252-261-7842
4740 El
m Ct.
Kitty Hawk, NC 27949
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Outer Banks Waterfowl 4740 El m Ct. Kitty Hawk, NC 27949 |
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WEEKLY
UPDATES
6/23/10
Okay everybody. Here we go. This time next week we'll be in Alaska and I'l already have scored personal fishing firsts to subtract from my own 'bucket list. Of course, personal firsts are going to be easy to come by on this trip as I've never even seen these fish in the wild before.
I'm not much of a research kind of guy and prefer to learn on the fly. If I can't hold, smell, feel or sense something, then it obviously doesn't leave an impression on me. As I understand however, we are targeting all five species of salmon, dolly varden (char), grayling, pickerel, monster rainbow trout and the occasional lake trout. By monster rainbows, I'm referring to beasts in excess of 30"! Over 10 pounds!
I just measured my thigh and it's only 18"! Rainbows as big as your thigh is an UNDERSTATEMENT. BY A THIRD!! Sweet honey mustard. Forget everything else. I want me one of those!
On top of everything else, I'm to be a top notch fly guide. Sheesh. Okay. This is going to be a little rough for me. Don't get me wrong. My first twenty years of fishing occurred with a fly rod in my hands and popping bugs safety-pinned all over my lucky fishing hat.
My Dad and I each had our own float tube and usually we'd "leap-frog" each other down a length of fresh water shoreline in search of large mouth bass. Put your popper way up all the little coves of the shore line till a big bass schlurps it in a swirl and a tug. Technical talk? Lingo? I don't think so.
Unless by lingo you mean "should I use the white popper with the black stripes or the black popper with the yellow dots?" Hmmm. Or. "You probably don't want to use that hair mouse in this wind." And don't get me started on a "fishing strategy." As my Dad would say, 'Look you knuckle head. You're right handed. Find a shoreline that, when you're fishing it, has the wind blowing in your left ear hole. That way your flailing fishing line won't snarl up like a kitten with a ball of string.'
Anyway, more later from Alaska.
About hunting this year. I'm going to semi-retire. By semi, I mean about 80%. Essentially, I'm going to assume the role that my Dad held when he ran the service. All the administration, the meeting and greeting, banking, get up and make sure everybody's up and out, then gun on my own for a couple hors. The pre-dark to post-dark day in and day out is over with. Don't worry. Ill share Pintail Point and the rest of my marsh. I'll probably even sit with you awhile. Just not all day.
Anyway. To make that happen we're going to have to raise our rates a bit. Now you guys know it's been years since we've raised 'em and if you look around the internet we're significantly cheaper than everybody else. Being that we're one of the better run services available it just is foolish to be that much cheaper also. So.
Our new rate is $175/man/day. I'm going to give $5.00 of that to the guides and the rest to administration. We truly hope this isn't too much of a hardship, but, to be honest, the world hasn't lowered any of our expenses in the last......ok.........ever.
Outer Banks Waterfowl is continually improving our guides, equipment and blinds. We expect to keep improving every season and have since our inception in 1977. Ellen and I, our guides and their dogs are all looking forward to another stellar season in 2010 and 2011 gunning with you all. Thanks for all your support all these years and we'll do our best to continue to earn that support with safe and memorable gunning. Gunning that has kept our clients returning for one, two and three decades running.
Thanks again and we'll keep you updated right here on our great Alaska Adventure! Vic and Ellen
/19/10
Leaving for Alaska next week!
5/17/10
OK! It's official. Vic and I are going to Alaska as fishing guide and cook team! We leave June 27 and will be there till July 27th. The owner of the camp, Charlie Summerville has a special offer to forward to our clients for a spectacular adventure in Alaska. During the last week of June and the first week of July, anyone who wants to come up can do so for $3600pp. (Normal rates are $5400pp). The web address is www.alaskatrophyadventures.com so check it out and come on up for the time of your life!
Web access during that month will be sketchy for me, so I thank you for your patience in advance!
Ellen
3/17/10
Actually, when looked at as a full season and not the sum of it's slower days, this season ends better than we expect it will. No. Really.
Guide service as a whole we do fairly well. All told. Our total for this season is 894 fowl. Of that number, there are 28 species. 29 if you make a separate category for a black/mallard hybrid. (We call these blallards.)
Not the usual number of buffleheads this season. If this were any other year, we could easily add another couple hundred buffs to our totals. But, this isn't like any other year.
Once again, that diabolical "El Nino" kicks our rear ends. For those who don't know, El Nino is a weather pattern that establishes itself in the northern center of the Pacific Ocean. Once established, the El Nino system steers Pacific bred low pressure systems directly into the U.S. Pacific northwest's coast line.
Once landfall is achieved somewhere near the Oregon/Washington border, each front acts like a clone of the one prior. Landfall. Then the front swings down to the gulf of Mexico, picks up a load of atmospheric moisture, then swings to the north and east, passing near Atlanta and Raleigh.
Rather that acting like a real Nor'easter, these lows enter the Atlantic below Cape Hatteras where a properly fierce coastal low can form up. These El Nino bred lows, instead pass to our west. Therefore, rather than good damp north/north east winds that blow the sound water shallow, El Nino provides cold strong west/northwest winds that raise our usual tides a foot and a half to two feet above normal.
Now figure that a dabbling ducks' neck is only about four to eight inches long and we quickly see that ducks have to look elsewhere for food.
Anyway. Blah, blah, blah. High water, west wind. The silver lining in the El Nino cloud is the number of blue bills and red heads this year. Especially during the season's last two weeks. That's a little misleading. We have chances at red heads all season. Every guide has two or three whacks at them each week. It's just that in this season's last ten to fourteen days, there are really, really big flocks of divers moving around each day. Six thousand here, six hundred flying over there. They don't pitch to many of the spreads in the inlet, but to the guys who do get pitched to the visuals are unforgetable.
My guide Matt, would get an award if I were prone to that sort of thing. He and his three man party shot into a group of twenty/twenty-five red heads and knocked out their 4 man limit. Of the 7 they are able to retrieve, 6 are beautifully plumed drakes. Talk about making the best out of an otherwise slow day!
Another thing that sticks out for this season is the number of bands taken. Yeah. You heard right. "Duck bling." Counting the band I find on a floating dead pelican, we account for 11 bands this year. Two of the three banded brant taken have one on each leg. Besides the five total on brant and the pelican find we also harvest 2 pintail and 2 red head drakes. Rounding our band harvest, we also take a big old male black duck.
If I remember right, I believe the national average for fowl per bands is about 400:1. Not bad. Yay our guys!
