P.S. I went and immediately bought a tow-strap for both me and the wifey's car because of that incident!
Harold and Kumar go to San J
- Thread starter TrapLine
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P.S. I went and immediately bought a tow-strap for both me and the wifey's car because of that incident!
You can take as many shells as you want to your blind but each one over 25 will cost you around $100. Thats an expensive coot!
I choose to leave a box or 2 in the truck and only have 25 on me in the blind because of that $100 per shell thing.
Only 25 shells but they say nothing about cartridges, so bring a couple hundred rounds of 17 hmr, nonlead of course.
I can do the teal, widgeon, and wood duck but the mallard drake and pintail not quite there yet
yea, the parking lot is further away too. There is another wildlife area, Kern or Mendota I think it is, where you cant walk back to the truck either once you use you 25, its basically 25 and done for the day at that one, but the hunt ends at noon.
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What the...?? Why? That makes no f*cking sense! You already have the limits on the birds. What's the purpose of limiting the shell count? Some of us aren't as good as you guys when it comes to knowing how much to lead them on the shot.
Kinda seems unfair when you think about it. As it offers the more experienced shooters an advantage since us less experienced shotgunners are more than likely going to blow thru the shells faster than they will.
For clarification... can I have my shotgun loaded and the buttstock shell holder filled... and THEN have an extra box in my pack? Or are we saying that when you walk out in the morning... there better not be more than 25 shells total in your possession?
Kinda seems unfair when you think about it. As it offers the more experienced shooters an advantage since us less experienced shotgunners are more than likely going to blow thru the shells faster than they will.
For clarification... can I have my shotgun loaded and the buttstock shell holder filled... and THEN have an extra box in my pack? Or are we saying that when you walk out in the morning... there better not be more than 25 shells total in your possession?
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Rule says no more than 25 shells in the blind we call it the walk of shame when we have to make the trip back to the parking lot for more shells
I know they wouldn't allow rifles in there... but oh man, if they did? I'd be snipin' the the ever-lovin shit out of them birds with the .17 HMR! LOVES me some .17 Man! It's like a freakin' laser beam.
#1 its a rule on the refuges....know the rules...25 shells total in your possession when you walk out to the blind.
#2 I believe it is designed to keep people from skybusting, i.e. shooting too high.
#3 I love the internet.
#2 I believe it is designed to keep people from skybusting, i.e. shooting too high.
#3 I love the internet.
I was talking to a guy who hunted a private ranch in Colorado and when they were driving back to the lodge, the guide had one of the hunters snipe a pheasant out of the truck with the guides 17 hmr. Imagine doing that at San j with the coots, Tom wouldn’t be pleased.
I never take the walk of shame.....
That’s what my kids are for.
That’s what my kids are for.
#1) Thanks you guys for taking the time to answer these questions.
#2) Ok...so... at what point does the shot become considered "skyscraping"? What is like the Rule of Thumb with that?
EDIT: Nevermind, did a search and reading a bunch on that now.
#2) Ok...so... at what point does the shot become considered "skyscraping"? What is like the Rule of Thumb with that?
EDIT: Nevermind, did a search and reading a bunch on that now.
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I always looked at like I was sitting in the center of a 80 yard bubble. The better shot you are the bigger bubble.
Merced NWR...25 and your done.
40 yds sounds easy enough, but when you have a "high" sky...They can look closer than they are...Error on the side of less than 40...Another way to get some judgement is walk out and put up a stick at 40 yds...It gives you some perspective of the distance...I almost always have my range finder with me...Decoys are set normally around 30 yds out.
Most ducks decoy to their own species...Hence, late in the season, I use drakes with a lone hen in different bunches...Mating rituals are in full bloom right now.
ps...Jeremy...You can get a wood duck screech out of a 6-1?
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Try to shoot ducks that are landing in your decoys. I know that is not always going to happen at a refuge as a lot of ducks are running for their life just trying to escape. The big trouble with shooting at birds up even 40 yards is a bad hit and they sail for a long ways. Now you are out trying to recover a duck in your neighbors spread. also your ability to judge distance on over head shots is poor at best. Yes you will stone some but more times then not you will wound or miss. guys sky busting is part of life and at some point you will be pissed when someone blows off some ducks you had landing and they are shooting at ducks 30k feet up.
Skyscraping/skybusting is subjective and there are many degrees, from the ballistically impossible to just unethical. If you are repeatedly shooting at birds and missing or getting just feathers (assuming they aren't just difficult close teal shots) they are too far. Maybe not for someone else but too far for you. Without a good dog shots should be even more restrictive, you won't kill dead many ducks at the edge of gun range.
As you set out on these new adventures try to think of the people around you that have also spent a lot of money and driven a long way. Shooting boxes of shells at coots may sound like a good idea and is your right but it will ruin the day for everyone within ear shot of a shotgun. Think of an activity that you may be more serious and knowledgeable about, maybe deer hunting. Now imagine your thoughts after waking up at o'dark thirty, followed by a long drive and hike only to have a group of guys near you with boxes of .17 on a quest to pile up ground squirrels.
Just throwing this out there. You could easily shoot a limit of coots off of the refuges. All the canals, new river, etc hold coots. Leave the coots alone on the refuges if one flys over your decoys shoot if you must. But don’t be walking around shooting coots someone is going to call the warden on you guaranteed.