Early wood duck/ teal TN

D16hunter

Well-Known Member
Jun 28, 2012
1,617
53
48
San Diego
IMG_6049.PNG IMG_6048.PNG IMG_6047.PNG IMG_6041.JPG IMG_6045.PNG Didn't hunt the first day of the season, but I hunted sunday. Started the morning looking for teal. I wasn't even sure if I could hunt that morning because I made plans with someone I just met at the dove opener to hunt on sunday and I didn't hear from him the night before and I finally got a hold of him at 3am
on Sunday morning. I stopped at 4 am to get a duck stamp at Walmart half an hour away from my spot. And after I bought my liscence I spent an hour trying to get my car to start and finally got to the ramp and my buddy left and I was sitting there cursing his name waiting for him to get back. After about half an hour of kicking myself and not being able to get a hold of him thinking he left me, he shows up at the ramp yellin hurry up let's go. So we hop in his boat and get out to the spot where his other buddy is already setting out decoys. We only saw two birds all morning and got to know each other. Funny side note I was the only one wearing waders that morning and they all got soaking wet because the water went up 6 inches over night. They were only wearing boots that came up to there knees and whenever they would walk they would get water in there boots because the water was only an inch from the top. We sat in a brush pile that was partially submerged drove firmly into the mud with the current ripping. We left at around 10 and in the decoys of the blind behind us was a pair of geese that must have just landed because the boat that was there literally just left not 10 minutes before.

We met at 2:30 for the afternoon hunt with the same buddy. I invited another buddy who had never killed a duck before and said to him watch your first duck is going to be a band. We waded in thru a miles worth of mud flats in a lily pad field and sat until 4:30 in the firmest patch of ground for miles which you still sink around 2 inches into instead of 10. At 4:30 we slowly started seeing them at first it was ones and twos and then it was 50 in the air at once. We killed our first at 4:45 a drake woodie that was landing a foot from the mojo mallard which was 15 yards away in a ditch that ran thru the flat. At 4:57 exactly me and my buddy Dylan who had never killed a duck in his life, shot at a hen woodie at less than 10 yards and she folded. I think I killed her however I said to my buddy go pick up you first duck. He picks it up and yells it's banded. We all yell BS not believing it he brings it over and low and behold she's banded. Took some pics and settled back in. We shot a couple more that dropped and then flew off when we went to get them. All in all one of my most memorable duck hunts not because of the number of birds killed but because of the look on my buddies face when he picked it up. Doing another pm hunt tommorow.
 
IMG_6061.JPG IMG_6056.JPG Great pm shoot today limits of woodies for me and my buddy jacob and only 1 woodie and 1 teal for the rest of the group. Fast shooting for the last 20 minutes of the season. My buddy jacob killed a band in the last minute of the season a drake and a hen dropped in on the water and my buddy whacked both with one shot. A pair that flys together dies together.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_6062.JPG
    IMG_6062.JPG
    276 KB · Views: 8
  • Like
Reactions: Lungpopper
Nice write up Luke. Are you liking Tennessee better than So-Cal?
 
honestly it's ok not great but... killing bands in September and limiting out on woodies makes these past few months of waiting worth it
 
Thanks for sharing the story. I got excited reading it. I've never duck hunted before but that was an enjoyable read. Similar to watching football highlights.
 
It's ok from a hunting perspective or living perspective?
Living perspective the hunting is crazy. I hunted teal today and planned on not hunting the last day tommorow until when we were picking up decoys we had probably 3000 buzz us in dozens and dozens of different flocks.
 
Living perspective the hunting is crazy. I hunted teal today and planned on not hunting the last day tommorow until when we were picking up decoys we had probably 3000 buzz us in dozens and dozens of different flocks.
Ahh, the classic picking up decoys shoot. You can almost always count on birds coming in while picking up decoys.

We actually stopped 1 bird short of a 3 man limit last weekend knowing some birds would come in while picking up decoys. It worked.


Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk
 
Living perspective the hunting is crazy. I hunted teal today and planned on not hunting the last day tommorow until when we were picking up decoys we had probably 3000 buzz us in dozens and dozens of different flocks.

I'm in Chattanooga as we speak looking at property...moving in 2 years...but I'm 45 and like a slower pace of life.

Hunting is a big part of the second half of my life now so...looking for the best place to do that ;)
 
Last edited:
I'm in Chattanooga as we speak looking at property...moving in 2 years...but I'm 45 and like a slower pace of life.

Hunting is a big part of the second half of my life now so...looking for the best place to do that ;)
I love the slower pace of life it's just some of the people. And when you move out to TN we gotta hunt. I'm starting to learn the river well. I know I can kill a limit and catch a 20lb bag in the same day if the conditions cooperate. I only fished the river last winter and duck hunted elsewhere and caught the crap outta em on a wiggle wart. Now that I'm hunting the same spots I fish it's gonna get crazy.
 

About us

  • SCHoutdoors was created in January of 2011 by a few people who love the outdoors. The main goal is still the same – bring people together who enjoy the outdoors and share their knowledge and experience.
    Outdoors in the West, Hunting gear reviews, Big Game, Small Game, Upland Game, Waterfowl, Varmint, Bow Hunting, long Range Rifles, Reloading, Taxidermy, Salt WaterFishing, Freshwater Fishing, Buy-Sell-Trade on Classifieds and Cooking/Recipes
    All things outdoors…come join us, learn, contribute and become part of the SCHoutdoors community.

Quick Navigation

User Menu