I don't care what you say, waterfowlers love their bling. One of the only reasons I lock my truck during winter is because of my call lanyard. Between my calls and bands the mojo that hangs on that lanyard would measure through the roof.
How's this for a day's total bag?
Best day south of Oregon Inlet: 1/22/10.
Six red heads, 3 drake pintail, six widgeon (one of which is a Eurasian widgeon), a blue bill, 2 big male American black scoters and 4 brant. To top the day off, they're limited by noon and one of the brant has a band on each leg.
Best day in Oregon Inlet. 1/11/10
I've been (what I call) sumo ice wrestling for the past week. I hear persistent rumors of large flocks of bluebills eating up my Colington diver blind. Justin is totally frozen out in Currituck. In my infinite wisdom, I decide to let Justin gun Pintail Point and I head to Colington to avoid another day of sumo ice wrestling. This just goes to prove that even with all the experience in the world it's still possible to over think any scenario. Turns out that the temps fall even lower than in days past over night. I end up breaking ice the entire four miles to my diver blind. Once there I find the sound frozen from my shoreline to a point 3 miles out. And the ice is shifting. All morning.
Meanwhile, about an hour after shooting time I get a call from Justin. It seems that it has frozen just enough that the ice in the inlet is frozen just enough that it is locked in and no longer shifting at all. To top it off, Justin informs me that he has a natural air pocket in front of Pintail Point. You guessed it. I get one shot in my blind all morning and wrestle moving ice the entire time. Justin meanwhile, limits out by 9 A.M. His total? 13 widgeon, 3 drake pintail and 2 blue bills.
Currituck handles high water much better that does Oregon Inlet. Therefore, they pretty much rule up to the point they get frozen out around the second week of January. How's about this days total in Currituck? 12/21/09.
8 teal, 3 black ducks, 2 drake mallards, a drake pintail, a drake gadwall and 2 brant! To make a great day better, one of the brant has a band on each leg!
In summary. Don't believe those who try and tell you that this season is a wash-out. Despite high water and challenging conditions, we scratch out a respectable season. 28 species, 86 pintail, 71 widgeon, 79 green winged teal, 67 mallards, 45 gadwall, 43 black ducks, 56 red heads, 38 brant, 28 swan, and 11 bands. Definitely some lasting memories for the "life pile."
Toodles till mext time,
Cap'n Vic
February 16, 2010
2009-2010 waterfowl season: A day in the life.
I stand by my earlier assessments of this season. Not one for those who like things easy. And what I say about the fine line between 10 and 2 never rings truer.
I have a hunt with a couple of guys from SC on the season's penultimate (second to last) day. I've just gotten the decoys placed where I want them and have putted my now empty boat (I rigged every one of the 103 decoys that spend the season in my flat bottom gunning bateau) around to its spot for the day. If we don't get any ducks today, it won't be due to a lack of decoys.
I watch the blind from the cove, some 700 yards distant, where I short tie my anchor line and hook my boat to the marsh's edge. I'm aware that the decoys came out of the boat a little slowly this morning. A quick check of my cell phone tells me two things.
One is good. All my other guides (seven of them) must be where they're supposed to be with whom they're supposed to be with, and two, my guys need to be paying attention, it's shooting time.
I glance back at the blind just in time to see 6 widgeon appear out of the gloom and coast across their decoys. In my brain I'm screaming "Shoot....shoot, dammit shoot!!! It's been a long tough season and the last thing I want to see are some Audubon acting fellers pointing out decoying fowl with their fingers.
"Sweet honey mustard!", I shout in my brain, "point with your guns!"
After and entire season of unusually high water and west winds, we're finally standing in the teeth of a proper Nor'easter. 20-25 knot winds with gusts to 40. 35-38 degrees. Spitting sleet and snow. Low clouds. Water levels have fallen radically to ankle deep levels that coastal Carolina gunners covet. Perfect weather.
I'm still mumbling under my breath about the 6 widgeon as another widgeon pair appears out of the darkness, right over their decoys. Bam! Ba Bam!. Three shots, muffled by the near gale force winds rumble across my marsh. Both birds fall. I'm happier. Two birds in the box. I finish hiding the boat and head toward the blind.
Of a sudden, 2 more birds appear, wings set over the decoys. Bam. Ba bam. Bam. Those two crumble and fall. Oh yea! I'm way mo' happier. The guys scramble out of the blind and after the downed fowl.
By the time I'm halfway to Pintail Point the guys are diving back into the blind and are grabbing for their guns as two more widgeon are sailing through the decoys. Ba Bam. It sounds like one shot but both birds fall in unison.
I get to the blind and we already have one full six bird limit on the ground. Every one of the birds are nice, fat and beautifully plumed drake widgeon.
Another pair flies around the corner to our left and promptly set their wings.
"Sucked right into the hole," as Keagan would say. The three of us make sure there are no escapees.
Finally we get our come-uppance. We all three totally whiff on a coasting flock of 4 widgeon. They are peeping and whistling as they fly in, and nine shots later are peeping and whistling as they fly out. Headed for the safety of the refuge a thousand yards up-wind. Honest. They aren't 25 yards out and right at eye level. We just totally whiff.
In the next twenty minutes we make short work of two singles that can't resist the lure of 103 hand painted, properly placed decoys in front of the phenomenal marsh point upon which sits the legendary Pintail Point blind. It's almost not fair.
It is now 8:15 AM and already we're sitting on 10 widgeon, 8 of which are beautiful drakes. Other than the first flock of six that they didn't shoot at, and the flock of four that we whiff these murderous rascals have knocked down 10 fowl out of ten ! It almost makes a guide want to tip his clients.
Of course, this gets me giddy with confidence, so lo and behold, what do I do? I voice the thought that firmly places a curse on our blind for the rest of the morning.
"Ten birds in the blind by quarter after 8. Let's see if we can beat the record that Justin set for this blind this season and be limited with 18 birds by 9:10 or earlier."
Of course, when you check in on us later that morning at 11:30, we haven't had another shot. Me and my big mouth.
Anyway, my guys decide it was a beautiful morning. At ten birds they're only a few off their limit, so, what the hey. They'll call it a day. I'm going to quit also with thoughts of a late season "coma nap" in mind. Then I make the mistake of glancing back at the blind as we head off toward the dock just as two regal black ducks sail through the decoys that I left set out. I alter my plans. After all, it's the second to last day of a tough season. The weather is hideously perfect and I pretty much nap the entire month of February anyway. I'm dropping these guys and their birds off at the dock and I'm coming back out to fun hunt this PM.
