Cafeoutdoors.com: Opener

Same here Bill. As you know, not far from you, but I think the good hunts opening weekend were across the region. I’ve heard dozens of stories of limits and many of them quick limits. That tells me BK must have done better than their usual .047 ducks per man. We even heard shooting coming from that forsaken chithole (along with the usual bad calling).

Regarding the bags, we don’t have nearly the discretion you duck snobs have. Too many days in the blind where the ducks are scarce for us to be all high and mighty about shootin’ a jack or a merrrr. In fact, our bags this past 3-4 days included both, as well as a rare Ruddy (for us anyway). Mallards were only about 25-30% of our limits. We did get into some Cans and Redheads both. The Pintails are thick but they don’t ever work too well for us. We scratched out a few each day but saw hundreds. Otherwise the usual Gadwalls, a few Wigeons, a few Woodies, etc…

2nd season for my pup and she absolutely rocked it. Working from home when I’m not traveling makes it easy to work her year round. I thawed out the frozen training ducks (saved from last season) about 3-4 weeks ago and she has been jacked up ever since. She’ll still go get the bumpers but with about half the enthusiasm of the ducks. She splits time with another dog, so she’s only hunted 2 times so far. Both days were 20+ retrieves and 2-3 cripples on the banks each day. She’s showing a good nose and a serious enthusiasm for the search. Fun to watch and satisfying to see the extra time pay off…

Glad to hear your hunts were good. Looking at the forecast, it looks like the usual post-opening lull is coming up. That will be the time to fill a few limits of crappie or maybe swing the clubs. Hope the rest of your season goes well. Stay safe and make some memories!

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"Hunts are best measured by the endurance of the memories they produce..."

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