Feathers and Fins

Fleece Longjohns (check) 7mm neoprene waders with 2000 g thinsulate ( check ) Heavy jacket ( check ) boat loaded for waterfowl ( triple checked )

There is no computer and no person or group that can or should make the rankings, That needs to be settled on the field and it should be.

KS, MO and OK. Saturday should be interesting. I have scouted areas and found a great mixed bag to be had. I am putting out a very large spread of dicers and puddlers and hope to shoot that mixed bag.

Duck season for me, and its been fabulous so far. Arkansas opens Saturday and its looking to be the best opener in years.

That's the greenest smallie I have seen in a while from beaver most of mine have been (tea brown) nice one.

Hunting Season happened. Grown men loose their minds time of year lol

Haydels DR85 is my duck call.

Hog, most bucks I have seen "in towns" seem to be 120 or less granted im not up by you but I have thought about the subject. My speculation is more and more people in town = more cars on the road hitting them before they can get to the size they use to in town. Now on the fringe of town ive seen some nice deer but seems size of intown deer has gotten smaller.

You may want to check on the 22 before using it! Im not sure about TR but Beaver you can use shotguns with Bird shot for waterfowl or slugs for Deer, Bows are ok but Rifles are a no no. Also check any regs for distance from homes or roads. etc.

Terrier, one nice thing about the set up is when they are out if hunting mud leave the weights on dry land and you don't need to go walking back though it just pull it in. In a boat its the same deal pull them to shore park the boat and load them up simple as it gets. On cold ice days it really is nice not walking in it or getting your hands soaked.

Ive thought about posting this for some time and just never got around to it. Our best time has been 14dz in 12 minutes but that took 4 guys. My brother and I typically hunt together and still only takes 20 to 30 minutes to put out that many. To do this you have to have 12 slot decoy bags it won’t work without them. Ok so here is what you need to do; get decoy line at least 300ft of it, I use tarred cord 250lb test. Pull off 15 yards of it and attach a 1pnd weight to the end. Tie a dropper loop 18 inches long and put a 2/0 snap swivel on it Attach decoy Put the anchor in the first slot and then put the line in it making sure the loop goes around the bottom of the keel to the decoy. Repeat steps 2, 3, about 3ft apart and make sure you put the decoy beside the first on the line. When you get to the end of the line pull off another 15yrds and tie on another 1pns weight. Now when you get to your spot put a friend on shore ( if by yourself put a steak in the ground and wrap 2 to 3 weights around it now line 2 to 3 bags on the side of you boat and pull out. The decoys will launch out of the bag. Repeat steps till all decoys are deployed. Other options are to attach a 5lb claw weight to the line with a bungee cord for jerk string set. This same method works in shallow water just pull the decoys out as you walk .

Speaking of Decoys I really need to do a write-up on how mine are done. If I told you 14dz could be put out in less than 20 minutes would you believe it? That question is for everyone but Ducky he has seen the set-up.

If possible, Diver hunting and decoy fatality goes hand in hand

I got to thinking from one of the other threads on here about Waterfowl safety and etiquette, there are more and more new people to the sport and thought it might be helpful to pass on some of what I was taught growing up. It might help you avoid conflicts and injuries. Do not set-up within 200 yards of another group and 300 is better. Do not waterswat a bird in the direction of other hunters ( that mean injured or uninjured birds) Do not call at other people birds ( If they are calling do not try and pull the those birds off them ) Do not pass shoot on others birds Do not trespass Do not leave trash ( make all attempts to pick up your trash ) Know where others are Never shoot early or late ( legal time is legal time ) Do not skybust birds ( Know your range ) Public does not give anyone the right to be rude. Some of the lesser rules. If you are late and the trucks left for the lake you better catch up or not hunt If you are the coffee man and forget it you will never live it down If you forget TP don’t expect others to share their valuable resource If you fall in the mud you will be laughed at If you are late twice there will not be a third If your dog breaks and your asked not to bring it again DON’T! Do not ask to bring friends. Never give out another guys spot Never shoot before the kids do if there are kids with you The kid got the band no matter what so get over it.

I don't know Greasy. DD has made it worse or magnified it but I think the Youtube vids are worse and they have been going on a while now. I have to chuckle, I have never grown a beard (cant because of work ) and never used face paint, heck unless its real cold I don't even use a face mask. Movement is the killer in hunting more than anything Saturday we hunted behind a few thrown out pieces of brush and as Marty said looked like Turtles sitting on the mud lol. I know everything is designed to make the companies money but with that I have a fear that many of these ( as I call them ) " TV HUNTING FANS "are going to try a few bad weather hunts and get killed in bad weather. Most of us who have hunted long enough have had some close calls but had experience passed down to us on how to get out of them. These newbies do not seem to have that mentality or knowledge.

Gas station food on occasion But mostly its stuff prepared the night before for snacks. On occasion the portable stove does come out and its hot food in the blind just depends on the day and location. Hard to bring in all the hardware to Timber holes.

Ya that guy can compete with the real birds. He sure sucks them in. Still a lot of pintail?

We left you a big enough blind I would hope you did. BTW the persimmons were such a bonus treat, thanks for pointing out they were right at the first blind

Terrier, If I had a penny for everytime I had overcooked waterfowl I would be richer than Trump. Truthfully I have never heard of one case of someone getting sick from undercooked waterfowl and in fact when I was younger I use to eat the hearts raw. To me it needs to be no more than medium rare at most.

I wasn't sure where to put this but felt it had to go on here. http://www.notyetbeguntofightfilm.com/

Thanks guys it was good and super tender and moist

Jd I haven't seen a legitimate hunting video for years. All of them now are more about Music and showing off body counts and the "crew" involved. I miss the old shows where they discussed the hunt the how too's of it and the history of the area. Those shows that discussed the morals and ethics the courtesy to others but most was the value of them in education. They were tailored to take us to places most would never get to go but still put the message of showing respect to people and nature.

very cool

Thanks to Mr Billethead I was direct to a wonderful little hole and ended up with some fine table fair in Pintail and Mallard represented. The blessings of OAF introducing good friends to each other is part of what makes this site so good, but the recipes for people to enjoy hit a special place deep down inside your belly and to that end I wanted to share my BBQ Baked duck with everyone. The first thing is to soak the breast for 24 hours in ( Accent Flavor enhancer ) when complete rinse off and remove all blood clotted areas on the breast. Preheat the oven to 325. Next Place the breast on a cutting board and season liberally with Cayenne, Black Pepper, Paprika, Chives, Cilantro, Parsley and Salt. Next step is to cut them in 2 inch pieces and wrap in bacon Next place a trivet on a baking pan and place the duck on it. This allows the juices to flow out and keep the duck out of it. You will want to cook them for 30 minutes only, With 10 minutes left poor your favorite BBQ sauce on the top of them and finish baking. This meal goes great with Wild Rice and Asparagus.

Last year is when I saw it getting bad as well. This year even worse. I swear ive never seen so many people talking about " their crew" or running around with stupid "crew names" on hoodies. It would be amusing if not for how the behave to around others. I don't have to much of a problem when im hunting big open water not many can or like to hunt it, but the shallow waterfowl management areas are a zoo. Last year was mild and it brought them out in force. had people set up within 50 yards of me one time and several other times within 100 yrds some not even putting deocys out but trying to pass shoot birds working my spread. I hope this cold runs them off and they see what real duck hunting is all about.