Remember how my guys make the best of the fowl they have to shoot at in the AM. Well, not so much for me in the PM.
There was that pair of blacks when we were in the boat. Then I miss a pair of red heads with three shots. I follow up a half hour later by watching 3 widgeon zig when they should have zagged on their fourth and final trip across the outside edges of my decoy spread that I never shoot at.
Oh yeah. Then there is the lone drake pintail I only get a farewell shot at. He drops in over my right shoulder from across the marsh. They almost never come from there.
Of course, that gets me watching THAT spot so I don't see the flock of perfectly pitching red heads that swoop in from my left until they're exiting the decoy spread. And finally, for the coup de grace.
Ten minutes prior to sunset I spy 3 birds falling into my spread from around the corner to my left. Wings locked. Sailing in. One hundred yards, seventy, fifty, their wings tilt. Fifty five yards. What?
Gadwalls. Dammit. You short pitching so and sos. I shoot all 3 shells, counting the last one which is a 3and 1/2 incher. Of course my first shot is at about 65 yards and nothing falls.......right away. Finally at the far edge of my bay, at about 650 yards a bird finally falls out. A fine line between 2 and 10 indeed. I manage to prove both sides of the theory on the same day.
Duckin' and Goosin'
Cap'n Vic
January 13, 2010
We have been having to hunt harder than in years past, but we have managed to bag over 600 fowl this season to date. We have new openings on the 15th, 18th and 19th.
January 11, 2010
This has been an odd, trying season, but we have managed to make the most of the lemons and are emerging into a better space.
As everyone knows, the eastern seaboard has been inundated with high water (due mostly to the lingering effects of the remnants of Hurricane Ida) and cold westerly winds. Gunning is not enhanced by either of these phenomenas.
We are much better served having north-north easters and low water. Despite less than ideal weather conditions, the guide service is managing to put together a decent season with some memorable hunts. The main difference between this season and others is that hunting skills (instead of sheer fowl numbers) have been playing a much larger picture.
I often remark to folks that there is a fine line between 10 and 2. If you pay attention. See what is coming to you, don't flair stuff off. Point out fowl with your finger instead of your gun. Know where your safety is without having to physically look. And hit what comes to you. Ten birds or better can be available on most days. Don't do these things and two birds is more likely the case. We're guides, we don't make the weather.
Having said this, here's a sample of two recent days.
Jan.1/10: Guide one got 3 pintail, 2 blacks, 1 blue bill and 4 teal. Guide two got 1 merganser. Guide 3 got one banded pintail. Guide 4 got 18 buffleheads. Guide 5 got 2 teal, a shoveller, 2 buffleheads and 2 mergansers. Guide 6 got 4 teal and 3 mallards. Guide 7 got a widgeon and 2 gadwalls.
Jan. 5. Icy conditions. Guide 1 got 5 mallards, 2 blacks, 2 teal, a widgeon, 2 gadwall and 2 hooded mergansers. Guide 2 got 0. He wrestled with flowing ice all morning, gave up at 9:30, came back out at noon to find all the ice gone with the tide. In the pm his party shot better than a box of shells and ended up skunked. Guide 3 got a canvasback, 2 redheads, 3 blue bills, 3 ruddys and 6 buffleheads. Guide 4 got 7 buffleheads with lots of misses. Guide 5 got frozen out and couldn't go. Guide 6 got 6 brant, 3 drake pintails, a black and a shoveller. Guide 7 got 6 redheads, 3 drake pintails, 2 black ducks, 2 green-wing teal, 1 blue wing teal and 6 brant.
Good hunts are here to be had. We have a few openings left so give us a call. In particular, 2 guides just became available Jan. 22, 23. (Fri and Sat.)
Finally, Ellen has suffered from some health issues this year and has not been able to participate in running the guide service as much as she usually does. The long and short of it is that Victor has been running the guide service mostly on his own. We apologize if our service has been off this season, but with his added work load, he's managed to get everyone to where they're supposed to be each morning. We appreciate your patience as we strive to run the efficient service that you've grown used to.
Thanks, Vic
Dec. 21, 2009
Update from Ellen, as Vic was busy cleaning deer on Sunday!Opening day of regular season was very windy with very high water. Our weather this year has been crazy!!
Nonetheless, we had 5 parties tied out and total birds harvested were 1 canvas back, 1 widgeon, 4 blue bills, 7 black ducks, 4 mallards, 4 red heads, 1 bufflehead, 5 gadwall, 6 teal, 2 brant, 1 surf scoter and an assortment of hooded and red breasted mergansers. We're hopeful that all this weather to the north and west of us will be sending us more birds this week.
Look forward to seeing everyone this season and have a Merry Christmas!!!
the 'marsh mama' Ellen
Dec. 17th, 2009
Heads up everyone! We have had some cancellations on the 28th and 29th of Dec. so now have some openings on that very desirable weekend, so if you want to book it, just call! 252-261-7842.
Dec. 8th, 2009
November '09 season. A summary. Pretty much a literal wash-out. Just too much rain and senselessly extreme winds.
The remnants of hurricane Ida blow into the mid-eastern US coast, reform into a formidable Nor'easter and proceeds to pound the VA/NC coast for 4-5 days with 35/50 mph winds and 12-15 inches of rain. That is followed by another hideous blow and rain over the Thanksgiving weekend. I've also had to hunt in the rain an additional 4 days beyond what I've already recounted!
Now. In addition to these woes, there is no cold weather for the entire month. The result of which delays the entire waterfowl migration by nearly 3 weeks.
Chris P., a longtime gunner with OBW recently returned from a sea duck trip off the coast of Cape Cod (where he added drake white wing scoter, surf scoter, common eider, and old squaw to his taxidermy collection). A strong back-up of my delayed migration theory was being observed in New England as the old-timers can never remember a year where their 'summer ducks' (teals and woodies) have stayed in Maine into December.
Despite these factors, we've managed to share some rewarding time afield and even managed to log some beautiful fowl.
The good news in all this is that we've not used up much of our resources in regard to available fowl.
Well, the series of storms has taken out at least two of my duck blinds, so I'm off on a rebuilding mission.
We're close to being totally booked, but do have some openings left. Talk to your buddies and give us a call.
Duckin' and Goosin', Cap'n Vic
11/12/09
Well, here we are. On the precipice of another waterfowling season. The questions and speculation concerning how this season will unfold is about to be played out in a day by day progression.
