# Alright all you Yooooottthhhs, lets see em!



## TEX-O-BOB (Sep 12, 2007)

Consider this the official post-em-up-and-tell-a-story thread. Lets see yer dead ducks kids!


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## Kdub (Sep 6, 2010)

From what I saw it was pretty slim pickins. Not many birds in the areas I checked. I did hear some banging though, so I expects some stories.


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## Hunter_17 (Mar 15, 2008)

I have a few pic I'll post later tonight, had a get time.


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## Loke (Sep 7, 2007)

My niece got into some shooting. We got there shortly after shooting light, and she already had two coots down. One had gone missing in the cattails. Shasta was just a bit excited, and forgot most of what she knows. The gentleman just east of us showed a bit of class when he commented "That's why I don't bring my dog" when Shasta didn't remember how to run a blind, when my niece knocked down a gorgeous mature cinnamon teal drake that sailed a bit. Once I got Shasta to focus past the duckweed, something clicked and she handled like a pro, and made a wonderful 100 yard plus blind water retrieve. Now that is why I take my dog hunting. My nephew decided that he really likes my dog (he was the back-up retriever with 5 leaks in his waders). Shortly after that, Shasta made her way (with all of the finesse that a Chessie possesses) into the cattails, and brought out the missing coot. All in all, it was a great morning out on the dike.


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## Fowlmouth (Oct 4, 2008)

My daughter had plenty of shooting this morning, she managed to get a couple of birds. I think she shot 35-40 shells, so I figure those 2 ducks cost me about $18, but hey it was priceless watching her blast away. (wigeon & spoony) That rain storm we had at 4:00 this morning was sure a fun mess, my boat was full of water and that was just from waiting to launch at the ramp. The first little break in the weather we had, everyone jumped out of their trucks and were greeted by the park rangers for boat inspections. Fun day!


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## duck jerky (Sep 8, 2007)

Not alot shooting this year but each one was able get them a bird.


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## Swaner (Sep 10, 2007)

It was a great day in the marsh. My 12 year old brother managed his first duck ever, a hen cinny. The smile on his face was priceless. Only 7 shots fired but lots of opportunities. He couldn't believe how fast the ducks come flying through the spread. He couldn't get a shot off most of the time and I think he was a little trigger shy. :lol: He did a great job for his first hunt and I think we've got another one hooked for life.


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## TEX-O-BOB (Sep 12, 2007)

Great stories guys! Keep em coming!

I have to live vicariously through you guys with kids. My only son is 19 now and wants nothing to do with hunting nowadays. College, cars, girls, and computers trumps all else... :?


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## shaun larsen (Aug 5, 2011)

we had a good hunt! i was able to take out a youth DWR essay contest winner today. saw alot of ducks and shot some bullets. he was able to kill his first couple ducks, so it was a success. it was good being back in the marsh. that was a very L O N G 8 months. didnt seem like there were as many hunters out today as there has been in the past, the impressive rain storms this morning might have had something to do with it.

on a side note, i was impressed with the amount of dead phrag i saw. in some areas that have been covered with it in the past, was all clear this year. we still have a very long ways to go, but there is definately progress that has been made this year!

13 days -/O\-


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## Jeff Bringhurst (May 20, 2009)

And so the season begins. . . .

I love getting out and hunting with people that I have never hunted with before and to be able to go out with Becky, her dad Brad and Wyatt from the DWR was a real treat. Becky had been hunting for a couple of years but had not been able to connect on a bird yet. Today she was able to take home her first two ducks. Thanks for the DWR and everyone else that put together this type of hunt.


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## 343Bull (Aug 2, 2010)

Well it was a long journey, the day before I called out to Ouray and was told there was quite a few birds out there and we should do well. NOT!!!! Hardly saw any birds out there so we packed up and went to another marsh. Saw a lot more birds and we managed to get some good shooting in. My son shot his first duck and the only one of the day which was a cinny teal. Very fun day and lots of great memories, his first hunt with Grandpa. Oh lots of water in Ouray, very deep and the cattails are huge, hard to find a good spot to set up, should be good later this year when the birds get into the valley.


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## Packout (Nov 20, 2007)

My son wants a new duck guide. We hiked into a spot which always produces. BUT it takes other hunters to push the birds a little. There was not one other hunter within ear shot, which was odd. I'd wager the weather kept many home. We jumped a couple small streams and my son killed his first duck, a hen mallard. We watched elk bugle and it was a beautiful morning. Saw a total of 15 ducks for the morning. I did figure out where we will be next year.....

