Waterfowl Fun

[5yearcoueshunter]

Had the chance to do a little waterfowl hunting in the Rio Grande Valley with my Dad and uncle. Nothing fancy, no dogs or decoys, just some pass shooting.

A couple of honkers for my Dad and Uncle.

My Dad also had a Crane tag. He doubled on these.

Got my first Blue Goose! Dad got a snow and I got a mallard drake.

Thanks,
Travis

 

[09Bigbuck]

Congrats, looks like ya'll had fun.

 

[vinihunt]

congrats on fowls!! way cool!!

vinihunt

 

[nmelktrout]

That looks like a good morning's bag to me. Those cranes ought to be some great eating and congrats on the blue phase snow, that is a great looking bird. This weather had put the kabosh on my duck hunting as of late...thanks for sharing. -Cody

 

[5yearcoueshunter]

Thanks guys for your replys.
We had a chance to go out one more time this past Friday. With the weather being so cloudy and rainy, we couldn't resist as usually those are the best waterfowl days. I was hoping to get a Canada goose, but didn't see any this time. The duck action was really good and light goose wasn't bad either. We got a few birds and then decided to stop because we didn't want to clean anymore. ha ha

2 mallards, 1 pintail and 2 Ross geese

My Dad got a Pintail drake. We hadn't shot one of those for quite a few years. It also was wearing some jewelry. This was the first banded bird we've ever bagged. Pretty cool.

Thanks,
Travis

 

[NMPaul]

How are the cranes for eating compared to other wild ducks?

BTW, looks like you guys are shooting a real nice mixed bag.

 

[nmelktrout]

LAST EDITED ON Jan-24-10 AT 10:56AM (MST)[p]That is a pretty sweet to shoot a banded bull sprig, congrats. I love the mixed bag of the Rio Grande corridor, you never know what's going to come into the decoys. And you are right, the days when fronts move in are great, the bummer is that it's the long period of cold temps this season that have pushed the bigger groups of birds that were here in late November further South. There's still a decent number of birds, but not like there should be this time of year on the ol' river. We should be hammering limits of ducks every morning, but the numbers aren't here. In fact, as a very dedicated waterfowler I've noticed a steady decline in the number of birds I've been seeing over the past six seasons. We've been getting good numbers of retrieves for our dogs, but nothing like a few years ago. -Cody
Here's what mornings usually look like this time of year:

But, here's what my blind seems to look like this year...:

Love the mixed bags:

And here's my favorite bird hunting partner:

 

[5yearcoueshunter]

Paul,
Crane is excellent. I like them just as good or better than most ducks. My favorite method of cooking is smoking.

Cody,
Beautiful pics. I especially like the one with the honkers. They are my favorite of all waterfowl. I really can't say trends with waterfowl on the Rio Grande over the years or even this year. I'm just the casual waterfowl hunter. Used decoys a few times, but mostly just pass shooting. I love hunting waterfowl, but just not that dedicated I guess. I hope things pick up for you guys. Thanks everyone for your comments.

Travis

 

[nmelktrout]

Travis, thank you. Like you, I just love getting out and waterfowl hunting, no matter how I'm doing it. I like hunting canadas alot as well. They are a blast to call in (unlike the stinking snow geese/sky carp that I occassionally get the chance to pass shoot). And, I am REALLY jealous of that banded pinny you guys shot, that's quite the rarity. You will have to let me know where that bird was banded after you call it in. And like you, I think crane is great eating. Thanks again for sharing your pictures, I'm glad to see another waterfowl hunter here on MM in NM.
-Cody