This being the forty second anniversary of my first day as a duck guide, I feel qualified to offer some predictions regarding what is about to transpire. Of course, predictions are only guesses and should be held to the same standards as are the yearly prognostications put forth by weather gurus concerning future hurricane activity.
In short, what meteorologists and an experienced duck guide have in common in their attempt is mere intellectual folly. What's going to happen will happen, no matter how hard we try to will events to our benefit.
Successful waterfowling is not nearly as much determined by a full bag limit as it is with camaraderie and lasting memories. A full bag will feed you for a few days, but potent visuals and shared memories will sustain you for a life time.
Savor moments and memories. They're available on even the slowest of days.
Our bookings for the final season (Dec.19-Jan. 30) are filling in nicely. November season (Nov. 14-Dec. 5), not so much. It's a pretty safe bet that we'll have duckier weather in January. That being said however, November always yields some of the year's best shoots due to less gunning pressure and the naiveté of heretofore unshot at birds.
November can be worth the risk. Don't make myself and OBW's guides have all the fun by ourselves. (Make no mistake, we will if we have to!)
We also have openings throughout the season but days are booking up.
Give us a call,
Cap'n Vic
Hey All, Here are some of Matt's pictures from 08/09. Looking forward to seeing you all again! Ellen
10/19/09
Right slam in the middle of our own peculiar hunting and gathering season. A deer and a half aged, processed and in the freezer. A truck load of storm felled hard wood cut up and on the wood pile. An additional boat load of driftwood drying behind the shop.
Rumors of 'nice sized' flounder and drum around, and inside the mouth of the inlet are calling to me. Heck. I need to run the motor that's on my duck boat anyway. (What with the ethanol and all.)
Reservations for the season are filling in nicely. The following dates are either booked totally or nearly so: Dec. 21-22, 28-29, and Jan.8-9 and 13-14. The only 3 day spans during the season that are totally un-booked (or nearly so) that would suit a corporate or large family group are Nov. 23-25, Dec. 3-5, Jan. 20-23.
Talk to your buddies, make plans, give us a call.
Oh, yeah. I've received a case of Tom Long's new book,
"Spent shells along the Atlantic." Extremely nice. 232 pages, 350 or so photos. Historical nuggets and Tom's adventures while gunning Yankee land to the north and God's country to the south-ard.
Too far south isn't perfect either, which brings us back up the coast a bit to the most extreme and beautiful waterfowling rounds found along America's Eastern coast.
This is why Tom devotes nearly 20 pages of his time spent gunning with Outer Banks Waterfowl and our professional and personable guides.
I'm authorized to sell the book for $55.00, $60.00 with shipping included.
See book review below.
Spent Shells Along the Atlantic
By Tom S. Long
This large trim-size book is a sort of compendium or collage in that it bundles together between its covers a fairly vast array of different pieces, all having to do with waterfowl hunting along the Atlantic seaboard, then and now -- more than 360 photos, both vintage and modern; wooden decoys and their carvers, historic and contemporary; tales of old market gunners as well as modern day hunts; stories and photos of old hunt clubs and lodges; and more!
Publisher Roger Sparks says of the book: "It features a mix of old and recent days afield… The pages chronicle an era with bits and pieces of history gathered by the author during 50 years of traveling up and down the (Atlantic) Coast in pursuit of waterfowl…. It (the book) is a comparison of modern hunting to that of the Golden Age of waterfowling a hundred years ago."
Spent Shells... is an easy and fun "read." Lots of small pieces that do, in fact, add up to "the big picture" -- the kind of book that you can spend a few minutes with and then look forward to coming back to it at another time, again and again. Hunters, history buffs, and collectors will all find things of interest here.
Order online at: www.spentshellsalongtheatlantic.com
Give us a call.
Cap'n Vic
9/23/09
Our friend, writer Tom Long, has just published his book, "Spent Shells along the Atlantic." It is beautifully illustrated with photos from the present back into waterfowling's past that set the reader for a glimpse into Tom's journeys along the Eastern seaboard. Florida to New England.
I'm mentioned a few times as are Justin Bleischer and Joey Van Dyke. Tom captures the Outer Banks Waterfowl spirit in his stories about hunts we have shared over the years.
More soon. I've been told I have a case of books on the was as we speak.
In between seasons, but the response to the post cards we just sent out has been real strong. There's still plenty of room but some days are already booked up. Call soon!
I was out surfing by myself this afternoon on my long board. Fun chest-high peelers. East wind, 10-15, tide falling. Rip tides all over. The peak I'm riding starts to break in the throat of one of the rips and winds along the sandbar.
As I sit at the apex point where the bigger sets break, a big fish comes out of the water amidst showers of skipping bait. The first time I just get a glimpse from the corner of my eyes.
The next time I'm looking at the spot as he busts the bait pod again. King Mack-twenty five to thirty pounds. Twenty yards away. Awesome, flying through the air.
I pull the sleeve of my silky over my watch's face. No sense in flashing light as I paddle. The Mackerel flying through the air looks little more than sinew propelled teeth.
I know you guys get bored when I write about surfing, but that is mostly what this season between seasons is about. Hurricane season. August to mid October.
I try to think of it as my physical regimen that gets me in shape for the waterfowl season. Get pounded around by triple overhead ground swells for a while and you'll be good and humble driving your boat during the winter's extreme winds.
More on hunting soon. Black powder deer is just around the corner.
Cap'n Vic
7/20/09
My goodness gracious. Have you seen the recently released estimates for this year's waterfowl breeding season?! Essentially, every species (except bluebills) is projected through the roof.
I'm going on record as saying I want canvasback season opened and pintail relaxed to 3 birds. (How about like the mallards, 2 drakes and no more than one hen?)
Is the rumor correct- that gadwalls will be at their largest population ever? Before I head off to touch up the white speculum patches on my gaddy rig, allow me to toss this out about fishing this summer.
My best year ever for speckled trout! Two weeks ago, I put a 5 pound 15 ounce monster into my cooler.
And the trout are everywhere in the sound. We've even been catching them steadily around my Colington Island diver-duck blind.
There's still plenty of time left this summer to capitalize on the specks, so give me a call.
It's also time to start planning this year's duck trip. Talk to your buddies, make some plans and give me a call. We hope to reset the harvest records that we set last year.
Here' wishing you wet lines and stuffed coolers!
Cap'n Vic
2/15/09
Continuing.............
Week 4 Christmas week 12/22-29
The week begins with a bang. WNW winds at 30-35 knots and gusting higher. Boat rides to and from the blinds are extreme. Tuesday. The wind and cold continue. As a result, these 2 days are among the best of the 08-09 season.
