Duck Clubs

Most of us had high expectations for the 09-10 Season, partly due to the lack of success and good hunting weather days of the previous 08-09 Season. We did see good numbers of migrating ducks and geese and the white front goose bag numbers were way up in the 08-09 Season. Not so much as far as ducks taken though. It did seem like the 08-09 season was known for its speck killers. Everybody with a speck call was killing limits of geese. That didn't happen last year either.

We all thought it couldn’t get much worse but it did for most of us. Lat season has to go down in the annuals of time as one of the worst ducks seasons in history. I’m not talking about the total number of ducks in the migration. I’m talking about the number of ducks actually killed by the duck hunters. Keep in mind that, just like everything in life, there are exceptions, but for the most part, ducks hunters took home fewer ducks last season.

What it all boils down is too much water and not enough weather. I believe it’s as simple as that. We flood the entire northern Sacramento Valley from the east to the west and the waterfowl are spread out all over the rice fields during the night feeding. When the sun comes up they head to the refuge and sleep. What it takes to kill ducks in the rice these days is weather. A good storm, wind or fog is what it takes to be successful in the rice.

Clear days and nice weather is what we saw for most of the season last year and when the storms hit, they hit hard and blew everything out. That sent all the ducks to the flood water and out of the rice until the very end of the season.

It wasn’t all bad, we had a few very good days and good limits were had. Let’s face it, we all like to shoot limits but just being able to enjoy what we all love to do is worth it for me. I am happy with 3 or 4 ducks when I go to the blind and I think that was pretty much the average take for most hunters this season. If we shot a few ducks in the morning, I would call that a good day.

This is the first time I can remember December being as dry as it was. We did not see any rain or wind until right around Christmas. You can usually count on some good duck hunting weather around the first December. That just didn’t happen last year.

If you are in a position that allows you to run to the blind when the weather is good, you will be successful. Granted, not all of us have that opportunity but I really think that’s what it takes to kill limits in this day and age. Not to mention your ability to hit your target but that’s another subject all together.

Until next season, keep your ammo dry and your shotgun clean.