Well, to say this year had it's ups and downs is an understatement............Never have had so much competition from locals or even guides. Add in a really late harvest, warm weather, and no wind. Your going to have some tough days. Despite the early warm weather, we ended the 2 weeks with 50's & 30 degree weather and it all turned to great hunting. We also drove more miles scouting this year than any previous year.......Wish I was still there........A day by day account of our hunts.
Day 1.........Blanked in a pea field in the morning with one of the locals daughter & boyfriend. They had never hunted out of layout blinds before. So we decided to try the haybale blinds........Never fired a shot. Specks were very weary of the snow + speck spread as well........Found out they had hunted this field the day before.......Ugh!
Day 2.........Found another pea field with honkers...........Layouts this time for just me & my cousin Ron. Birds decoyed beautifully. Only problem was there was absolutely zero wind. So, half the time honks would either land or come in from behind us. The old body just doesn't twist like it used to......lol......We ended up with 6 big guys & 4 specks.
Day 3........Decided to get the dogs some action. Hunted two separate sloughs that were within a 1/2 mile of each other. There were about 3,000 mallards and pintail using them for their daytime roost. We wouldn't hunted them in the dry pea fields, but they weren't coming out to feed till about 20 minutes AFTER shoot time.......80 degree weather......We ended up with 16 ducks and I had 4 honkers come in and I got 2.......Also, got that 1st spoonie of the season.......Worth the price of the trip right there....... :4gi59uu_th:........Leave the south and travel north
Day 4.........Hunted with one of the locals in another pea field........Same problem with these geese (specks).......Just no direction hunting out of layouts. Ronnie & I didn't shoot ducks, but the local got 8 mallards and we also added 6 specks. Would've done much better with willow blinds......Again warm (82) and dead calm.
Day 5........Willow blinds this time and just me & Ron.........The classic parklands hunt. Honkers coming in low & slow.......15 big guys & a speck.......Didn't shoot ducks, but were covered in mallards & pintail......75 degrees
Day 6........Tough finding new spots (and saving some for friends coming up). So, we hunted what we call Wild Rose again........Ronnie decided to hunt the pond near by and I stayed in the willow blind......Good choice for me......8 honkers, 4 mallards, 4 pintail......Ronnie ended up with 8 mallards and 1 honker......The willow blind again was the key in being able to shoot all directions......70 degrees
Day 7.......Haybale field and specks (few snows as well)........Well as hunting specks goes and despite being on the X. They (1000 birds) landed at the other end of the field. Even after a single came in that Ronnie got, they didn't fly away.......Big field of barley.......Afternoon showed they still liked this spot........72 degrees
Day 8......Two friends showed up and we invited them to hunt with us in the same field. This time we set-up at the other end.......24 birds for the effort.......1 single big honker, 7 'lil honks, and 16 specks.......I love haybale shooting........76 degrees
Day 9......Took the day off in anticipation of Ron's son Ronnie coming up and friend Mike.......Scouting is still tough with the hot weather......87 today......Find a big pea field with about 3,000 specks in it. Only problem was something spooked them out as we were driving away (we were about 1/2 mile away)......Always a bad sign.
Day 10.....Hunt the big pea field with specks.......Only a few show up the next day and would have nothing to do with where we were set-up. The boys shot a few ducks (8)......Ronnie, Ron, & Mike hunt a honker field in the afternoon......El Blanko!.....Saw over a 100 birds in the barley in the morning while I was out scouting......Tough start for the new guys......Still no wind and 68.....But could feel the change coming.
Day 11.....Back to another part of Wild Rose/Parkland area......The boys got 12 honkers & 8 ducks in the morning while I scouted......Per the stories, I think the count should've have been much higher on the honky tonks......lol......Finally some weather!.......Rain and wind in the afternoon. So Mike and I hunt a big slough in the afternoon.....Epic duck shoot!......Mallards & pintail diving in against the wind and rain.....Mike's limit included 7 greenheads & a bull sprig.......Only because I couldn't wear my glasses in the rain did I shoot that widgeon.....lol.....High of 59
Day 12.....Mike & I hunt behind my friends farm house and huge barley field with bales......Just not many birds.....We ended the short morning with 2 honkers & 2 ducks......Ronnie & Ron hunted Wild Rose again and ended up with 6 honkers & 8 ducks.....Lil Ron was doing the shooting......Cloudy and cold 39......While scouting I found and got permission to hunt a field very close to where we'd had been all week. It's amazing how 300 honkers can hide in the those rolling hills......The afternoon shooting was classic Canada......We stopped shooting at 20 bigs......Started at 3:30 pm and picked up at 5:00 pm......They were still pouring in when we left. Just didn't want to clean more than that with the boys leaving early the next morning......It's amazing what cold & windy weather does for the flights of waterfowl.