We have 4 pairs of gunners Monday and 5 pairs on Tuesday. The totals for the 2 days are 3 swan, 3 Canadas, 1 snow, 13 pintail, 10 gadwall, 5 blacks, 5 mallards, 3 widgeon, 3 shovellers, 2 teal, 3 redheads, 2 ring-necks, 1 scaup, 14 buffleheads, 2 red breasted mergansers and 1 hooded merganser. Only one of the pintails is a hen. 16 species in 2 days! We reach 500 fowl for the season on the 23rd.
The weather goes back to pretty. Just as well, there are no clients, so nobody hunts the 24th and 25th. What makes the week stand out is the dense fog that settles in during the morning on Saturday. really tough conditions to gun in. We have the most apprehensive experience of the season that Saturday evening when one of our guides gets totally turned around in the fog during the boat ride back to the dock. Yadda, yadda, yadda, and they end up being rescued by a trawler loaded to the gills (sorry) after a week asea. Their feet don't touch soil till 8:30 PM. Phew! What a day!
Week 5 12/29-1/3
A week, that while not spectacular, produces decent action. That term -decent action- probably needs to be clarified. At this point in the waterfowl season, when speaking amongst the guides, one ever present caveat becomes evident. And that is that there is a very fine line between 10 bird bags and 2 bird bags. Top dog position shifts around from guide to guide throughout the week depending mostly on which gunning party possesses the most skill, patience and good old natural luck. Thursday and Friday of this week provides a good example. Justin and Graham guide those 2 days. On Thursday, their 2 groups can tell the day is 'blue birdy' and opt to bail around noon and head for that 'family friendly' restaurant, Hooters, for libations and of course some of their famous wings. On that day Justin knocks down 3 blacks and Graham gets skunked.
Friday, dawns as a mirror image of the previous day. Their 2 parties on this day opt to hunt till the very end of legal shooting time. Around noon Friday's party has about the same success as Thursday's. When Friday's party hits the docks at dark that evening however, the similarity of the 2 days ends. Justin's bag for the day is composed of 2 swans, 2 Canadas, 2 mallards, a black, 2 redheads and 2 drake pintails that they knock down but cannot retrieve. Graham's log? 2 swan, 4 mallards, 3 black, 2 gadwall and 2 ruddies.
I'm always asked, "Are we going to shoot any birds this afternoon?" and I always answer, "I can't tell you till after, but the only advice I can give you is that you have a way better chance of shooting ducks here than you have of shooting ducks from Hooters. The only way you can have good luck is by putting yourself in a position to be lucky." As Woody Allen once said, "Ninety percent of success is showing up." To that I'll add, "The other ten percent is sticking around."
Week 6 1/5-10
The first part of the week is blue birdy with little wind. By Wednesday we're up to blue birdy with a lot of wind. (SW 25-40). By Wednesday noon, we are under a warning for 60 mph gusts and severe lightning. In a flurry of cell phone activity, the guide service decides to run for it. (Safety first and foremost as always.) With my guys help, we get my rig up and back to the dock just in time. Just as I'm winching my bateau up onto my trailer, the beast of a weather system strikes. No damage other than a good soaking.
The buffleheads take a severe beating this week. Especially during the early part. 79 buffleheads on Monday along with 16 big ducks. Tuesday and Friday sees Currituck go teal crazy. Jay, Justin and Jeff take turns spanking the crazy little green wings. I even score a trophy.
On Friday, I get to make the ultimate perfect guide shot. A single teal drake dives into the decoys. My guys empty out on the rise. As the bird levels off at 60 or so yards straight up, I hear the sixth shot echo in my left ear. A split second later. Bam. My shot folds the bird. No doubt about who makes the shot. There is also no doubt about who's call lanyard the little band will grace.
"yea, I think I'll be keeping that."
On Thursday, the eighth, the guide service passes the one thousand bird plateau. With some nasty weather and a little luck during the next-and las-two weeks of the season, we may be able to break some totals records within the guide service.
Week 7 1/12-17
Now it's getting to the heart of waterfowling. Guides are getting tired. Equipment beat. Decoys shot up. (I call the shot up decoys the 'buffleheads' revenge.) The weather takes on a meaner edge. All day Tuesday, standing in pouring rain.
Yea.
Monday is one of my best days of the season. That is the hunt I have with my one man party Joe, from Mi. He's been coming down for years. Everything goes right today. The fowl decoys all the way in. Most everything you see gives us a swoop. We're shooting well and finding what we shoot. Not missing stuff. Picking up the birds on the way into, not the way our of, your decoys. Done before noon. 5 widgeon, 2 pintail, a gadwall and 4 buffleheads. All drakes except for one widgeon.
On Wednesday, Graham's party logs a banded drake red head. My marsh snags 3 banded drake teal in a span of nine days.
By the end of the week, Currituck is close to froze up and the blinds in the inlet get a crack at their teal. Justin comes to the inlet on Saturday to escape the ice up north. He's rewarded with, on top of a fun day gunning, a crack at a flock of 50 or so teal. Awesome sight. I watch the drama unfold from my blind, 700 yards away.
One guy peeing. One guy outside the blind with no gun. Justin laying in the weeds out side the blind with his gun 3 feet away. Now add in a flock of 50 teal tumbling into your decoys, wings locked, from 150 yards up. Woo Hoo! They are lucky to get the 3 teal they do get. What a sight though!
Talking about sights. Keegan will have to get the award for the most awesome experience of the season. No, not the lost in the fog part........
Okay. Admittedly, he's a little late getting tied out. He's told the guys that it's already legal shooting time and to load up and take anything (not near him) that comes across the decoys. In a snap, they're loaded up and looking into the eerie gloom of first light.
Then, Keagan tells me, it seems like he looks down to do something for a second and when he looks back up that it almost feels as though the wind is somehow being pushed out of his chest. Just as he looks up he's faced with a gargantuan flock of red heads swooping into his spread. From 300 yards up. No. Really gargantuan. Three to five thousand birds. Bud and I see the flock from 2-3 miles away. We estimate the flock to be three quarters of a mile long and a bit under a half mile thick.
Dropping right into his face!!!!!
When he tells me the story-and I've heard it more than once-he ends up ultimately dissatisfied in not being able to accurately convey the magnitude of the moment. The pure awesomeness.
"No, Vic, you can't understand. I look up and that whole flock is pushing down. Pushing down from three, four hundred yards up. Pushing the air down in front of it. You can feel it. The sound. (he makes a whooshing sound). Then another. Stronger. Another stronger still. Then he just has to look at you. He realizes words cannot describe the experience.
