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What the hell is going on? I haven't seen it this bad in all my 17 years of duck hunting. There are more swans that ducks flying! I have only killed 53 ducks as of today. By this time last year i had killed over 80 and hunted about half the times as this year! I am not hunting in a boat, but never had any problems without one. I hear the same story from the mud boats and air boats too. Is anyone consistently getting into GOOD shooting anywhere? I have a friend with a $15,000 Special edition Mud buddy boat but it isn't worth taking it out at this point.
We have hunted Farmington 4 times-No ducks killed
We have been to Harolds 3 times and killed no ducks
Been to Howards about 25 times and killed almost all of the ducks i have shot this year out there.
Been to Salt Creek and killed 7 in 3 trips.
Been to BRBR 5 times and killed 3 ducks In a boat.
Been to ogden bay a dozen or so times and had only 1 good shoot out there.
Nothing on the river but 1 mallard 2 weeks ago.
There is absolutely NOTHING happening. I keep hearing that the Montana and Idaho birds are coming, but it doesn't take a month for them to get here.
Is anybody or everybody having the same issues or is it just a handfull??[mad]
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It has been very S-L-O-W in the Bear Lake valley this year too. We have hunted the Bear Lake refuge in Idaho and it has been pathetic. We had one good shoot out there this year and the rest of the time we are lucky to get 3-4 birds between two hunters (and we aren't missing many opportunities). Not sure what is going on? We've done better on geese than ducks!
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I think they took a non-stop flight to Mexico this year! I don't recall reading about the pot-hole surveys being that bad...it's sucked so far this year.
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It has been a bit tougher than in the past but there are a ton of birds still around. Those birds that are around are by-passing the regular feeding areas that we have hunted on past years. I got skunked this last week. First time in a long time. We hunted a unit for the first time this year and no birds were feeding in there(should have tried somewhere else because when we pulled in there no ducks flew out). Lots and lots of high flocks moving from the lake to the rest areas. My tally for the year is at 56 ducks and 3 geese. For me it was a lot harder to kill ducks in the early 90's than it is now. Maybe thats just from getting more experience and scouting a bit more. Hopefully it picks back up soon.
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+1
Haven't seen it this bad since I started. I'm almost discouraged. ALMOST
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Hey LH2 I have only killed 4 ducks in three trips I killed three the day you killed your swan that was Redhead day
but I got a late start on the year.
The day we met up was only my 2nd hunt. I have not been out since our last meeting. But your right about it being slow I checkout some other websites about duck hunting and they are saying it has been slow unless someone has some secret honey hole they talk about but don't share which is understandable.
I am trying to find my own honey hole. I am working with a guy that going to show me some places to hunt in utah county this week. I will let you know if it works out he said he has seen plenty of ducks but he doesn't hunt.
If it is as good as he claims I will let you know.
Are you working tomorrow? Thinking about a fishing trip but also want to take the guns just in case I have no takers on going with me just want to offer as you did with me on the dike thanks!
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Hey Brody, what you are experiencing is pretty typical this fall. I spent some time down at farmington bay this past weekend with the manager and his assistant. They are seeing what you are. Checks of hunters show hunters harvest is way down from past years. You would think that there were very few ducks in the area but the rest area was covered with ducks. Even the air boaters are having a slow hunt.
By the way if any one is looking for a swan there are none at farmington. It sounded like hunters on Harold crane had a good morning filling their permits on saturday. gshorthair
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Forget the ducks, were in the crap are the geese. They are typically on my family farm in southeast Idaho this time of year. Not a single honk to be found.
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Lagoon, Maybe Pond, and Layton Park. All the geese you could ever shoot.[:p]
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Ok, maybe the tables have turned in our favor a little.
I went out to the slough tonight and shot a box of shells and some other friends did about the same. There were a huge amount of new ducks in tonight! No swans at all before closing but ducks coming in from everywhere in big 20 to 40 bird flocks and flying pretty low. It seems as though the sunny, clear weather has made some birds decide to migrate. I am heading to BRBR in the am to see if it was a fluke or a sign of things to come. I'll keep everyone posted on my findings.[cool]
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I don't know what you do for a living, but I want your job! I only dream of hunting during the week, and weekends are sometimes worse! Some guys have all the fun.[:/]
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did you end up shooting manyducks up at brbr
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I have been seeing the same pattern. I have had one good day at ogden bay when I limited. I took my canoe that day and I was pretty much alone on the smaller pond... My other trips have been hit and miss...
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not a single bird or shot[pirate]
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i have been up and down the actual bear river from corrine to honeyville probably 30 times since dove/pheasant/duck hunting season opened and i can count how many ducks i have seen on it on my hands and toes, i literally have seen and shot at more pheasants this year than ducks. the other day me and my buddy ended up chasing around a bunch of collared doves instead of ducks. It seems i see the same ducks in the same area each time i go up and i am assuming they are locals but thats it(they will get shot now that i am done chasing pheasants)I did see a whole bunch of mergansers last weekend that havent been on the river, and a few goldeneyes today. Hopefully the ducks show up soon or i am going to have to find a new place to hunt.
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I had a decent day out in the swamps west of Layton. Nothing stellar, but nothing to complain about either.
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I'm having the same here[frown] according to my ducklog same time last year 82 ducks with the same amount of time in, this year only 38 ducks? something is screwy with the ducks this year[:/] but we still have a good 2 months to hunt them.
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