Day 13......Pack up and head home.......One stop at our friends in southern Alberta and exactly 23 hours later. I was in Escondido.......1st thing I did was stop at Jack in the Box......Never ate out one time the entire trip.....I don't think I can eat another duck or goose recipe........lol
Here's a few pix from the adventure.
Day 1.........Blanked in a pea field in the morning with one of the locals daughter & boyfriend. They had never hunted out of layout blinds before. So we decided to try the haybale blinds........Never fired a shot. Specks were very weary of the snow + speck spread as well........Found out they had hunted this field the day before.......Ugh!
Day 2.........Found another pea field with honkers...........Layouts this time for just me & my cousin Ron. Birds decoyed beautifully. Only problem was there was absolutely zero wind. So, half the time honks would either land or come in from behind us. The old body just doesn't twist like it used to......lol......We ended up with 6 big guys & 4 specks.
Day 3........Decided to get the dogs some action. Hunted two separate sloughs that were within a 1/2 mile of each other. There were about 3,000 mallards and pintail using them for their daytime roost. We wouldn't hunted them in the dry pea fields, but they weren't coming out to feed till about 20 minutes AFTER shoot time.......80 degree weather......We ended up with 16 ducks and I had 4 honkers come in and I got 2.......Also, got that 1st spoonie of the season.......Worth the price of the trip right there....... :4gi59uu_th:........Leave the south and travel north
Day 4.........Hunted with one of the locals in another pea field........Same problem with these geese (specks).......Just no direction hunting out of layouts. Ronnie & I didn't shoot ducks, but the local got 8 mallards and we also added 6 specks. Would've done much better with willow blinds......Again warm (82) and dead calm.
Day 5........Willow blinds this time and just me & Ron.........The classic parklands hunt. Honkers coming in low & slow.......15 big guys & a speck.......Didn't shoot ducks, but were covered in mallards & pintail......75 degrees
Day 6........Tough finding new spots (and saving some for friends coming up). So, we hunted what we call Wild Rose again........Ronnie decided to hunt the pond near by and I stayed in the willow blind......Good choice for me......8 honkers, 4 mallards, 4 pintail......Ronnie ended up with 8 mallards and 1 honker......The willow blind again was the key in being able to shoot all directions......70 degrees
Day 7.......Haybale field and specks (few snows as well)........Well as hunting specks goes and despite being on the X. They (1000 birds) landed at the other end of the field. Even after a single came in that Ronnie got, they didn't fly away.......Big field of barley.......Afternoon showed they still liked this spot........72 degrees
Day 8......Two friends showed up and we invited them to hunt with us in the same field. This time we set-up at the other end.......24 birds for the effort.......1 single big honker, 7 'lil honks, and 16 specks.......I love haybale shooting........76 degrees
Day 9......Took the day off in anticipation of Ron's son Ronnie coming up and friend Mike.......Scouting is still tough with the hot weather......87 today......Find a big pea field with about 3,000 specks in it. Only problem was something spooked them out as we were driving away (we were about 1/2 mile away)......Always a bad sign.
Day 10.....Hunt the big pea field with specks.......Only a few show up the next day and would have nothing to do with where we were set-up. The boys shot a few ducks (8)......Ronnie, Ron, & Mike hunt a honker field in the afternoon......El Blanko!.....Saw over a 100 birds in the barley in the morning while I was out scouting......Tough start for the new guys......Still no wind and 68.....But could feel the change coming.
Day 11.....Back to another part of Wild Rose/Parkland area......The boys got 12 honkers & 8 ducks in the morning while I scouted......Per the stories, I think the count should've have been much higher on the honky tonks......lol......Finally some weather!.......Rain and wind in the afternoon. So Mike and I hunt a big slough in the afternoon.....Epic duck shoot!......Mallards & pintail diving in against the wind and rain.....Mike's limit included 7 greenheads & a bull sprig.......Only because I couldn't wear my glasses in the rain did I shoot that widgeon.....lol.....High of 59
Day 12.....Mike & I hunt behind my friends farm house and huge barley field with bales......Just not many birds.....We ended the short morning with 2 honkers & 2 ducks......Ronnie & Ron hunted Wild Rose again and ended up with 6 honkers & 8 ducks.....Lil Ron was doing the shooting......Cloudy and cold 39......While scouting I found and got permission to hunt a field very close to where we'd had been all week. It's amazing how 300 honkers can hide in the those rolling hills......The afternoon shooting was classic Canada......We stopped shooting at 20 bigs......Started at 3:30 pm and picked up at 5:00 pm......They were still pouring in when we left. Just didn't want to clean more than that with the boys leaving early the next morning......It's amazing what cold & windy weather does for the flights of waterfowl.
Day 13......Pack up and head home.......One stop at our friends in southern Alberta and exactly 23 hours later. I was in Escondido.......1st thing I did was stop at Jack in the Box......Never ate out one time the entire trip.....I don't think I can eat another duck or goose recipe........lol
Here's a few pix from the adventure.
