Hunting Season 2010-2011

I am going to post and continually update everything we shoot this year. I'm going to include the date, how many many we shot, who was hunting and pictures when I can.

09/05/2010. 6 Geese. Evan, Cory.
10/16/2010. 8 Geese, 12 Wood Ducks (10 Drakes, 2 Hens), 3 Green Wing Teal (Hens), 1 Blue Wing Teal (Hen). Evan, Cory, Tim, Garrett, Bryce, Justin, Nick. (Nick, Wood Duck Leg Band)
10/19/2010. 7 Geese. Evan, Cory, Tim.
12/11/2010. 9 Geese, 31 Mallards, 3 Black Ducks. Evan, Cory, Tim, Bob, Justin, Alex, Tim N. (Alex, Mallard Leg Band)
12/12/2010. 9 Geese, 13 Mallards. Cory, Tim, Bob, Justin, Alex, Tim N.
12/16/2010. 6 Geese, 12 Mallards (9 Drakes, 3 Hens). Evan, Cory, Tim. (Cory, Goose Leg Band)
12/17/2010. 12 Geese, 1 Mallard (Drake). Evan, Cory, Tim, Garrett, Ben, Justin.
12/20/2010. 3 Geese. Cory, Tim, Garrett, Ben, Josh
12/21/2010. 16 Geese, 3 Mallards (3 Drakes). Evan, Cory, Tim, Garrett, Mike, Ben, Josh, Justin.
12/24/2010. 2 Geese. Cory, Garrett, Mike, Ben, Josh.
12/26/2010. 6 Geese. Cory, Garrett, Mike, Ben, Josh, 3 Cousins.
12/30/2010. 6 Geese. Evan, Cory, Tim, Garrett, Mike.
01/02/2011. 1 Goose. 2 Mallards (Drakes), 1 Black Duck (Drake). Evan, Cory, Tim.
01/04/2011. 2 Geese. Evan, Cory, Tim.
01/07/2011. 3 Geese. Evan, Cory, Garrett, Mike.
01/08/2011. 1 Goose. Evan, Cory, Tim, Nate J.
01/11/2011. 7 Geese. Evan, Cory, Tim, Garrett.
01/12/2011. 6 Geese, 1 Mallard (Drake). Evan, Tim, Garrett.
01/14/2011. 7 Geese 2 Mallards (Drakes). Evan, Cory, Mike and 1 other.
01/15/2011. 10 Geese, 1 Black Duck (Drake). Evan, Cory, Mike, Jim, Michael B.
01/18/2011. 2 Geese, 2 Mallards (Drakes). Evan, Cory, Tim, Garrett. (Tim, Goose Leg Band)
01/20/2011. 5 Mallards (4 Drakes, 1 Hen), 2 Black Ducks (1 Drake, 1 Hen). Evan, Cory, Tim
01/27/2011. 2 Geese. Evan, Cory, Tim
01/28/2011. 8 Geese, 1 Bar Headed Goose. Evan, Cory, Tim, Josh.
Totals. 139 Geese, 95 Ducks

Pintails!

Two years ago my buddies and I were hunting ducks near my house in central Ohio on some corn fields. Early on in the season we had seen more ducks in the area than we usually saw in previous years. Previously, we would maybe kill a couple ducks for an entire season but this year started out completely different. We were seeing thousands of ducks in our area as soon as the season began.

To start the season I had bought two baby Mojos to help us try and bag some of these ducks we were seeing. Instantly on the first day we were bagging some ducks. Most of the ducks we were shooting were mallards and every once in awhile we would get a black duck but those were the only species we ever saw.

After a few hunts my buddies and I began to wonder if we would get to see some other types of ducks. We all thought it would be awesome if we got to shoot some pintails. In central Ohio, during hunting season, you almost never see pintails and if you do see them they are flying really high and have no interest in landing. During one of our hunts we were able to get permission in a field right next to where most of the ducks had been landing and feeding. We figured that we would be able to cut them off and get some to drop into our field since it was so close to where they were going anyway.

That morning my friends, Cory and Garrett, and I setup all of our decoys and our two Mojos and we started hunting. As soon as shooting time started we had ducks coming in. About halfway through the hunt though Cory told us he saw some pintails up above. We already had hundreds of ducks circling us but I knew that we were going to wait until the pintails got close so that we could try and shoot some.

The pintails were circling above us with a bunch of mallards when three of the mallards decided to drop in early. All of a sudden Garrett got out of his blind and shot at them. He unloaded his gun at the ducks while Cory and I sat up from our blinds. At the same time we both turned to Garrett and yelled, “what the heck!” He had blown one of our best chances of getting to shoot any pintails that year and we were mad. What makes it worse is that he didn’t even shoot one of the mallards. He missed with all three of his shots. After that hunt we were no longer allowed to hunt in that field because we had accidently tracked too much mud through the farmer’s driveway and he wasn’t happy. We were able to get permission in a field nearby though but we weren’t sure if the ducks would land in it or not.

A few weeks later we decided to hunt in this field. For this hunt it was going to be Cory, me, and Mike, another of our good hunting friends. Garrett wasn’t going to be there. We got into the field early in the morning and got all setup for the hunt. It seemed like it was going to be a good day because right at the start we were seeing lots of ducks flying and a lot of them were giving a look at our setup. Very early in the hunt we started seeing a few pintails and we started getting excited. All three of us knew that if any pintails were circling we were going to wait for them to come in even if we had to give up shots at mallards. We didn’t care though.

After shooting a few ducks we had a flock of pintails start circling us. We had our Mojos turned on and the ducks wanted in. The pintails started getting closer and closer until finally, I hear Cory sit up from his blind and start shooting without even yelling “take ‘em.!” I sit up and start shooting at them too. My first shot was a shell of steel fours and it missed, the shot after that was steel two’s and they missed. The pintails were getting pretty far away and I only had one shot left. The last load in my gun was Hevi Shot B’s. I fired off the shot and the pintail dropped from the sky at seventy yards away. I couldn’t believe it. During all the craziness I didn’t even notice that Cory had shot one pintail also. We had finally gotten to shoot our pintails.

This happened two years ago and since then we haven’t seen any pintails at all. That gives you an idea of how lucky we were to actually get to shoot two pintails and if it wasn’t for Hevi Shot I don’t think I would have gotten mine. At seventy yards a regular steel load wouldn’t have pulled off that shot.