"So, they came all the way in?" I ask. "Close enough to shoot?"
"Oh yeah." You get the faraway look, then he tries again with the whooshing sound. "If any of us had picked up our guns." Again, the faraway look...........
Week 8 1/19-24
Last week of the season. Bring it on. Currituck is off and on frozen up. New ducks are down as the east coast is frozen pretty much right to here.
With all the ice, new birds and general nasty edginess of the colder temperatures, bird movement has increased accordingly.
On Monday, Matt's the stud. His group knocks down 7 teal, a mallard, a widgeon, and 2 buffleheads.
On Tuesday, I have another of the year's best days. A blizzard blows in pretty much with the sunrise. Snow blowing absolutely parallel with the ground. The lighthouse across the bay blurred from sight with the denseness of the snow fall. Winds 25\35 from due north. Being that I've already done the update on that day, I won't bore you by telling that story again.
On Wednesday, Justin's top stud with 4 pintail, 4 blacks, 3 widgeon,a gadwall and a swan. Justin rules again on Thursday. His group drops 3 gadwall, 3 red heads, 2 pintail, 2 blacks and a shoveller.
Wednesday and Thursday are really, really cold. Justin is doing well because he has a natural air hole right next to his blind. He also has approximately 200 decoys that are getting swallowed up by the ice. The birds are so rattled by the weather conditions that it doesn't even matter that Justin is out of the blind, banging ice off his decoys.
By Friday, the weather recedes and nothing moves much all day. It's a toss-up as to who's top dog. Jeff's 8 buffleheads or Matt's snow goose, 2 widgeon and a bufflehead. The weathermen predict cold tonight and another weather front pushing in around noon tomorrow. Should be a big one.
Saturday dawns pretty and cold. The low 20s temps have the inlet half frozen, but it's supposed to warm up as the front approaches. Surprisingly, all goes as planned. By the time the front blows in, the ice breaks up and has drifted off. The shooting commences. Fast forward to the last 45 minutes of legal shooting time.
I'm in Pintail Point and Bud is gunning with William around the corner at Snow Blind. My guys and I are sitting on 2 pintail, a black, a widgeon and a gadwall. Bud's voice crackles out of my 2-way radio that they've just harvested a banded drake pintail. Fast forward to the last 15 minutes of shooting time.
Swan are coming out to the refuge in front of us in small groups, but at such a pace that there are better than 150 or so that have already come out past us. I've saved my swan permit all season, but am determined to down only a young, grey bird. I've told my guys that I'm counting on them to help me make sure the big bird goes down. Once it's apparent that I've hit the bird, they need to throw down also. Same goes for a drake pintail. They've already limited on pintail, so if one comes in, I shoot first. If I put pellets in it they need to chime in and help put him down.
So, here's the situation. 15 minutes to go in the rest of the season and I've flat totally wiffed on 2 different flocks of pintail. I'm kind of steamed at myself.
"Man," I say to myself, "I've had such a great season, and I'm going to end it with wiffs on 2 different bunches of pintail. Dang!"
Then, another single drake swoops into the decoys from behind us. Nobody sees him coming. Of a sudden, he's just there, hanging in front of us. Nobody says anything. We all just jump up. Ready for action. I shoot first and knock him hard. He doesn't fall, though, and instead starts to rise skyward as the wind takes him even higher. My guys shoot twice each as the bird rises, trying vainly to put down the wounded fowl. Then there's a slight pause and my gun barks. The bird folds at 65 yards straight up. No doubt it's my bird. I hit it both first and last.
When I pick it up, I'm ecstatic to see that this drake is banded as well. As I'm showing them the bird and the band one of my guys opines that the only thing that could make the day any better would be to get a chance at my swan.
No sooner are the words out of his mouth, we look up and see 3 swans. Locked up and sliding toward our spread.
Yadda, yadda, yadda. I rock him first shot. It's our ninth and final shot that finally puts the big fellow down. Done!
Season over.
PS Gary C. from Columbia, SC had one of the best 3 day hunts of the season. Tuesday through Thursday of the last week. He and his buddy and guide over the 3 days down 10 gadwall, 9 pintail, 8 blacks, 3 widgeon, 3 red heads, 2 teal, a shoveller and a swan.
2/6/09
A synopsis of the season.
Week 1 11/8-11/15
Begins unsuspiciously. Seven buffleheads and an old squaw on opening Saturday. The following Monday sees only one pintail drake bagged among 4 different parties. Wow. Nov. 10th gets the award for the worst day of the entire season. The very next day some weather blows in and my party bags 2 pintail, a widgeon, a gadwall and 4 buffleheads.. I note in my log book that we could have limited out by 9:30 and that we missed a bunch. The weather is so pretty the rest of the week that no one hunts. Not even the guides fun hunting. (We had no paying parties booked for those days.)
Week 2 Nov. 17-22
The week starts out slow, both in number of clients and the birds taken. By Wednesday however, we see the formation of a formidable coastal low. The next few days result in some of the best shooting of the entire 08/09 season. On Wednesday, Bud, Johnny and I tie out 2 blinds on my marsh. In total we down 3 teal, 2 pintail, 4 widgeon, 2 red heads and a wood duck. On Thursday, Jeff rules. His group downs 6 mallard, 4 teal, a bufflehead and a merganser. Then, on Friday, we get blizzard #1. I already did an update about that day. Justin's results that day? 18 teal, 2 mallards, 1 pintail, 2 ring necks and a blue bill. Heading to the docks limited out by 8:30 AM. My marsh does pretty well also. Two blinds down a total of 8 widgeon, 1 gadwall, 1 surf scoter, 6 buffleheads and a hooded merganser.
Week 3 11/24-29
If it weren't for the influx of young buffleheads (and I mean a bunch of them! DU reports that their numbers are up 93% over last year.) I'd have to call this a slow week. Toss the young buffleheads into the mix though, and we banged away all week. For the week, we down 141 fowl. 92 are buffleheads. That's out of 17 trips.
Week 4 12/15-20
It was pretty tough gunning this week. Only a few parties per day early in the week. A busy weekend. Gunning pretty consistent all week. A couple to a few big ducks and a decent handful of buffles per group per day. Justin pulls off the hunt of the week on Friday the 19th. Despite missing a bunch, his party brings 3 swan, a pintail, a mallard, a teal and 2 ring necks to the dock. It was also a day for yours' truly to be humbled. My take for a pre-dawn till after dark hunt. One bufflehead!
..........to be continued.
