San Jacinto - best blind to take non hunting female for first time hunt?

[Dave3006]

Hello. I have a great draw (mid teens) for this Saturday at San Jacinto. For the first time in my 15 years of duck hunting, I am taking my wife along as an observer. I got her a pair of waders so she is comfortable and dry.

I know Tom is amazing and will steer us to a good spot. Saturday should be amazing looking at the numbers for Wednesday.

In general, if you wanted to give her the best overall experience, which blinds would you gravitate to, all things being equal?

Options:

A-E - hot and heavy action. But, crowded.

Walkers - wide open. Several Island blinds. Might be tough for a newbie to get to.

Ponds 1-3 - not my favorite. Not the most beautiful layout.

D, G, Y, Z - Only hunted them once. I remember them being good.

F - I know absolutely nothing about them

I was thinking that picking a spot with a good blind easy to get to would be important. Good scenery is a plus.

Thanks.

 

[rusty shackelford]

Mystic. You can have a picnic lake side.

 

[Mud Pigeon]

Hopefully Saturday is good for you but the decent ave on Wednesday was a direct result of the area being unhunted for a week.

 

[Old Quack 49]

Good on her and you for going together ! I’m no San Jacinto expert and won’t give you best shooting advice , Tom will do that . The blinds that have an above water walkway and hog wire blind will be easier on her . Maybe a closer distance from the truck is good too ? Good luck and report back ! Oldquack 49

 

[Aeon]

The 30deg low should see you through to the next wife. Make sure you tell her how it's actually warm and normally colder

 

[Dave3006]

Aeon, good idea. But, after 32 years of marriage, she knows when I'm lying.

 

[ilovesprig]

Tom won't be there Saturday (Covid)....So can't depend on that....Send me a PM and I'll try to help you out.

 

[Vermonster]

Whichever one you pick, I will be there at 8:30 to do a refill hunt with my son, so make sure to tell me which blind you limit out at.......

Have fun, good luck!

 

[Dave3006]

Haha. That doesn’t happen too much to me.

 

[Dave3006]

My wife had the time of her life. She completely understands why we love this so much now. With the help of ilovesprig, we picked a great spot. She was most surprised about how much action happens in the first 30 minutes. She has gone with me on a few quail hunts in the MNP. Duck hunting is a big difference. Besides the great company in the blind, it's like having eyes in the back of your head. She alerted me to quite a few ducks I would have missed.

 

[Old Quack 49]

Great experience ! She seems a keeper . What blind did you take and how did you do ? Old quack 49

 

[Dave3006]

Thanks. Married 32 years. She did not like my guns when we first got married. Now, she loves to goe to the range with me. Shoots handguns and rifles. And, this year has started going on multiple hunts. So, there is hope if anyone has a spouse less than enthusiastic about firearms and hunting.

I only got 2 ducks. But, I knocked down 8. I hit them, they fell from the sky, splashed, and then swam into the tules. I searched hard. I lost more ducks yesterday than I lost the last couple seasons. I need a dog. I used Heavy Metal #2s. I had this load from a few years back. It seemed to have worked in the past. I was trying to do my best. I guess I need to make better shots.

I don't want to give the exact spot out of respect for the person that gave me some great advice.

 

[Scal les]

10 ducks that's a good hunt.

 

[Dave3006]

The action was great. But, I really felt bad about losing the ducks I shot. I wasn't taking long shots and I was trying as hard as I could to recover them.

 

[Old Quack 49]

Good on keeping private help with blinds just that, private . Tullies are bad there and even dogs strike out sometimes . Good hunt . Oldquack 49

 

[Hunter527]

What ducks did you get?

 

[Aeon]

not going to bust your chops but...you cant misplace 6 of 8 birds. weeds are a pain and most guys dogs cant find them once they go in.

couple things here, one let them come in closer. passing shots tend to make more lost birds. The more forward velocity they have the farther they can land away and prevent the backup water swat shot. Birds in the decoys are much more exposed and die way better.

What choke were you shooting? I run a mod and with steel that is equivalent to full. I want a tight pattern so if i hit one its dead. I have wicked bad weeds where i hunt with flooded salt cedar tules and arundo. A swimming cripple can cost the dog time out of the blind and mess up more birds that could come in. IT still happens and we all loose a few birds now and then. coyotes got to eat too. Nothing goes to waste

 

[ilovesprig]

I hate #2's, especially for smaller ducks like teal...#3's at any reasonable distance or even #4's, if they're close (inside 30-35 yds)...........I hate losing birds and as they say, A good dog (lab) is the best conservation tool"....

Dave,

Glad you and your wife had a good time.....

 

[Hunter527]

The thing about pass shooting is that you can’t do it if theres a sea of tulies nearby. Strips of tulies or smaller patches can be searched easily. For example, one pond I hunted last month had a strip of tulies around the edges and steep banks with brush. The ducks swam to the strip of tulies and stayed there, making it easy to walk the bank and flush them out. The key to pass shooting responsibly is surveying the area to make sure sailed birds can be recovered easily. Also, when going into the tulies, be strategic about the direction you come from. If the area to the right of where a bird went down is easy to recover a bird from, and the area to the left is not, approach more from the left to flush that bird to right for an easier recovery. Pass shooting successfully is more sophisticated than many realize.

 

[Hunter527]

I hate #2's, especially for smaller ducks like teal...#3's at any reasonable distance or even #4's, if they're close (inside 30-35 yds)...........I hate losing birds and as they say, A good dog (lab) is the best conservation tool"....

Dave,

Glad you and your wife had a good time.....

A 3 1/2 inch shell with an 1 1/2 oz of #2’s has 187 pellets, for comparison, a 16 gauge loaded with #4 shot has 180 pellets. I saw Fiocchi has 3 1/2 inch shells loaded with 1 5/8 oz of #2’s. Do you think 2 shot is a poor choice for ducks even if you go up to 3 1/2 inch shells with 1 1/2 oz or more of shot? It seems like you’d have plenty of pellets, but I’ve never done it.