One a side note, we saw a hen mallard with 6 duckings which were smaller than gw teal. They could not fly. My son pulled up on the hen, then put his gun down as we realized what we were seeing. Made me wonder if the the cold spring has many high elevation birds late with their hatch.


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## woollybugger (Oct 13, 2007)

We foot soldiered into the marsh above Turpin for my son's first hunt as a gunner. It was our dog's first hunt, too. Both did as well as expected. We had a great time. Far fewer birds than I expected. Had some real good looks over the decoys, the boy shot 17 shots through a single shot (if he were shooting an autoloader it would have been 2 1/2 boxes!). plenty of opportunity with no connections. At about noon a pair of pintails passed over about 35 yards and POP! he nailed one. WOOHOO! the Dog and I searched the phragmite abyss for about 40 minutes. By that time we had to leave. I hate having to give up on finding birds. No bird to be found. :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: 

First duck, and we lost it.  

All in all we had a fun time. I am surprised at how few birds were around. Hope something comes in for the general opener.


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## Hoopermat (Dec 17, 2010)

We had a great hunt. Three kids with us and we bagged 17 ducks. 
Mostly cin teals and a couple of gadwalls. It was a great day to be out with the kids.


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## Puddler (Apr 30, 2009)

Packout said:


> One a side note, we saw a hen mallard with 6 duckings which were smaller than gw teal. They could not fly. My son pulled up on the hen, then put his gun down as we realized what we were seeing. Made me wonder if the the cold spring has many high elevation birds late with their hatch.


Quite a few hens still out there with ducklings not yet old enough to fly. I know the south shores clubs cancelled youth hunting due to this.


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## Donttreadonme (Sep 11, 2007)

What do you get when you add one state goose calling champ + 2 youth hunters + ~120 Dakota goose decoys + a field with over 300 geese .........










2 limits of geese, 5 of 6 banded. :shock:


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## katorade (Sep 23, 2007)

That was an awesome hunt Draxler I'm glad I could be apart of it!


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## Bax* (Dec 14, 2008)

Glad to hear that several of you got out with your kids. Even if you didnt bring anything home, I bet they all had a great time. Congrats to everyone who got some birds... Joel looks like he had too much fun though


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## Clarq (Jul 21, 2011)

It was an interesting youth hunt day for sure. Our morning hunt was quite slow. My dad and my brother stayed on the dike while I hiked with my neighbors out into the marsh. We set up on a little pond and didn't do to well. We were just a bit out of the flyway and most of the birds passed us by.  The neighbors shot about 15 shells total in the morning, but they limit themselves to about a 25 yard range. If it were me, I would have probably had 30 or so shot opportunities. 

My brother shot twice at the first flock that came by and brought his first duck down on his second shot.  He only got shots at a few other ducks. He had a flock of geese fly right over his head at about 35 yards and missed 3 times. :| I can't say I'm surprised but I was really hoping to see one of those come down. The lightning scared us off at only 9:30 AM.

We got back at around 4:00 after an upland game hunting adventure. My Brother, one neighbor boy, and my dad opted to stay on the dike. However, it was the other neighbor's last youth hunt day and he was not about to go home duckless. We decided to set up decoys on a pond that was under the flyway we had observed that morning. We took 8 decoys and a mojo. The ducks started flying. They were interested in landing but kept flaring. My neighbor's dad accused my mojo of scaring the ducks away. I figured there were other reasons but decided to go take my mojo out of the spread to see if it changed things. It did change things, and the ducks started coming in. 

A lone drake mallard set its wings and came in feet down. B (my neighbor) stood up and downed it on his first shot. About 10 minutes later a hen pintail came in and he nailed it. His shot broke both of her wings, bill, and many other places. We decided that #4 shot would be better at his shooting range. 

20 minutes later another drake mallard came in and he his it on his second shot, though not very hard. It sailed off about a hundred yards away and landed in some thick weeds. We ran to the area and began to search. B heard a noise in the weeds and concluded that it had to be the downed duck. He leaned down in to where he heard the noise and came face to face with a bobcat. :shock: Needless to say it startled us both quite a bit. I managed to chase the duck out of the weeds and we retrieved duck #3. 

Awhile later another hen pintail came in and B shot that one too. I was very proud of B's shooting. He was shooting better than he ever had. But his second pintail made things difficult. Now we had to be absolutely sure of each type of duck. We probably had 10-15 more pintails come in and it was absolutely frustrating to have to pass on so many ducks. We had a few more opportunities on Mallards but B couldn't connect. 

Those who stayed on the dike only had a few opportunities and couldn't connect.  Too bad about that but it goes to show that hard work pays off. 