2/1/09
Wow! what a season! We broke just about every record on the books under the heading of "total birds>' Not that we had that many 'limit days,' rather we broke the records with a lot of 'good/average' days. Days where each of our highly professional guides brought to dock 6-12 fowl per party. Times 8 guides, six times a week and the numbers add up.
Our previous totals record prior to this year came from the 81/82 season. That season we took 1250 ducks and 172 geese for a combined total of 1422 fowl. Our second best season was the 80/81 season when we harvested 1175 ducks and 197 geese for a combined total of1372. Our third best season was last year (07/08) when after 26 seasons, we finally broke the 1000 fowl barrier again. (Total 1121 birds.)
This season though, was one for the record books. My marsh and the Colington blind typically account for 175-225 waterfowl per season. These blinds accounted for 503 combined fowl this year. That's got to be a bench-mark. Anyway.
The new service wide 'totals per season' record ended up at 1532 combined waterfowl. I count all ducks, geese, swan, mergansers and coot. I also count birds downed, but not retrievable. Enough about the numbers.
Newcomers to our guide service regularly ask when is the best time to come to the Outer Banks. My answer is always the same. The only sure correlation to good gunning is good 'ducky' weather. Cold. Weather front whipping into town. Blizzards worked well this year. Coastal Nor'easters are the best though. North, north anything. East, west or straight on does not seem to matter. We just need north and lots of it. Fifteen to twenty-five is good, but twenty-five to thirty with gusts over forty is better. Low clouds are a must and off and on drizzle/snow/hail makes the world come to life. These magic days are not for the faint hearted however.
I already wrote about the first blizzard day and how well Justin did. Well, we got a second blizzard day late in January. On the 20th if I'm not mistaken.
When we pull into the docks, in the dark after our hunt that day, we are met by one of our state wildlife officers. He makes sure all of us know that he has spent the afternoon observing us from a clandestine location. Then he opens up a bit more that I expect him to.
"Man, you guys were really out there. I mean, you were in the thick of it. What an awesome couple of blinds you have!"
I answer with a wearied knowing look and a quick laugh. The officer continues, "Dag. That was bunches of pintail. How do you keep your guys from shooting into all the flocks?"
A little indignantly, I say "I tell them not to."
He. "Oh, so you can tell them in time.
Me. "Well, of course, it's my job."
He. Satisfied. "Man, you guys were right in the teeth of all that wind. You know there were gusts over 40. How could you guys even stand the wind chill?"
Me. "Really good clothes. 1600 milligrams of thinsulate on your feet. Oh. And keep your back to it. Any bird has to land into that much wind. Who cares what's going on upwind. You'd never hit it anyway." I continue, "Yea, that was about as extreme as I've been in in a while. We had this one time we were trying to finish off a wounded bird. I'm telling the guys, when he swims into that open spot between the decoys, lay him out. He swims into the open and both guys' guns go off at the same time. Blam. And both their charges hit a foot and a half to the left of him The wind blew their shot a foot and a half off-mark over a span of forty yards! Oh yea" I say half under my breath, "we missed lots."
What a day. I hunted 55-60 days this year just for that one day. But I don't know what day it'll be till the season's over. So. In answer to your question. Any time is the best time to gun the Outer Banks. But if you want that day, you'll have to bring us that weather.
Duckin' and Goosin'
Cap'n Vic
Just wanted to share this letter we received the last day of the season. Kind of says it all about why we love our guide service so much.
thanks for a great year everyone!
Ellen
Ellen,
I just wanted to send you a quick note and a word of thanks.
Tripp and I had a wonderful and memorable hunting trip with Outer Banks Waterfowl again this season. As always your guides were fabulous. As I expressed to Matt on the last day of our hunt, I walk a fine line as a father. I want to instill a love and respect for hunting in my son while operating at a pace that never ever leaves him miserable and unhappy. The quickest way to make him never want to hunt again is to make him hate it.
Your guides (and I think I have hunted with most of them now) always manage our hunt in a fashion that creates no pressure whatsoever on me as a father or on my young hunter. Your service has created a love for waterfowl hunting in Tripp that I could have never done by myself. I think he had rather be sitting in a blind at Pintail Point than just about anything in the world. That makes this dad very happy!!!
I told my wife on the way home that the older I get, the more I value and cherish memories. I now have a few more gems to file away in my brain. I’ll always remember the “blizzard hunt” at Currituck with Jay on Tuesday, the great goose shot Tripp made on Thursday with Matt and my time in the blind with Captain Vic (not to mention the pair of redheads!!). I can hardly wait to see what next year has in store.
On a side note, let Vic know that Tripp and I both think he (and his marsh) is king. Not that he needs any ego massaging but….. of all the guides that I have ever hunted and fished with from Alaska to Kansas to Maine, he is tops in my book. Spending another day with him on Pintail Point is definitely on my list of things to do.
Thanks again from a grateful father and God bless you all.
1/12/09
Sorry about missing last week's update. We had a bit of a negative experience that I addressed, then after the catharsis of writing it all down, opted instead to send the update to the party involved and save you all the negativity.
I will reiterate however, that bad attitudes almost always result in bad hunts. Something about nature abhorring a vacuum or something.
Today however, is the polar opposite. I get to sit with a wonderful attitude. Back home, you see, the high for the day is projected at 12 degrees. It's under 0 degrees as he speaks with his wife who is back home in Michigan. He gushes about the morning so far. "Work an extra shift honey," he half-jokes. "The taxidermist is going to love seeing me come through the door!"
We have a lovely shoot. I notice new widgeon which have not been here since November. Also,
there's a huge cloud of redheads on the Cat Shoal that have yet to be busted up. I also see a 200 bird flock of swan arrive mid-morning. All new birds.
Weather forecasts for this week call for cold and nasty. Finally, the weather we've been waiting all season for.
This week is pretty much slam booked, but there are a few openings for next week, the last for 2009. Give us a call.
Oh yeah. Our totals for today. Our 2 man bag limit by 11:40. 2 pintails, 5 widgeon, a gadwall and 4 buffleheads. All but one of the widgeon are drakes.
That's what I'm talking about!!!
