with...my friend in front of me was carrying his ducks and gun with his dog right behind him...he stepped into a beaver run and disappeared the only thing I could see was his 870 and four ducks sticking up out of the water...his hyperactive dog thinking he wanted to play then jumped on top of him...my friend's head came up briefly and then went back down...he came up the second time with his dog still jumping all over him as he managed to crawl out of the run...needless to say I was lmao so hard I was crying...he ran the last half mile or so to the truck and by the time I got there with his ducks/gun and my stuff he had stripped and was trying to warm himself up before hyperthermia sat in... we still laugh about that "duck hunt experience"

Moral...use the "Bwana" sticks as we used to call 'em to feel your way across land under water

PS...I told him at his truck I refused to ride with a naked man sitting beside me, really did not care how cold he was..

What a classic duck hunting story!

Went and hunted the DU Marsh Christmas Eve and we limited out on Gadwalls and one Pintail drake. Got the Pintail in the freezer and will be taking him to the taxidermist this weekend.

have gotten two limits (2 people) and one close this past week in red River Cty...Gads/Mals/Wids/Woodies...since the weather warmed up the number of mallards has dwindled...but the others seem to be about same...as I said earlier in thread, more birds than I have seen in awhile in the northern parts

Went with a friend to a lease around Dawson this weekend and we had 7 ducks in 15 minutes.

2 redhead drakes, 1 canvas hen, 1 ringneck drake, 6 widgeons.


Does anyone else use blackclouds? I am amazed at the holes these shells leave. I have used them the second split and I am very impressed. I am just having a very hard time finding anything other than 2 shot and BBB or BB.