It was quite a strange day. There were virtually no teal around (I'm thinking the cold front might have pushed them south already?), the ducks came in better without the mojo decoy (has that ever happened to any of you?), and I escaped with only 10 mosquito bites. It was a great, but tiring day.


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## KennyC (Apr 28, 2010)

Well took the daughter out with a great friend that got us out away from most. set sail at just after 0530 in the rain and arrived at the spot after some tedious navigation using waypoints and a good head lamp. Set out the decoys and went over a few shooting techniques with her and how we were going to try and get the ducks to come in. About 4 minutes till shooting time started hearing a couple of shots but nothing like last year. Since my daughter didn't get to hunt the youth hunt last year and had her shot gun bump her nose on the general opener she didn't want to shoot again. I pulled out the Great Grandfathers 1940's bolt action .410 and and that changed her mind. So back to the ducks, after waiting 30-45 min. we noticed that she seemed confused and not taking shots. So we decided she needed to blow off a couple of rounds to see nothing to worry about. Once her smile reached both ears we knew it was time for her to get busy. The flight pattern changed so we made some adjustments and the shots were away. So many ducks and some many shot opportunities I think she just got confused but it was like dodging Japanies zeros at Pearl Harbor. Everything calmed down for a few minuetes so we made another change. After only being in that spot for a couple of minutes the shot is off DUCKS IN THE WATER! The bird dog (me) jumped out and I will be One shot 2 ducks. You have got to be kidding me. Not only was it her first duck, but 2 at the same time. If you had never seen a proud father you should have been out there with us. I was SO excited and could see an awsome future in the marsh with may daughter. So we waited a few more minutes and a lone teal out across the water he lands. He was out between 60-70 yds. We tell her when he jumps if he comes back towards us take him. Well she didn't let him get more than 12" off the water and she deffinately didn't let him get any closer. The duck got up and right back down. My friend and I looked at each other in total suprise that not only did she shoot it that fast but at that distance with a .410. OK, now I am starting to think do I have competition? SWEET! OK, 3 ducks in the boat and now she is reved up. They are coming in fast and low. Miss, Miss, Miss again. We wait and wait then the deals start coming out. My buddy tells her OK I want you to shoot a Green head. know her interest is peaked and the hunt is on. burned 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, now I loose count but wait! 5 ducks in the deacs at 10 yds. BAM! dead duck! Ah! its a spoon. well we ended the day just over a box of shells and 4 ducks. She was so excited, but extreemly tired. So proud of her, she did very well and exceeded everyones expectations for the day.


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## hunter24 (Oct 20, 2010)

went down to ut lake and my group i was with got 8 just the three of us good time love it


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## 400BULL (Nov 16, 2007)

I took my two boys down to the south end of Utah Lake. I was kind of expecting there to be several groups of hunters out on the lake so I set my boys up on one of the ponds hopping that the other hunters on the lake would keep the birds flying. At best there would have been three other hunting parties on the south end of the lake so there were not as many birds flying as I would have hoped for. None the less each boy was able to empty a box of shells and take a bird home to show mom. Now both of them are fired up for this next weeks sage grouse hunt on the Parker Mountain. 

400bull


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## hamernhonkers (Sep 28, 2007)

Well it wasn't too bad on the south end of the state. I originally had 4 kids lined up but as the day got closer 3 ended up having to cancel so I just ended up with my nephew. We set up the blocks right before light and had lots of birds moving. I was really trying to make sure any shot he took was at bird's feet down in the decoys so we passed of a lot of shots. He ended up shooting a full box shells though by 9 am and ended up dropping one drake mallard which fell 75 yards out and in the think stuff. My dog and I spent a good 20 minutes looking for the dang thing but I am sure it swam out on us. The funny part for me was even though I put a semi in his hands he would only shoot one time on each bird until he finally shot twice and knocked down the mallard. With that and missing 3 shots on a ruddy duck at 30 yards that came swimming in on us I figured he shot at about 18 to 20 birds over the blocks. When the bird's stopped flying and we decided to call it a morning I decided to drive around the lake and see where all the birds had ended up sitting at. As we were going I noticed a bunch of teal sitting tight to shore feeding like there was no tomorrow. We stopped the truck and made the sneak over on them. There was a ball of about 5 or 6 birds feeding when we suck up and I told him to pick one bird and water check it. Well he ended up hitting 3 greenwings on that shot. After he realized what had happened he turned to me and had the biggest dang grin on his face over getting his first birds ever. Defiantly worth the time and effort


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