Just a quick note from me. Thanks to everyone for their kind words and sharing pictures! ellen
Hi Ellen,I just wanted to drop a line to express how much Kevin Frazier and I enjoyed our hunt with Graham last Friday. Hunting the Currituck was a blast. Saw lots of birds all day. The swans were everywhere and Graham really nows how to pull those ducks in on a string! Great variety and an unforgetable experience. We'll be back next year. Can't wait.Thanks,Heath Byerly
1/2/09
Quick update from Ellen. Not the most entertaining, (like Vic's updates), but thought you all would like to know the numbers. The 22,23 of Dec. we had 10 2-man parties. Total birds downed-20 buffleheads, 11 gadwall, 4 blacks, 1 shoveler, 1 red breasted merganser, 1 hoodie, 2 snow geese, 5 mallards, 13 pintails, 2 ringnecks, 3 red heads, 3 Canada geese, 3 swan, 3 widgeon and 2 teal. This past week, the guide service collectively shot 23 pintail, 85 buffleheads, 12 blacks, 12 widgeon, 3 snow geese 2 swan, 3 mallards, 5 gadwalls, 2 blue bills, 2 mergansers and 1 teal. And we're rolling right along. Open dates left are 1/5,7,9,13,14,19-24. Hope to see you this year, Ellen
12/22/08
Knowing that the meat of the season occurs after Christmas doesn't take away from the earlier seasons. It's just that those earlier seasons are like a shake-down cruise for our guide service.
Balky motors are coaxed back to life. Blinds are built, improved, moved or replaced, then brushed. Decoys touched up. Decoy lines knotted, some are replaced if frayed. The guns are freed from their off-season prisons and once again feel the harsh sting of their environments and the roar and fire that is their purpose. Dogs once again run free in the wilds of nature.
Then there's shells, boats, gloves, socks and long johns. Maybe you need to find a new 'lucky hat.' You'd be surprised at how difficult it is to find a new hat that comes with a proper amount of luck embedded in it. I live in constant fear of losing the hat I've had since last season. I swear it's the luckiest hat I've ever owned. No seriously, I went all of last season and only got skunked on the final day of the season. (and the skunking was my fault due to missed shots and bad calls on shots.) Then this season, on only the second day, I decide that due to the heat of early November, maybe I should wear a different hat for a day. BAM! Skunked on day 2 of the 08-09 season. That streak didn't last long now did it? You can bet I'll be wearing my old hat way past the time grossness and nastiness dictates a new topper to be demanded by those who gun with me. Mock me if you will, but I do not think that intervention will be ordered as long as those who gun with me realize the benefits of my lucky chapeau's place atop my head.
The first week of the final and main waterfowling season was
not so auspicious. A full moon to start. Warm temperatures and little wind didn't help. The 24 trips the first week did yield 155 fowl nonetheless. Numerous bull pintails help. A man's (or woman's) first tundra swan of their life leaves an impression. Fourteen species in a week is somewhat limited for us, but is not bad.
There are tons of birds holding in the area as the 25 minute fly-out I witnessed the other night will attest. Then there was last Saturday when the pintail finally showed signs of busting into smaller groups and decoying as they should. The blind I hunted, (now, how did you guess it was Pintail Point?) has flights of 1,2,3 and 3-7 birds hovering within 25 paces of our gun barrels. The flock of seven literally dove into our decoy spread from 200 yards up and a quarter mile out. Myself and my gunners could not nor will we ever forget the power and beauty of that decoying flock of fowl.
Be a part of 08-09. We still have limited openings available. Talk to your buds and give us call.
Unfortunately, rock fishing sucks so far this winter in NC. The fish staged a limited 3 day run up as far as Nags Head pier about a month ago, then retreated north. Charters out of Oregon Inlet are catching plenty of fish, but only after motoring 40 miles to the north! Almost twice the distance to the Gulf Stream. Sheesh!
Needless to say, I'm concentrating on the ducks.
Duckin' and Goosin',
Cap'n Vic
12/2/08
The #2 segment (Nov.8-29) of our waterfowl season is now officially in the books. Overall, we did pretty well.
In forty trips (average 2 clients/trip), we harvested 268 ducks, 2 brant, 2 swans, 8 mergansers and one coot. Add it up and that is 281 fowl representing 22 species!
Justin had the hunt of the #2 segment toward the end of the second week. Around 7 or 7:30 snow began to fall at a blizzard pace (unheard of in Nov. as far as I can recall), anyway, they had already been having a good morning and were sitting on a couple of mallards, a pintail, a blue bill and a couple of ringnecks, a bufflehead and a ruddy duck. Then the snow blew in, freakishly horizontal and stinging cold. With the snow came the teal. Flock after flock. Forty in this bunch, ten in the next, eight the next, then sixty, then twenty five until Justin's yelling over the wind, "Stop. Whoa! We need to count!"
The piles of fowl on the floor had by now taken on an impressive stature. Sure enough, they were done with 16 teal rounding out the 4 person bag limit. Oh yeah, and they were done and heading home at 8:30 AM. As they were pulling away from the blind, flock after flock of teal were still tumbling into the decoys.
A shoot of a lifetime. Absolutely one for the 'life-'pile.'
On the same day, my marsh shot 19 fowl with widgeon comprising the bulk of our bag. With a bit of weather, November can be really, really good.
Jeff had really good gunning as well, with several days of double digit bags. His best day scored him a double limit of teal and mallards. His party also scored our only federal band so far that was on an ancient snow goose.
The only really fully booked days we had in the November season were the last two days. Five parties on Friday and six on Saturday. The guide service accounted for 91 fowl.
Thank you Lord, and pass the ammunition. We can't hardly wait for the season to come back in on Dec. 13th!
We still have openings, talk to your buddies and give us a call.
Duckin' and goosin',
Cap'n Vic
Ok folks, here's some of Justin's pictures from our early season. Click to enlarge. Hope you enjoy them! Ellen
11/20/08
Waterfowling in November takes on a sort of Shakespearean tenor in that 'it is the best of times and it is the worst of times.'
Twice now we've gone from where everyone has a terrible day and the following morning the weather changes and we all have a wonderful day.
Tuesday, the 11th was terrific with Justin edging myself for top dog honors. He shot 5 teal, 3 drake widgeon, a drake pintail, a drake wood duck and a white winged scoter. Can you imagine shooting a wood duck and a scoter from the same blind?
Yesterday was another good day with me at pintail point as the day's top dog. We got 3 teal, 2 widgeon, 2 pintail and a woodie hen. We could have easily finished off limits with buffle heads, but elected to wait on the big puddlers. We quit at 10 AM.
Gunning is at full swing and we still have some dates opens. Give us a call. Gotta go. More blinds to bush......
Vic
This just in for those of you who want up to the minute reports. Jeff and his party quit at 11 AM today with 6 mallards, 4 teal, a buffle head and a merganser. Hope to see you soon, ellen
Outer Banks Waterfowl.
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Revised: 06/23/10.
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