Bull Shoals 1-14-12

[JohnP]

Hunted Bull Shoals, upper end around Beaver, with a couple other buddies. Seen quite a few birds early, mostly gaddies, a few gwt, couple good groups of sawbills, and one greenhead, one group of geese. Got to the ramp alil after 6 and there was another boat there putting in, talked to them and found out where they were going, which is where I was originally planning on going, so went with plan B. Right at shooting time, nobody ready of course , had 20 plus gaddies pitch into the dekes. Thought that was going to be a good sign for the morning, wasn't as good as I thought it might of been with this last cold front. Hunted till alil after noon and the 3 of us managed to scratch out 12 gaddies and 1 greenhead, missed 3 gwt and atleast another limits worth of gaddies due to some fine shooting skillz. Couldn't get the sawbills to swing into the cove we were in. Only saw the 1 greenhead and he came in with a pair gaddies. Heard quite a bit of shooting early till about 8 or so from about 3 to 4 different groups but after that it got quiet quick. The geese didn't show up till after we got most everything picked up. Talked the guys at the ramp that were there in the morning and they had only managed a couple gwt and a hooded merganser, said they never saw the gaddies???? All in all had a good hunt but thought we would of seen more however the birds we did see all decoyed and finished well.

[JohnP]

Also went for a boat ride down to Snapps afterwards and didn't see a single duck on the water in any of the coves or Cedar Creek between there and Beaver?????

[Feathers and Fins]

Sounds like you had a good day, Much better than most people have had this year. Way to go.

[JohnP]

We've had a couple good days over here but alot more not so good days as far as the birds go. Crazy weather patterns haven't helped none and it's not looking like it's going to get any better the last week of the season .

[Feathers and Fins]

Its been strange for sure. I havent seen any Cans or Redheads this year and thats not normal. Then on the flip side I have seen thousands of Scaulp and Ruddys. Geese well I can get them anytime out but they are resident no migration geese for honkers anyway. I hope next year gets back to normal.

[JohnP]

As far as type of birds, we're pretty normal except for the lack of greenheads the last couple years. Been seeing quite a few greenheads on farm ponds so I know there's some around. I can honestly say on the end of Bull Shoals I'm hunting that I've seen probably 80 percent gadwall, 15 percent greenwing, and 5 percent others including mallets this year. last season was probably the best year I can remember as far as number of birds but never shot at a mallard, lots of gadwall and teal. The past 15 years prior I'd say it was pretty equall between the mallards and gadwall. Last red head I've seen was 3 years ago, and have never seen a canvas back over here.

[Feathers and Fins]

Beaver is a Interesting Lake. It can hold dang near any species at any time. Its a sleeper for Divers many guys really dont understand how blessed we are in NWAR and SWMO with our big lakes and the Divers on them. But unlike alot of the Northern State Lakes we have a TON of puddlers to go with them. Tack on Snows, Honkers and Specks and these lakes could be classified as Sleeper Duck spots.

[JohnP]

Don't say it to loud . I know there's a ton of divers up on the Rock but I just never make it up there, keep saying I'm going to and just never do. Guess it could be because I can be on BS at 4 different ramps (River Run, Swan, Beaver, and K-dock) in 5 to 15 min's and Taneycomo at 3 different ramps in 10-15 min's (Empire, Rockaway, and Branson). Main reason I don't hunt Taney anymore is the number of people hunting it, fisherman both bass and trout, and houses. Hunted several day on BS that you may never hear or see another boat. I go hunting/fishing to relax and get away from the all the hustle and bustle, not to stare at a house, or try to beat others to a spot and then have them set up down wind of you and shoot your swing birds, or have a guy troll thru your deke spread (happened on taney not once but twice and both times scared the you know what out of the guys in the boat when we stepped out from the tree we were sitting next to with guns in hands and hollered at them. Said they didn't know they were decoy's??? yea right, the one that was hovering 4 ft over the water with its wings spinning must of hynotized them). Mojo's work on fisherman as well . Yesterday we saw 3 boats, 2 fishing and 1 hunting. The other hunters we heard hunting wereh in drive in spots. Biggest problem with BS other than no crop to hold birds is the ever fluctuating water levels. Last season it was just a mud hole with no cover within 20 to 30 yards from the water, the year before that everything we normally hunt was 10 to 15 foot under water, this year it's back to around normal but with the past spring flooding there's no vegitation and all the brush is thin. Either way we're still seeing birds so not complaining as I'll adapt to what the good Lord gives us.

[duckydoty]

Good report. Glad you got into some on Bull Shoals. I've only hunted that area 4 times this season. Only had one good day there in November.

[JohnP]

Hunted it I'd say a dozen or so times this year and so far we've had 2 maybe 3 hunts that were good hunts as far as the number of birds go as all hunts that we walked away from without loss and/or injury are good hunts. It's definately nothing like the past couple season down here tho, atleast for us.

Good report. Glad you got into some on Bull Shoals. I've only hunted that area 4 times this season. Only had one good day there in November.