Ryan Miloshewski

If I had a good boat I may feel different, but man being out there in -30 deg wind chills sounds miserable and dangerous. I know a lot of guys like you that did well during it, though! Takes some balls.

Simms Flyweights have been great for walking. Feels like a running shoe, not a wading boot at all. I've had mine for two years and they're holding up, but I have heard they aren't durable for the long term.

That time of year..pan seared mallard and duck/goose fat rendering. Hoping to knock down a few more canada's to really up my quantity of fat for the upcoming year. The mallards this year have really not been that fat aside from a few. I did have one big boy who had a 1/4" fat cap on him. Can't wait to eat him.

Took a little hiatus as my computer was on the fritz. Hunted hard up until the big freeze before Christmas and did well on public spots. The amount of mallards in Kansas and West Central MO right now is pretty bonkers. Went out on New Year's Day and limited out fairly quickly. Those January drakes are just beautiful. Even got me a decent redhead (the duck variety). Took my grandpa out with a buddy who has a private hole end of November and we slammed them. It was his first time duck hunting. Anybody else getting out this last week? Buddy had a pill at Duck Creek 12/18 and we saw one duck after breaking 1" of ice 350 yds. After that I just took a break until this thaw. Supposed I'll hunt the rest of middle, KS when it opens back up and then boogie down to Arkansas. Been a tough but rewarding season!

The lards have arrived. Also, took my grandpa's 1973 Citori out and it got it's first duck ever. Pretty cool.

Like everything, depends on what they are eating. Just last night I had a beautifully fat blue-wing from North Dakota. Pan seared it. First bite it made me gag. I don't know what it was eating, but it was rank. I'll still take a December mallard as the top-eating duck, or a well-fed pintail.

I have gladly shot opossums, skunks, raccoons, coyotes and other nest predators with zero intention of eating them. And I will continue to do so.

Love this story. Like true duck hunters, mostly died because they had to experience the insanity of all those ducks lighting in. I remember reading how they found guys under boats frozen solid with straps full of ducks. Hell of a way to go out, and I wouldn't be too mad about it!

I'd love to get a King Eider. I know Jeff Coats shoots one or two every year up there. I saw a flock of old squaw at Clinton Lake in Kansas two springs ago. Two guys shot surf scoters in Iowa this year. Little off course.

Thank you! Yea, if I didn't already have one on the wall I would've sent him to the taxidermy man. I am getting the green-wing drake mounted though. My goal is a drake of every species in North America.

Had a good couple of days in Iowa. The mallards are there BIG time. Stopped by Nodaway on the way home and drew in. It was tough, but ended up with five, including the prettiest wood duck I've ever shot. Onward!

2.5" of rain on the west side the last 24 hours. Need more but that'll help a bit.

Hunting the Central and Eastern part of the state as of now. We'll see how long that lasts.

I don't think I've ever seen so many BWT still around. We shot a four man limit of bwt on opening day in Kansas 10/29. Not many mallards around. TONS of pintails over here. Ended up shooting four drake mallards Monday in KS. Hunted Nodaway Valley for the first time and shot three Wednesday..a drake wigeon, pintail and gadwall. Only saw 3 mallards all morning. The PPR freezing up is welcomed and needed. Hunting Iowa this weekend to avoid the chaos of opening day of Middle Zone. Went up there 10/14-10/17 and shot teal, pintail and gadwalls. Mallards just aren't about yet. Tony V and the boys are shooting almost all teal as well. Crazy times! Shot 29 birds on what was a goat rope of a Kansas opener. Guy had a seizure in the marsh and the ambulance had to come pick him up as shooting light hit. Then some dude launched his boat and just left his rig on the ramp. Nobody else could get out. Somebody let all the air out of his tires (nicer than I would've been) so our guys were stuck. The lack of water this year is going to bring out the dumba**ery badly.

Thanks! Very simple. 2 cups flour, 1 teaspoon salt, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 2 tablespoons melted butter, 3/4 cup milk

Cleaning out the last of the freezer before it get's loaded down again this fall. Made pheasant and dumplings this morning. It was super easy and it is delicious. Probably will freeze some for those cold duck camps this winter.

Or using a 3 wt like I saw the other day. "Landed this nice 24-inch brown on a 3 wt!" Nice, man. Nice.

Hunted Sunday in Kansas and my buddies hunted in MO. I saw two teal all morning. We had some big storms come through Saturday night so I supposed that sent 'em southward. Guys in MO saw 50-60 teal but they were all landing on the private marsh. This 30 degree drop in temperature Wednesday night should make for a nice end of the early teal season, as those remaining birds in the Dakotas should head on down. I'll be out Thursday-Sunday mornings trying to swat them out of the air.

Nice! What area of the state? If you have water, you'll be in business.

@Gavin do you flood around that blind?

I texted him. He said he's doing great

All the ones we shot were fat as can be too. Kind of shocking but also awesome! I pan seared a few today just like a fat mallard and they were exceptional.

Kicked off the season of hate this weekend with teal in Kansas and Missouri. Birds are thin but they're about if you can find the water. We shot 22 in two days, which I consider a great start. Water is scarce right now, so scouting is key. My buddy walked 13 miles before the season in one day and I totaled 10.5 in two weekends. You have to put the leg work in to be successful. We were the only parties to shoot both mornings in the marsh. If you don't want to work for it, you aren't going to shoot birds this time of year. Figured I'd start the thread for the season..going on three years now. Everyone feel free to post your successes, failures, and overall experiences for this, the greatest time of year! @BilletHead did you and Mrs. Billethead get out for the opener?

I couldn't hit water if I feel out of a boat this morning. Ended up with 8. They started flying really good when I had to pick up and go to work.

I went back and looked and I fished the hopper 20 days from July 8th-August 20th (thanks for remote working). The bite was best for me in the morning with less than one unit running. I'd average 6 fish in a couple hours, with most being 18-inches+ and a lot of trophy fish, including a 24-inch brown. You can really dissect the bank when you aren't flying by. And if you do get to do it, make sure you are on the bank..like under 12" away from the rocks. If you do that, most of your hits will come within 2-3 seconds of the fly hitting the water. Make calculated casts so you aren't wasting your time, which can be very easy to do. If you land 2-feet off the bank, pick up and throw back in to get closer. I rarely had to work the fly but if I did I'd just wiggle the rod tip. If I got a good drift, I'd let it ride until it started to drag. I caught a few with it drifting, but most of the bites were immediate. I caught them in the evenings with 2-3 units running, like Phil said, but not like the mornings. I had my best success on a size 6 Fat Albert, Chuck's Big Ugly, and a size 8 Hippie Stomper I tied. That being said, the morning of the Fireman's tournament (8/20) it really tanked..typical. We caught 6 fish the entire day, two being over 20-inches, but it was rough. I lost a really big rainbow on the albert around 2:15 pm when his tail slapped my tippet. But before then I think we went 2 hours without a rise. I tried a few other bluff banks but the Lookout bluff was the only place I consistently caught them. It's not a numbers game by any means, but I'm not sure there is another way I'd like to fish on Taneycomo. It was a blast.