I Suppose The Billetheads Should Start Reporting

[mhowerton]

_{Thanks for the report. Glad you got into them up there in the middle zone. I was aching to make it up there earlier in November, but work and family got in the way. Good luck the rest of the season. I will try to get some reports up soon.}

[JohnP]

Awsome pics and great report BH.

[BilletHead]

Will update some. Been involved in three more hunts. Did a little driving and found a little oxbow wet area off of a river. Flushed about a hundred mallards. Wow is all I thought. Made a plan and Saturday morning The Mrs. and I took the four wheeler around a very muddy corn field to the oxbow. Less than knee deep about sixty yards long and very narrow maybe six yards at the widest place. North wind so we sat on the north end. Dozen decoys and a butt bubbler. We snuggled up under a small pin oak on shore. Daylight and duck city but we only took one there as they centered in on a pond across a fence a hundred yards away from our hide. I mean hundreds of mallards including woodies. Quite a show. After the morning blitz a group of four greenheads came over the treetops from the pond and sat down away from us in the middle of the oxbow. Mistake of not setting up in the middle. Scared them off and moved to the middle. Soon a few more got up off the pond and started moving. We than decoyed three and got them. Things got quiet and the Mrs. decided to walk up and peer at the pond across fence. What she saw made her squeal look at the ducks as they flushed in a flurry. They got up in a swarm . I then walked up to see the pond. It was full of water and had flooded into some timber. You could see the muddy water where they had been bobbing for acorns. Wow moment. We picked up and in the photo you can see the little puddle we had hunted,

Got out of that place and on the way out found the cattle farmer of the pond. Asked for access. Well he said when were you going to hunt it? Why I ask is we lack one doe for my daughter and we were going to hunt it Sunday. I replied hey we won't even hunt the oxbow as to not mess up your hunt. Thanks he said you just hunt that pond anytime you want! It will be a good place if the birds stay around. It will be tough getting in there and trying to slip gear under a very nice tight fence but maybe a Thursday hunt with the Mrs. She suggested I go ahead and do it Monday (yesterday) but like what a wife might do I think it was a test to see if I would go without her. Nope I won't bite that one off! Dinner Saturday was peppered mallard.

Sunday morning we made a quickee to a slough here next to the house hoping for a duck or two. Nadda , nothing.

Then Sunday Evening I was trying to decide where to try? Then the phone rang, Cajun back from La. Hey want to go in the morning? Sure! Back to the duck park. Cloudy Set up and there was a small daylight flight of woodies. I drop one and it went under the grass and disappeared. Gone, bummer It really bothers me bad to loose one. Then a few mallards here and there looking but not working. Mark says if that sun would come out. Then the clouds start to break birds start moving and then it was like an Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh moment. Down from the heavens they came and it took fifteen minutes and we were done with four mallards each. No scratch ducks around so we quit.

Mark says I'm going again in the morning (Tuesday) wanna go. Dang I can't got a friend that is going to install a pellet stove in the morning. So as I assisted in the pellet stove installation I get a text from the Cajun saying done at seven thirty,

So we will see what the BilletHead's will do next?

[Nathan Shaw]

Great report! It's nice to see someone in this area is on 'em.

[rps]

[JohnP]

Awsome report as usual BH.

[mhowerton]

Awesome hunt report. I always prefer Sunny days to cloudy for ducks. That duck rig is slick. I will never own another duck boat without Hyrdoturf on the flat surfaces. Good luck the rest of the season.

[BilletHead]

The last four outings report. When you think it is a sure thing it never works out like it is supposed to. Last Thursday the Mrs. day off we decide to hit the pond where we had got permission from the Saturday before when we had witnessed an amazing show of birds hitting that pond. Cloudy with some drizzle. Made a hide under a hedge. Set up looked great. Nothing showed, I mean nothing. Did see five in and out of the clouds going, going, gone. What a let down, what gives? Did they eat all the food there? Friday a solo where I have seen lots of geese crossing over the highway onto a pond and walking in to soybeans to feed. Liked the set up, this is going to be easy! So geese started flying, big bunches going into the pond across the highway where they should be coming from. Sure thing my rear. Two days skunked. So now to Saturday yesterday morning. I needed to kill something. So we (I) decided we should hit the roost for some, loafing for some pond where they had gone the day before. Mrs. would rather shoot a duck but here again a sure thing right? Well kind of. We spook/flush out about fifty and get set up. A couple come back but land in a cove across the pond. Soon about twenty go air born from the hidden cove right for us. We did take out two thank goodness. Stone hammer dead. Triple B's dead. We wait, and wait seeing more dump into yet another pond across a fence in a cow pasture. Mrs.is getting antsy, calm down it will happen. Give it another 45 minutes and she responds I have laundry, and this and that it is all bla, bla, bla to me. 44 minutes later again Bla, bla, bla. Ok, Ok I know you are ready. I pull the floaters as she folds the layouts, I start piling bigfoots and here they come with wings cupped and falling. I told you and I get a glazed look. Start carrying out and more sailing in, this time she gets the stink eye. HA! Oh well we have good eats. Did three cups of rendered oil and some fajitas to boot,

The meat,

Peppers and onions next,

ready to load into tortillas,

Served with an adult beverage of margaritas .

Per the Mrs. wish for this morning back to the only ducks I know of in the neighborhood. Nothing new here and most likely some of the same ducks we have hunted here before. Set up for either or ducks/ geese. Thick clouds and windy, clouds suck but the wind makes the decoys dance. We did flush off birds as I suspected and a few came back for a look or two. I took out three green wings. Had ducks actually hover in the wind way up right over us picking out something wrong and then sailing off. A pair of mallards dropped from high later on. They cupped twice towards us but then right back up and back one more time to the outer limits of where I want to shoot but shoot I did and broke a wing. Had to wade out and three more shots to finish him off but another one for the pot. I was done and ready to quit. Mrs. says are you sure? Are we quitting too soon? Touché I thought from the day before! Well played my bride. Pick up and out of there checking a place on the way home. I stayed in the truck and watched the Mrs. peek over the pond dam. She comes back and says that's where they are. Five swans hanging out surrounded by forty mallards. Oh well that will be another day. Yes another day of spook them off and hope they come back? Stale my friends, warm and stale!

Todays birds,

BilletHead

[JohnP]

A lot better than the deer hunting is going for me . Ready for some consistent duck weather and ducks to get here.

[Jeff Olson]

Thanks for all of your posts B-H, I really enjoy them. And I have not been out down here on the rock, as I just have not seen hardly anything for birds! And have not heard of anything going on down on the lower taney! Hopefully soon!