Late ducks

[Kevin J Legg]

Hunted a smaller Finger Lake and we shot a pair of mallards and two Ruddy ducks the first I've ever taken. Going to try a different lake tomorrow. We did see some redheads but not a ton of birds .

[momay4000]

^{Fantastic job on the Ruddy's! I have never seen one shot. If I'm not mistaken, wasn't it featured on the duck stamp this year?}

 

^{So cool - I'd love to see a pic.}

 

^{Thanks for the report,}

 

^Chris

[Guppy35]

Nice job, Kevin.  I would also like to see pictures of the Ruddy's if you have any.  I have never even heard of them before, but it sounds like they aren't very common around here?

[dawsonscreek]

I saw 2 hen Ruddy's at the city pier in Canandaigua earlier this month. Very cool!

[reeltime]

^{Fantastic job on the Ruddy's! I have never seen one shot. If I'm not mistaken, wasn't it featured on the duck stamp this year?}

 

^{So cool - I'd love to see a pic.}

 

^{Thanks for the report,}

 

^Chris

the 2015/2016 federal duck stamp will feature the ruddy duck.  Jennifer Miller from the Olean area won the contest.

 

also beginning in 2015 the federal duck stamp will be going up to $25.00 each.

[Kevin J Legg]

Hunted today and decided to bag the rest of the trip do to lack of success and wind forecast for Lake Ontario the next couple days.

 

 

 

 

[bondouley]

Hunted with a buddy today shot 5 green heads could have limited out but we were just looking for drakes. Got harassed by a home owner but we called the cops and they issued him a ticket for hunter harassment!

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[Kevin J Legg]

Good to see the officer knew the law .

[bondouley]

Yeah the officer was all over it!

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[Captain Jim]

  3 waterfowl hunters and their dog were rescued from atop of their overturned boat on the North end of Cayuga Lake this afternoon. None of them were wearing life jackets. It was a very scary situation as Seneca Falls Fire Dept worked the cold water rescue.

[Missdemeanor]

With Deer season closed, out comes the "Late season Phil Robertson" army. Guys see a couple Duck hunting shows and all of a sudden they are experts with " if it flies, it dies" stickers on their barrels. The late season has many inherent dangers especially hypothermia. Last season I saw a group of youngsters being unsafe ....I politely explained how fast Hypothermia can set in, but like most youth today I got the " yea I know" ....and then 50 excuses.....Lol....Kinda makes a guy want to let them make their own mistakes.... Moral of the story....WEAR THOSE PFDs...... I always do and it saved my life 16 years ago.... OK Rant over...... Have a Safe and enjoyable rest of the season.....

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[bondouley]

Yes i agree! We mainly hunt out of kayaks so we always have our PFDs on no matter what!!!

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[fmp]

Yes, be very, very respectful of the cold water. Last weekend I saw two people go offshore in a canoe! Kept my eye on them, ready to call 911. During those years (like this one) when I have only a skiff to set the rig and retrieve birds (and trout fish), I stay close enough to shore for "self rescue." And it's still a risk.

Retrieving birds has been no issue this year - in all my years hunting the east shore of Skaneateles, I've never seen so few ducks. The growing number of rafting scaup and redheads at the calm ends of Skan and Otisco gives me some hope things might improve, but so far no goldeneyes or buffs at all.

[dawsonscreek]

Another one to be cautious of along with cold water is swamp mud. I hunted a warm water swamp the last two days that is impossible to wade because the mud is so soft you will sink past your hips and could be in trouble fast. You could easily lose your balance and drown. Thankfully my buddy has hunted the swamp for years and knows of one spot where you can cross, even there at one point the mud was to my knees an water to my chest, we brought the kayak to retrieve ducks as well. Think things through and use caution even on things you've done 1000 times. Good luck with the rest of the season! I had some spectacular misses this morning

[fmp]

To stop and think things through, even though you've done it a thousand times before, is great advice when the water is this cold. I spend as little time on the water as possible by rigging the strings of decoys on shore and then just towing them into place. I don't mess around out there any more than is absolutely necessary.

I wish there were some ducks here to miss. Thanks, I can use that luck.

[tlombardozzi]

One year I was putting out decoys in water close to my chest and when I turned to head back to shore a rouge wave hit me from behind and anyone that knows, when you get out in the water deep enough in waders, you feel some buoyancy in your legs, well, that wave caught me off balance and I couldn't keep my legs under me and went down chest first. It was late season we very cold temperatures and I think everyone on the lake heard my scream from the cold! Lucky I was not alone and close enough to home to run home and change so I could get back. Point is, you never know what can happen out there and cold temperatures and water are things to respect so you can come home after each outing.

Tomy

[reeltime]

3 guys a dog and all the gear in a 14' jon boat is certainly a recipe for disaster. the one thing people don't think about are the volunteers that go out there risking their own lives and family well beings to save them.  granted accidents happen but putting yourself and others in danger for a duck???  nothing is worth that whether its a duck, deer, or salmon.   it never ceases to amaze me at the lack of respect people have for the power of water.

 

Last year late season I drove down to the CG station at the point, there was a truck and trailer in the ramp waiting to launch. It was extremely windy far windier than it had been any day of the season. on that truck was a 14' boat that did not have high gunnels,  3 young guys get out and start scurrying around.  I walked over and asked where they thought they were going and they said over to the wall.  I said do yourself a favor and at least wait until its light enough to see how bad it is before you try to cross the channel to get over there.  that little boat with the surge coming in here and you guys are going to be in trouble!  the boat owner says I spent 2 weeks on this bay this summer and was in rougher water than this in this boat. 

 

I just kinda chuckled and said we never had waves this big on "the bay" last summer and its January NOT July the water is 24 degrees NOT 74 degrees. the other 2 seemed to be paying attention and said something along the lines of maybe we should wait. I said look around there's NOBODY to come get you when you get in trouble, with the water this rough and cold with all the ice when you go in chances are you will not survive.  you guys can do what you want but I can tell you that I wouldn't even attempt to go out that channel in my charter boat.

 

finally the other 2 said they were going to wait.  2 days later the 3 of them approached me in town and said they wanted to thank me for stopping them that morning because once it got light out they had no idea it was that bad and had they of tried to go they would of been in serious trouble.

[fmp]

Still working at it here in front of the house on Skaneateles. Finally a small number of ducks have arrived and a couple flights of GEs pitched into the rig! So the season's not a total loss.

This unprotected, deep, eastern shoreline is usually a rough and cold hunting spot, but this year is especially brutal. It looks like tomorrow will be too cold and windy to set decoys, so my hopes are on Thursday and Friday.

[fmp]

Last night a 100 foot wide ice shelf formed along the shore officially ending late duck.

Skaneateles 2014/15 Season Summary; The first week brought mild temps and several days calm enough to set decoys, but apart from mergansers there were virtually no ducks. Thousands of snows and canadas rafting offshore were an amazing sight. Calling and a couple goose decoys on the inside of the rig brought a few canadas in, but not quite close enough. During the second week a few bluebills and goldeneyes showed up, but wind and cold didn't permit much hunting - had only one afternoon of fair shooting and one modest duck dinner. Most years I stop shooting buffleheads, this year I didn't even see one.

11 1/2 months until 2015/16. Plenty of time to carve more decoys and maybe even build that layout boat.

I love late duck, even when it's bad. Happy hunting,

Jeff