2019 - 2020 waterfowl hunting thread.

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  • fabsroman

    Ultimate Member
    Mar 14, 2009
    35,852
    Winfield/Taylorsville in Carroll
    You guys stop hunting this year?

    I saw more wildlife activity today than I have seen all hunting season. Saw tons of migratory geese (high fliers) flying around this morning and this afternoon around 4:00. Guessing things have finally frozen up pretty good up north. The geese wanted in everywhere and were dropping in to fields quickly without much circling. Not only that, but they were dropping into fields everywhere. Saw a bald eagle this afternoon too and it was flying northeast like it had one heck of a meeting to go to. Followed it for about 5 miles and decided to call it a day when it was just south of Westminster. On the way home from following the eagle, I ran into 31 deer in a wide open field. Almost wrecked the truck watching them as a curve came up in the road. Another 200 yards, there was another 10 deer around a pond that was just up from the woods. My kids kept telling me that I need to talk to that farm owner about hunting there. lol

    Have not been out hunting since early dove season.

    How have you guys been doing with your waterfowling?
     

    El_flasko

    Ultimate Member
    Industry Partner
    Nov 16, 2008
    7,298
    Abingdon, MD
    Heading to the eastern shore with some friends to give it a whirl. It’s gonna be cloudy and dumping rain the entire time from what I can tell, but pretty warm too. Who knows but fingers are crossed
     

    pbharvey

    Habitual Testifier
    MDS Supporter
    Dec 27, 2012
    30,154
    We killed some yesterday on the eastern shore. Got skunked last weekend - saw lots of high flyers who weren’t interested in our spread and saw a ton of snows. Week before that we limited.
     

    remrug

    Ultimate Member
    Mar 13, 2009
    1,761
    manchester md
    I will be sitting in the rain in Queen Anne's Co tomorrow.My cousin bought a farm with a pond and some fields.Try for ducks first thing,then hope for some geese(goose) lol later in the morning.
     

    gtodave

    Member
    MDS Supporter
    Aug 14, 2007
    14,159
    Mt Airy
    The Potomac has been a giant bust late season. Didn't even hear a shot yesterday, and didn't even see a bird (not even a goose)
     

    fabsroman

    Ultimate Member
    Mar 14, 2009
    35,852
    Winfield/Taylorsville in Carroll
    We killed some yesterday on the eastern shore. Got skunked last weekend - saw lots of high flyers who weren’t interested in our spread and saw a ton of snows. Week before that we limited.

    What did you limit on? Just geese, or ducks too? Have not even been paying attention to seasons this year since getting out to hunt would require a miracle. Still looking at fields though and hoping to get permission on a couple of them for next year.

    Saw about 50 mallards and a couple hundred geese feeding in a field today. An eagle flew over them and the ducks got up quick. Guessing it was the same eagle from yesterday since it was over one of the fields it flew over yesterday, but who knows.

    Good luck to all you guys this weekend. Post up some pics so I can live vicariously.
     

    pbharvey

    Habitual Testifier
    MDS Supporter
    Dec 27, 2012
    30,154
    What did you limit on? Just geese, or ducks too? Have not even been paying attention to seasons this year since getting out to hunt would require a miracle. Still looking at fields though and hoping to get permission on a couple of them for next year.

    Saw about 50 mallards and a couple hundred geese feeding in a field today. An eagle flew over them and the ducks got up quick. Guessing it was the same eagle from yesterday since it was over one of the fields it flew over yesterday, but who knows.

    Good luck to all you guys this weekend. Post up some pics so I can live vicariously.

    Geese. Saying we limited sounds so much better than saying we each killed one lol. We should've limited yesterday but no one seemed to be shooting very well.
     

    fabsroman

    Ultimate Member
    Mar 14, 2009
    35,852
    Winfield/Taylorsville in Carroll
    This weather is insane. The birds barely need to feed with weather like this. Don't know if I prefer warm weather in the winter and crappy hunting, or vice versa. Silver lining is that I have no time for hunting this season.

    With that said, the geese are holding a convention just down the road from me. Sounds like thousands squaking up a storm and I have been seeing them by the hundreds in several ponds around me. Guessing things have frozen up up north and they have come south to vacation finally.
     

    Derwood

    Ultimate Member
    Jun 2, 2011
    1,075
    DC area
    This was the most disappointing waterfowl season for me in the past five years. I hunted ducks 15 times at various locations in MoCo, St. Mary's and once with a guide on the Bay. I only bagged 10: 4 buffleheads; 2 blue bills; 1 surf scoter (oddball); 1 old squaw; 1 mallard; 1 wood duck. This past Saturday AM in particular was disappointing since we'd had some cold weather and the conditions on Saturday were what I normally think of as good for duck hunting (35 degrees, windy, light rain). But alas we only got one blue bill and hardly saw anything flying. At least I didn't get skunked again and the bluebill was tasty!

    I'm no expert at how these seasons are set, but I'm starting to think that the prevailing climate and weather patterns have changed and the duck season dates need to be moved accordingly. Maybe that change can occur in tandem with a lift on the Sunday ban!
     

    fabsroman

    Ultimate Member
    Mar 14, 2009
    35,852
    Winfield/Taylorsville in Carroll
    This was the most disappointing waterfowl season for me in the past five years. I hunted ducks 15 times at various locations in MoCo, St. Mary's and once with a guide on the Bay. I only bagged 10: 4 buffleheads; 2 blue bills; 1 surf scoter (oddball); 1 old squaw; 1 mallard; 1 wood duck. This past Saturday AM in particular was disappointing since we'd had some cold weather and the conditions on Saturday were what I normally think of as good for duck hunting (35 degrees, windy, light rain). But alas we only got one blue bill and hardly saw anything flying. At least I didn't get skunked again and the bluebill was tasty!

    I'm no expert at how these seasons are set, but I'm starting to think that the prevailing climate and weather patterns have changed and the duck season dates need to be moved accordingly. Maybe that change can occur in tandem with a lift on the Sunday ban!

    It might be that the watefowl migration patterns have changed with the weather. When I was on Long Island 2 weeks ago, there were tons of geese and ducks up there. I can remember in years past seeing tons and tons of geese heading south while I drove up the NJ turnpike. That is no longer the case. If the water does not freeze up and the food supply does not get covered up with snow up north, the birds have no reason to head south. The smaller ducks, like teal, etc. head south first, and usually really early in the season. The larger birds, like geese, mallards, etc. head south much later. In years past, I would see the high flying migratory geese coming into Maryland around mid November. I am just seeing them now, and even then nowhere near what I would have seen a decade ago.

    Out of all the different types of hunting out there, I prefer wing shooting, especially waterfowling. However, I am wondering if it is time to get back into deer hunting.
     

    remrug

    Ultimate Member
    Mar 13, 2009
    1,761
    manchester md
    My Sat hunt was a bust.I hunted a pond during the pouring rain and didnt see any ducks or geese.I didnt think they would be flying while it was raining that hard anyway.

    My cousins son inlaw came when it stopped raining and we set out goose decoys in a green field.The geese started flying pretty good as we were finishing up.Things were looking really good until he got his truck stuck right next to the blind.He couldnt get the hubs to engage into 4WD. It took us 2 hours to finally get the truck unstuck.....of course the geese had stopped flying by then.

    He stayed with me for a couple of hours,I hunted til the end of legal light with nothing coming anywhere close.
     

    metalman3006

    Gun Hoarder
    Sep 6, 2007
    2,305
    Church Hill, MD
    Saturdays hunt: Will post some of the earlier hunts later.
     

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